NT Bolivia Postgame
The fans in the Jungle were anxious to see some National team competition as the two teams, Bolivia and the United States, hit the hardwood and gave us a game but in the end the USA dominated througout and won 109-74.
Both teams focused their offense around inside tactics with each team having a big man with a big game Gismondi for Bolivia and Renteria for the United States. After the 1st quarter the United States led 32-18 and you could feel the excitement from the United States fans and players thinking they had this in the bag. However, Bolivia put up a fight in the second and matched the United States in points but i'm sure their morale was down heading into halftime because at the buzzer to end the half, US PF Cliff Gonzales hit an and-1 buzzerbeater shot and completed the free throw! Sources say as the shot was attempted Cliff was caught saying, "Can't touch this". The second half was much of the same story with the United States scoring 28 a piece in the final 2 quarters holding Bolivia to only 35 points. The US had a balanced attack with 5 players scoring in double digits and all atleast scoring 4 or more. Under the new +/- stat every US player was positive.. while our Bolivia counterparts all had negative. Irwin Velasco had the highest +/- ratio with +28 and also was tied second with Arzapalo in scoring with 14. This was a great first game for the National Team and Coach Jfarb001 as they now look ahead, put the win behind him, and gear up for next week!
In the postgame news conference, I was able to get ahold of the stars of the game and ask them the questions that really mattered!
Jairo Alejandro Renteria:
Me - "So Jairo, congrats on the big game and the big win!"
Jairo - "Gracias!"
Me - "What was the reason to your success?"
Jairo - "Hemos jugado mi juego, me ocupé de mi partido y dominó la pintura"
Me - "Alright... uhh one second.. (after spending 10 minutes in a Spanish dictionary)... aww you said We played my game, I took care of my matchup and dominated the paint."
Jairo - "Si!"
Me - "Well lets see here.. 18 points, 17 rebounds, and 5 assist, you had a great game!"
Jairo - "Yo ni siquiera sabía que las estadísticas de mi .. pero yo estoy haciendo mi parte ... y también ser una bestia .. pero ahora hay que mirar hacia adelante a Ecudor."
Me - "*sigh* (10 more minutes of translating..) Ohh interesting you said.. I didn't even know my stats.. but I'm just doing my part... and also being a beast.. but now have to look forward to Ecuador."
Jairo - "Si!"
Me - "alright well I'll let you go once again congrats!"
Inez Arzapalo:
Me - "Hey Inez! Great game!"
Inez - "Thanks, Just playing the game.."
Me - "Well you played one heck of one, what was your mindset heading into tonight?"
Inez - "Just focus on my job, when I take my shots make them, limit mistakes, and have fun out there."
Me - " Well you did shoot 6-9 and tied Velasco for second in scoring, kept your mistakes to a mininum, and looked like you were having a blast out there, so I think job well done.
Inez - "Yeah, Bolivia has an up and coming team and some good ball players, hats off to them, but we got to focus on our next game"
Me - " Finally Inez, what do you think about new coach Jfarb001 on his first game as NT coach?"
Inez - " He's doing a great job, I know it's only one game but you got to start somewhere and this was a great start!"
Finally I reached Jfarb001 about his thoughts on tonights game:
Jfarb001 - "Well, we did what we were expected to do, but I am pleased with the effort that the team put in today. Jairo and Inez dominated up front and thats what we needed. We can't afford to take anyone lightly in this tournament if we want to achieve our goals. HEY VELASCO, SINCE YOU THINK YOU ARE THE STAR OF THE TEAM, YOU ARE BUYING EVERYONE DINNER TONIGHT!!!"
Velasco - " Well that's the price I pay I guess ;)"
You could feel the suicides that were coming after that comment.
Last edited by SpF at 1/24/2011 10:56:40 PM