PUR – Puerto Rico boss Pitino preaches defense after draw

MAR DEL PLATA (FIBA Americas Championship) - Rick Pitino hasn’t coached a Puerto Rico practice yet after only being named coach of the national team before Christmas.
 
But the American knows what area of the game he’ll be emphasizing to the players after discovering his team would go up against Argentina, Panama, Uruguay and Paraguay in Group B of the FIBA Americas Championship.
 
“We’ll have to play good defense,” Pitino said.
 
"There will be no easy games for us, and the key to our success is our preparation and commitment of our players and coaching staff during the mini-camp before we arrive in Argentina."
 
"We need to get together and play as a unit during this tournament, playing for the name on the front of our shirts with no individual names on the back.”
 
Puerto Rico hosted the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship and finished runners-up to Brazil.
 
Group A consists of Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
 
A Vaccaro salute
 
Argentina are staging the FIBA Americas Championship in Mar del Plata August 30 to September 11.
 
German Vaccaro, the president of the Argentina Basketball Confederation, said at Thursday’s draw: “I would like to highlight the great work done by the nation, province, local government and confederation to be able to host the Pre-Olympic tournament, considering the tough competition from Canada and Brazil.
 
“We had incredible support. There are a lot of people working for this.
 
“I want to thank (Argentina) President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Governor Daniel Scioli, because without the support this would not have been possible."
 
FIBA