BUENOS AIRES (Martín Seldes’ Brave New World) – What we need for our national teams are leaders. Those guys who know how to play in key moments and that are used to playing important games with their clubs.

And that’s something we can check in this part of the year in the different leagues around the world.

Our guys, our 'New World' players are showing why they are part of that group of special players; why their clubs pay them so much and, especially, why their national teams need them.

We will have five national teams playing this (Northern Hemisphere) summer.

Argentina and Brazil are of course already qualified for London 2012, while Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic will be fighting for three spots at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

While the local leagues’ finals are being played in all of these countries –including the provincial tournaments in the DR-, three of the five countries have players in the most important teams of the world.

Let’s start with Carlos Arroyo. As many of you may know, after having the opportunity of signing for a NBA team and play reduced minutes, the 32-year old point guard chose a new league and travelled to Turkey.

As he did last year with Miami, Arroyo will play a new final. Besiktas Milangaz beat Galatasaray Medical Park, the number one seed, in the Semi-Finals. The Puerto Rican scored 23 points in the fourth match and had double figures in the three wins as the series ended 3-1.

JJ Barea decided to stay in the NBA and had a tough season that included injuries and the last position in the Northwest Division.

That doesn’t mean that Arroyo will lead the team and Barea will just wait on his side. But it is sure that Arroyo will make it to the national team full of confidence.

If we can say that the NBA and the Spanish ACB are the two most competitive leagues in the world, we must also say that Brazil has a player in each of the biggest title contenders and top seeded.

Tiago Splitter has become a key element of the San Antonio Spurs joining the famous trio formed by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili.

Splitter changed dramatically from last season, when he was there just to play some minutes and grab some rebounds. He is now part of the best offensive team in the NBA, as he scored 9.3 points per game in the regular season and now averages 7.6 in the playoffs.

The other Brazilian that has a good chance to win a championship is Marcelo Huertas. The point guard is a starter for Barcelona Regal, one of the best teams in Europe, and is the guy that distributes the ball to all his shooters. The team is now playing the semifinal against Valencia.

The last Brazilian that made it far away in the season was Leandrinho. He changed team on time to make it to a playoff contender such as Indiana. Miami was hard to beat but he knows how important was to make it to the Conference semifinals.

If we talk about Argentina, Ginóbili is getting better and better coming off the bench after many injuries. He has been part of the San Antonio Spurs for nine years already and won three NBA titles.

If he remains healthy, the fact that he’s fighting for another title will be great for his national team.
Andrés Nocioni moved to Vitoria to share team with Pablo Prigioni. Caja Laboral is in the Spanish league’s Semi-Finals against Real Madrid. The two have different roles, as the forward couldn’t adapt to the team and the coach yet, while Prigioni seems to be the owner of the ball.

Each of these players has an important role in their clubs, something they will try to keep during the tournaments with the national teams. If they can, their teams will have more chances to make it far.

Martín Seldes

FIBA

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