Brazil and Puerto Rico will face off tonight in the gold medal game of the 2009 FIBA Americas Championships. Both teams, along with Canada and Argentina, have secure berth for next year's world championships to be held in Istanbul, Turkey. The winner of what sure to be an exiting contest, will have bragging rights for two years.
With the tournament competition, all but completed, its time to look back and analyze what the world learned of this, ten-strong, regional championship.
1- We learned that Puerto Rico can play against anyone. Much as the women volleyball team learned last July when they played point-to-point against such powerhouses as Russia, Brazil and the United States, the men basketball team lost its ;respect' for NBA laden teams. The Boricuas overcame the stellar play of Charlie Villanueva (Detroit Pistons), Al Horfird (Atlanta Hawks) and Francisco Garcia (Sacramento Kings) to defeat an inspire Dominican Republic.
Two nights later, the team did the same against heavy favorite Brazil. The Cariocas are lead by two NBA starters (Leandro Barbosa-Phoenix Suns and Andersen Varejao-Cleveland Cavaliers), a center who should be playing in that league-that's further down-Tiago Splitter and a host of top end perimeter players such as Alex Garcia and Marcelo Machado. Puerto Rico, not only shut their attack down, but surged for a 19 point lead before a frenetic Brazilian counter attack scaled the lead back to single digits.
Now the team needs to take the next step. Turkey could be the platform in which Puerto Rico re-emerge as a basketball powerhouse.
2-We learned that Ricardo 'Ricky' Sanchez is ready for prime time. The 6-foot-4 guard/forward showed off his incredible ability playing shutdown defense and constantly hitting game-change three pointers. He still need some refinement on his jump shoot, but he is a slasher who can defense with the best of them. With only 22- years old, the sky is the future.
3-We learned that Carlos Arroyo belongs in the NBA. The Puertorrican point guard will always be somewhat of a defensive liability, but what he brings to the table more than compensate for it. He lead the team in minutes, points and assist. His 17.1 points per game are the best since the 2006 World Championships. Plus, his turnovers-less than 3 a night-are a personal best on the international scene. An NBA team will give this talented, and now savvy, PG a call soon.
4-We learned that 7-foot-3 center Peter John Ramos is the real deal. The 24-year old followed a breakthrough season in Puerto Rico's Superior Basketball League with a huge tournament. Yes, he will never be mistakes for Oscar Robinson or Shaquile O'Neil, but this mountain of man had demonstrated that he too belongs with an NBA franchise. Ten points and eight rebounds a night versus the likes of Horford and Splitter proves that.
5-We learned that Larry Ayuso still have a lot to offer on the international scene. Everybody knows about Ayuso's offense. But it his defense which was a great surprise to many. The sharp shooting guard posted career best in steals with 1.3 pg. He also showcased something many pundits believe he do not have: passion for defense. His defensive pressure against Alex Garcia was one of the key reason the Island beat Brazil last Friday.
6-We learned that Angel Vassallo and Guillermo Diaz are ready for a bigger role. Both guards showed much promises in limited action. Vassallo will never be a fluid inside scorer or a top end defender, but his jump shoot is solid, a coveted trait for many teams. As for Diaz, he is the defender Vassallo isn't. He only needs to develop his offensive skills and then, watch out!
7-We learned that Manolo Cintron is a good coach. Despite criticisms for rotation changes, he has managed to keep a very talented and inexperience group of players on an even keel. No small feat in an era of big egos.
Here is a list of other things we learned about the rest of the ten team field.
1-We learned that no matter who is coaching (legendary Julio Toro) and how many NBA stars (3-Villanueva, Garcia and Horford), a team needs more than consistency out of its point guard in a high level competition. Case in point: the Dominican Republic. No matter how many points Garcia and Villanueva scored or how many boards and blocks Horford had, they could not overcome the lack of a pure PG on the team. Luis Flores, a natural shooting guard, does not posses the skills and mentality to run an offense by himself. Neither does Kelvin Pena. The lack of production-assist-out of the point is one of the reason the Dominicans will stay home in 2010.
2- We learned that Brazil has the best overall talent. No question about it. Barbosa (20.7ppg) Varejao (14.2-8.2 rpg) and Splitter (9.2-7) are stars. Machado (9.2 ppg) and Garcia are better-than-average play makers The rest of the squad is deep with a host of players (Guilherme Giovanoni, Joao Batista and Marcelo Huertas for example) that start for much of the teams in the region. With high energy head coach Jose Monsalve running s tight ship, this team, if it remains together, is poise for a big role in Turkey nest summer.
3-We learned that one talented man can lift an good, but inconsistent team. Luis Scola not only led the Championships in scoring (22.9-53.8%) he was a demon on the boards (7.1 rpg) and a good distributer of the ball (2.4 apg). He single handily lifted what was an underachieving Argentinian team to the final four. His performance against Puerto Rico (25 points – 12 boards) on Thursday was nothing short of spectacular.
4-We learned that sometimes the sum of all pieces is better than the individual parts. Canada, which enter the tournament with a collection of average players and two (Joel Anthony-Miami Heat and Carl English) good ones, is on its way to Istanbul thanks to a the contribution of Andy Rautins, Jessie Young and Levon Kendall. Not the most recognized trio out there.
5-We learned that Panama needs to get young in a hurry if they plan to stay with the big boys.
6-We learned that Mexico without the just retiring Horacio Llamas will be painful to watch unless its young players (Gustavo Ayon and Lorenzo Mata) are more seasoned. Kudos to head coach Arturo Guerrero for placing what was one of the least talented teams in the quarterfinals.
7-We learned that every time Jose 'El Grillo” Vargas wear the Venezuelan national uniform his game disappear Vargas, one of the best scores in the Venezuelan league, looked at times lost on the court.
8-We learned that Puerto Rican-born Walter Hodge (US Virgin Island) is the real deal. Sadly, he plays for a team that lacks top tier talent. The 22-year old PG average 12.8 ppg to go along with 3.5 assists a night.
9-We learned that sometimes, even an overachieving team has its limits. Uruguay came into the championships with little chances to made it to Turkey. But after a solid first week that included an upset over Canada (71-69), their shortcomings-lack of a complement for Esteban Batista-were clearly exposed.
This has been a tournament for the ages. A tournament that had left us with much to digest.
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