Vásquez D'Tiger killer?
by Iwedi Ojinmah 07 June 2012, 10:43
Ask Greivis Josué Vásquez what he expects to be doing come July and his answer will be killing Tigers. Nigerian Tigers to be exact and D’Tigers to be specific.
For the record the Nigerian Men’s Basketball team are the only type of Tigers indigenous to Africa and lately they have sprouted both fang and claw and are now Ranked 20th in the World.
Venezuela ranked just two spots behind Nigeria at 22, are no slouches either and that is who he plays for. In addition to the streaky ex Maryland star, arguably their biggest Ace in the hole remains their veteran Coach Musselman who will seek to motivate the South Americans to an Olympic ticket.
But the team belongs to Vasquez. There is no doubt about that.
He will bring the ball up, direct the offence and hopefully for the Venezuelans rain precise threes from behind the arc to draw the West Africans out and open things up for passes to any of their centers.
Averageing under 7 feet they shouldn’t really be a concern height wise. But they average circa 270 pounds each - and thats before dinner - so if the Nigerians were to get into foul trouble they may run out of bodies to post them up. This in addition to Vasquez's continious tantalising cross overs always probing the defence for lay ups and easy baskets may be too much for them to handle.
What will be interesting is what D’ Tigers coach will throw at Vásquez and how deep he will be confronted when he gets the inbound. Will he nip at Greivis all day in attempt to derail the temperamental star and hope he gets flustered ? Having played against the Duke fans for four years in the ACC my money is on Vasquez and I think Nigeria will have to beat Venezuela despite his points.
But at the end of the day it is nothing more than an educated guess and that it why as they say, 'play the game'.
Can’t wait.
