Plenty of veterans for OQT-bound Mexico
MEXICO CITY (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - Mexico coach Sergio Valdeolmillos will not be short of experienced players at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Turin with plenty of
MEXICO CITY (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - Mexico coach Sergio Valdeolmillos will not be short of experienced players at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Turin with plenty of veterans of recent campaigns among the 15 players in the latest squad.
The team is about to play at the Centrobasket in Panama and has plenty of heavy hitters set to take take part, although Gustavo Ayon is likely to miss out as a result of his continued involvement with Real Madrid in the Spanish Liga Endesa Finals. Ayon will be available, though, for the OQT.
| Mexico 15-man squad for FIBA OQT in Turin |
|||
| Gustavo Ayon | Pako Cruz | Edgar Garibay | Gabriel Giron |
| Jorge Gutierrez | Jose Gutierrez | Hector Hernandez | Orlando Mendez |
| Pedro Meza | Adam Parada | Marco Ramos | Lorenzo Mata |
| Paul Stoll | Juan Toscano-Anderson | Rodrigo Zamora | |
Mexico have been a team on the rise the past few years, winning the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship and advancing to the Round of 16 at the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Mexico also hosted last year's FIBA Americas Championship but lost a hotly-contested Semi-Final to Argentina before falling at the death to Canada in the Third-Place Game.
One of the players in the title-winning side of 2013, Lorenzo Mata, was injured and unavailable the last two years but he has returned and figures to be an important man in the team.
At the OQT, Mexico will need to finish in the top two of Group A with Greece and Iran to advance to the Semi-Finals and a game against Group B side Italy, Croatia or Tunisia. The Semi-Final winners will meet in a do-or-die game for Olympic qualification.
Mexico have not played at a Summer Games since 1976 in Montreal.
FIBA