Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

RIVALS URBAN KNIGHTS and St George's Slayers are relieved to have a bit more time to recover from the ravages of Hurricane Dean following the Jamaica Basketball Association's (JBA) decision to delay the KFC mid-season final for yet another week.

According to president of the JBA, Marland Nattie, the atmosphere would not have been right for the mid-seasonfinal, as several Jamaicans are still struggling to recover from the effects of the storm.

"It would have been a bit inconsiderate of us to come out and ask the players to play when so many of them and some of our fans still have so much straightening out to do," Nattie said.

The mid-season final was originally scheduled for August 18, but was postponed due to the passage of Hurricane Dean, and again for Saturday (August 25).

The final will now take place on September 1. While anxious to get things over with, the Knights are not concerned about the delay.

"We have been preparing for the game and are anxious to get things under way," said Urban Knights official Maurice Gordon.

"We haven't been too badly affected by the hurricane and have had a couple of training sessions since then but at least now we will be able to get a couple more in."

Challenges

There are no holds barred when the defending champion Slayers and their rivals, the Knights, two of the better organised teams in the league, face off. The Slayers have certainly had the edge in recent times however, beating the Knights for last year's national title and the only meeting between the teams this year. However, in addition to the effects of Dean, they will have other issues to deal with this time around. Three of their players, Lancelot Grandison, Gary Cummings and Shawn Jefferies, have moved to the United States.

"We haven't been able to train since the hurricane, this Wednesday will be our first one, so we'll see how that goes," said Slayers assistant coach Rohan Robinson.

"In a way we are kind of happy that we have got a bit more time to prepare for that game, as it is always a big game," he said. The Slayers will head into the final with an impressive 10-1 record, while the Knights are 8-3.