It's time for Centrobasket!

[by Kris SANTIAGO] - Hola! the Centrobasket 2010 is going to start this weekend in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic.
The tournament is going to serve as a qualifier for all Central American and Caribbean countries for the FIBA Americas Tournament next year.
The top four teams move on and will be playing against other basketball powerhouses from the continent for a ticket to the Olympics in Brazil.
But the "Palacio de los Deportes" isn't ready yet and the organizers are currently pressuring the local authorities to repair it immediately as the games will be starting on Monday the 5th of July.

Hosts Dominican Republic are heavily preparing and will be facing Cuba in warm-up games on Friday and Saturday before playing their first game in the Centrobasket on Monday.

A group consisting of 14 players is currently working-out in the capital Santo Domingo. They are: Charlie Villanueva, Jack Michael Martínez, Alex Salas, Joel Ramírez, Manuel Fortuna, Juan Pablo Montás and Ronald Ramón.
Others include James Feldeine, Santos Martínez, Manuel Guzmán, Amaury Filión, Carlos Paniagua, Juan Coronado, Kelvin Peña and Carlos Morbán.

Puerto Rico secured the services of P.J. Ramos under the boards while Larry Ayuso and A.D. Vassallo won't suit up after all.
Newbie James Life is battling with Guillermo Diaz for the shooting guard spot and Narvaez or Villafane are replacing Daniel Santiago.
Also, Renaldo Balkman is now down with the Boriqua.

Belize is beefing up with the addition of a new coach.
U.S. American Marques Johnson, who played several years in the NBA and was an All-Star, is taking over for Kevin Siroki. Not everyone in Belize seems to be happy about the change.
The called up players for the preparations can be found here.

Some of the "bigger" names include Noel Felix, Milton Palacio, Keenan Jourdan, Marlon Garnett and Alex Carcamo. Felix probably did not report to the team.

Mexico gets help from legendary player Manuel Raga, who is going to support Spaniard Pep Claros on the sideline.

The final roster of the Mexicans looks as follows: Omar Quintero, Pedro Meza, Paul Stoll, Jovan Harris, Arim Abdul Solares, Víctor Mariscal, Gustavo Ayon, Michael Strobbe, David Crouse, Lorenzo Mata-Real and Orlando Zuñiga.
Head Coach: Pep Claros Canals
Assistant Coach: Andrés Contreras Arellano
Sports Director: Manuel Raga Navarro

The Jamaicans are gearing up big for Santo Domingo. Seven footer Roy Hibbert from the Indiana Pacers is reportedly joining the team along Samardo Samuels, Akeem Scott, Andre Smith, Damion Staple, Garfield Blair, Garfield Johns, Justin Leith, Ronald Yates, Terrell Christie, Weyinmi Efejuku and Kimani Ffriend.

Cuba announced it's squad for the Centrobasket already:
Yoan Luis Haiti, Yudniel Perez, Yasser Rodriguez (Ciego de Avila), Allens Jemont (Matanzas), Andy Boffil (Ciego de Avila), Yordanis Jaca (Camaguey), Lisvan Valdes (Capitalinos), Leonel Batista (Camagüey), Orestes Torres (Capitalinos) and Abraham Richardson (Capitalinos).

Underdogs British Virgin Islands have their team also set to join the others on the island left to their coast.

Trinidad & Tobago certainly won't have this guy here in their team as he plays for Canada.

As usual, no big news out of the U.S. Virgin Islands except a coaching change, but they are known to field some good talent in international competition.

And finally Panama is hoping for J.R. Pinnock who is still involved in the Puerto Rican finals and might be flying over tomorrow once the last game is finished.

My predictions for the Centrobasket:
1. Dominican Republic
2. Puerto Rico
3. Jamaica
4. Belize

I'm out like a summer without hoops.