The Dominican Republic is seeking to win a slot to the 2006 World Basketball Games in Japan when it matches nine other countries from the Americas in the Pre-World Basketball Championship that opens today at the Virgilio Travieso Soto Basketball Palace in Santo Domingo. The The FIBA-Americas Championship Games will take place from 24-28 August.
Group A will consist of Panama, US, Venezuela, Brazil and Canada. The DR will play in Group B against Uruguay, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Argentina.
The teams are opting for the four slots in the World Games scheduled for 2006 in Japan. Argentina’s participation has already been secured. The DR’s Pre-World Championship Games schedule is: August 24: Uruguay vs. DR; August 26: DR vs. Mexico, Aug. 27: Puerto Rico vs. DR; Aug. 28: DR vs. Argentina. The best four teams of each group will pass to the second round of the tournament.
The Dominican team members are Luis Flores, Luis Felipe Lopez, Francisco Garcia (Sacramento Kings, NBA), Jack Michael Martinez, Amaury Fillon, Marlon Martinez, Jaime Peterson, Otto Vantroy, Andy Williams, Jose Vargas, Joel Ramirez and nationalized Dominican Josh Asselin. The Dominican team is directed by Keith Smart (Golden State Warriors assistant coach), Fernando Teruel and Jose Dominguez.
See http://www.fibaamericas.com to follow the games online.