PUR - Manolo Cintron substituting Julio Toro as head coach of Puerto Rico's National Team

SAN JUAN (FIBA Americas Championship) - Puerto Rican Manolo Cintron was unanimously appointed as head coach of Puerto Rico's senior men National basketball team. He will be substituting Julio Toro, who in August announced his retirement as head coach of the national team.

However, this will not be his first experience as head coach, since he was the head coach of the national team that represented Puerto Rico in the Central American and Caribbean Games 2006, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, finishing as gold medalists.

In that gold-medal game, Jose Juan Barea, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA, made a three-point buzzer-beater, leading Puerto Rico to a nerve-wracking victory, 90 to 87, over Panama.

Cintron was the candidate identified by Julio Toro as his successor, after he announced his retirement.

As part of the new responsibilities Cintron is going to be facing are the next Pan-American Games in Brazil, from July 13 to 29; the "Tuto" Marchand Cup, from August 16 to 18, in Puerto Rico's Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan.

This competition will serve as preparation for the national representations from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Puerto Rico, on their way to the Beijing 2008 Olympics' Qualifying Tournament (FIBA Americas Championship 2007) in Las Vegas (USA), from August 22 to September 2.

FIBA Americas