FIBAAMERICAS.COM Special issue 03 Feature Digital Scoresheet arrives to revolutionze basketball of the Americas: Looking to continue advancing game for the Bronze medal technologically, FIBA Americas in France where for mistake adapted a new program that will Dejan Bodiroga went out help them with the development of with fouls. 2009 FIBA-Americas Championship August 28, 2009 basketball in the region, called "After that I started to think Digital Scoresheet, developed by about a system to correct Miguel Betancor, Antonio Ojeda and the mistakes made by the Juan Ignacio González who with table officials and also their experience and knowledge in refereeing in an instant. the technical aspects of the game The program started to They got have helped a huge number of develop in 2004 in Europe federations have been benefited and now we are adapting from this tool. it to the necessities of FIBA "We started to test in the U18 Americas who are going to European Championship in Belgrade execute a plan to put it in and we went thru all European the continent." two! tournaments including the Juan González, Antonio Ojeda, Horacio Muratore and Miguel Betancor. Photo: José Jiménez/FIBA Betancor, who has 45 years Euroleague Final Four. The of experience as a referee importance of the Digital Scoresheet is that all the information that is and 22 internationally, being in the best competitions in Europe. He currently recovered in a digital form can have a physical link with the video so you works at Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the center for Sports can review it instantly," said Gonzalez who does seminars and orientations Refereeing along with Ojeda who was never a referee but has learned from to the people who are going to use the program. Betancor. Betancor supervises the operation and since he was a former FIBA referee, In America this program was used in the II Marchand Continental he still gives new ideas to continue improving the utility while Ojeda and Championship Cup and then in the FIBA Americas Championship where the Gonzalez are the ones who know the technology of this program who table officials and referees have adaptec quickly. The teams have seen the combines the play by play with video, being a valuable tool to study the utility of this program in the Technical meeting and they ask for dvd's after teams. the game to study their team and opponents. This program started with an idea from Betancor after he officiated a Photo: José Jiménez/FIBA turkey2010.fiba.com STAFF Three Puerto Ricans in action: Walter Hodge, from USVI, tries to penetrate against the towers Peter John Ramos Javier Otero - Director of Comnunication FIBA-Américas and Daniel Santiago, but Puerto Rico won by 11 points. Chu García - Editor Fernando Luis Rolón - Creative Director Luis ModHeightti - Comunications Albert Ortiz - Comunications/IT Assistant SCHeduLE Néstor Rodríguez fibaamericas.com - Eligibility & Doping Control Friday 28 saturday 28 Sunday 30 José Jiménez - Photography 1:30 ARG vs BRA 1:30 MEX vs ISV 1:30 URU vs MEX FIBA GLOBAL PARTNERS FIBA-Américas photo Archive and El Nuevo Día newspaper 4:00 ISV vs CAN 4:00 CAN vs URU 4:00 BRA vs PAN 6:30 VEN vs PAN 6:30 DOM vs VEN 6:30 ARG vs DOM 9:00 URU vs PUR 9:00 PAN vs ARG 9:00 PUR vs CAN 03 Did you Know? negative record for Mexico Puerto Rico faces Uruguay tonight and in four previous games in World Championship qualifiers, where the Uruguayans have lost every time by a large margin. The dominance by Puerto Rico started in 1993 in San Juan, where they won 128-62, then in Montevideo in 1997 the win was 102-87; in Neuquen it was 90-70 and then in Santo Domingo the win was 95-80. Despite all that Uruguay is a formidable opponent this year because of their chemistry shown on day one against US Virgin Islands. FIBA Secretary General, Patrick Baumann, will arrive in Puerto Rico on September 5 to be part of the semifinals and the next day the finals, like he always does in the most important tournaments. This way he will certify the four teams that will play in the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey. Without counting yesterday's games, Argentina had two losses in a row, three in Photo: José Jiménez/FIBA the II Marchand Continental Championship Francisco Garcia, to the right, he been the best Dominican player for the NBA in this tournament by making 24 points against Cup and then on Wednesday against Panama yesterday who lost 100-87 despite dominating the first half. Venezuela. In the actual FIBA Ranking, Argentina is first with 881 points, 11.9 more Mexico entered the negative record book in international basketball after losing against Canada 95-40, than USA. breaking the minimum amount of points scored by a team in a FIBA Americas Championship held by Panama The rest in the Americas are: Puerto Rico, who netted 52 against the USA Dream Team who scored 112 in 1992. 11, with 232.6; Brasil, 18, with 173.6; Five Canadian players scored in double figures while Noe Alonzo was the only one for Mexico with 10. Canadá, 19, with 136.2; Venezuela, 23, with In the second game the first half was won Panama but at the end the Dominican Republic won 100-87 85.2; Uruguay, 28, with 36.0; México, 29; achieving their first win after losing to Brazil on day one. with 35.2; Panamá, 30; with 34.6; Dominican Francisco Garcia led the NBA trio with 27 points, including seven free throws in the same number of Republic 31, with 34.7; and USVI 36, with attempts. 24. Charlie Villanueva, of the Milwaukee Bucks, had 15 points and 10 rebounds, but Al Horford of Atlanta If it was for this ranking, the Dominicans cooperated with only 10. will not qualify for the World Championship, but the Canadians will. Danilo Pinnock led Panama with 27 points, including five three pointers. We will wait... Jaime Lloreda was key on defense with 14 rebounds and 19 points. 2 03 Americas Legends Arroyo drowns the US Virgin Islands Key Player Guerrero continues their legacy In the Americas basketball history there were many great players who never played in the NBA but arrived to the Olympic Mountain due to their accomplishments. Mexico, who left a glorious legacy led by Arturo Guerrero, nicknamed "Mano Santa" (Hands of Saint), like Brazilian Oscar Schmidt and Puerto Rican Salvador Dijols, because of their great aim, and now the Mexican coaches the national team for the second time. Born in Leon, Guanajuato in 1945, he was a member of the national team for almost 20 years, playing in the Central American and Caribbean Games, Pan- American Games, Olympics and FIBA World Championships. Guerrero not only was a great scorer but his injuries never left him without 15 playing for his country and having desire to win. ESTEBAN BATiSTA The Puerto Ricans remember him for his duels with Raymond Dalmau in many international stages. When the news was spread in In his prime, Guerrero was the best scorer in the 1974 FIBA World Championship America, not a lot of people could have in San Juan and the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. believed it: an Uruguayan player was From 1990-1994, he was the head coach of the national team, with success, just signed in the NBA, in 2005, by the but many problems in his federation left him out until now. Atlanta Hawks. Esteban Batista, center who was born in Montevideo on September 2, 1983, had marvelled the international scene Puerto Rico history in FIBA because of his rebounding power. He stayed in the NBA until 2007 and then World championships played in Europe. In his first games in the professional Puerto Rican sports historian, Carlos Uriarte, has collected all the participations field, Batista, who is 6'10", didn't play of Puerto Rico in the FIBA World Championships, starting in Chile in 1959. a lot in 2001 but his improvement was In the Chilean capital, Puerto Rico finished fifth with a 3-6 record and they were shown in the next season and in 2004 coached by Victor Mario Perez. with Trouville he averaged 20.1 points With North American coach Lou Rossini, they were sixth in Brazil in 1963, also and 15 rebounds per game. 3-6 while in Uruguay (1967) they were 12 with 2-6 and Fufi Santori as the coach. Since then, his fame transcended Seven years later at Coliseo Roberto Clemente, they were seventh with 2-5 and overseas where he played for Maccabi Armando Torres as the head coach; in 1978 they traveled to the Phillipines as they Tel Aviv in the Israeli Premier League were tenth with 4-3 and Vitito Ojeda as coach. and is currently with Fuenlabrada in the In 1986 they competed in Spain with Caco Cancel as coach, finishing 15th with Spanish ACB where he has a three year a 2-3 mark. Their best job was in the 1990 tournament led by coach Raymond Dalmau deal. as they finished fourth, ending with a 6-2 record and beating champion Yugoslavia. Despite his young age he is mature Carlos Morales coached the teams in 1994 (Canada) and 1998 in Greece as they and can rebound against bigger and ended 3-5; At 2002 in Indianapolis they were 6-3 under Julio Toro who continued Manolo Cintron, gesticulates like he always does, to ask for his player to Photo: José Jiménez/FIBA stronger players.