PUR - Omitted Ortiz calls time on international career

SAN JUAN (Centrobasket) - Puerto Rico forward Jose Ortiz has announced his retirement from international basketball after being left out of the recent squad list.

The former Real Madrid and Barcelona player, who began his international career aged 19 at the 1983 Pan-American Games, said: "I have lowered the curtain."

The decision comes after the 42-year-old was excluded from the squad to contest the Centrobasket tournament in Panama and the Centro American and the Caribbean Games in Colombia.

Coach Julio Toro has named 19 players to form the preliminary list for the Centrobasket, with Carlos Arroyo and Peter John Ramos, who both play in the NBA with the Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards respectively, part of the group.

Meanwhile, a second set of players will represent Puerto Rico in Colombia, with some crossover of names.

The national team general manager, Salvador Vilella, stated that there was only one goal for both tournaments: "To win the gold medal."

He added: "The senior squad (who will play Centrobasket) have more experience, while the second squad is a mixture of youth and adults."
 
Centrobasket squad:
Carlos Arroyo, Christian Dalmau, Bobby Joe Hatton, Filiberto Rivera, Jose Juan Barea, Larry Ayuso, Rick Apodaca, Alejandro Carmona, Angel Figueroa, Carmelo Antrone Lee, Gabriel Colon; Angelo Reyes, Ivan Reyes, Antonio Latimer, Shariff Fajardo, Daniel Santiago, Manuel Narvaez, Peter John Ramos and Hector Valenzuela.
 
Centro American and Caribbean Games squad:
Jose Juan Barea, Wilfredo Pagan, Andres Rodriguez, Filiberto Rivera, Bobby Joe Hatton, Alejandro Carmona, Omar Alvarado, David Huertas, Angel Figueroa, Alex Galindo, David Anderson, Carmelo Antrone Lee, Gabriel Colon, Ivan Lopez, Angelo Reyes, Antonio Latimer, Alex Falcon, Angel Garcia, Peter John Ramos, Manuel Narvaez and Hector Valenzuela.

PA Sport