Greivis and Venezuela ready for the future

BUENOS AIRES (Martín Seldes' Brave New World) - Greivis Vásquez is only 25 years old but his skills inside the court and his leadership characteristics all around put him as the one to follow in Venezuelan Basketball.

He's not alone. Twenty years ago, Carl Herrera was playing in the NBA and leading the national team to their best results ever. Greivis now finds himself in that position.

He is the link between the old (I mean experienced) guys such as Oscar Torres and Héctor Romero and the young guys such as David Cubillán, Néstor Colmenares, Windi Graterol and, especially, the young and promising Gregory Echenique, just to mention a few.

They were all part of the team that made it to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) which they will host in July. And believe me, they are not satisfied with that.

"This is just the beginning of a new era in Venezuelan Basketball", said Greivis, who averaged 8.9 points and 5.4 assists in 25 minutes per game as a guard for the New Orleans Hornets during the 2011-12 NBA season.

"We are all committed to the National team and will give our best to win the South American Championship and then clinch the spot to London at the OQT," he added.

We interrupted what Greivis said while he was receiving his country's flag by the government to talk about the South American Tournament and the historical chance Venezuela has this year.

The tournament will start in Chaco, Argentina, on June 18th, and Venezuela will be the only one to play with their first team. Therefore, they have real chances of winning it for the first time in their history playing away from home. In 1991, Venezuela won the same tournament but playing in Valencia, a city 150 kilometres away from Caracas.

After that, the team made it to their one Olympic Games, in Barcelona 1992 with Herrera and friends. Greivis will have more chances after 2012 but he doesn't want to wait for them.

That's not the only reason why Venezuela play with the first team. Two weeks later, they will have another great chance as they will host a tremendously difficult international tournament. And we know how important chemistry is in this sort of short event.

Venezuela will have the difficult task of hosting a tournament against four European teams that are favorites to make it to London. And don't forget about Puerto Rico.

The hosts will face Nigeria and Lithuania in Group B to fight for two Quarter-Final spots, a must-win game. After that, the team will have a chance to make it to London, as they will have to win the Semi-Finals or the 3rd place match to get into the Olympics.

"Everything we do and the sacrifices we will be passing through will be in order to make this generation have better conditions and make it to the most important international events. This is just the beginning,'" explained Greivis.

Wow. He really sees the big picture. Even when they have an enormous tree in front of them.

"The most important thing for us is that we understand that we will dominate the South American Tournament, the first of many achievements, and then we will make it to one of many Olympic Games of our times", he added.

Brazil and Argentina, the two most important teams of the region, will play the tournament with their second teams, while their stars are playing the final games of the leagues or are just resting.

The prize for a good South American tournament is one of three spots for the next FIBA Americas Championship. These three teams - Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela - are expected to take them.

Martín Seldes

FIBA

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