PR's Curbelo excels against first European foe

ROSARIO/SANTA FE (FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018) - Two of Andre Curbelo's dreams came true on Day One of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018 as he played for Puerto Rico on the global stage and got to face a European foe.

Puerto Rico are playing at the U17 World Cup for the second time after finishing fifth in 2014 with just one loss. And they still have just one defeat, as Curbelo flirted with a triple-double of 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in his country's 76-68 win over Turkey in Group A.

"I'm really excited. It's a great experience and opportunity to play against other teams all over the world. Playing in a World Cup was one of my dreams because I always wanted to play against European teams," Curbelo said.

The Puerto Ricans will also face Dominican Republic and Australia in the group.

"This group isn't easy. We didn't know what Australia and Turkey have, which makes things a little bit harder. But none of them will stop us from doing what we're supposed to do," Curbelo said in the build-up to the tournament.

The 6ft 1in (1.85m) point guard will not be the first Curbelo to play at the global level. His father Joel Curbelo played for Puerto Rico at the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament 1996 in Atlanta and played against the mighty Yugoslavia with Dejan Bodiroga, Predrag Danilovic, Sasa Djordjevic, Zarko Paspalj, Vlade Divac and Dejan Tomasevic. Curbelo also faced Brazil and the great Oscar Schmidt. And Puerto Rico also played against Greece with Panagiotis Giannakis, Panagiotis Fassoulas and Fragkiskos Alvertis, but Curbelo did not get into the game.

In total, Joel Curbelo played 18 years of professional basketball. And it was his father's games which brought him to the sport.

"I started playing baseball but then I went to my dad's basketball games and thought the game looked really fun. After a couple of games I told my parents that I wanted to play basketball," Andre Curbelo remembered.

His father wasn't the only member of the family that was into sports.

His mother Joann Rodriguez played for the Puerto Rican handball national team. His aunt played basketball for Puerto Rico internationally. His uncle played the game and so are his brother and cousins currently.

"OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE TO WIN THE WHOLE THING OBVIOUSLY. BUT FOR THAT WE NEED TO PLAY REALLY HARD, PLAY TOGETHER AND FOLLOW THE GAME PLAN."Curbelo

All those hours of practicing, watching and discussing the game helped mold Curbelo into a leader, which he was at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship 2017 where the Puerto Ricans finished third. Part of the reason Curbelo is excited about his team's chances in Argentina is the close bond he has with some of his teammates as it will be the third tournament he is playing with Christia Cruz, Derek Luna, Sebastian Martinez, Jermaine Miranda, Victor Rosa and Harry Sosa.

"That will help us a lot because we have known each other for a long time. Knowing each other like we do helps our chemistry and that will make us play better," Curbelo said.

While Puerto Rico arrived in Argentina not knowing Australia and Turkey that well, they know the Dominicans all too well, having beaten them in the group stage of the 2017 U16 Americas tournament and in the Final of the CentroBasket U15 Championship 2015.

"I expect a very physical and hard game. They know me very well so they're going to play extra hard on me," said Curbelo, who hit for 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals in 2017 and 18 points, six rebounds and six assists at the U15 level in 2016. "But that won't stop me and my teammates from playing hard and doing what we do."

The San Juan native and his teammates have high hopes going into the tournament.

"Our expectations are to win the whole thing obviously. But for that we need to play really hard, play together and follow the game plan," he said. "We're a great group of players and all we need to do is to play hard and have fun."

One of the question marks for Curbelo coming in was not knowing what to expect from the Europeans.

"Not knowing what they have should make us play even better and harder to show them how we do it," he said.

Curbelo and co. showed Turkey for sure. May the next European team be forewarned. 

FIBA