Carrera, Venezuela counting on experience in Olympic quest

KAUNAS (Lithuania) - The Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas will be a sea of green and yellow on the opening night of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament as fans cheer on Lithuania in their pursuit of a coveted ticket to Tokyo.

It would be a shame for someone to spoil the occasion, right? Well, enter Venezuela.

That's exactly what they intend to do. They won’t be fazed by the occasion and have recent history on their side to support that, too.

Notable victories in the last couple of years have come on their opponents' court. Venezuela beat China  in Beijing at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, just as they took down Argentina in San Luis at the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 Qualifiers, just as they enjoyed upset victories in Buenos Aires and Cali.

A victory against Lithuania in Kaunas on Tuesday would of course sit proudly at the top of the list, but there are no expectations with the mindset of not being overawed by the occasion that awaits.

"It's like any other game for us," Michael Carrera calmly states. "They have a really good team, but so do we. It doesn't matter who we play, we are always going to play hard and do our best and try to play 120 percent every single time."

"IT IS SOMETHING REAL, REAL BIG FOR US. WE ARE REPRESENTING SO MANY PEOPLE OUT IN VENEZUELA."

The 28-year-old embodied the Venezuelan spirit during the AmeriCup Qualifiers in which they were victorious in five of six games to qualify as group winners in emphatic fashion.

Carrera produced a huge display in the aforementioned win over Argentina with 33 points on 14-of-18 shooting to go with 14 rebounds for a commanding double-double.

There is no greater honor than representing the national team. Carrera exudes pride when describing what it means to play for his country, also fully aware of what it means to those that follow the team back home, too.

"It is something real, real big for us. We are representing so many people out in Venezuela. They always support us and always behind us no matter what. Our people deserve for us to bring great things to our people. It’s great to be here, to put our last name on the back of the jersey and our country on the front."

Spirits are high despite disrupted preparations for their campaign in Kaunas with games cancelled against European opposition due to COVID-19 issues.

Experience is much talked about in sports and that factor takes on greater significance in this environment where the bubble concept is in operation and a competition format that puts a team suffering defeat on the brink of the first available flight back home.

And, that is what Venezuela can count on. Experience, in abundance.

"This is very important for us," confirms Carrera. "We are a group that have been together for a long time so we know each other really well.

"It is something that is spread around the team - something that we love. Because the tournament is so short, we know that we are going to bring the experience to the games and that’s something we will always have.

"We are feeling good about ourselves. We are feeling good about each other. And, we are feeling good about our basketball."

Included amongst all of the experience accrued over the years by players on the roster was a trip to the 2016 Olympics in Rio, which ended a 24-year wait since their previous appearance.

Carrera missed out five years ago, but the energetic forward - who played in Spain this past season - but has not given up hope that his time will come. As they say, there's no time like the present.

“It’s something that I will always dream of,” he added. “Everyone wants to play at the Olympics. Some of the guys have and they always talk about the experience.

“We are a proud team. We are going to be a hard to beat and that’s something we will always have in our head and we won’t stop fighting.”

FIBA