Bermuda?s basketball fraternity have been urged not to waste their talent.

In response, however, local authorities in the game have echoed the cry of so many other sporting organisations here regarding development plans ? it?s a matter of cold cash.

?It comes down to sponsorship. That?s the main thing ? money. We don?t want the athletes to take it out of their pockets but they may have to.

?I think we?ll be successful if we?re able to do so (secure funds),? said president of the Bermuda Basketball Association (BBA) Tim Trott yesterday as the first annual Ballin-in-Bermuda Basketball Tournament closed.

In the evening?s feature match, Bermuda?s national team put up a very respectable showing against an All-Star team of former American college players at Jessie Vesey Sports Centre at Bermuda High School. The latter prevailed 74-65 but were pushed all the way by the Bermudians who led for much of the first half before falling behind 35-27 at the break.

Tournament organiser and former college coach, Anthony Witherspoon, praised the home side?s performance and called for more to be done to advance the sport of hoops here. His comments were sparked not only by what he saw from the national team but also from the efforts of Bermuda College against rivals from the USA.

?Bermuda College guys are good. I see some potential college recruit material. In addition to that, Bermuda?s international team is outstanding.

?I hope they will receive the kind of funding that can have them compete on an international level ? not only to play Caribbean teams but I would love to have them come over to Atlanta (Georgia).

?They would beat a lot of good American teams. They just need a bit more support from the corporate perspective and I think they?ll be very competitive.

?I would like to see them do a tour ? maybe four or five games ? during basketball season.

?They have the potential to do some pre-season exhibition games.

?NCAA will allow you to play two exhibition games early in the (basketball) year ? early to mid-November. If they apply for NCAA sanctioning I think they could receive that type of certification.?

Witherspoon, who is President/CEO of Investment Atlanta Inc., was somewhat disappointed with the average attendance throughout the three days of matches but acknowledged basketball was a ?relatively new sport to the Island?.

?I hope the people who came to watch realised that we can produce good basketball in Bermuda,? said Trott, expressing pride in how the national team stood up against tougher, more experienced opposition.

?We were a little under-manned. Dion Bean played for Bermuda College yesterday and he got injured. So we played with eight guys instead of nine.

?That hurt us a bit in the second half with everybody in foul trouble but we had guys who stepped up. Greg Todd ? our big man in the middle ? did an excellent job on the boards in the second half and Charles Peters gave us some key three-pointers.

?In the end it came down to mental and physical fatigue. That did us in.?

Bermuda?s captain Todd concurred that the difference between the teams was the level of conditioning which, he noted, would be helped immeasurably by more international exposure.

?If we had been conditioned who knows what the outcome would have been. Everyone needs to make it a personal goal to get into top condition.

?It was our first game since in the Island Games (late June). There wasn?t much time for preparation. Even though we knew about this for a while, guys have a busy schedule so we weren?t as prepared as we wanted to be but I think we had a pretty good showing.

?We would like to get more competition. We were just saying in the locker room we need more of that so guys can see what areas they have to work on.?

He lauded Witherspoon?s initiative in bringing present and past college players to the Island, terming it ?great for Bermuda?s basketball and getting Bermuda on the map as far as the sport is concerned?.

Trott revealed that the BBA was getting ready to build on its bronze-medal finish in the Island Games by holding national trials early next summer. This, he explained, was to ensure Bermuda was well tuned for the 2005 Games in Gibraltar.

Both he and Todd noted a tour would be very welcome as they work towards this objective.