MIAMI (United States) – It took a year and 3 qualifying windows to find out the 12 teams that will be in the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup, to be played in Nicaragua in late August. Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, United States, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela were the teams that earned their tickets to join host country Nicaragua. During the 3 windows, many players shined for their respective teams and had consistent contributions, whether they achieved the goal of qualifying or not. These are the most valuable players for each national team, taking into account games played, their stats and their performances in key moments:
ARG – José Vildoza
Several players had solid showings for Argentina, including star guard Facundo Campazzo. Guys like Nicolás Brussino and Juan Fernández were the most consistent, while Gonzalo Corbalán, among the younger ones, took a step forward. However, Vildoza was the star in Argentina’s great final stretch of the Qualifiers. The team won 3 of their last 4 contests and in those wins, the point guard scored in double digits in all of them (11, 17 and 18 points). Vildoza played in 4 games and was the team’s second leading scorer (behind Gabriel Deck) with 12.8 points. He also averaged 2.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals.
BAH – Tavario Miller
The veteran, who turned 31-year-olds on February 26, did everything for his country to earn their much-awaited ticket to AmeriCup. He played in every game and had extraordinary numbers, averaging 16.2 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 71 percent from the field. In the big win over Cuba during Window 3 – the one that clinched it for Bahamas – he was unstoppable with 26 points and 8 boards.
BRA – Georginho De Paula
Individually, De Paula is having an amazing last 12 months. He had the chance to play in Europe, went to the Olympics, returned to his country and is having a great year at BCL Americas with SESI Franca. In these Qualifiers, he played in every game and had consistent contributions, with averages of 12.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists. This is despite stars like Yago Santos, Bruno Caboclo and Joao Cardoso “Maozinha,” getting most of the attention when they played.
CAN – Trae Bell-Haynes
He was available for all 6 games and was the team’s brain at the point guard position. He had averages of 10.7 points, 6.3 assists (third in the Qualifiers) and 3.5 rebounds. In the wins over Dominican Republic and Mexico that allowed Canada to qualify in the eventual triple tie, he had 8 points and 10 assists, and 20 points and 10 assists, respectively.
CHI – Manuel Suárez
Unfortunately, an injury left him out of the squad for the last 2 games and Chile missed him dearly, to the point of being eliminated. The big man finished second in scoring (19.5) and first in rebounds (10.0) in the Qualifiers. In the historic win over Argentina in Window 1, he went off for 29 points and 9 boards.
COL – Hansel Atencia
A total of 9 Colombian players appeared in all 6 of their games and several of them had good showings (like Juan Tello, Romario Roque, Andrés Ibargüen and Michael Wright), but Atencia was at the helm of the team. He played the most minutes in the Qualifiers (35.0 per game) and scored in double digits in 5 of the 6 games, and averaged 13.5 points, 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals.
CUB – Reynaldo García
The Saga Ballooners (Japan) player was the most consistent on the Cuban squad and his contributions were felt on both ends of the floor. He played in every game and averaged 13.4 points. He also led the Qualifiers with an impressive 3.4 steals per game.
DOM – Víctor Liz
Andrés Feliz and Jean Montero were Dominican Republic’s sparkplugs, but they were only able to play 3 games each due commitments to their European clubs. In their absence, Víctor Liz carried the team on offense. The veteran shooting guard played all 6 games and averaged 12.8 points (on 46 percent from long distance) and 1.7 steals.
MEX – Gael Bonilla
He turned 22-years-old on February 26 but has been a team stalwart for a while now. Bonilla was one of 6 Mexican players to participate in every game in the Qualifiers and in all of them he left his mark. He scored 10 points or more in every game, shooting 54 percent from the field (and 64 percent from beyond the arc). Bonilla averaged 13.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 blocks.
NCA – Jared Ruiz
The veteran wing was, by far, the best player for the upcoming AmeriCup hosts. He was a menace on offense across his country’s 6 games in the Qualifiers, averaging 16.8 points on top of 5.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals. He had 3 games with more than 20 points and shot 91 percent at the line (21-for-23).
PAN – Iverson Molinar
It’s no coincidence that he played Panama’s last 4 games, and they won 3 of them. The point guard had a superlative run with 21.0 points per game (best in the Qualifiers) and 6.3 assists (second). He added 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals. During the last window, he scored 24 points against Paraguay and 25 against Brazil in their big win to end their unbeaten streak. He was listed among the top performers in both games.
PAR – Fernando Dose
There’s very little to highlight for Paraguay in these Qualifiers as they again finished without any ways. Individually, team captain Fernando Dose (who played 4 games), was their best performer with averages of 10.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Rodney Mercado was a close second with 12.8 points and 51 percent from the field.
PUR – Tjader Fernández
Puerto Rico had a new head coach in these Qualifiers (Carlos González) and used 23 different players as they tried to expand the roster. Among so many new faces, the constant was point guard Tjader Fernández, who was present for every game and performed admirably. The 31-year-old averaged 9.8 points and 4.0 assists while shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc.
URU – Joaquín Rodríguez
In his second year in Europe, the shooting guard keeps developing his game and showing it with strong performances for the national team. On a squad with several interesting young pieces, Rodríguez stepped up as a leader when veterans Bruno Fitipaldo and Jayson Granger weren’t available. Throughout the Qualifiers he averaged 12.8 points, 5.2 assists and 2.6 steals in 5 games.
USA – Jahmius Ramsey
The small forward played in all 6 games of the Qualifiers and that says a lot given the depth of players to choose from. Ramsey earned his spot on the offensive end by scoring more than 10 points and shooting 42 percent in the 6 games. He ended up averaging 15.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
VEN – Anyelo Cisneros
The power forward wasn’t among the regulars early on, but injuries to Michael Carrera and Nestor Colmenares opened opportunities for him to deliver. During the second window, when Venezuela lost both games and the alarm went off, he showed interesting flashes, and in the last window, he proved to the coaching staff that he’s ready for a bigger role. Against Argentina and Chile, he had key moments on both ends of the floor that led to key victories. On a team with low scoring production, he averaged 8.8 points on a torrid 71 percent from the field.
FIBA