Ex-NBA star impressed with local coaches

Local basketball coaches got the opportunity last week to experience what players like Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley did several years ago.

That is to learn from former NBA star Robert F Lewis. Here on a coaches exchange programme, Lewis said he was impressed with the quality of coaching skills and facilities in Trinidad. The American visitor pointed out that TT coaches were very informed and anxious to learn. It was a good start to promote the re-organisation of the Basketball Federation of Trinidad and Tobago which is now under interim governance, he said. Lewis holds a Master of Education degree and has over 25 years experience as a player, coach and clinician in the sport. He was the eighth leading scorer in the NCAA College Division, fifth Round Draft choice of Dallas in the ABA and Gold Medal winner in the 1967 Barcelona World Cup Games for players six foot, two inches tall. After such an illustrious playing career “Bobby” created the Basketball Skills Development Programme as his thesis project while completing his Masters Degree at Springfield College in 1978.

In 2003 he joined with the Partners of the Americas to impart this knowledge as part of their programme involving the Fundamental Coaching Course in several Caribbean countries. Having conducted over 200 top level basketball clinics in the US, Denmark, Haiti, Spain and Venezuela, Lewis found the TT coaches full of ideas, which were shared in fun exchanges at the sessions last week. They also showed a high interest in the Lewis patented programme which has been lauded by Magic Johnson and Isaiah Thomas.  “The Bobby Lewis programme has proven to be an entertaining and skilful  one for all campers throughout the country,” they said. The local clinic involved practical and philosophical insight into the game’s fundamentals, a combination which has proved beneficial to many players and coaches. Lewis said his stay in Trinidad, though abbreviated, was very productive. At the programme’s closing ceremony at the St Paul’s Street Gymnasium in Port-of-Spain, local coach and “Chapter” representatives expressed delight in the time spent with Lewis and hoped to have him back for longer sessions in the near future.