Herrera and Romero must put differences aside in Venezuela's interest

BUENOS AIRES (Martín Seldes' Brave New World) - Venezuela is about to host one of the most important tournaments of its basketball history. If it wants to have a good chance to make it to London, for its second Olympic appearance ever, believe me, the team needs to be united.

A couple of weeks ago, one of Venezuela's top player fought indirectly with the best player of all-time, who is now a coach.

It happened on 30 March when Hector Romero's team was facing a team coached by Carl Herrera, the first Venezuelan to make it to the NBA.

Trotamundos was about to beat Gigantes with only five seconds to go in the game when Herrera decided to leave together with his players to the dressing rooms. The fans were assaulting the visiting team and the coach took a decision that bothered many people, including Romero's father.

The two big men had a discussion before Herrera punched Pepito's father, also called Héctor.

Aside from the problems and conflicts a fight can create, the player said he wouldn't play for the national team if Herrera becomes an assistant coach, which was one of the projects.

Things calmed down a bit after Herrera spoke to the fans last Wednesday to explain he's not a violent person and that everyone, including him, should worry about the league's safety.

Can the captain of the national team and Venezuela's trail blazer - the same who became famous in 1992 after dunking the ball in Charles Barkley's face - solve their problems and work together for the country's good?

When the incident occurred, Carmelo Cortez, Venezuela's national basketball federation chairman, was travelling around Europe and the United States to interview with the top players.

He met Greivis Vasquez, Gregory Echenique, Anthony Pérez, Michael Carrera, Juan Coronado, Daniel Herrera and Herberto Guanipa in the United States. The last three were called to fight for a spot in the South American tournament to take place in Argentina in June.

In Europe, Cortez talked to Jhornan Zamora, Román Masseda (both in Spain) and John Cox (in France), who are expecting to be part of the team playing at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).

Head coach Eric Musselman will have 14 games - taking into account the South American tournament and warm-up games - to decide his final roster for the OQT.

But before then, and thanks to the two big guys, he will have to fix another situation together with Cortez.

How could any of them be off the roster? In Romero, we're talking about one of the team's three most important players; as for Herrera, he is the player who led the country to its only Olympic appearance to date - Barcelona back in 1992. He can motivate and he knows all about basketball.

Actually, we shouldn't talk about them but about the national team. And that's why they must solve their problems sooner rather than later.

It's absolutely true that Herrera has always had problems with violence. And he needs help. On the other side, Pepito Romero is one of those guys who always gives a good example.

Therefore, Herrera should call Romero and say how sorry he feels for what he has done and then convince him the two of them can be part of the same big project.

Martín Seldes

FIBA

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