Echenique goes for the block against Brazil (Reuters)
Gregory Echenique has been working hard this summer with the Venezuela National Team to help them get to the Olympics. After two heartbreaking losses to start pool play against Brazil and the Dominican Republic, Venezuela finally notched a win, rolling over Cuba 103-66.
Echenique started the game as he has for the first two games but had a chance to rest in Thursday’s game against Cuba finishing with 5 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist in 11 minutes of play. Venezuela was up by as many as 36 points including a 24 point lead at the half.
The first two games of the tournament saw Venezuela get out to early leads for the first three quarters against Brazil and the Dominican Republic. However, with the starters playing most of the minutes, they ran out of gas in the fourth quarter in each of those games. Echenique played 32 minutes yesterday against the Dominican Republic in a 92-89 loss.
So the opportunity to rest a little more today should help with the day off on Friday before finishing opening round play on Saturday. Echenique has averaged almost 23 minutes to go along with his 9 points and 5 rebounds per game. He had 10 points and 7 rebounds in the loss to the Dominican Republic. Against Brazil was limited in playing time due to early foul trouble but came on strong in the second half to notch 12 points and 7 rebounds in the 92-83 loss against the Brazilians.
Venezuela will conclude qualifying pool play against Canada on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN3.com. A win will likely guarantee that Echenique and his team will advance to the next round of the Olympic qualifier. If Cuba or Canada finishes 0-4 in pool play, Venezuela will move into the next round as well. If Venezuela does advance, they will start a whole new set of pool play again on Monday against teams from the other pool that advanced.