Dominican Republic is coming to the FIBA World Cup as the 23th team on the FIBA World Ranking. In this article, we will try to figure out what to expect from this national team.
Precisely because of Dominican Republic, Argentina didn’t qualify for the World Cup. In a direct clash against team that has Facundo Campazzo, Gabriel Deck and Nicolas Laprovittola, the Caribbean country prevailed.
Argentina was shocked by their former head coach, and now the first man on the bench of the Dominican Republic, Nestor Che Garcia. Perhaps that says something too. Fate placed them in Group A together with Angola, host Philippines and Italy.
FIBA World Cup – Dominican Republic: Previous editions and the best results of the national team
This is the fourth time (third in a row) in its history that Dominican Republic has qualified for the World Cup. When they played back in 2014, they finished in 13th place. Four years ago, second phase was once against last stop for them as they finished 16th.
Dominican Republic achieved the best result on their debut, back in 1978. Then, at the end of the championship, they were 12th but it should be mentioned that only 14 teams competed.
FIBA World Cup – Dominican Republic: Road to Mundobasket
In the first round of qualifications, their rivals were Canada, Virgin Islands and Bahamas. In addition to undefeated Canada, they recorded two defeats precisely against the country of the “maple leaf”. With a 4-2 record, they advanced to the next stage.
The second round brought a huge amount of uncertainty. Dominican Republic finished the qualification with four consecutive wins. The last one was and is the most important. As we already said in the introduction, Argentina was the rival for placement in the Mundobasket.
In a direct clash, Dominican Republic created a huge comeback. They were 17 points down in third quarter (61:44), but in the end final score was 75:79 in their favor. The Argentinians were also unlucky, because it was necessary for only one of the three mentioned (Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico) to lose that night, which in the end did not happen.
FIBA World Cup – Dominican Republic: Roster and focus on those who are expected the most
The absolute first name of Dominican Republic, and at the same time one of the best players of the entire tournament will be Karl-Anthony Towns. He has not played for the national team since 2013, but now he is going to lead this country at the FIBA World Cup.
Last season in the NBA, Towns averaged 20.8 points, eight rebounds and 4.8 assists in the Minnesota Timberwolves jersey. It is unnecessary to comment on how much his presence will mean to this national team.
In Dominican Republic, they hoped to have the remaining two important players from the NBA (Al Horford and Chris Duarte), but both of them withdrew. On the other hand, Lester Quinones, LJ Figueroa and Justin Minaya are available, and they will have some of the most important roles in this selection during the FIBA World Cup.
Captain Victor Liz played great during the qualifiers with averages of 15.7 points and four rebounds in 10 games. No less important member of this team is Angel Delgado, the new Besiktas player. Former Pinar Karsiyaka center also recorded 10 appearances through the qualifiers and had a double-double performance averaging 10.5 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.
Eloy Vargas and Andres Feliz are the only two members of the Dominican Republic who were there for every game during the qualification. When it comes to the Joventut player, he will definitely be one of the key individuals in backcourt just like the super talented Jean Montero who destroyed Argentina in the already mentioned clash.
FIBA World Cup – Dominican Republic: More about head coach – Nestor Che Garcia
An experienced Argentinian in the position of head coach, Nestor Che Garcia, started his career way back in 1990. He changed several teams in addition to leading national teams of Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela and now Dominican Republic.
He was most in the public eye during the deciding qualifying game against Argentina. Six months before that, the Basketball Federation of Argentina fired Garcia because he did not live up to expectations. The boomerang returned to them after they were defeated by Dominican Republic, and Garcia became one of the most hated people in his native country.
In 2016, he won the American competition, which later changed its name to the American Basketball Champions League, where all teams from across two continents compete. Among his significant achievements, the one from 2008, when he won the club championship of South America, is worth mentioning.
Garcia also won the Argentine League and the Uruguayan Championship once, while in Venezuela he achieved success in the form of two state championship cups. With the national teams of Argentina and Venezuela, he won four gold medals, all in South American competitions.
![Che Garcia](https://basketballsphere.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FIBA-Svetsko-prvenstvo-Nestor-Garcia.jpg)
FIBA World Cup – Dominican Republic: Expectations
When it comes to draw for the FIBA World Cup, Dominican Republic is in Group A, whose matches will be played in Manila. There are also Italy, Angola and one of the hosts Philippines.
The fact is that Italy is considered as first favorite in Group A. However, in the duel between these two teams, Towns will be the best player on the court. Feliz and Montero definitely aren’t a much weaker backcourt than Italy’s (if at all), so it shouldn’t be a surprise if Dominican Republic finishes undefeated in the first phase.
Their goal is to qualify for the quarterfinals, which would be the greatest success in history. It is definitely not impossible to imagine, and if they avoid United States at that stage, they might be able to dream about a medal. This time around, Dominican Republic will be one of the biggest dark horses.