Into the game, the Dominican Republic was ranked 25th by FIBA. Argentina was ranked 4th and had won the silver medal in the 2019 World Cup held in 2019 in China.
Playing without a NBA star and against all odds, the Dominican Republic shocked the basketball world when it defeated Argentina 79-75 to win the much-coveted Americas region slot to play in the FIBA World Basketball Cup. Argentina was the team that had qualified for the previous nine World Cups and even won the silver in the 2019 World Cup held in China.
The shocking Dominican win took place in front of a pro-Argentina crowd at the Polideportivo Islas Malvinas in Mar del Plata. The game was more dramatic because the team was down 17 points with only 12 minutes remaining. FIBA reported that “the improbable comeback silenced an 8,000-deep Argentinian crowd.” The DR would close its participation in Group E with a 9-3 record, second to Canada.
Argentinean Nestor (Che) García led the team to victory. García took over the Dominican squad when he was not chosen to be the head coach of Team Argentina. Irony had it that the Dominican Republic won the slot, precisely defeating Team Argentina.
El Clarin, the leading Argentinian newspaper, highlighted it was the first time in 41 years that team Argentina did not make the cut to the World Cup.
FIBA reports that García remained calm, telling his players that they could do it. “Their zone defense gummed up the works for the Argentinian offense, while on the other end of the floor they focused on attacking.
FIBA reported that 19-year old Jean Montero looked like a veteran in the clutch and scored 18 – nine in the fourth – of his 22 points in the second half.
“Our mentality was different when we entered the last quarter. We knew that we weren’t going to tie the game in a single possession, so we had to work on it. Coach told us that the last 3 minutes of the game would be key and that’s what happened. We got the win because we didn’t give up. I still can’t believe we’re going to the World Cup,” said Montero, who also had 3 steals.
Montero drained a free-throw line jumper with 1:19 left in regulations to tie the score at 71 and erase a 17-point deficit. Andrés Feliz then stole the ball and Víctor Liz put DR ahead 75-73 with 57.4 seconds left. The Dominican defense held Gabriel Deck, Facundo Campazzo and Nicolás Laprovíttola of Argentina to just 8 points in the final quarter. Montero then sealed the deal with a bucket that made the score 79-75 with 19 seconds left.
“We didn’t knock them out and doubt started creeping in. This is a tough hit. Emotionally, we couldn’t get back up after they tied the game. It’s going to hurt to watch (the World Cup) on TV. It’s my responsibility,” said Argentina’s head coach Pablo Prigioni.
Montero had sought to be drafted for the NBA, but didn’t make the cut. His performance in the qualifiers for the World Cup should be grabbing the attention of the leading professional teams of the world.
With the final qualifying games played, the last teams to make the cut to the 32-team 19th World Cup were: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Jordan, Mexico, Montenegro, Puerto Rico, Serbia, South Sudan, USA and Venezuela.
The teams that qualified by region are:
Africa: Angola, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, South Sudan
Americas: Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, USA, Venezuela
Asia: Australia, China, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Philippines
Europe: France, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain
A draw is scheduled to be held on Saturday, 29 April 2023 to determine the groups the pool play of the 32-team tournament that starts 25 August to 10 September 2023 in Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.
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28 February 2023