SANTA CRUZ (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019) — After their powerful victories in the first game day of the second window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers, two old rivals will meet to solve who will be the Americas’ leader for Group C.

United States and Puerto Rico will duel on Monday in the last game of this month's Qualifiers, in a match in which both teams are looking to be the leaders of their group before the summer Qualifiers. The encounter will take place in Santa Cruz, California.

This will be the second occasion in which USA and Puerto Rico will play against each other in the windows. In November, with Puerto Rico playing as locals in Orlando, the North Americans had to give it their all to defeat the islanders, 85-78.

The United States have a 3-0 record before the match, after a wide victory against Cuba, 84-48, last Friday. That same day, Puerto Rico (2-1) achieved a powerful win against Mexico, 100-80.

Coach Jeff Van Gundy remembers very well that November game against Puerto Rico and knows that his pupils must do the best they can against the Caribbean team if they want to win on Monday.

“They outplayed us, and they dominated the game for the most part and we had some guys make some huge plays down the stretch. Xavier Munford, Reggie Hearn and Jameel Warney, they came up huge,” Van Gundy remembered about the trio who's not in this window for the United States.

“Ángel Rodríguez dominated the game. They knew us better than we knew them and that was my fault. They have great continuity, they bring incredible passion and physicality to the game. And, so, the challenge is real. It's gonna be an electric atmosphere for our players and for their players, and we're gonna have to play very very well,”

Jeff Van Gundy (USA)

In the November date, Rodríguez was pure poison for the United States, with 13 points and eight assists. Puerto Rico were very effective from the distance in the first quarter, and that helped them stay in command until the mid-third quarter.

For this occasion, Rodríguez will not be Van Gundy's only concern. Besides Rodríguez, Puerto Rico also has point guard Gary Browne, who was excellent in his first game of the Qualifiers, with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the comfortable win in Mexico.

The Boricuas have displayed a good team game and are the second team that have lost the least amount of balls, with 10.0; are third in points (91.0) and assists (21.0) in the Qualifiers. However, the United States are following very closely, with an 11.0 average in losses and 20.3 in assists. The largest statistical advantage of the Americans over the Boricuas lies in the rebounds; the United States lead in this department with 47.0, while Puerto Rico is 13th with 35.0.

“They catch the ball and attack you. They open up the spaces well. They go to the offensive rebound and are very quick with the transitions. All their game is based on pick and roll,” said Puerto Rican coach Eddie Casiano to his players after Sunday’s practice.

In their specific history, in official games in the United States, the US National Team has a 7-1 record against Puerto Rico, not counting the triumph in Orlando, because the Caribbean side played as locals. The only Boricua victory was in 1998 in the Goodwill Games in New York City.

FIBA