Puerto Rico announce 12-player roster for Centrobasket Championship
SAN JUAN (Centrobasket/FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Puerto Rico on Thursday announced the 12-player roster that will represent the country at the 2016 Centrobasket Championship in Panama City
SAN JUAN (Centrobasket/FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Puerto Rico on Thursday announced the 12-player roster that will represent the country at the 2016 Centrobasket Championship in Panama City from 19-25 June. Head coach Eddie Casiano made the announcement during a press conference in San Juan.
Some of the headlines include the return of Peter John Ramos and Ricky Sanchez. Ramos last featured for the national team at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Caracas, while Sanchez last appeared in Puerto Rico's jersey at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
| Puerto Rico 12-player roster for 2016 Centrobasket Championship | |||
| Jose Juan Barea | Angel Vassallo | Guillermo Diaz | Alex Galindo |
| Ricky Sanchez | Ramon Clemente | Jorge Bryan Diaz | Mike Rosario |
| David Huertas | Alex Abreu | Peter John Ramos | Renaldo Balkman |
Another stand-out is Alex Abreu, who is making his senior national team debut after shooting 45 percent from the field and handing out 5.9 assist with Santeros de Aguada during the 2016 Puerto Rican national league campaign.
Puerto Rico's national league finals MVP, Renaldo Balkman, is on the 12-player list but hasn't confirmed his participation at the Centrobasket. If he chooses not to play at the regional tournament, Carlos "Yao" Lopez will take his place in the team.
Integrantes del Equipo Nacional Masculino que fueron presentados hoy en conferencia de prensa. #SeleccionPUR #FBPUR pic.twitter.com/cNQs2MGWeg
— FBPUR (@fbpur) June 16, 2016
At the Centrobasket, Puerto Rico will be play in Group A along with Nicaragua, Antigua, Panama and Cuba. Group B consists of Mexico, Costa Rica, Bahamas, Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the Semi-Finals. The winners will square off for the gold medal of the competition, while the losers will play for bronze. The teams that finish third during the group phase will face each other to determine 5th place, while those that finish last in the groups will do battle in the 7th place game.
Whoever finishes fifth will automatically qualify to America's Division A of FIBA's New Competition System and get a chance to take part in the qualifiers for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019.
After the Centrobasket a large part of the announced team will play in the B2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Belgrade. The only known addition for the OQT is Carlos Arroyo, who will join the team during its preparation in Europe.
The Boricuas will go up against Serbia and Angola in Group A and then potentially face Japan, Latvia or Czech Republic in a Semi-Final. The Semi-Final winners will square off with a spot at the Olympics at stake.
FIBA