Another one of those lame best of the year thingies...

SAN JUAN (William Rosario's Somewhere in the Americas) - I am sorry. I know you are probably tired of reading the best of the year columns, lists, recaps...etc but here goes another one. Forgive me, but this has been a truly magical year for international basketball in the Americas.

It all started with what seemed to be the death of the FIBA Americas League. Maybe two months prior to the start of the league, Argentinean teams united in the verdict of not playing the 2013 edition, and along with Venezuela deciding to not present professional clubs. It all looked gloomy.

But with 12 teams willing to go, the sixth edition of the league began and ended up re-affirming the need for the competition in the Americas professional basketball landscape. We saw magnificent games, with huge upsets and the growth spurt of the Brazilian National League as maybe the elite national club league in the continent.

Pinheiros/Sky was crowned champion of the FIBA Americas League in a great run that elevated their club to new heights in the basketball picture, even to the point of recently having Leandro Barbosa sign with them this season. For this next season, the FIBA Americas League has a more promising future than ever, having secured the participation of the champions of the elite leagues of the continent for the first time in the young seven-year history of the competition.

Then came the youth championships where we once again saw the dominance of the USA teams at this level. They were unstoppable, in both the Men and the Women's Americas U16 tournaments, with big victories against clearly over-matched opponents. But it's always good to see great talent in development and both the USA and Canada have demonstrated to be excellent at giving young players chances to succeed and grow in the sport.

But it did not stop other teams from making history of their own in these tournaments. In the Men's, Puerto Rico qualified to their first FIBA U17 World Championship with a good performance in Punta del Este, Uruguay where they came in fourth. In the Women's, hosts Mexico advanced to what was then the first World Championship berth in 39 years.

I say "what was" because the Senior Men's FIBA Americas Championship became truly historical. In a really competitive tournament that saw six teams competing for qualification for the 2014 FIBA basketball World Cup until the last day, the story quickly became Mexico and their amazing run.

The Mexicans, left out of almost every "expert's" prediction prior to the championship were good right off the bat. Led by a dominating Gustavo Ayon, the team coached by Spaniard Sergio Valdeolmillos, had incredible performance after incredible performance beating Americas powerhouse in their way to the top. It was their championship in the history of the tournament.

In the Senior Women's FIBA Americas Championship, Cuba was brilliant. True, everybody had them qualifying for the FIBA World Championship for Women, but nobody had them doing it in the fashion in which they did it in Xalapa.

Brazil was the favorite of the tournament and played like it in the first round. But then came the Semi-Finals and Cuba, where one of the biggest upsets of the year materialized with an amazing performance by Clenia Noblet who just took over the game and gave the victory to the Caribbean squad.

Then in the Final, they had to face off against Canada, a team that had beaten them in the first round, and once again they left everything in the court to capture the continental title while becoming darlings of the Mexican crowd in attendance.

The FIBA Americas Euroleague Intercontinental Cup was a highlight. It matched the aforementioned champion of the FIBA Americas League, Pinheiros/Sky against the Euroleague champion Olympiacos Piraeus in an event that had not been celebrated in almost 20 years.

It was a treat. More than 5,000 spectators arrived to the Barueri Arena in Brazil to watch two games that ended up being more competitive than most imagine with standout performances by the FIBA Americas League MVP Shamell Stallworth who averaged 26 points in the cup and of course the stars of the Greek national team, Georgios Printezis and Vassilis Spanoulis who were sensational in their team's Intercontinental Cup victories.

And to cap off the year there was the South American League. What a great emotional roller coaster of a tournament. Of course, the highlight being the fans in Aguada with the incredible atmosphere they created for both the Semi-Finals and Finals.

In the end, their team could not win it all but the legendary performances by Leandro Garcia Morales were more than enough to encapsulate the magic that has characterized this year. Uniceub from Brazil was the champion in an impressive run in which they ended up winning the title without their main star in Alex Garcia.

You know, forget about what I said at the beginning. I am not sorry.

This was a great year for basketball in the Americas and it certainly deserves the praise.

Here's a toast for the true lovers of the game who have been there for this amazing ride that was 2013.

William Rosario

FIBA Americas

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