Page Seven / La Paz
He took advantage of his hours of rest to give talks to his colleagues. He taught them the NBA world. Joshua Reaves shared his tactical-offensive knowledge. “He had many details that the boys learned these days to be able to use them in the attack,” said Giovanni Vargas, coach of the basketball team who today will miss the American-Bolivian in the game against Ecuador (20:30).
Bolivia will visit today its Ecuadorian counterpart, in Guayaquil, for the second leg of the key of the pre-qualifying phase for the FIBA World Cup Philippines-Japan-Indonesia 2023. In the first leg, Green defeated the Ecuadorians 91-57, Saturday in Tarija. The 24-year-old guard resigned from the national team on Saturday, tired of suffering mistreatment and threats from leaders of the Bolivian Basketball Federation.
“Reaves contributed with many things, with the motivation to his teammates so that they can improve. He gave talks to the boys to see what they are good at and what they can improve at, ”explained the coach of the national basketball team.
The athlete and his mother, Liset Bravo de Reaves, returned to the United States on Monday. The national basketball team will miss you. “We will miss it a lot. Outside of the 16 points he contributed in the first leg, he has a lot of rebounding capacity, he has a lot of jumps and the players from Ecuador are bigger. So we will miss him a lot when it comes to defensive rebounding to have more attacking options. Now we have to make a double effort ”, highlighted the DT.
The contribution of Reaves, who played for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, was key. “He gave a lot of knowledge in the offensive-tactical subject because he had many details that the boys learned these days to be able to use them in the attack. Personally, he is a player who showed a lot of joy when playing basketball, you can tell that he loves basketball. Players realized that and surely everyone will miss it. Joshua will need them, but I think we can move the game forward, “added the coach who commands the national team.
Bolivia and Ecuador will meet today from 20:30 in Guayaquil. The nationals have a 34-point advantage.