Coach Fleur Melendez has confirmed that Panama should be ready to play, although the Legion is still waiting, with the goal of facing the Dominican Republic and Canada, their rivals in the August qualification window for the 2023 Basketball World Cup.
Yesterday, during the training of the national team at the Roberto Duran Arena, Fleur Meléndez asked the Panamanian players for speed and intensity. “In order to be on par with them (Dominican Republic and Canada) we have to run first and foremost,” he justified Puerto Rico.
During the national pre-selection training sessions, Melendez spoke clearly, he is waiting for the Panamanian players who play abroad (veterans), who do not know if they will arrive because of their teams’ permission and who only have three to five days of training time, they also have young players In the Panamanian quintet.
“You have to work hard,” the Puerto Rican coach at the service of Panama emphasized, “because in the national team there are young people with little international experience and we must be ready, we must always be ready.”
The coach also stressed the practice of shooting shots on goal, “but it depends on each player who practices it,” he justified.
“The shot belongs to every player,” Fleur Melendez emphasized, lamenting that no player from the Panamanian team continued to practice shooting after training, and that in a three-hour training, they spent 45 minutes correcting errors.
Melendez confirms that he wants to participate in the FIBA Qualifiers, he feels positive against the August window competitors in the Dominican Republic and Canada, but for the future Central American Championships he would like to have the guys, to see if they are. Ready to play internationally.
“The next window is very complicated and I’m trying to encourage the players, we have to be excited,” he said.
Panama next face the Dominican Republic in Group E on the Caribbean island on August 25 and host Canada at the Roberto Duran Arena on August 29.
The qualifiers award seven tickets for the FIBA 2023 Basketball World Cup, which will be held in three stadiums: the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
