PUR - "One on one" with Larry Ayuso

LAS VEGAS (FIBA Americas Championship 2007) – Puerto Rico survives! After a bad first round, in which they were almost eliminated (Argentina save them after defeating Panama), the team is now showing their best game. They beat Brazil by 22 points, and today, they did the same to Venezuela. Larry Ayuso was the game’s best scorer with 25 points, and 6/10 from the three point line.

It seems as if every important team has been tested in the tournament. Argentina came back from a scare against Panama, Brazil loses against Puerto Rico, and you were almost eliminated after the first round.

We have to be more confident in the second round, if we want to continue in the tournament. We have our focus back and we want to show people that we deserve to be here. However, we know that we have to work hard.

How did you deal with the fact that people in Puerto Rico didn’t trust you enough?

We didn’t think about that. We came here to play hard, looking for the qualification. Fans are fans. You just have to ignore that.

What the team needs to do from now on?

Rebound, rebound, and run. These are very important things, because if we keep rebounding and running, our offense will come naturally. .

You have to play well, rebound and run, but that’s not all, there are some other teams’ results which need to happen in order for you to get to semi-finals. There are a lot of alternatives of tying.

Yes, that’s why we need to focus on playing the way we’ve been doing until now; playing as a team, keeping everyone happy, while sharing and passing the ball. That’s what we call “happy game”.

How do you translate “happy game” into basketball?

The way you move the ball, running as a unit, while helping each other out. That way everybody will be happy; because everyone touches the ball, and everyone takes open shots.

Fabian Garcia
FIBA Americas