THE Bermuda men's basketball squad flew out yesterday to take part in this weekend's Toronto Basketball Association's Summer Tournament.

Head coach Roderick Spencer said the standard will be higher than the Island Games and was an opportunity to give up and coming players a baptism of fire. A mix of name players and rookies hoping to impress will play a minimum of three games in the four-team tournament.

Spencer said the side will be up against teams made up of Division One college players in the United States who are back in Canada for the vacation.

"They will also have quite a few Canadians who play in semi-pro and pro leagues around the world who are back home.

"I expect the standard to be a little bit higher than the Island Games ¿ it will be a good test, especially for the younger guys.

"I really want to see what they can do against quality opposition. All too often they do well locally but when they get overseas they get a little shell shocked."

He is hoping to get big performances out of novices Akil Smith, Jason Simons, Vernon Lambe and Lloyd Peterkin.

But the squad is also bolstered by key men Chris Crumpler, Steven Simons, John Lee and of course pro-player Sullivan Phillips who has plied his trade all around the world.

"He's ready to play. He really enjoys playing with us. I coached Sullivan when he was a little boy so he is always anxious to come and play for me again.

"He was nursing a bit of an injury but he has fully recovered from that."

Spencer said Sullivan was a vital presence on the court and off.

"He teaches guys about how to be professional and focus. Even though he has a multitude of skills and can play just about any position on the court, but he's also great in talking to the guys.

"Because they respect him so much sometimes he can say the same thing as the coach is saying and have a different effect. He's a great team player more than anything.

"I am hoping to see quite a bit out of Dean Jones and Damon Saunders," added Spencer.

Missing from the line-up are Greg Todd and Dale Jackson while Phil Davis is on the trip as team manager because he is nursing an Achilles strain.

Bermuda go to Canada every year to blood youngsters while in Island Games years it's a useful warm-up before final selection.

"Last year we went up to the Niagra Falls area and found it very competitive."

Spencer said the Bermuda national team had been invited to other overseas tournaments but will be turning the offers down because of funding shortages.

"For this trip our guys are paying for it out of their own pocket. It would be a little unfair to ask them to do the same thing again at the end of the summer.

"We have been getting tons of invites since we have been getting success at the Island Games ¿ people have been hearing about us and want to play against us."

The national team is looking into entering the Caribbean Championships next year but is assessing the eligibility rules. It would pit Bermuda up against much better teams.

"For our region it's probably right behind the Olympics and the Pan Am Games for importance. All the big teams from our region will be there.

"There are teams like Puerto Rico who beat the US 'Dream Team'. There's the US Virgin Islands, Jamaica and Cuba ¿ very big powerful teams." Spencer said.

Bermuda was capable of being a top-four team at the Island Games every time having won it recently and coming second last year against Monaco who were entirely made-up of pros from the Spanish league, which is one of the best in the world.

"We lost by three points but missed 18 free throws. But to go to the Caribbean Championships would involve a totally new approach ¿ we might even have to adjust our style of play a bit."