FIBA Basketball

10 reasons to follow Group D in Ponce

PONCE (DIRECTV League of the Americas) – Tonight Group D of the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas tips-off with the participation of clubs Weber Bahía (Argentina), Academia de la Montaña (Colombia), Cocodrilos

Here are the 10 reasons why you cannot miss the continental club action this weekend:

10. The Leones de Ponce: The Group D host team of the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas is one of the most traditional franchises in world basketball. The Leones de Ponce have 14 championships in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional of Puerto Rico that date from 1952 and inside which have had legendary figures of the sport in the island like Juan "Pachín" Vicens, Javier Antonio "Toñito" Colón, Bobby Ríos, Eddie Casiano and others. Even Tex Winter, the architect of Phil Jackson’s triangle, won two championships as head coach of the team in the 1950s.

9. Nestor Salazar: The head coach of the Cocodrilos of Caracas has participated in 12 finals in the Professional League of Venezuela, including 7 consecutive from 2005 to 2011. He has won six titles in total and four at the helm of Cocodrilos.

8. Jonathan Rodriguez in Puerto Rico: The Academia de la Montaña forward was the Most Valuable Player of the Professional League of Colombia last season. Rodríguez, who has the scoring record in a game of the Colombian league with 51 points, is from Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

7. The Bahia Project: The Argentine club is one of the most interesting projects in continental basketball. Their coach Sepo Ginobili has given prominence to the young players of his squad that currently have a 19-12 record in their national league and were finalists of the DIRECTV Liga Sudamericana in 2016. The average age of the team is 23 years with some outstanding prospects such as Maximo Fjellerup, Juan Pablo Vaulet (his rights belong to the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA), Facundo Corvalán and Lucio Redivo, who at 22 years finished as the second best scorer of the Sudamericana with 18.9 points per game.

6. Vassallo in the LDA: The forward of the national team of Puerto Rico returns to the DIRECTV Liga de las Américas after two seasons in which he averaged 26 points (2014) and 19.4 points (2013) per game with the Capitanes de Arecibo .

5. A Cocodrilos full of "workers": The legendary Venezuelan club that has 6 championships in its national league, returns to the international stage with a different squad. The last time the team appeared in the Liga de las Americas was in 2014 with star players of the likes of Andre Emmett, Carl Elliot, Luis Bethelmy and Kris Lang in uniform. On this occasion, Cocodrilos arrives in Ponce with a squad of young players and a trio of north American additions that its general manager Rostin González characterized as "workers" and in which he sees many hopes of qualification.

4. Two champions and one continental finalist: Group D of the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas is made up of the champions of Colombia (Academia de la Montaña), Venezuela (Cocodrilos), as well as the second place team of the DIRECTV Liga Sudamericana 2016 (Weber Bahia), along with a legendary host.

3. North American standouts: Several North American players will wear the colors of the teams participating in Group D. The hosts have Hakim Warrick, who played for 8 seasons in the NBA and who last year played for Olympiacos of Greece; Weber Bahía has Anthony Johnson who is among the leaders in scoring and rebounding in the National League of Argentina; and Academia de la Montaña has Kentrel Gransberry who in his last appearance in the Liga de las Americas averaged 20.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.

2. Maximo Fjellerup: The 19-year-old is one of the most interesting prospects in continental basketball. In Argentina’s national league, he averages 10.7 points in 22 minutes of game. His compatriot, the all-time great Manu Ginobili had this to say about him: "What you have to know is that it has a bright future and very particular physical abilities to play basketball. His ceiling will depend exclusively on his work ethic." (Via liganacional.com.ar)

1. Carlos Arroyo: Group D represents the debut in the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas of one of the leading figures of the international basketball scene in the last 15 years. Arroyo, 37, who played last year for Barcelona in Europe, will wear the colors of Leones de Ponce for the first time in his career. In his Puerto Rican basketball career, the point guard has won 5 titles with the Cangrejeros de Santurce, in addition to being the captain of the island’s national team for more than a decade.

The full schedule of the competition can be seen here.

'Soles de Mexicali (Mexico) and La Unión de Formosa (Argentina) qualified in Group A, while Fuerza Regia (Mexico) and defending champion Guaros de Lara (Venezuela) qualified in Group B. Last week in Buenos Aires, San Lorenzo (Argentina) and Hebraica y Macabi (Uruguay) advanced out of Group C.

The Liga de las Americas will be played in three phases: Group Stage, Semifinal Phase and Final Four. In the Group Phase the teams have been divided into four (4) groups of four (4) teams each that will play in round-robin format for three (3) days. The best two teams from each group will qualify for the Semifinal Phase.

In the Semifinal Phase, teams will be divided into two (2) groups of four (4) teams each and will play in round-robin format for three (3) days. The best two (2) teams from each Semifinal group will advance to the Final Four, where the Champion of the Americas will be crowned.

The defending champion of the competition is Guaros de Lara (Venezuela).

The Liga de las Americas will be broadcasted in DIRECTV (Americas), Telemundo (Puerto Rico) and livebasketball.tv (subscription required).

For the best coverage of the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas 2017, visit ligamericas.com and our @ligamericas social networks.

FIBA