Bruno Zanotti: ''We must look to the future and work to transform Paraguay into what it should be''

ASUNCION – Basketball in Paraguay is going through a good moment in their mission of rebirthing and now they strive to grow and develop their basketball through a generational rebuild.

With a change in the authorities thanks to the appointment of the new Paraguayan Basketball Confederation’s President, Santiago Ochipinti, the national team started off with the right foot in the FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Pre-Qualifiers. Paraguay secured their space in the Qualifiers by ending second in Group B, after winning the games against Guyana (93-53) and Bolivia (75-73) and losing against the hosts, Colombia (82-93) in Tunja.

The team led by Argentine Luis Oroño features veterans Bruno Zanotti and Guillermo Araújo; and joining them are Luis Ljubetic, Édgar Riveros, Adolfo López, Diego Bareiro, Ramón Sánchez, Federico Mellone, Alejandro Peralta and Diego Lesme.

Sufrimos más de la cuenta, pero objetivo logrado!! Vamos PARAGUAY

— Bruno Zanotti-C (@bzeta7) 24 de febrero de 2019

“The result is positive for Paraguay. We reached our goal even considering that most of the team was off-season and we were coming in with no rhythm, no basketball, and with the bare minimum to be able to participate and reach of objective of getting into the AmeriCup qualifying window. We were able to define the two games against Bolivia and Guyana and fight against a Colombian team that have been working very well and have been bringing in new assets year after year,” said Bruno Zanotti, who plays in Paraguay’s league Libertad, to FIBA.com.

Zanotti was the leader of the tournament in efficiency, with an average of 14.3 and 3.3 percent in assists. In his most recent presentations, the small forward ranked in 32 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

"Paraguay is starting a new process, where there are new players and there’s a rebuilding going on in the national team. There's only two of us, including Guillermo Araújo, that remain from the last group, and there's a generation that's taking the spotlight, and that I hope continues to grow and have a future. That’ll depend on their daily work,” said the veteran player of the Paraguayan national team.

“There are shifts in the Federation that we hope are for the best, and we hope and that there’s a true process of work to bolster the national league and elevate Paraguayan basketball’s level,” he commented.

It was recently announced that Paraguay would include, starting this year, FIBA’s Growth and Development Programme. FIBA’s main mission is to develop and promote basketball by uniting communities and their members, so this program will aid in identifying the needs and granting the tools so that the Paraguayan Basketball Confederation (CPB, for its Spanish acronym) may grow and achieve their mission.

Office, basketball and technological equipment will allow to strengthen the opportunities at a structural level with the human resources that FIBA designates so that the objectives that have been set out may be accomplished.

Regarding this, the 36-year-old player commented: “We would have to focus on a process, look for players, set our sights to the future of what Paraguay has to be. All South American countries are growing and advancing in their local tournaments and we can't stay behind. This is done with a process, looking for young talents and examining what elements are needed so that these guys can grow.”

Coach Luis Oroño also talked about the current team to FIBA.com: “Paraguay went to seek their qualification with two very clear objectives. The first of which was to stay in our category and start considering the rebuilding process that the national team's roster must consider. The team played according to our expectations. The season ended in November and the players weren't in action. We added more young players to the roster, and we started to think about how to develop them, give them category and international level.”

The future is now and Paraguay needs a change, which is why the Argentine coach shared what are his ideas for 2019: “I want to travel the country, find people in different cities or towns, there's many tall people in the countryside and there are several European colonies that may give us a solution, or we could find guys from Paraguay that live in different places around the world. The U-21 national team had a very good participation in the most recent tournament and we already included two of them.”

The CPB's project is to constantly work with the technical staff of the national team and to continue to search for new players. “With Zanotti we talked about the rebuilding process that we need for some of these positions so that we may, together, grant Paraguay what it deserves,” the coach added.

FIBA