CHIHUAHUA  (Mexico) - The stats didn’t tell the full story in this great Group D match up between USA and Cuba in Chihuahua City, Mexico. A USA win (95-90) was not surprising to many but that’s not the tale of this Day 3 battle of FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers.

The true story is in the columns that don’t exist in the postgame numbers – effort, pride and belief.

Cuba showed how much the little internal things can put you in a position to potentially do huge things, and how the talent gap in the Americas region continues to shrink.

The Cuban starting five of Karel Guzman, Yoanki Mensia, Osmel Oliva, Yorman Polas and Jasiel Rivero all played more than 22 minutes with three players logging over 30 on the night leaving everything they had on the Gimnasio Auditorio Universitario floor. Their drive to compete and win was contagious.

That mental strength stems from the professional experience they continue to acquire. Rivero, who led all scorers in the USA vs. Cuba clash with 34, helped Burgos lift European hardware winning the 2020-21 Basketball Champions League.

A total of 11 lead changes highlighted a back-and-forth affair that saw Cuba at one point hold a double-digit lead of 35-24 in the first quarter and at another point they found themselves down by nine-points in the third stanza – Cuba battled back to lead 77-73 going into the final 10-minutes. Cuba’s last lead of the game came at the 6:54 mark 80-79.

Cuba battled the entire contest never doubting they belonged and could win. They doubled the USA in steals (8-4) and most telling won the battle of the paint outscoring the United States 42-38 with a combination of fearless drivees to the rim, put backs and transition buckets. Cuba also scored 16 points off turnovers making sure their hard work on the defensive end paid off on the scoreboard. Their trust in each other was also glaring as Cuba dished out 24 assists on 70 field goals while only turning the ball over 10 times.

While the Group D standings will show Cuba 0-1 with one point after their first contest – it will not show the foundation that is being constructed to make nights like Sunday less surprising and more expected. Especially when that effort, belief, pride and talent turns losses into wins.

FIBA