PUR – “One on one” with Peter John Ramos

LAS VEGAS (FIBA Americas Championship 2007) – Apart from being the tallest player in the tournament, with a stunning 7’3”, Peter John Ramos has become, since Daniel Santiago’s retirement, in the starting center of Puerto Rico’s national team. As the rest of the team, he didn’t have a good first round in Las Vegas, but his game has been progressively improving making him a key member of Manolo Cintron’s squad.

You suffered more than you were supposed to, but, at the end, you finally accomplished your objective.

Yes, this has been a though tournament for us; particularly, the game against Canada, but this is all part of the game. Luckily, we’ve been winning and now we are in the semi-finals.

After what happened in the first round, are you surprised with the way you have recovered as a team?

Of course it does, we had a bad first round, but we’ve been able to make the proper arrangements and we’re like a family now.

What happened between one phase and the other?

Nothing really happened, we just talked amongst ourselves. We focused on what we needed to do, and started winning.

What was missing in the first games?

What happened was that we weren’t in the same page. Now that we are, things are going the way we want.

How are you feeling facing rivals of the like of Nene, Scola, and Dalembert, which are some of the best centers in the tournament, not counting the ones from the NBA?

I’m feeling great. I think that my game has been at the same level as theirs.

Fabian Garcia
FIBA Americas