Puerto Rico: Back on the crime scene

Four years ago, Puerto Rico not only beat Team USA on the opening day of the Olympic men's basketball tournament in Athens. They thrashed 'em! In July, the Puerto Ricans return to the OAKA arena for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament looking to book a place at the Beijing Games.

Despite being a small island, Puerto Rico is a major actor on the basketball scene. That was especially true four years ago in Greece when the National Team created one of the biggest shocks in Olympic history by upsetting the United States. Against some of the best players in the world like Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, a 28-7 second-quarter run propelled the Puerto Ricans to a 92-73 victory. The picture of Carlos Arroyo, who had 24 points and seven assists in that triumph, proudly showing his jersey to the crowd after that famous triumph is one of the lasting images of the Athens Games. Puerto Rico went on to reach the quarter-finals before falling to eventual silver-medalists Italy. They settled for sixth place.

That wasn't the best result of the Puerto Ricans on the international stage. They finished fifth at the 1959 FIBA World Championship, fourth at the 1964 Olympic Games and sixth at the 1963 World Championship. Nearly 40 years later, Puerto Rico caused a huge surprise at the 1990 FIBA World Championship in Argentina. They won their first seven games, including an 82-75 win over eventual gold medalists Yugoslavia and an 81-79 victory over the United States. A 98-82 defeat to the Soviet Union in the semi-finals threw the Puerto Ricans into the bronze medal game against the United States. The US team, made up of college stars like Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner and Kenny Anderson, players who would go on to become big-time professionals, beat the Puerto Rican team that included José "Piculin" Ortiz, who was then playing in the NBA, and forward Jerome Mincy, 107-105 in overtime. Puerto Rico had led 96-88 with 1:28 remaining but the Americans fought back and tied the game at the end of regulation with no time on the lock by sinking a pair of free throws. The result deprived Puerto Rico of their first medal in a major international competition. Puerto Rico, with Ortiz still playing, got their revenge 14 years later in Athens.

"Piculin" Ortiz had quit the National Team in 2002 along with Jerome Mincy, but changed his mind and competed two years later in Greece. He retired from playing basketball for good in 2006. Scoring machine Eddie Casiano, one of the other heroes of 2004, also stopped playing after the Olympic Games. Coach Julio Toro led the team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship but relinquished the reins after that tournament and was replaced by Manolo Cintron. At the FIBA Americas Championship, the long-time assistant to Toro used the formula that had made the Puerto Ricans successful. Indeed, lethal shooters Arroyo and Larry Ayuso fired the team to a bronze-medal win over Brazil in Las Vegas. They remain the leaders of the team. Christian Dalmau and Daniel Santiago, two veterans with Euroleague experience, are players Cintron counts on though the latter's availability for the qualifying tournament in Greece was in question heading into the summer.

Juan José Barea and Filiberto Rivera represent the future at point guard while Rick Apodaca has developed into a key player for Puerto Rico. Angelo Reyes has also established himself as a very important player in the paint. If giant center Peter John Ramos has not fulfilled his potential in both the NBA and Spain's ACB, he is still valuable to the National Team because of his height.

Puerto Rico got rid of the hangover from their 17th place finish at the World Championship last summer in Vegas. Now they will try to build on that performance when taking on Cameroon and Croatia in the Group D at the qualifying tournament in July.

How did they qualify?
2007 FIBA Americas Championship, Final Round
3rd place (5 W - 5 L)

Results

Preliminary Round
Aug-22nd 2007   
Mexico b. Puerto Rico    100-89

Aug-23rd 2007   
Puerto Rico b. Panama    108-67

Aug-24th 2007   
Argentina b. Puerto Rico    87-75

Aug-25th 2007   
Uruguay b. Puerto Rico    82-79

Quarter final Round
Aug-27th 2007   
Puerto Rico b. Brazil    97-75

Aug-28th 2007   
USA b. Puerto Rico    117-78

Aug-29th 2007   
Puerto Rico b. Venezuela    92-63

Quarter-Final
Aug-30th 2007   
uerto Rico b. Canada    72-66

Semifinal
Sep-1st 2007   
USA b. Puerto Rico    135-91

Bronze Medal Game
Sep-2nd 2007   
Puerto Rico b. Brazil    111-107