Monday, January 29, 2007

ORLANDO, USA (AFP): Carlos Arroyo led Puerto Rico to a stunning upset of the United States at the 2004 Olympics and the Orlando Magic guard is planning on repeating the feat in 2008 Beijing Olympics qualifying.

Puerto Rico will be among 10 teams from North and South America trying to capture two available berths for Beijing when the Tournament of the Americas is contested next August in Las Vegas.

"I think our chances are good and because of that, expectations are high," Arroyo said.

"We have a strong team that trains a lot and understand each other. We have a lot of good young players and we're looking forward to playing against those top teams.

"We're desperate to qualify for the Olympics and we'll do everything we can to achieve that."

Failing to reach the final will not eliminate the Puerto Ricans from the global showdown in China since the third, fourth and fifth finishers will play in a last-chance global qualifier next year.

But should the Caribbean island's squad outshine the US National Basketball Association stars, formidable defending Olympic champion Argentina and Brazil, they will avoid the do-or-die headaches just weeks before the 2008 Olympics.

Arroyo has averaged 8.5 points a game off the bench for Orlando this season after joining Serbian standout Darko Milicic in being traded to the Magic from Detroit last season.

"It's taken a while to settle in since I arrived from Detroit, to get used to the new tactics, but I'm feeling a lot better," Arroyo said.

"The only thing that I can do is make sure I'm ready when the coach calls me. I'm confident I'm going to return to the first team soon. I've just got to keep being positive and work hard."

The Magic, 23-21, rank sixth in the NBA Eastern Conference but have lost seven of its past 10 starts.

"The team is experiencing a dip in form, but that always happens in a long season," Arroyo said. "I'm sure we'll be OK."

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