On the first day of the Fiba Americas from Argentina,
the D.R. blew past the Cubans, taking advantage of their talent &
experience to collect a 30 point opening game victory.
Now, when you think of the Dominican Republic, you typically think of baseball. It is one of, if not the biggest international crop of talent on the globe. Then, you have their basketball program. Although they have never qualified for the Olympics, I personally believe that this may be the year. With Kentucky Wildcat head coach John Calipari at the helm, gameplan should never be an issue for the Dominicans, especially since Calipari's dribble drive motion offense suits the international game so well. So let's talk about the talent on this team: You have NBA All-Star Al Horford, the Kings' Francisco Garcia, Detroit Piston Power Forward Cahrlie Villanueva, as well as former Lousivlle standout Edgar Sosa at the point.
This game was no contest form beginning to end. The Dominican Republic led 18-8 after the first period, and never looked back from there. For those who watched this game, Cuba was simply outclassed. The quicker & more experienced Dominicans forced bad shots, and the majority of the time made the Cubans go one and done offensively, with Jack Michael Martinez grabbing a game high 10 boards. Horford poured in a game high 24 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes of play.
This Dominican team can play with any team in this year's field, while Cuba's young talent needs to gain better chemistry amongst themselves and make better decisions with and without the basketball. Too many times in this game poor help defense by Cuba would lead to open shots for the D.R.
Next Game: Dominican Republic (1-0) vs Venezuela [8/31]
Cuba (0-1) vs Venezuela [9/1]
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