Caracas (Venezuela), Sep 16 (IANS/CMC): A Jamaican diplomat wants more support for the island’s senior men’s basketball outfit after its performance at the recently contested FIBA Americas Championship here.

Ambassador Sharon Weber said Sunday that the state and corporate Jamaica need to see the sport of basketball as a worthy investment, reports CMC.

"I think it is very important to treat the game more seriously and to allocate resources to the game, which is attracting a number of our youngsters," she told the Observer newspaper.

"It was also very surprising to see the quality of play because basketball is not one of the more popular games in Jamaica," she said.

Weber was impressed with the Jamaicans resolve and despite losing six of their eight games they defeated South American powerhouses Argentina and Brazil.

"We beat Brazil and Argentina and most of the games we lost were very close. Just seeing them beating Argentina was unbelievable. These are teams that are highly regarded in the region and the Jamaica team has really done us very proud in matching the quality and beating some of the strongest teams in the region," Weber said.