PUR/VEN/BRA/CAN/DOM - Five teams arrive in Mar del Plata

MAR DEL PLATA (FIBA Americas Championship) - Half of the ten teams of FIBA Americas Championship arrived in Mar del Plata on Saturday. Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Canada travelled on the same plane from Foz de Iguacu, while Venezuela came by bus from Buenos Aires.

"Four delegations inside the same plane… It's not a joke, that's how we are travelling to Mar del Plata," wrote Tiago Splitter on his Twitter account.
The four teams played the last warm-up tournament in Brazil, the Tuto Marchand Cup.

The plane had to stop over in Buenos Aires due to bad weather.

"Imagine 48 guys, average 2 meters high, how to make them fit on a full plane," the San Antonio Spurs center added.
Venezuela also had a tiring week.

After playing in three consecutive nights in Uruguay, the team travelled internationally through customs to Argentina and on the same day they faced the hosts in their last friendly game.

Venezuela had the morning off before having their last training session in Buenos Aires on Friday. When the players and coaches woke up on Saturday, a five-hour bus to Mar del Plata was waiting for them.

Paraguay will arrive on Sunday to play a friendly match against Quilmes, a professional team from Argentina's National League.

Argentina, Panama, Uruguay and Cuba will also arrive two days before the tournament tips off on Tuesday with a Central America clash between Dominican Republic and Cuba. Three more games will follow.

FIBA