Strange things happen in international basketball. If there is one rule of thumb concerning FIBA tournaments, that is it. And as of last night, we have a new regional champion that absolutely no one would have picked to win the Tournament of the Americas. Mexico. Yes, Mexico. They can’t seem to get their act together in soccer, but in basketball they took home the gold medal by defeating Puerto Rico 91-89 to qualify for the World Cup (formerly known as the World Championship)
Andrew Wiggins will not be taking his talents to Spain next summer. Unless … Well, first things first. Canada, which should have a team that can compete for a medal (maybe even gold?) by the time the Tokyo Olympics roll around in 2020 (Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Kelly Olynyk, Andrew Nicholson, Cory Joseph; Tristan Thompson, all in their primes) failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup by losing 73-67 to Luis Scola (28 points) and Argentina on Sunday at the FIBA-Americas Tournament
They had the best point guard in Europe, Marcelinho Huertas, who once dropped 11 dimes on Team USA with U.S. president Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and Vice President Joe Biden in attendance. But they were missing all of their big guys, including NBA players Nene, Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter, and the result was worse than anyone could have imagined. With a loss to Jamaica on Tuesday on the final day of the first round of the FIBA-Tournament of the Americas,