Mexico's 12 Warriors gearing up for World Cup battles in Manila

MEXICO CITY (Mexico) - Several veterans are in Mexico's 20-man preliminary squad for the FIBA Basketball World Cup, which gets underway on August 25 and is being staged in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

The 12 Warriors, coached by Omar Quintero, will play all of their games in Manila after being drawn in Group D with Lithuania, Montenegro and Egypt. A top two finish would put Mexico in the Second Round and a likely game against the USA, the country that eliminated them in the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Spain.

Paul Stoll, Jorge Gutierrez, Pako Cruz, Orlando Mendez, Hector Hernandez and Israel Gutierrez were in the team that played at the World Cup in Spain nine years ago.

Cruz, a leading player for Mexico at the last World Cup, has spent the past several years competing in Europe.

Cruz faced Stephen Curry and the USA in the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Barcelona

Jorge Gutierrez had a dazzling college career as the point guard of the California Golden Bears and then spent several years in the NBA and the NBA G-League before leaving for Europe in 2016 to join Trabzonspor in Turkey.

He spent several seasons on the old continent, also playing in Italy, Spain, Germany and Greece before returning to Mexico in 2021.

Another experienced player on the 20-man list is Gabriel Giron, the 35-year-old small forward who featured in all 12 Americas Qualifiers and was second in scoring at 14.8 points per game.

Giron, the third leading scorer in the Mexico team that came in fifth at last year's FIBA AmeriCup in Brazil, suited up for the Libertadores de Queretaro team in the Mexico LNBP and Basketball Champions League Americas that was coached by Quintero and also had Stoll, Jorge Gutierrez, Hernandez, and Daniel Amigo, who led Mexico in scoring at the FIBA AmeriCup at 14.3 ppg but then got hurt in October and had to miss the season.

Amigo did play in seven games in the Americas Qualifiers, including six in the First Round, averaging 13.4 points and 5.7 rebounds. He had 16 points and eight assists in a 90-86 triumph over Puerto Rico and 18 points in a 97-88 victory over the USA.

Amigo, when contacted by FIBA.basketball, said he has "recovered completely" from his injury and "should be going to Manila primeramente Dios."

 James was Mexico's second leading scorer and top rebounder at FIBA AmeriCup 2022

Also in the preliminary squad is Fabian James, a standout at the AmeriCup and in the Americas Qualifiers. James was the second leading scorer (13.3 ppg) and top rebounder (7.3 rpg) at the AmeriCup. He played in all 12 of Mexico's Americas Qualifiers for the World Cup.

After Mexico's qualification, James said of the World Cup in an interview with matealaro.com: "We are clear that it will be a difficult tournament, they are the best countries in the world.

"But we already showed that we can compete and beat anyone. We are going with the idea of ​​having a great tournament and not just on vacation."

The warmup games that Mexico will play in July are against Cuba in Puebla on Friday, then against the Cubans on July 19 (in Merida) and July 21 (in Torreon). Mexico will square off against Colombia on July 26 in Juarez and on July 29 in Mexico City.

Quintero will then trim his roster to 14 players.

FIBA