FIBA World Cup and Puerto Rico will be in the same sentence for the 15th time, along with 10th anniversary in consecutive appearances.
Through the song performed by “Vaya Con Dios“, hardly anyone has not heard for Puerto Rico. “Basketball Sphere” writes about this Caribbean country and their basketball national team.
FIBA World Cup – Puerto Rico: Previous editions and the best results of the national team
Since 1986, Puerto Rico has participated in Mundobasket every time. It was during this period that they qualified three times for the quarterfinal round. Previously, they also had the same number of trips to the top 8, and their best result dates back to 1990.
Then, they were defeated by the Soviet Union in the semi-finals, only to lose in the bronze medal game after overtime against the United States.
At the previous World Cup, Puerto Rico played against teams like Italy, Serbia and Spain. They suffered a big defeat (90:47) in a clash with Serbia, while Italy needed additional five minutes to beat them. Thus, they ended their journey in China as the 15th best team on the planet.
FIBA World Cup – Puerto Rico: Road to Mundobasket
United States, Cuba and Mexico were their rivals in the first stage of the qualification. They finished with three wins and three losses.
After that, Puerto Rico played against Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia. With five out of six wins in the second phase, “Los Gallos” easily booked the ticket to Manila.
FIBA World Cup – Puerto Rico: Roster and focus on those who are expected the most
Puerto Rico had hoped that Jose Alvarado would lead the team at the Mundobasket, but due to an injury he suffered in March, he was not cleared by the New Orleans Pelicans to play for his national team.
Alvarado performed only twice during the qualifiers. That was more than enough for the NBA player to show his quality. An average of 21 points, five rebounds and five assists with 1.5 “steals” is an indication of how much this Puerto Rican can do. Unfortunately for the whole nation, he won’t travel to Philippines.
In Alvarado absence, the player who should take over the role of leader is Tremont Waters. In six games played during the qualifiers, the former NBA player scored 17.5 points with six assists, which makes him interesting to watch at the upcoming FIBA World Cup.
In Metropolitans jersey, Waters was the most important player with over 18 points on average, along with Victor Wembanyama. Those are the numbers he will have to repeat at the end of August if Puerto Rico wants to qualify for the second stage.
Frontcourt duo Christopher Ortiz – Ismael Romero leads this team when it comes to the number of games played during the battles for a spot at the World Cup. The first of them is the only one who recorded all 12 appearances with averages of 9.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 25 minutes spent on the floor.
Romero recorded a match less. 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds make him the best rebounder of the national team.
Stephen Thompson and George Conditt could be a tandem as the main link between backcourt and frontcourt. Thompson’s seven points on average and six points, and Conditt’s identical number of rebounds don’t show only single-digit numbers, which the mentioned duo will show at the World Cup.
There is also a former Crvena Zvezda basketball player, John Holland. Born in the Bronx, whose roots on his mother’s side come from Puerto Rico. In a way, Holland represents this nation as a prototype. Combativeness, passion and enormous energy on the floor distinguish him, as well as the remaining members of this national team, and even the nation.
In the red and white jersey, he played far below expectations, which is confirmed by an average of 3.6 points in the EuroLeague, or 4.6 points in the ABA League. His new club is Hapoel Tel Aviv, and the incentive for a much better performances in the next season could be the World Cup.
Jordan Howard, Ethan Thompson, Phillip Wheeler, Aleem Ford, Justin Reyes and Isaiah Pineiro are expected to take their place in the final 12 as well.
FIBA World Cup – Puerto Rico: More about head coach – Nelson Colon
Head coach of the Puerto Rico national team, Nelson Colon, was born in 1983, and has been coaching since 2011. All his jobs were in his native country, and he can boast of the fact that he lifted the championship trophy in Puerto Rico first-tier level on four occasions.
This marked his path to the national team, where he became an assistant in 2015, and six years later he was appointed as head coach. He was also three times the coach of the year in the domestic league.
![Nelson Colon](https://basketballsphere.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FIBA-Svetsko-prvenstvo-Nelson-Colon.png)
FIBA World Cup – Puerto Rico: Expectations
When it comes to the World Cup, Puerto Rico will have its opening challenges in Manila. There, as part of Group B, they will have the well-known Serbian national team as rivals. Apart from them, the quartet is consists of China and South Sudan.
Their main competitors for the next stage will be China, led by Aleksandar Djordjevic and the debutant at the World Cup, South Sudan.
Given the fact that this selection has a history of solid results, we should not be surprised if they are the ones who make it to the second phase. As it was the case in the previous championship, that would probably be the end of the road for them. However, time will tell if we were right.