Latin America gets major spotlight at the FIBA World Cup

With the FIBA Basketball World Cup commencing in just ten days, the world is buzzing with excitement for what could be the most watched world cup tournament ever. There’s especially a great deal of excitement coming from one part of world which doesn’t get too much attention at this event.

Latin America (parts of North, Central, and South America) will be well represented in Spain next week. Five teams from this part of the globe will be competing in this 24-team event, and that’s a huge accomplishment in itself.

Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Brazil are mostly known for soccer, baseball and boxing. But over the last few years, these Spanish –and Portuguese- speaking nations have improved their basketball skills significantly.

Mexico

Mexico wants to prove they can run the floor with the best of them. Their success in soccer, boxing and baseball is well established. Now they’re looking to make basketball a symbol of pride and athletic achievement. La Seleccion de Mexico comes into the world cup with plenty of momentum after winning last year’s FIBA Americas Championship.

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The team’s other recent success includes the gold medal at the Centrobasket Championships earlier this year, last year’s FIBA COCABA championship –winning both tournaments qualified them for this event-, and a silver medal in the 2011 Pan American Games.

This is Mexico’s first world cup appearance in 40 years (1974), and they refuse to go home empty-handed. Mexico also has some star power on their side thanks to Atlanta Hawks center Gustavo Ayon, and Brooklyn Nets guard Jorge Gutierrez.

Mexico will play in Group D where they will be challenged by the likes of Australia, South Korea and Lithuania.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is a familiar face to the world cup as they are making their sixth-straight appearance at this event. Normally, they tend to struggle against stronger teams like the United States, Spain and Argentina. But they’ve gotten better over time.

Los Boricuas finished second in the Americas Championship last year, second in the 2012 Centrobasket, and won gold at both the 2011 Pan American Games, and the 2010 Central American/Caribbean Games. They boast their own NBA talent with Minnesota Timberwolves guard J.J. Barea. They also have solid homegrown talent in guard Carlos Arroyo, forward Alexander Galindo, and center Daniel Santiago.

Puerto Rico faces plenty of challenges in Group B thanks to Argentina, Croatia and Greece.

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Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic has been competing since 1954, but it’s only within the last few years that they’ve made strides against global competition. The Dominicans have medaled in each of the last three Centrobasket competitions (gold in 2012, silver in 2010, bronze in 2008), and they finished third in the 2011 Americas championship. Now they’re looking to win some hardware in Spain. Los Dominicano’s are led by Houston Rockets guard Francisco Garcia, and former American college basketball star Edgar Sosa. They’ll have the difficult task of taking on Team USA in Group C.

Brazil and Argentina

Finally we have Brazil and Argentina who are the most successful Latin American national teams. Together these continental arch-rivals have combined for 31 South American Championships, six FIBA Americas titles, six Pan American gold medals, three world cups, and five Olympic medals.

Not bad for two countries best known for their success on the soccer pitch. Both teams also have a ton of NBA talent on board…. Brazil brings San Antonio Spurs center Tiago Splitter, Cleveland Cavaliers forward/center Anderson Varejao, Washington Wizards big man Nene, and Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa to Spain.

The Argentinians will have Indiana Pacers forward Luis Scola, New York Knicks guard Pablo Prigioni, and former NBA forward Andres Nocioni on their side. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until at least the quarterfinals to see them play each other as they are in separate groups.

Argentina plays in Group B, which they could easily win aside from minor challenges from Puerto Rico, Croatia and Greece.  The only thing that could prevent Brazil from winning Group A is European powerhouse Spain.

This year’s competition will be fun to watch because of these teams, and I predict at that at least three of them will reach the knockout stages.