MONTEVIDEO (DIRECTV Liga de las Americas 2017) - Hebraica y Macabi lived weeks of doubts and uncertainty, but now the team is full of optimism and confidence. The poor results in the Uruguayan National League and the recurring injuries have disappearing and given way to the return of players and wins instead of losses.

Thus, the Uruguayan champion began to rise in the standings, and equaled Aguada at the top of the Uruguayan National League.

Coach Leonardo Zylberstein is now looking at a new panorama and he accepts the improvement of the team and does not hide his hope of fulfilling the team’s potential at the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas.

How is the team preparing for the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas? What are the objectives?
The truth is that in the last weeks we focused on improving our level, because we were quite complicated in the Uruguayan League and we did not focus on the Liga de las Americas. Now that we have improved our results, we are already planning the international event. The objectives are the same as in the Liga Sudamericana, we will try to be competitive against the best teams of the Americas. We will compete and continue to add experience.

How much did the experience on the Liga Sudamericana help the team?
It was a very important experience. In the Liga Sudamericana we showed the level this team can play, by reaching the semifinals and being one match away from playing the final. We showed our level by beating teams that play very well. For Hebraica y Macabi, whose last international participation was in 2011, the Liga Sudamericana was a very positive performance.

Is the team adding a third reinforcement player for the Liga de las Americas?
The idea is to add another foreign player, as allowed by the league’s rules. This season the club is going through a special situation, both at the level of the leadership, and economically, something that has generated some problems. So we will sit down with the leaders to see what can be done regarding the players for the tournament.

What do you think of your preliminary group, along with San Lorenzo (ARG), Capitanes (PUR) and Bucaneros (VEN)?
It will be a tough group. San Lorenzo is one of the candidates to win the tournament and the other two, Capitanes and Bucaneros, are very strong economically and in the sport. Let's hope that they not being in a current competition will give us a chance to advance to the Semi-Final Phase.

FIBA