Cuban basketball team

Havana, July 23 (JIT) - The Cuban basketball team that participated in a tour of China reached the finals in the three events it played.

In the last one, held in the city of Nantong, after comfortably beating the United States and qualifying for the gold medal, they ended up losing to Italy with a score of 83-73.

They had previously taken second place in Suzhou after losing to the United States in the contest for the gold medal 74-68.

The Antilleans had been crowned in the first of these competitions, which took place in Hangzhou, so they played in the final in all the competitions in which they participated. 

“We achieved the objective we set ourselves, which was to develop the younger players competitively by increasing their level of play,” the team's technical director told JIT.

“We evaluated the physical condition as very good and highlighted as the most important thing the attitude and combativeness despite the demanding schedule and the long trips from one city to another,” he argued.

Planas attributed this performance to the excellent preparation they carried out in Cuba, which allowed new players in the squad to show a good performance. 

“Players like Aldo Castel, Ibrahim Hechevarría, Arle Zaporta and Joan Carlos Gutiérrez showed that they have the necessary conditions to count on them in the Qualifying Window for the Fiba AmeriCup 2025,” said the coach.

The strategist noted that they still need to improve their three-point shooting and alternate the pause with the defensive and counterattacking game that his team displays and did not rule out the possibility of repeating the Cuban participation in the next season.