It was a dominant game for a bench player matched up against Iverson and Marbury, two of the most dynamic, score-first guards in NBA history.Īnd as great as Arroyo was, he didn’t do it alone. Arroyo outscored everybody, dropping 24 points while recording a game-high seven assists and a team-high four steals and four rebounds. Never better than when the spotlight was brightestĪgainst the United States in the 2004 Olympics, the same year he was named a starter for the Jazz, Arroyo was the best player on the court. But once he put on the Puerto Rican jersey, he turned it on. Arroyo’s game never matched that, and as a result he only averaged double-digit points once in the NBA. During his era, point guards were expected to pass, play defense, and take the fewest shots on the team. Photo credit: always seemed a little late to the party. And why not? These little niños finally had someone who looked like them balling in the big leagues. He was on highway billboards, and his jersey was worn all over Orlando by little brown boys and girls with Spanish-sounding names. There was always a cheering section for him during his years in Orlando. He is beloved by his home country and first, second, and third-generation Puerto Ricans, especially in Florida. Arroyo is not as well known as other Latino players like Manu Ginobili and Leonardo Barbosa, but he is arguably the best player to come out of his home island. In his first season as a starter in 2003, Arroyo averaged 12.6 points and five assists per game, while notching a career-high 30 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a feat that would end up a record as the second-highest single-game total ever for a Puerto Rican player in the NBA. While in the league, Arroyo, the fifth Puerto Rican player to ever play in the NBA, was known as a shoot-first guard. Arroyo is from Fajardo, a region in eastern Puerto Rico known as a hotspot for dolphins, turtles, and manatees. The team’s best player was 6’1” guard Carlos Arroyo, a relatively well-known name in the NBA who played in the NBA from 2002-08 for the Utah Jazz, Detroit Pistons, and Orlando Magic before returning and playing sparingly between 2009-11. In contrast, the Puerto Rican team fielded only four players with limited NBA experience. The USA squad entered the Olympic Games in Athens with Hall-of-Fame players in Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson, electrifying All-Stars Shawn Marion, Carlos Boozer, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Stephon Marbury, and future NBA all-time greats Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade. When Carlos Arroyo gave Team USA that work! (2004) /svfd9PrJNd It was a smack in the mouth they would remember for years. In that first-round game, when the Americans were at their cockiest, Team USA lost the game by nineteen points. While it’s slightly glossed over, the first-round ass-whooping at the hands of Puerto Rico was only the first of the USA’s many stumbles. As the US men’s team barrelled through the 2004 Summer Olympics, the group of mismatched “stars” soon found out they were only equipped with elite ego. Early in the newly released Netflix documentary, The Redeem Team reveals the collapse of American exceptionalism–at least in basketball.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |