Betancourt Is Committed To Succeed

When Class of 2011 PG, Carmelo Betancourt decided to attend prep school for his senior season at Montrose Christian Academy he knew there would be challenges. His family and he sat down with PR Playmakers founder Todd Washington and they discussed the benefits and burdens of attending an elite program like Montrose and playing for a Coach like Stu Vetter. Coach Stu Vetter has won over 900 games as a high school coach and coached several players in the NBA including NBA All star Kevin Durant and most recently for University of Maryland and current Memphis Grizzlies' PG Grevis Vazques. Montrose and Coach Vetter are one of 5 High School programs sponsored by Jordan Brand. They play a National Schedule and always have several high major D1 players on their roster.

For the first time in his career Betancourt would have to fight for playing time. Since he was a small kid Betancourt was almost always one of the best players on his team. "This is always going to be an issue for players who decide to leave PR and go to the states. You never really know how they are going to respond to playing against kids who are bigger, stronger and equally equipped on the skill side of things. I personally worked Melo out several times before agreeing to work with him so I knew he had all the tools and the internal fortitude to succeed", said PR Playmakers Founder, Todd Washington.

In advance of going to Montrose, Washington leveraged his relationship with Nike/Jordan Brand and got Melo an invitation to the Jordan Classic International Game at Madison Square Garden. "This was a fantastic opportunity for Melo and he took advantage of it. He put his himself on the map and showed he was a player high major schools needed to take a close look at", added Washington.


So when the season started at Monstrose, Betancourt was confident and prepared to put up big numbers. With the December schedule full of "cup cakes", Betancourt didn't have a chance to showcase his talents and began to get frustrated. He was getting the minutes he expected and felt he had earned. He questioned if he had made the right decision.

"Most players who transfer to schools like Montrose end up questioning if they made the right decision during the first several weeks of the season starting. Back home they were superstars and now at schools like Montrose which is full of kids who were "like Melo he would have to show day in and day out that he is willing and able to earn his minutes. Melo is so mature and he reached out and shared his concerns with his parents and I. He was really down about not playing but used it as motivation and started working even harder. What I was really impressed with is the fact that he embraced this reality as being part of his growth process as a player and more importantly as a young adult. He recognized that the being tested and having to fight for what you want is part of life, said Washington.

Washington and Betancourts' parents urged him to request for a sit down with Coach Vetter which he did. Coach explained to Melo that the most important part of the season is front of them and that Melo had done everything he needed to do thus far and that in order for Montrose to compete for a National Championship Melo play is critical.

With the Primetime Shootout in Morgantown, WV this week and a game against his best friend, Gary Browne Ramirez who plays at Arlington Country Day, Melo reached out to IPRB this weekend via text,"I've been killing practice the last week and my shot feels great. I'm ready to go down there and the coaches are telling me how well I am playing. I'm excited to play against Gary and it should be a great game."

L

National Teams To Play @ MIT in February

Under the leadership of both Carlos Betran and Vitor Ortiz the Federation is sending two youth teams (11U/12U) to play in the highly competitive Maryland Invitational Tournament "MIT" in February. Some of the top elite travel teams will participate in the event including DC Assualt, KSK and other top programs from across the USA.

In past years the Federation has sent teams to Argentina and Cuba. For many players this will be the first time they get a chance to play at this level. The opposing teams will have kids who are bigger, stronger and more athletic. Said a parent whose son has played AAU and against some of the teams in South America, " A number of the kids on both teams have never played at this level. The biggest challenge for them is going to be the level of contact. Since we play over 90% of our games locally on concrete and referees are forced to protect players form injury our kids are going to be really surprised at how the games are called. Clearly our kids are further along in their development but this will be a big test for many of them."

Zagsblog's Link on Caribbean Talent Pool

Award winning writer, Adam Zagoria, did a great piece on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean basketball talent pool. We've been tell people for years that the Caribbean (yes folk, Puerto Rico is part of the Caribbean/West Indies) region is under valued in recruiting circles. Outside of Africa there is more untapped talent here than anywhere in the world.

See the link below:

http://www.zagsblog.com/2010/12/26/pitino-move-could-open-up-caribbean-talent-pool/

Five Star Recruit Ricardo Ledo Commits To Providence!

Just when you thought Ricardo Ledo was a shoe in to sign with Louisville, the 6-6 Class of 2012 SG committed to Providence. Many in recruiting circles felt with the recent announcement that Louisville Coach Rick Pitino would be coaching the Puerto Rico National Team that Ledo would follow Pitino to Puerto Rico for the summer, represent Puerto Rico in the Olympic qualifying event and then on to Louisville the following year. Ledo, whose father is Puerto Rican is from Providence so his commitment was not a complete shocker. He had listed Kentucky, Louisville and Providence at schools at the top of his list.

NCAA rules prevent Ledo from signing until the late signing period which is in April so he will still take his two visits to both Kentucky and Louisville which keeps the door cracked in terms of him signing with either school.

It will be interesting to see if in fact Ledo is invited to train and/or play with National this summer. With a team stocked with shooting guards, Puerto Rico does not really need help at that position but clearly he is a candidate to play for the National Team in the future.

This is clearly one of those commitments we will continue to monitor.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays To All

The entire IPRB team wants to wish our readers a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! We thank you for making IPRB the #1 non newspaper site in Puerto Rico for basketball related news and information. Enjoy the eggnog, xmas cookies and the good stuff that comes with spending the holidays with your family!

2011 is a big year for all things basketball and when you want to know the real story IPRB must be your go to site! Remember, you've got to give it up to get it back!


Feliz Navidad!

Former National Team Coach Objects To Pitino Hiring

Carlos Morales, who previously coached the Puerto Rico National Team has been extremely vocal about the hiring of the Louisville Coach Rick Pitino, he doesn't like it. Morales believes that the rules and style of play in the international game are very different from both the NCAA and NBA thus Pitino is not equipped to prepare the team for the Olympic qualifying event in Argentina next summer. Morales is not alone in his view that the Federation should have hired a coach with more " FIBA experience".

IPRB spoke to several foreign coaches who have spent time coaching in Puerto Rico and think that while Morales is accurate in pointing out some of the differences in the rules, there is a general dislike of "foreign coaches" in Puerto Rico.

A foreign coach who spent several years coaching in Puerto Rico and wished to remain anonymous said, "You would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to recognize the animosity towards "foreigners" in Puerto Rico. It's a generational thing with some of the "old school" coach's feeling like hiring a non Puerto Rican coach is like sleeping with the enemy. Guys like Morales and Melendez who both are fantastic coaches really did a great job when they were coaching of promoting the "us versus the world mentality" and during that time it resonated with players and the country at large. Because so many of the players today are going to school, camps and playing events in the USA it's less of an issue from the player perspective but I think the coaching fraternity still feels very strongly about that."

The game of basketball is colorless and a player or coach's ethnicity/nationality should have nothing to do with whether he can coach or play. Morales is a fantastic coach, a great person and loves Puerto Rico but he is clearly dead wrong on the issue. Team USA proved this summer that the whole concept of the European style of play being a superior brand of basketball is simply untrue. Team USA won the World Champion with defense, not three point shooting or spacing. Defense wins championships not scoring or shooting. Anyone who watched Puerto Rico play last summer saw how miserably we defended the pick and roll. This was not the coaches fault rather a total lack of commitment by the players to get stops and play team defense.

If Pitino does one thing really, really well it's prepare his teams on the defensive end. He will have the guys prepared and truth be told if Morales were not so "anti foreigner" he would have been the perfect assistant coach given his wealth of knowledge and love for his country but sometimes emotions prevent even the great ones from seeing clearly.