By Miguel Rapetti
Feb 27, 2024, 10:58 PM EST
Omar Quintero, technical director of the Mexican basketball team, revealed this Tuesday that NBA player Juan Toscano-Anderson declined to participate with the national team in the last call for the first qualifying window for the AmeriCup Nicaragua 2025.
Although Mexico ultimately ended up beating the Dominican Republic 80-73 in overtime, Quintero vented his post-match annoyance by stating that Toscano-Anderson told him that he was not coming for “personal reasons.”
“We invited Juan because he was eligible, we spoke with him and his agent, but he did not come to discuss personal issues. The team is bigger than any player, those who don’t want to come will have their doors closed because no one is bigger than the national team,” the strategist told the media.
Toscano returned last week to the Mexico City Capitanes of the G-League, the NBA’s development league, after a brief 11-game stint with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
Although the 31-year-old player declared in 2023 that he no longer wanted to be called up to the Mexican national team, Quintero placed him on the previous list for the first window of the qualifiers, in which Mexico fell 84-73 at home to the Dominican Republic. last Friday and this Monday they beat the Caribbean in extra time.
Quintero denied concern because in both duels against the Dominicans, his team dominated the first three quarters with comfortable advantages that were diluted in the last 10 minutes, since he understands that it is due to the change of faces that the team is experiencing, after firing a generation that completed a cycle in the last World Cup.
“We are going to have ups and downs because we are going to lack consistency and experience, the other generation was no longer providing it. Additionally, for this window, two of our important players, Pako Cruz and Joshua Ibarra, were missing due to injuries,” he commented on the matter.
This Monday’s victory left Mexico in third place in group C of the qualifiers with a record of one victory and one loss, the same record as the Dominican Republic, second by a better point difference; Canada is the leader of the sector, being undefeated in two duels.
The Mexicans will play again in the playoffs next November, when they visit Canada and Nicaragua.
Keep reading:
- Mexican Juan Toscano will return to the NBA with the Sacramento Kings, according to reports
- Hispanic Juan Toscano-Anderson bets on an NBA franchise in Mexico
- Hispanic Juan Toscano in his presentation with the Los Angeles Lakers: “I am going to represent Mexico at the top”