Having gone through dramas like going without medical equipment and a player striking, the Venezuelan national team finally announced its 12-man roster for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
The list goes as follows:
Gregory Vargas (guard), Jhornan Zamora (guard), Pedro Chourio (guard), Jose Vargas (guard), Luis Bethelmy (forward), Anthony Perez (forward), Miguel Ruiz (forward), Windi Graterol (forward), Heissler Guillent (guard), Dwight Lewis (guard), Michael Carrera (guard), Nestor Colmenares (forward).
Windi Graterol (L) and Nestor Colmenares (R) of Venezuela compete for loose ball with David Andersen (C) of Australia in the game at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, August 14, 2019. /VCG Photo
This is an old squad with an average age of 30.5. Eight of them played at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. However, despite their age and size (no one's over seven feet), Venezuela have been playing well in recent years.
They won the titles at the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship, the 2014 and 2016 South American Basketball Championships. They qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics and made it back to the Basketball World Cup after being absent for 13 years.
The Vargas brothers, Gregory and Jose, will again lead the team with the support of Guillent, Colmenares and Lewis. As captain, Gregory Vargas played all 12 qualifier games of Venezuela, averaging 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists. So did Colmenares who claimed 11.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.
Nestor Colmenares (L) of Venezuela blocks a shot by Laron Smith (R) of Virgin Islands in the game at the Pan American Games in Lima, August 2, 2019. /VCG Photo
"We want to compete on the same level as every team, give our best and take our country as high as we can. We've worked a lot to be here and it would be good to give the people that joy," said Colmenares.
The tried and tested old guys of Venezuela have worked together long enough to know how to play each other and maximize the power of the team. Hopefully, whatever trouble they had would stay off the court.
Venezuela are in Group A with Poland, China and Cote d'Ivoire. They will meet their first opponent Poland at the Cadillac Arena in Beijing on August 31.