POR - Portugal boss Lopez takes long look at big man Nuno Cortez

LISBON (EuroBasket 2009) - Portugal coach Moncho Lopez could bolster his frontcourt ahead of the Additional Qualifying Round games for the EuroBasket with Ovarense big man Nuno Cortez.

The 26-year-old center Cortez is expected to get a call from the national team boss with Lopez set to gather a 14-man group on June 21 to begin preparing for the qualifying games.

“Nuno Cortez is a player who worked with us on previous occasions but has never made to the final squad,” Lopez said to FIBA.com.

“He is now in a good form to make it to the final 12 players.

“I should say that he is a player to consider.

“He is living a very interesting, competitive moment in his career.”

Cortez played in the Portuguese league finals but wasn’t able to carry his team to victory over Benfica.

Portugal will play against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belgium in Group A of the Additional Qualifying Round.

Should Lopez’s team finish top of that pool, they will take on the winner of Group B (France, Italy or Finland) for the right to play at the EuroBasket.

Portugal will play in the Lusofonia Games, to be staged in Lisbon, starting on July 8 and will face Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.

Following the Lusofonia Games - an event that includes all Portuguese speaking countries – the Portugues will take part in another international tournament in Almada, near Lisbon, and go up against Brazil, Angola and Finland.

FIBA