DOM - Huge opportunities beckon

SANTO DOMINGO (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - The Dominican Republic have the most important summer in their history coming up.

Not since 1978 has the Caribbean nation played in a major international tournament, and that was at the FIBA World Championship in the Philippines.

This year, the Dominicans are in a select group of 24 teams that will play at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

They will compete in Group C against Turkey, Finland, Ukraine, New Zealand and the United States.

As important as the forthcoming campaign in Europe will be, there is something else that carries tremendous significance.

The team will run onto the floor at Madison Square Garden in New York City on 20 August and take on the USA, the defending Olympic and world champions, in a friendly.

"This game will be a challenge for our team," general manager Eduardo Najri said.

"This is the toughest opponent possible and at the same time, a great gift for the fans who love Dominican basketball ...

"(Going up) against a team of this magnitude speaks of the growth of our group as an important benchmark on the continent."

The Dominicans have been knocking on the door of playing at major tournaments for the past several years and finally had their breakthrough in Caracas, Venezuela, at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship.

By reaching the top four, the side led by coach Orlando Antigua qualified for the World Cup.

Rafael Uribe, the president of the Dominican Basketball Federation, is extremely proud that the United States offered the Dominicans another opportunity.

The teams also scrimmaged a couple of years ago following the Dominicans' strong performance at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Venezuela.

It was part of the Americans’ Olympic warm-up campaign.

"USA Basketball sees sufficient growth and organization and that our team is strong enough that in just two years, it has scheduled a second meeting," Uribe said.

FIBA