THEY won a bronze medal at the 2003 Island Games and this year they are hoping to go even better when the 2005 Island Games are staged.

And Bermuda's national basketball team are planning to go to the Games a lot better prepared than they did two years ago.

Head coach of the national squad, Roderick Spencer, said: "We will be going to play some games against some good opposition in Toronto next month and then in March there will be some teams coming down to Bermuda to play. When we went to the Island Games in 2003 that was the first time our senior national team had played against international opposition. We want to be better prepared this time around."

And Spencer said that he is also hoping to get Bermuda's best player, professional Sullivan Phillips, to play at the 2005 Island Games.

"Our best player is Sullivan Phillips who is now playing for the London Towers. He didn't go to the last Island Games but he has expressed an interest to go this year. Sullivan is a special and talented player."

Bermuda's team has to rely on an up-tempo game and use a lot of pressure.

The coach said: "We are undersized ? in fact Sullivan Phillips is the biggest guy we would have at the Island Games and he plays a guard! We have to rely on quickness against some of the other big teams and use pressure."

One thing lacking for the national team is money.

Spencer said: "We do not get anything from Government ? it seems all the money goes to cricket and football. But I like to point out to people that we are the only team to come back to Bermuda with a medal. Some of the guys who would like to go to Toronto in February will not be able to make it because of money. We would like to get some sponsorship or financial backing."

There was some doubt about whether the Island Games would be able to host basketball this year. The hosts, the Shetlands, do not have the facilities so Gibraltar stepped in. "The tournament will start two weeks before the Island Games proper in the Shetlands," said Spencer who added that two years ago the Island Games were an "eye opener".

He said: "Before we went in 2003 we told the guys that if they get there and fail then they are not as good as they think they are. It was a good test to see where we stood. And when it all came down to it we played very well. A lot of the other countries might have been small like us but they were surrounded by bigger countries which were close by so they could always get international experience ? that is something we simply did not have. The top four or five teams were comprised of European pro and ex pro players ? there were a lot of European pro and semi pro players there. That just goes to show how well we did.

"The only thing that really stuck out was that we need to play at that level more often. We lost one game in the whole tournament and we lost that game because we didn't focus the whole time ? the guys were mentally tired.

"This year we are trying to overcome that by taking a trip to Toronto in February and then we will be playing a few teams who will be coming to Bermuda at end of March ? some of them will be semi pro. Hopefully by the time we get to Gibraltar the guys will have had a few games under their belt."

Spencer, who played in high school in Bermuda and later in college in the United States, said the state of the game has really improved over the years ? especially in Bermuda's middle and high schools.

"Every middle and high school on the island has a basketball team ? boys and girls. The competition level is very high. I watched a game yesterday ? CedarBridge were playing Saltus ? and