Duke University’s Blue Devils men’s basketball team has chosen the Dominican Republic national team to play several training camp / exhibition games next season. The team will play summer exhibition games against the Dominican national basketball team in August 2017 as the Dominican team prepares to compete in FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
Coming with the team is legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K), who has lead the US dream team to three consecutive basketball Olympic gold medals (Beijing, London and Rio) and the past two world cups (Turkey and Spain).
The NCAA allows teams to take overseas trips once every four years and permits them to have early practice time to prepare. The extra practice will be valuable for the Duke team that is welcoming six new freshmen next year and losing eight scholarship players.
The games will be played at the Carol Morgan School basketball facility in Santo Domingo, Rafael Uribe, president of the Dominican Basketball Federation told Diario Libre.
The games are especially important for the Dominican team as it prepares for the first round of FIBA World Cup qualifying tournaments. Shortly after, the Dominican national team will travel to Montevideo, Uruguay to play 28-30 August in Group C of the FIBA AmeriCup 2017, an actual FIBA 2019 World Cup qualifier. There the Dominican national team will play against the United States, Panama and Uruguay.
In addition to the Uruguay FIBA AmeriCup, groups A, B and D will be playing in Medellín, Colombia (25-27 August) and Bahía Blanca, Argentina (27-29 August). The winner from each group will advance to the final qualifying round, along with the Argentinean team that automatically qualified because of its status as the main organizer of the competition. The final phase will be played in Cordoba, Argentina from 2-3 September, where the winners of the semi-finals will square off in the title game.
For its part, Group A will be played from 25-27 August in Medellin, Colombia and is composed of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia and a South American country to be determined. In Group B of continental competition will be based in Bahía Blanca, Argentina and will be in action from 27-29 August, along with the Virgin Islands, Venezuela, Canada and Argentina.
The Dominican Republic will host a FIBA Americas Qualifier (most likely at the Gran Arena del Cibao in Santiago) on 27 November 2017, when it will face Canada. The team will have previously traveled to US Virgin Islands for a first part of the tournament (24 November). The Dominican team, which is coached by Melvyn Lopez, is in Group D, along with the Virgin Islands, Bahamas and Canada.
The team needs a top-three finish to get them into the Second Round and play six more games against the top three sides from Group B, which consists of Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and a team still to be announced.
The participating teams seek to earn one of four slots available to the Americas in the 2019 FIBA World Basketball Cup to take place September 2019 in China. Only seven teams will participate in the China event representing Asia, Oceania, Africa, Europe and America, and the winner of the gold medal in the Rio Olympic Games and the host country of the event (China).
The Dominican Republic qualified to the FIBA AmeriCup 2017, while capturing the bronze medal of the 2016 Centrobasket Championship.
The FIBA AmeriCup and FIBA World Cup are organized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Follow the Dominican Republic team in the Americas qualifiers:
FIBA
12 June 2017
