Kelbick, Rosario Thrilled With Tropics
Sep 22, 2007
By: Walter Villa
One day after the Tropics announced their new head coach and first player for this December's FIBA Liga De Las Americas, there is still a great deal of buzz about the team.
Don Kelbick, the new coach, has tremendous experience. He coached for 25 years in the college ranks and has trained numerous NBA players such as Raja Bell, Carlos Arroyo, Carlos Boozer and many others.
And even with all of that big-time experience, Kelbick said Friday that he was thrilled to be working for the Tropics and team president Art "Pilin" Alvarez.
"I appreciate the opportunity Art has given me," Kelbick said. "Basketball is like air to me. I need it to breathe. In effect, Art has given me an oxygen tank."
Kelbick added that he realizes the "enormity" of the job he has been given.
"Even though this tournament will be about club teams and not national teams," Kelbick said, "to the rest of the teams who play us, we are the Americans, and they are going to want to beat the United States.
"So we won't just be playing for ourselves or Miami, we will also be playing for basketball fans in Omaha or Phoenix or elsewhere in the U.S. And we need to find guys who are not only good players but who also understand what they will be playing for."
Tropics General Manager Ed Auricchio, who will be in charge - along with Alvarez - of finding the players the team needs to win, said he knows where to start.
"We will look within our organization first," said Auricchio, referring to guys who have played for the Tropics previously in the ABA, Copa McDonald's or the travel team. "Then from there, we will supplement that with other players."
Auricchio said that when he went to Las Vegas this past July for the NBA Summer League, he scouted numerous players who could help the Tropics.
"There are a lot of guys who will be cut by the NBA who are still great talents," Auricchio said. "They are guys who are on the cusp of the NBA. Those are the guys we will be interested in signing."
The first player, of course, has already been signed. He is 6-9, 235-pound center Karel Rosario, who played for the Tropics' ABA team last season. When he started games, the Tropics went 10-1, the type of success the organization would love to see continue.
"I'm emotional about this," Rosario said about being the first Tropics player in the FIBA era. "I grew up in Miami, so this is great for me. I also think this will be great for the city of Miami. I'm excited."
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