MEX - Mariscal steps up to the plate for Xalapa

XALAPA (Liga Nacional) - With a father who played professional baseball, Victor Mariscal Mata admits he could easily have ended up hitting home runs instead of shooting hoops.

Mariscal's father, Alfredo, played for Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1960s, but he could not transmit the affection for the game to his children with all the four of them opting to play basketball.

Mariscal, the youngest of those four brothers and now one of the most valuable players in the Mexico national team, knows things could have turned out very differently.

"I remember that I had to fight a lot, because my father wanted me to play baseball," he told FIBA.com.

"Michael Jordan was one of the reasons because I decided to play basketball - he was the best.

"Basketball has given everything to me and my family and for that I am very thankful.

"Even my father forgave me because for choosing basketball and not baseball. He is very proud and perhaps time showed I was right."

The 35-year-old Halcones Xalapa forward recently starred for Mexico in the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas.

But they did not reach the repechage although Mariscal said he was not disappointed with their showing and thinks they have a bright future ahead of them.

"The squad underwent massive changes and a lot of young players joined the team, like Ayon, Zuniga and Hector Hernandez," Mariscal said.

"We won important games against Venezuela and Puerto Rico and that allowed us to surpass them in the rankings which is important.

"Previously the national team never maintained the same players from one tournament to other.

"If Mexico maintain the squad, in a few years will be fighting for trophies.

"We have to follow the example of Argentina, who won the Gold Medal and reached the World Cup final thanks to a generation who started playing together when they were young."

Mariscal retains his enthusiasm for the Mexican Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP) and is determined to win honours with Halcones Xalapa, who currently lead with a 23-5 record.

"The LNBP has improved a lot in the past few years mainly because the organisers aligned the calendar to FIBA's," he said.

"Besides, a lot of high quality players came from other countries like Puerto Rico and Venezuela arrived.

"Even though we have added a lot of new players and a new coach, the team started very well. And the Xalapa supporters have been very important in every game we played at home.

"We're only thinking about ending the regular season in top spot and having home-court advantage in the play-offs.

"The entire club is also very excited with the upcoming FIBA Americas League.

"It's very important because Halcones can achieve international prominence, which is very important.

"I have already played in the Americas League in Uruguay and Argentina, some years ago and it's a wonderful tournament."

From Jorge O. Blanco
FIBA