Strong leadership: JJ Barea leads Puerto Rico to vital FIBA Americas victory

Dominican Republic vs. Panama (Box Score & Stats) – Dominican Republic will vie for their first win of the tournament when they duke it out against Panama at 12:00 noon US EST.

Go to fiba.com/Americas2015 for full coverage of the Championship.

The two finalists at the FIBA Americas tournament will secure berths for the Rio Olympics. It was the second time that summer that one of Joseph’s teams fell in gut-wrenching fashion.

Still, Canada needed to play better than it did against Argentina, regardless of the long-term tournament implications, and it did.

The men will get their first chance to claim an Olympic spot at the FIBA Americas Championship tournament in Mexico City as they open against Argentina on Tuesday. He knows what it takes to be among the top two or three countries across the globe.

The Canadian roster features nine National Basketball Association players, including former No. 1 overall picks from Minnesota, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett, as well as Toronto’s Cory Joseph, Boston’s Kelly Olynyk, Philadelphia’s Nik Stauskas and the Lakers’ Robert Sacre.

Not typically regarded as a basketball powerhouse (they have qualified for the Olympics once in the past seven Games), Canada’s talent pool has been quickly increasing over the last several years, as more kids are choosing the hardwood over hockey. The win-loss records from the opening round will carry over, excluding the games against the teams that failed to advance. In the last FIBA Americas, Canada won four of its first five games, before losing its final three to finish sixth, failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. His ability to lead this team will be the largest story for Canada during the tournament. “Canada is a great team”. Ejim came up big in the final, a 78-72 decision over Puerto Rico, tallying 11 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes.

To close the day, defending champions Mexico dominated Dominican Republic 84-66 in a return to form performance in front of more than 10,000 fans in the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City.