Omar QuinteroMexico coach, has no plans to meet with Juan Toscano-Andersonforward for the Utah Jazz in the NBA, to try to convince him to join the squad that is preparing to dispute with the country on Basketball World Cup 2023.
The 41-year-old Mexican coach told EFE.
I haven’t talked to Juan. The last time he congratulated us for the pass to the World Cup. I have a good relationship with Juan and I think it is an important moment for his career. I want to wish you the greatest success. We know he wants to focus on his next NBA deal and he’s respectable. Here he will always have the door open when he decides to return.
Omar Quintero (left).
Later, Quintero, who qualified Mexico for its second World Cup in 50 years, added.
Now we are focused on planning, on the players who can be there (in the World Cup). It’s a decision he made, and if he changes his mind, we would have a rapprochement.
Tuscany, the only mexican in the nba, resigned from the Mexican team without offering a specific reason. The 29-year-old player last June became the first basketball player in the country to win the NBA title.
Juan Toscano.
The former player of the Golden State Warriors played his last game with the Mexican National Team in the loss against Colombia last August, a game in which he was sent off for accumulating fouls.
Despite the fact that he has said that he will not speak with Toscano to find out the reasons that led him to leave Tricolor, the coach reiterated that He does not rule out his call to the World Cup.
Quintero said that he has already defined eight of the players that will make up the final list, and the others will come out of a training camp in which he will summon some 30 basketball players.
Among the places that must be defined is that of the naturalized player, the position for which they compete Daniel Amigo, Joshua Ibarra, Luke Martínez, Jaime Jáquez, JJ Ávila it is included Toscanoif in the end he decides to fight for a place.
At the World Cup we are going to give our best and compete. It will be a tournament against the thirty-one best teams in the world and we will try to go as far as possible. Until April 29, when the draw is and we know the group and the venue, we will know what we are going to face and how far we can go.
As part of the preparation, in addition to using the Central American and Caribbean Games To warm up youngsters, the coach hopes to have at least ten friendly matches before the World Cup, four of which he wants to be in different states of Mexico, where they intend to have a confrontation in the capital that will be the farewell to the local fans.
I have changed the mentality and the chip of the players, to believe that we Mexicans can and, above all, restore the sense of belonging. The identity had been lost, the shirt cannot be put on by anyone and that was one of the things that I managed to return.
In addition to preparing for the World Cup, Quintero, who has a contract as Mexico’s coach until 2027, set long-term goals and for this reason, since he arrived, he has promoted a generational change that he leads Gael Bonillawho has already earned a position as a role player in the quintet.
Omar Quintero’s plan is, after the World Cup, to try to qualify Mexico for the Paris 2024 Olympic GamesHowever, he is realistic and believes that his selection will be more prepared for Los Angeles 2028when the young people who have contemplated in their process will be the base of the payroll.
Something important that happened was continuity. The four-year renewal gives us stability and certainty for what follows because I have made a generational change and this will ensure that continuity is not lost, that the process will not be interrupted because with these young people we are going to reach the Olympic Games in 2028.
(With information from EFE)
