Tivoli Gardens Wizards' Omar Barnes (centre) douses a member of their management team with champagne as they celebrate their 85-72 victory over Majesty Gardens in game two of the Jamaica Basketball Association JBA/Flow National Basketball League All-Island finals, at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night. - Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer

In an effort to attract more spectators to the National Basketball League (NBL) next season, Ajani Williams, president of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JBA), said his administration will be going all out to extend their entertainment package to rural areas next season.

"We are going to extend our entertainment package to some of the country areas where matches are being held, the same way we did in Kingston," said Williams.

The president added that his association will also be looking to revise the Northern Conference, which involves Ocho Rios and St Mary and that they will also look to providing a supplemental stipend for coaches across the league.

"If a team doesn't raise enough money to pay a coach then the JBA, provided it has raised sufficient funds, will assist these teams and this will help to speed up the development of the sport and also the development of the players," he said.

Williams also expressed mixed feelings following the conclusion of the NBL, which ended last Saturday night with Tivoli Gardens Wizards winning the JBA/Flow All-Island Championship with an 85-72 victory over Majesty Gardens Legends at the National Indoor Sports Centre.

"It has been an immense success but it is a long way off perfection," said Williams. "It is the beginning of creating a model that is a lot more sustainable, that will also attract a lot more corporate sponsors.

"We have had some major successes that is visible to the public and we have gotten some good reviews, but we still have so many imperfections that still need tweaking," Williams said.

"I think that basketball has the ability to add extreme value in its development."

Pleased WITH support

Williams - file

Williams, who is serving the first of his four-year term as head of the JBA, noted that he was pleased with the tremendous level of support that the NBL had received this season and said his administration is planning to pump a lot more resources in next year's competition.

"I think we had the biggest support in terms of fan-base because we had a number of the games at the National Stadium and in Nain, St Elizabeth, that were sold out and we also had an excellent turnout for the finals," Williams said.

Williams was also impressed by the high level of skill and maturity displayed by the players.

"I am superbly excited and impressed by the level of play that a lot of the guys in the league displayed," said Williams, who had short stints with the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association.

"It definitely shows me that there is very solid, fundamental talent here in Jamaica, much more advanced than what I thought it was."

The NBL season began with a new format, which saw the competition divided into four conferences - Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern.

The Southern Conference consists of 12 teams, while each of the other conferences had five. The top five teams in the Southern Conference, along with the other three conference winners, advanced to the national play-offs, which was won by Tivoli Gardens Wizards, which had also beaten Majesty Gardens Legends 2-1 in the best-of-three Southern Conference finals.