"I'm the starting point guard only on paper"
FOR SATOSKY TERRERO GALARZA, "El Caribe New paper"
JUNE 21, 2011 12:00 AM
Edgar Sosa (New York, 1988) remained little more than five years waiting for this moment. This summer finally have the opportunity to wear the shirt of the Dominican team basketball.
The playmaker is ready and aware of the challenge ahead. Playing for the national team at last for the first time will be the culmination of a dream.
His athleticism and physical development as a point guard, his vision, among other benefits, suggests to many that the remarkable hole that the national team has had in the playmaking position is clogged.
Finally someone to fill the expectations of the Dominicans showed up. Edgar, however, is not cocky. "I'm the starting point guard only on paper," said the 23 year old point guard during an interview on the Morning Sports is broacast from Mondays to Fridays on CDN Radio, 92.5 FM. "I know everyone wants me to be the starting point guard, but (John) Calipari has the last word. There will be a month of training that will tell if I will be the starting point guard, "he said.
Sosa announced that the competition for the position will be difficult and believes that players like Manny Quezada, Jose Olivero and Ronald Ramon have everything they need to be the point guards of the Quisqueyean squad.
A starter or not, the Dominican is quite clear. "I have been waiting for six years for this moment. Playing to in a college or university for the United States is nothing compared to playing for your country, "snapped the graduate of Louisville. "This will be the best team I have ever played for. I'm very happy and proud for the opportunity presented to me, I will give everything not to disappoint anyone. I will do my best. "
With the NBA players, Edgar will be with the Dominican team that will play the Olympic qualifiers in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from August 30 to September 11, the tournament gives two tickets to the Olympics in 2012.
It is precisely this tournament which also will be attended by the cream of the crop of basketball in America, including point guards Carlos Arroyo (Boston Celtics) Jose Juan Barea (Dallas Mavericks), Leandro Barbosa (Toronto Raptors), Marcelo Huertas (Saski Baskonia, ACB) and Pablo Prigioni (Madrid , ACB), all of which the young Dominican who will have a responsibility to face against. Maybe those are scarest names at the point guard.
But for Sosa, who is coming off his first professional experience as Angelico Biella (14.1 ppg and 4.5 apg in over 20 minutes), is nothing but a golden career opportunity. "I have nothing to lose, they do have to lose, I am not an NBA player, they are the NBA's, "said point guard 6'2 tall. "I will go to those games to give as much as possible."
When playing against them I am seeing a chance for me to know where I am as a player, I have no pressure, "he said.
The opinions of Edgar
On Francisco Garcia:
"Francisco has done too much for me. he is like a brother, sometimes like a father. He lifts me up when I'm down, he makes me wanna fight harder. I don't know where would have been had it not been for him. "
Sosa likes the clutch:
I like to get the ball when it comes to good. I think you spend two to three hours in the gym and hard working every day for moments like these. I think the real players are come out of the shawdows when there are only ten seconds and the game is tied.
The basketball in Italy:
"The good thing is that you play against players who are much older than you, so that as a young one, you don't get tier like they do, the bad is that they know more than you, they play with your mind, so you have to be strong-minded ".
Calipari is doing well in Dominican
Edgar joins the long list of Dominican players who welcomed the hiring of John Calipari as the leader of the national team. "Calipari is one of the best coaches out there," said Sosa, who lasted four years under the tutelage of another renowned technical, Rick Pitino. "Not many people do the things he does.
He brings out the best players and makes players want to play harderfor him. "There are some players who only do one single thing well but he still puts them in a position for them to be the best you can be."
Calipari during a press conference in which he was presented, stressed the idea of going to Argentina as a team. Edgar too. "I heard that in other dominican national teams there have been some division and beef internally among the players. My dream is that we play as a team," he said. "If that happens we canbeat anybody."