VEN - Injury proves the making of Salazar

:: WIN a trip to the FIBA World Championship Finals weekend ::

BARQUISIMETO (FIBA World Championship) - Nestor Salazar’s name is currently almost synonymous with Venezuelan basketball yet, were it not for a cruel twist of fate, he may never have got into the sport at all.

The current manager of Venezuela, who will compete in the World Championship in Japan later this year, has coached at all levels of the national team, yet as a player was much more gifted at volleyball.

He told PA Sport: "I used to play volleyball in the past and I think I was good at it.

"I didn’t have a specific position on the court I was most comfortable in. I was like a universal player, who can manage to play quite well in any position.

"I was also part of the different levels of the national team of Venezuela.

"But then when I was eighteen I picked up a meniscus (cartilage) injury. I was very young really and unfortunately my career suffered from that."

But the teenage Salazar’s sports career was not over.

"When I got over my injury, I was called to work with children who were playing basketball, to help them and I became the coach of that category of players."

"And that’s how I started in basketball. Since the 1980s, I’ve been working in the different levels of the Venezuelan basketball team: mini, cadets, juniors, youth and now the Seniors."

"Basketball turned into my passion. Here in Venezuela we have traditional sports like baseball, but my passion is basketball.

"I’m obsessed with it - I have basketball in my head almost 24 hours a day."

And he admits that this obsession, combined with his location working in Barquisimeto, as coach of Guaros makes the situation with his family, who are in Caracas, very different.

"When the Liga Profesional began, I had some complaints from my family, as there is a four-hour trip between Barquisimeto and Caracas. It’s a problem, but family understands it’s part of the job.

"But I have four children studying, three at the University and one more at Secondary school, so I have to work!"

And he will certainly be made to earn his oats this September, with Venezuela facing 2002 champions Serbia and Montenegro and runners-up Argentina in the group stage of the FIBA World Championships in September.

Salazar is of the ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ school of thought, saying that he will be teaching his team to follow the South American style of play, and is certainly aware of the size of the task ahead of him.

"We should take the rhythm the teams from South America have.

"We faced Argentina and Brazil and they have a calmer style, with more passes, working for all of the 24 seconds, like Europeans.

"We should also improve in patience, try to be better at defensive blocks, possession and get more control of the ball."

Serbia and Montenegro, Argentina and fellow Group A opponents France were rivals nobody wanted to face in the round robin, yet with the group completed with relatively unknown teams Nigeria and Lebanon, Venezuela will hope they can finish in the top four and qualify for the second round.

"With the plan of training which we have built up, we hope to finish in the top 10 (of 24 teams).

"We want to better our position of 2002 (14th), and there are expectations for us to do so.

"At first glance, there are no easy matches.

"To face the Olympic champions (Argentina) and the World Championship winners is a great challenge for us.

"And we also have France, who won the last European tournament.

"We begin the tournament against teams who are supposed to be weaker, but we are not over confident.

"I know that Nigeria have some players in Europe, but I don’t know anything about Lebanon."

Venezuela will warm-up to the World Championship in Italy, where the squad are scheduled to play the hosts, Lithuania and the Czech Republic in a quadrangular friendly tournament, from June 20 to 22.

This is because of Salazar’s feeling that the best teams to warm up against are in Europe.

"The key will be to play as many friendlies as possible and to play constantly to achieve teamwork and consolidate the style I want for my team."

France, China and Italy will be their opponents in a following tournament, to be played in Osimo from June 25 to 27.

From Matias Greco, PA Sport
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