Pitino tells Boricuas to forget making excuses and to find solutions

SAN JUAN (2015 FIBA Americas Championship) - Rick Pitino is a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach for many reasons.

One is that he demands his players to sacrifice individual glory for the common good, to play as a team.

So when the new Puerto Rico coach held his first press conference on the island last week, it was not surprising to see him unfurl a T-shirt which had the words "Puerto Rico First" in red, white and blue on the front.

"The name on the front goes ahead of the name on the back," the coach said.

Another reason why Pitino has been so successful over the years is that he looks his players straight in the eye and challenges them.

Pitino says he has already had face-to-face talks with many of the players that could end featuring for the island nation at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico City, which tips off 31 August.

His aim? Pitino is trying to get the Boricuas back to the Olympics for the first time since 2004, when they reached the Quarter-Finals, and he's wasting no time in getting everyone to understand what it's going to take to be successful.

Pitino has assessed candidates for the national team in individual workouts.

The player that was most impressive was apparently Larry Ayuso, one of the heroes of the 2004 Olympic team, the side that upset the United States on opening day.

"In these short practices with the players, I wanted to see the intensity of each player, if they were willing to go the extra mile when they were tired," Pitino said.

So what exactly has Pitino been saying to candidates for the national team?

"With the basic same message every place I've been," Pitino said, "I tell them three things.

"I always ask people, 'Why didn't the team make the last two Olympics?'

"I get different answers from every player.

"One, they say 'A shortage of big men.' 

"Second, [they say] 'Bad chemistry. Guys don't play for the right reasons.

"The third thing is 'Not enough practice, not enough togetherness.'

"Basically, all of them could be true, but what I find with all of that is they're excuses.

Excuses are a sign of weakness. Solutions are a sign of strength. - Pitino

"That's my job, to find the solutions to cure the problem.

"They may all be true, but we've got to find solutions."

Pitino's short time on the island has not been without a little controversy, at least on the subject of veteran Carlos Arroyo.

Though the 36-year-old has been an ever-present in the team for more than a decade, Pitino seemed to discount the possibility that the playmaker would be a member of the squad at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico City.

Arroyo played at the FIBA Basketball World Cup last year but appeared in only the first couple of games.

After scoring 11 points in a defeat to Senegal, an injury kept him on the sidelines.

In his interview with Primera Hora, Pitino tried to defuse the controversy and play down any possible friction between the coach and Arroyo.

"When I first got here, I was told that there was an article in a newspaper that Carlos Arroyo said he may be too old, he's 36, he may want to rest his body and doesn't know if he wants to play for the Olympic (national) team," Pitino said.

"I just got off the plane and I was told all of these things.

"I just repeated [in the media] what he said when they asked me that question."

Pitino then made it clear that Arroyo deserves praise for what he has been able to achieve.

"I think Carlos Arroyo is an outstanding basketball player who really has had a great career," the coach said.

"If he doesn't want to play, I totally understand...

"Even if JJ (Jose) Barea didn't want to play because he's played 100 games this year, I understand."

Barea plays in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks.

At his press conference where Pitino showed journalists the T-shirt, however, he did indicate that Arroyo's national team days could be over.

"I don't believe Carlos is going to fit into the plans, because I'm not sure he wants to play and I'm not sure that for a 36-year-old it is in his best interest to play," Pitino said.

"He will want to play a year or two more in Europe and this type of time, and dedication and practice … we are going to probably want to go with young guys in the backcourt. No more than 31 or 32 years of age."

Arroyo, who cut short his time with Galatasaray in Turkey earlier this season and returned to Puerto Rico to play in the BSN league, did not take up the offer of a workout with Pitino at the end of last week.

Puerto Rico will play in Group B at the FIBA Americas Championship against Canada, Cuba, Argentina and Venezuela.

The top four sides will take on the four teams that emerge from a Group A which includes Brazil, Panama, Mexico, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic.

The finalists will clinch places in the Rio de Janeiro Games and the teams that end up third, fourth and fifth will earn places in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Go to fiba.com/Americas2015 for more coverage of the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship.

FIBA