Cape Verde: Peter Cipriano joins national team for Athens

[by Kris SANTIAGO] - Cape Verdean-American Peter Cipriano decided to join the national team for the Olympic Qualifiers in Athens. 

The 2, 06 meters tall inside player from New Jersey should be able to help Cape Verde instantly due to his physique as the team lacks a true inside presence. 

Cipriano played his college ball at Southern University where he earned All-SWAC first-team honors and went on to have a pro career in Europe where he played in Germany for BG Karlsruhe in the BBL. 

He had to adjust to the European game and struggled therefore in Karlsruhe, who faced financial problems and were later relegated to a lower division the same year. 

Even with all the obstacles he had faced early in his career, he got a job in Finland where he joined Kouvot Kouvala in the first Finnish division and contributed heavily to the team's success with his strong rebounding skills (around nine boards per game speak for itself).

Kouvot made it way to the finals (As the third seed) where they lost after four hard-fought games to champions Espoon Honka. 

Besides his nine rebounds, Cipriano scored ten points per game and had a more then solid season in his second year as a professional basketball player. 

Besides Cipriano, there are plans to bring in a new local (altogether with an American coach) coach after Emannuel Trovoada left to coach in Angola. 

No names presented to me now, but let's wait and see who else is going to represent the small country at the tournament.... 

(Thanks to Dan Klotz for providing me regularly with the latest news regarding the national team!)