PUR - It's thumbs-up so far for Olmos

SAN JUAN (FIBA Americas Championship/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - If the players do not have much time to get used to new Puerto Rico coach Paco Olmos, it doesn't seem to matter.

There seems to be a general acceptance that he's very good at his craft and can do positive things for the national team.

The players who have spoken up have had only good things to say.

Olmos has replaced Flor Melendez, who led the Puerto Ricans the last two summers.

"It was a surprise for me, but these things happen for a reason," said big man Renaldo Balkman.

"Flor is a great leader and a good person."

As for Olmos, Balkman said: "I haven't spoken to him, but I've heard good things. It's going to be a good summer for us."

David Huertas also has a good feeling about the appointment of Olmos, who hails from Valencia, Spain.

"I was surprised (in the change) because Flor had done a good job," he said.

"But maybe we needed a European coach because we have been hit (in international competition) by teams from Europe."

Germany beat Puerto Rico in the last game of the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Athens, and Lithuania eliminated the Boricuas at last summer's OQT in Caracas.

"As a coach in Santurce, Olmos made the most of their players and hopefully he can do the same for the national team," Huertas said.

Olmos has indeed played to positive reviews since taking over Cangrejeros de Santurce earlier this year and leading them into the Semi-Finals of the Puerto Rican play-offs.

"I always say that a national team has to be a team," the new coach said in an interview with Primera Hora.

"It's not like players joining together and then doing their own thing.

"It's more than just a feeling to represent your own country. You have to form a team.

"That's the first thought I have to try to instill in this group, that, in the end, the collective game is called basketball."

Puerto Rico will be aiming for a top-four finish at the FIBA Americas Championship, which would be good enough to qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

FIBA