Late notification has robbed Bermuda?s national basketball team of their head coach and more than half a team for this Saturday?s clash with the NBA Legends.

Only seven members of the Island Games gold winning squad will take to the court at Warwick Academy to take on a side that includes former Bulls star Craig Ehlo as well as NBA assistant coaches Wali Jones and Elston Turner.

But top pro Sullivan Phillips is being flown in specially for the game, bolstering Roderick Spencer?s team ? even though Spencer himself will be absent from the exhibition game.

?Apparently this has been in the pipeline for a while but we were only given a couple of weeks notice,? said Spencer, who took his side to Gibraltar to claim the Island Games? top prize in June.

?Unfortunately a lot of guys are on vacation or have work commitments. We have a training squad of 15 but only seven of them are going to be in the 12 that will play this weekend.

?Even I won?t be here, I booked my trip about three days before we found out about this game ? I would have moved it if I had known but we weren?t given a lot of time.

?But Sulli is being flown in by Meyer Travel for the game so we will be looking to build a team around him and Gavin Mackenzie, one of my assistants, is going to be in charge and I have every faith in him.?

Despite the missing bodies, Spencer is confident the team that will suit up on Saturday is going to be strong enough to match their older, but vastly more experienced rivals ? at least at the start.

?We are basically missing three out of our first five,? said Spencer, who was pleased with his charges in their 88-82 exhibition defeat last month to another touring former NBA team.

?But their immediate replacements are still here so the real test comes when we have to use our bench. We have a few younger guys from the local league who are stepping up and how we do is about how well they cope coming off the bench.?

Despite the short notice, Spencer is still pleased to be getting his team back on court again, particularly as he thought the national team programme was set to grind to a halt after the last exhibition just three weeks ago.

At the end of that game, played out in front of a sell-out 400 fans, Spencer admitted he didn?t know when his team would play again ? but the future is now looking brighter with the Investment Atlanta and Investment Bermuda group who are bringing in the stars this weekend, set to ensure regular touring teams in the coming years.

?We have to be careful not to play games just for the sake of games,? continued Spencer.

?But assuming these matches fit in with what we are trying to do and with our sponsors, of course we are keen to see the side play in these matches.

?It is always a good experience for ourplayers and it is important that we keep the team together.

?I have a plan for the coming years which sees us play some games off the Island next year, not necessarily tournaments but just tour games, to prepare for the Island Games in 2007 in Rhodes.

?The guys are already pretty hyped about that because Rhodes have won the gold the last three Games but weren?t there in Gibraltar. Three of the top four sides were but we want to play Rhodes in Rhodes and show we can take gold again.

?Beyond that I would be interested in the Caribbean championships and the Concacaf tournaments. Any games we played here against experienced teams would, I?m sure, be beneficial if we are given enough notice to get our best team together.?

Spencer also believes the future is looking bright in terms of individual accomplishment, with the head coach confident that a player can emulate the achievements of UK pro Phillips.

Gram Robinson, a 27-year-old shooting guard who played in the Final Four with Florida Southern College, is regarded by Spencer as good enough to play pro, probably in Europe, but the next big thing is still very much a junior.

Erica Woods, 13, is ?something really special? and has starred in Under 18 junior camps, outplaying many of her male counterparts despite her tender years. (National squad players) Sullivan Phillips, Jason Lowe, Gram Robinson, Dean Jones, Ryan Rabain, John Lee, Derek Ali.Tyrone Corbin, Lester Conner, Craig Ehlo, Wali Jones, Jerrod Mustaf, Elston Turner, Alfonso Johnson Jr., Ennis Whatley.