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CARACAS (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Venezuela have a couple of newcomers to their team this summer that should bolster the team’s offensive attack.

They are John Cox and Jhornan Zamora.

Cox, who was born in Caracas to a former player, Chubby Cox, and grew up in America, has been playing professionally in France with Le Havre and is a deadly shooter from long range.

He buried 42.6% of his shots from the arc for Le Havre this season and averaged 15.8 points per game.

Cox no doubt hopes that' he'll still be playing on 6 July when he turns 31.

That would be a great birthday present.

Zamora, a Caracas native, is 23 and a 1.93m shooting guards.

He spent this past season in Spain and played 11 games in the top flight with Blancos de Rueda, averaging eight minutes per game.

Veteran Oscar Torres, the most experienced player in the Venezuela team at the age of 35, says the two players have made a good transition to the Venezuelan team and should help in the Group B battles against Nigeria and Lithuania.

“They are very interesting players," he said.

"They play in Europe and even though they are new, they have adapted very well to the style of our play here.

“They’ve had a tremendous amount of input.

"I think they have a great future in the national team."

Cox, who played American college basketball for the San Francisco Dons, is a cousin of Team USA superstar Kobe Bryant.

“I’m going to try not to disappoint," Cox said.

"I’ll try to play aggressively and do the best that I can.

"The important thing is not individuality, but to have collective results."

When asked about his coach, Eric Musselman, Cox said: “The coach is really energetic. He has a lot of enthusiasm.

"I hope I can do what he expects from me."

As for the entire experience of putting on the Venezuela shirt, Cox said: "I was anxious to come to the national team.

"I had not come (to Venezuela) since I was a young boy.

"My father told me very good stories regarding Venezuela and I’m delighted to represent my country."

Torres knows it will be difficult to survive the 12-team tournament in Venezuela, but he is nevertheless confident.

"The mentality I have is to arrive to the tournament in good form and to clinch one of the three spots for the Olympic Games," he said.

FIBA