11 FIBAAMERICAS.COM special Edition 11 Feature Coaches give respect for the FIBA Americas Championship There is not doubt that the FIBA Americas Championship has fulfilled all expectations with great games, emotion and some surprises. That is the way that some coaches think about this tournament who also said that 2009 FIBA Americas Championship September 5, 2009 it has been a high level and tough competition for all of them. Mexican national team head coach, Arturo "Mano Santa" Guerrero, didn't have all his weapons in this tournament and even threw out Romel Beck due to disciplinary reasons, but reached the Quarterfinals where they won their last game against Panama. "FIBA Americas is one of the toughest zones in the World, for us in an honor to play here but unfortunately luck wasn't in our side. We hope to be in the top places in the next tournaments," said Guerrero. " We need a 100% participation from our players and also they need to assist to be in the best teams," he added. On the other side is Argentinean Sergio Hernandez, who started with a Arturo Guerrero 0-2 record but has won six straight to qualify directly for the FIBA World Championship despite not having his main figures. "This is a tournament that you have to play ten games in twelve days so we have to give our players some rest. There are really good teams and we have to play well every night," said Hernandez who coaches Peñarol Mar del Plata in Argentina. Finally Leo Rautins, coach of the Canadian team who just qualified for the FIBA World Championship, was happy with the win over the Dominican Republic and at the same time recognized the cost of the qualification. "It was a tournament where we had our highs and lows, very tough for all of us, but we qualified for the FIBA World Championship," said Rautins about Canada who had a 4-4 record, including the first round. Leo Rautins Sergio Hernández Photo: José Jiménez/FIBA Anderson Varejao, Alex García and Marcelo Huertas witness Larry Ayuso make six free throws after their head coach, Moncho Monsalve, was thrown off the game. turkey2010.fiba.com sour win for Puerto Rico GLOBAL PARTNERS Canada surprise the Dominican Republic Standing player of the day MAIN SPONSORS Grupo X Ángel G W L Pts G W L Pts Vassallo BRA 7 6 1 13 DOM 7 3 4 10 Ángel Daniel Vassallo PUR 7 6 1 13 URU 7 2 5 9 graduated yesterday with 20 points, 17 of them in Javier Otero - Director of Communications FIBA-Américas Luis Modestti - Communications José Jiménez - Photography ARG 7 6 1 13 MEX 7 1 6 8 the second quarter when STAFF Chu García - Editor Albert Ortiz - Communications/IT Assistant FIBA-Americas photo Archive CAN 7 3 4 10 PAN 7 1 6 8 Brazil tried to break away. Fernando Luis Rolón - Creative Director Néstor Rodríguez - Eligibility & Doping Control and El Nuevo Día newspaper 11 DID YOU KNOW? Mexico beats Panama and finished seventh That until now the Dominican Republic has participated in only one FIBA World Championship, in Manila, Philipines in 1978 reaching 12 place of 14 teams as Yugoslavia defeated the Soviet Union 82- 81. Brazil was the best in Americas reaching third place. T his event, held from October 1-14, the Dominican Republic had a 2-4 record by beating Senegal, 80-76 and Korea, 113-93. They lost against the United States 104- 65; Australia, 74-72; Czech Republic, 115- 112; and Puerto Rico, 119-89. In today's semifinals the teams that will face each other are 2-3 and 1-4 of Group X (Quarterfinals). The standing only decided ninth and tenth place as Venezuela ended with a 1- 3 record and US Virgin Islands 0-4. Venezuela allowed 314 points and scored 296 for a -18 while USVI is 266-340, for -74. Horacio Llamas: retires from the national team with 18 points. Photo: José Jiménez/FIBA The Dominican Republic woke up as the Despite finishing with a 2-6 record, Mexico left the FIBA Americas Championship with a win over Panama leader in points (82.1), rebounds (41.6) and 74-67 to finish seventh in the tournament. blocks (4.4). At the same time they lost to The first half was dominated by the Mexicans 39-32 led by Horacio Llamas who scored 18 points like his Canada and finished outside of a FIBA teammate Anthony Pedroza. World Championship berth. This was the final game for Llamas in the national team after he announced his retirement. The Canadians led in assists with 17.9 Panama was led once again by Danilo Pinnock with 20 points. Jaime Lloreda grabbed 13 rebounds, the and the Dominicans were 17.7. same as his rival, Gustavo Ayón. Brazil was first in points allowed with 64 Argentina beat Uruguay 73-67 and finished third in the Quarterfinals. per game. Luis Scola played 20 minutes and scored 19 points and Leo Gutierrez scored four three pointers. Esteban Batista had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Uruguayans. 2 11 11 AMERICAS LEGENDS Canada qualifies and faces Brazil KEY PLAYER Raymond Dalmau, proud to be a Pirate Nobody has had more success than Raymond Dalmau of all the Puerto Rican coaches that have played in the Superior League and the National Team. He played for 20 seasons and he won four titles (1970, 1977, 1978 and 1979). Dalmau, who is 60 years old, was honored recently by placing his name in the new Quebradillas coliseum and he finished with 11,592 points and 5,673 rebounds, averaging 21.6 and 10.6, respectively. As a coach he won some titles and guided Puerto Rico to a fourth place in the 1990 FIBA World Championship. In that tournament Puerto Rico was the only one who defeated Yugoslavia, who won Gold and reached the semifinals undefeated but lost to the Soviet Union and the United States 4 107-105 to leave the podium. He played in the 1968 (Mexico), 1972 (Munich) and 1976 (Montreal) Olympic games. PEter John Ramos In the 1968 Olympics he was only 19 years old and got 104 points, playing alongside Teo Cruz, Bill McCadney, Rubén Adorno, Jaime Frontera, Guabina Gutiérrez, Joe Hatton, Tito The majority of the coaches consulted Ortiz, Caco Cancel, Francisco Córdova, Alberto Zamot and Adolfo Porrata. In Germany he about the job done by Peter John Ramos made 106 points and 99 in Montreal. have agreed that his improvement is His three sons, Richie, Ricardo and Christian, have represented Puerto Rico in many incredible comparing it to the 2007 FIBA international competitions. Christian is currently a member of the national team. Americas Championship which was held in Las Vegas before the Olympics in Photo: cortesy Primera Hora Beijing. Without including the last game he was averaging 11.3 points, behind Arroyo and Ayuso while he led on rebounds with 8.9 along with Gustavo Ayon who also played in Fuenlabrada Three legends at the ACB. With 24 years of age, the giant wants Honored to come back to the NBA after playing for the Washington Wizards who selected him with the 32 pick in the second round of the 2004 tournament. FIBA Americas President, Horacio Muratore, and Ramos played in the NBDL with Secretary General, Alberto Garcia, honored three Roanoke Dazzle and with Idaho legends of Americas basketball: Mexican Arturo Stampede, being in the 2006-2007 All Guerrero, Cuban Ruperto Herrera and Puerto Rican Star game but could not play due to Raymond Dalmau. injury. This was done before the game between Brazil and Peter John, who is 7'3 tall, was in Puerto Rico. Christian Dalmau represented his father Fuenlabrada for a couple of seasons, who could not make it to the event. mostly as a reserve and he wants to come back to the NBA. He assisted to the Houston Rockets camp before this Alberto García, left and Horacio Muratore, extreme right, Secretary General and President of FIBA Americas, Andy Rautins hugs Jesse Young and Tyler Kepkay joins the celebration. Photo: José Jiménez/FIBA respectively, honored legends Arturo Guerrero, of México. Ruperto Herrera, of Cuba and Raymond Dalmau, from tournament. Puerto Rico, who was not present and was represented by his son, Christian. He has been in the senior team since In the most emotional game at the FIBA Americas Championship, Puerto Rico defeated Brazil, but could 2004 and along with Jose Juan Barea not finish first after they only won by four and they needed six or more points. at the U19 and U21 tournaments. The score was 86-82 and they will face Argentina today while Brazil takes on Canada. This weekend he is key in the aspirations The trio of Larry Ayuso, Carlos Arroyo and Ángel Daniel Vassallo scored 61 points and the first made 11 of Puerto Rico to reach the first places. free throws and four three pointers. Vassallo netted 17 points in the first half. Anderson Varejao led Brazil with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Tiago Splitter had 19. Guard Marcelo Huertas and Alex Garcia played 40 minutes because an injury left Leandro Barbosa out. Head coach Moncho Monsalve was thrown out of the game after two technical fouls. Meanwhile Canada defeated the Dominican Republic 80-76 and secured the final berth for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Jermaine Anderson led the Canadians who scored 14 three pointers and the Dominicans only scored 5. 6 In rebounds the Dominican Republic dominated 44-24. puertorico2009.FIBAAMERICAs.com 3 11 BOX SCORE 2009 FIBA AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIP PAN 67 GAME 33 DOM 76 GAME 35 Pinnock VillaNUEVA 20 pts 17 pts 4 asists 5 reb MEX74 CAN80 Llamas 18 Pts Anderson 7 reb 21 pts 5 asists GAME 34 uru 66 GAME 36 bra 82 batista 20 pts Varejao 10 reb 22 Pts ARG 73 10 Reb PUR 86 Scola 19 Pts Ayuso 8 reb 25 Pts 4 4 tHREE PTS 5 11 BOX SCORE 2009 FIBA AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIP PAN 67 GAME 33 DOM 76 GAME 35 Pinnock VillaNUEVA 20 pts 17 pts 4 asists 5 reb MEX74 CAN80 Llamas 18 Pts Anderson 7 reb 21 pts 5 asists GAME 34 uru 66 GAME 36 bra 82 batista 20 pts Varejao 10 reb 22 Pts ARG 73 10 Reb PUR 86 Scola 19 Pts Ayuso 8 reb 25 Pts 4 4 tHREE PTS 5 11 11 AMERICAS LEGENDS Canada qualifies and faces Brazil KEY PLAYER Raymond Dalmau, proud to be a Pirate Nobody has had more success than Raymond Dalmau of all the Puerto Rican coaches that have played in the Superior League and the National Team.