The Dominican Republic has announced the final list of 12 travelers for the FIBA World Cup, and the first name is Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns leads the pack, which will also feature Eloy Vargas and Victor Liz. Apart from them, coach Nestor Garcia trusted Rigobert Mendoza, Jean Montero, Gelvis Solano, Gerardo Suer, Angelo Delgado, Andres Feliz, L.J. Figueroa, Lester Quinones and Antonio Pena.
Karl Anthony Towns and the team are in Group A in Manila, along with Italy, the Philippines and Angola. That group intersects with the one in which Serbia, Puerto Rico, China and South Sudan are.
The two first-placed teams advance to the next stage. Then a new group is formed, after which the two most successful also advance to the quarterfinals. The Dominican Republic highlighted its candidacy to be one of the national teams in the second phase, primarily with the victory over Canada in the recent preparatory clash.
Garcia’s team could have come to the tournament with stronger names, but two NBA players canceled their performance. They are Al Horford and Chris Duarte. With that in mind, Towns wore the national team jersey after nine years and will be the biggest threat to any rival in the upcoming competition.