Mexico men's national basketball team

The Mexico national basketball team (Spanish: Selección de baloncesto de México) represents Mexico in men's international basketball competitions, The team has made five appearances in FIBA World Cup, The governing body of the team is the Asociación Deportiva Mexicana de Básquetbol (ADEMEBA).

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Mexico women's national basketball team.

Mexico

FIBA ranking	25 (3 March 2020)[1]
Joined FIBA	1933
FIBA zone	FIBA Americas
National federation	Asociación Deportiva Mexicana de Básquetbol
Coach	Sergio Molina Soler
Nickname(s)	12 Guerreros
Olympic Games
Appearances	5
Medals	Silver: (1934) Bronze: (1936)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	10
Medals	None
FIBA AmeriCup
Appearances	15
Medals	Gold: (2013) Bronze: (2017)
First Second Third

In 2013, Mexico won the FIBA AmeriCup.

History

Fans of Team Mexico at the 2014 Basketball World Cup

Team Mexico celebrating a victory.

Until the late 1960s, team Mexico was a major force at the world stage. The team won the bronze medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics, finished 4th at the 1948 event and 5th in 1968. Mexico won the Pan American Games silver medal in Winnipeg 1967 led by Captain Carlos Quintanar with players like Arturo Guerrero and Manuel Raga.

At the FIBA Americas Championship 2009 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mexico finished 7th, ahead of Panama, Venezuela and the United States Virgin Islands.[2]

On individual performances, Gustavo Ayon finished among the tournament's top performers in steals (3rd), blocks (3rd) and minutes per game (9th).[3]

Both Eduardo Nájera and Earl Watson expressed their interest in representing Mexico internationally.[4][5] However, neither received permission by their NBA teams to participate at the FIBA Americas Championship 2009 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[6]

"La Edad de Oro" (2013-Present)

Mexico took part in the FIBA Americas Championship 2013 to replace Panama, who were disqualified. To the surprise of many they beat hosts Venezuela in their opening game and advanced to the second round with wins over Paraguay and the Dominican Republic. They later finished top of the eight-team second round group and a semi-final win over heavy favourites Argentina saw them through to the final.

On 11 September 2013, they beat Puerto Rico 91-83 in the Gold medal game to win the FIBA Americas Championship.[7] Inside player Gustavo Ayon was voted as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

2014 Basketball World Cup

The surprising gold medal at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship secured Mexico a spot at the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain. This marked the first qualification to the Basketball World Cup in 40 years.[8]

At the 2014 FIBA World Cup, the Mexicans won two of their five preliminary round games against Korea and Angola which earned them a playoff spot for the first time in their history. They would, however, come unstuck against eventual champions USA.

Especially noteworthy was Mexico’s 3 point field goal percentage, which was one of the highest among all the teams at the event.[9]

2015 FIBA Americas Championship

Due to Mexico's strong performances of late, the country gained the right to host the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship.

Medals

Olympic Games

• 1936

Pan American Games

• 1967 1991 2011
• 1983

Centrobasket

• 1965 1975 2014
• 1991 2001 2016
• 1987 2003

FIBA AmeriCup

• 2013

FIBA COCABA Championship

• 2006 2007 2009 2013

Competitive record

Summer Olympics

Year	Position	Tournament	Host
1936	3	Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics	Berlin, Germany
1948	4	Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics	London, United Kingdom
1952	9	Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics	Helsinki, Finland
1960	12	Basketball at the 1960 Summer Olympics	Rome, Italy
1964	12	Basketball at the 1964 Summer Olympics	Tokyo, Japan
1968	5	Basketball at the 1968 Summer Olympics	Mexico City, Mexico
1976	10	Basketball at the 1976 Summer Olympics	Montreal, Canada
2020	To be determined	Basketball at the 2020 Summer Olympics	Tokyo, Japan

FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1964	1st place	9	8	1
1972	4th place	No data
1976	3rd place	No data
2016	4th place	3	1	2

FIBA World Cup

Members of the 2014 Team Mexico, which reached the World Cup's playoffs for the first time.

Year	Position	Tournament	Host
1959	13	1959 FIBA World Championship	Chile
1963	9	1963 FIBA World Championship	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1967	8	1967 FIBA World Championship	Uruguay
1974	9	1974 FIBA World Championship	Puerto Rico
2014	14	2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup	Spain
2019	Did not qualify	2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup	China
2023	To Be Determined	2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup	Philippines, Japan and Indonesia

NOTE: In June 2018, Mexico beat Team USA 78-70 in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification (Americas).[10]

FIBA AmeriCup

Year	Position	Tournament	Host
1980	5	1980 Tournament of the Americas	San Juan, Puerto Rico
1984	5	1984 Tournament of the Americas	São Paulo, Brazil
1988	6	1988 Tournament of the Americas	Montevideo, Uruguay
1989	9	1989 Tournament of the Americas	Mexico City, Mexico
1992	7	1992 Tournament of the Americas	Portland, United States
1993	–	1993 Tournament of the Americas	San Juan, Puerto Rico
1995	–	1995 Tournament of the Americas	Tucumán, Argentina
1997	10	1997 FIBA Americas Championship	Montevideo, Uruguay
1999	–	1999 FIBA Americas Championship	San Juan, Puerto Rico
2001	9	2001 FIBA Americas Championship	Neuquén, Argentina
2003	6	2003 FIBA Americas Championship	San Juan, Puerto Rico
2005	10	2005 FIBA Americas Championship	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
2007	7	2007 FIBA Americas Championship	Las Vegas, United States
2009	7	2009 FIBA Americas Championship	San Juan, Puerto Rico
2011	–	2011 FIBA Americas Championship	Mar del Plata, Argentina
2013	1	2013 FIBA Americas Championship	Caracas, Venezuela
2015	4	2015 FIBA Americas Championship	Mexico City, Mexico
2017	3	2017 FIBA Americas Championship	Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay

Pan American Games

See also: Basketball at the Pan American Games

• 1951: 8th place
• 1955: 4th place
• 1959: 4th place
• 1963: 7th place
• 1967: Silver medal (Mexico finished second only to Team USA. Team Mexico featured one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors: Manuel Raga)[11]
• 1971: 4th place
• 1975: 4th place
• 1979: 8th place
• 1983: Bronze medal (This competition was memorable for Mexico taking a 20–4 lead against a Team USA squadron that featured Michael Jordan, Chris Mullin, Sam Perkins, Michael Cage, Ed Pinckney, Mark Price, and Wayman Tisdale. Team USA later came back for an 11-point win: 74–63. Team USA won the Gold, Brazil won the Silver, and Mexico beat Canada for the Bronze medal.)[12]
• 1987: 4th place
• 1991: Silver medal (Mexico finished ahead of a Team USA squadron that featured Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, Thomas Hill, Walt Williams, Clarence Weatherspoon, Tracey Murray, Jimmy Jackson, Terry Dehere, Adam Keefe, Eric Montross, and Tony Bennett. Puerto Rico won the Gold, Mexico won the Silver, and Team USA won the Bronze medal.)[13]
• 1995: 5th place
• 1999: Did not participate
• 2003: 5th place
• 2007: Did not participate
• 2011: Silver medal (Mexico beat Team USA 71–55 in their semifinal game.)[14]
• 2015: 8th place
• 2019: To be determined

Centrobasket – Central American Championships

See also: Centrobasket

Román Martínez and Marco Ramos helped Mexico secure the gold medal at the 2014 Centrobasket

• 1965 Gold Medal (Team Mexico featured one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors: Manuel Raga)
• 1967 4th place
• 1975 Gold Medal
• 1987 Bronze Medal
• 1989 4th place
• 1991 Silver Medal
• 1997 4th place
• 2001 Silver Medal
• 2003 Bronze Medal [15]
• 2004 4th place
• 2006 4th place
• 2008 5th place (Coach Nolan Richardson)
• 2010 6th place
• 2014 Gold Medal
• 2016 Silver Medal

FIBA COCABA Championship

See also: FIBA COCABA Championship

• 2006: Champions [16]
• 2007: Champions [17]
• 2009: Champions [18] (Coach: Nolan Richardson)
• 2013: Champions [18]
• 2015 4th place

William Jones Cup

• 1990: Champions (2nd place = Poland, 3rd place = USA)

Central American and Caribbean Games

• 2010: Silver medal
• 2014: 5th place

FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup

• 2015: Silver medal

Team

Current roster

The roster for the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup.[19]

Mexico men's national basketball team – 2017 AmeriCup roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 4 Willis, Diego 18 – (1999-05-11)11 May 1999 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) NJIT Highlanders PF 5 Ávalos, Irwin 26 – (1991-06-12)12 June 1991 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Santos de San Luis PG 6 Dawud, Idris 26 – (1991-06-12)12 June 1991 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Centauros de Chihuahua PG 7 Gutiérrez, Jorge 28 – (1988-12-27)27 December 1988 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Hamburg Towers F/C 8 Garibay, Edgar 27 – (1990-03-05)5 March 1990 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Guaiqueríes de Margarita SG 9 Cruz, Francisco 27 – (1989-10-03)3 October 1989 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Rytas Vilnius PG 10 Girón, Gabriel 29 – (1988-02-27)27 February 1988 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Capitanes de Ciudad de México G 11 Pérez, Alex 24 – (1993-01-01)1 January 1993 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Bahçeşehir Koleji PF 12 Hernández, Héctor 30 – (1985-06-15)15 June 1985 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Vaqueros de Bayamón C 13 Benítez, Fernando 28 – (1989-08-06)6 August 1989 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Panteras de Aguascalientes C 14 Mata, Lorenzo 31 – (1986-02-27)27 February 1986 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Toros de Nuevo Laredo C 15 Gutiérrez, Israel 24 – (1993-01-15)15 January 1993 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Aguacateros de Michoacán	Head coach Sergio Valdeolmillos Assistant coach(es) Ramón Díaz Sánchez Javier Ceniceros Mateo Rubio Legend Club – describes current or most recent club Age – describes age on August 25, 2017

Former players

Mexico men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club F — Alonzo, Noé 31 – (1983-12-28)28 December 1983 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Aguacateros de Michoacán SF — Toscano, Juan 22 – (1993-04-10)10 April 1993 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Golden State Warriors PG — Angley, Brody 35 – (1980-01-30)30 January 1980 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Bucaneros de La Guaira C — Ayón, Gustavo (C) 30 – (1985-04-01)1 April 1985 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Zenit G/F — Cruz, Francisco 25 – (1989-10-03)3 October 1989 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) BK VEF Rīga F/C — Garibay, Edgar 25 – (1990-03-05)5 March 1990 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Nauticos de Mazatlan SG — Girón, Gabriel 27 – (1988-02-27)27 February 1988 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Fuerza Regia F — Glynn, Jordan 26 – (1989-06-26)26 June 1989 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Cangrejeros de Santurce SF — González, Jesús 29 – (1986-07-14)14 July 1986 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Halcones Rojos Veracruz C — Gutiérrez, Israel 22 – (1993-01-15)15 January 1993 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Caballeros de Culiacán PG — Gutiérrez, Jorge 26 – (1988-12-27)27 December 1988 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Milwaukee Bucks SG — Harris, Jovan 34 – (1981-02-20)20 February 1981 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Halcones de Xalapa PF — Hernández, Héctor 30 – (1985-06-15)15 June 1985 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Pioneros de Quintana Roo PF — Lopez, Jesus Hiram 31 – (1983-12-18)18 December 1983 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Rayos de Hermosillo SF — Martínez, Román 27 – (1988-03-05)5 March 1988 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Soles de Mexicali F/C — Mata, Lorenzo 29 – (1986-02-27)27 February 1986 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Atenienses de Manatí PG — Meza, Pedro 29 – (1985-10-15)15 October 1985 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Caballeros de Culiacán C — Parada, Adam 33 – (1981-10-21)21 October 1981 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Halcones de Xalapa PG — Perez, Alex 22 – (1993-01-01)1 January 1993 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Bucaneros de La Guaira F — Ramos, Marco 28 – (1987-02-26)26 February 1987 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Halcones Rojos Veracruz PF — Rangel, Ivan 22 – (1992-10-11)11 October 1992 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles PG — Stoll, Paul 29 – (1985-12-14)14 December 1985 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Halcones Rojos Veracruz SG — Toussaint, Carlos 23 – (1991-10-24)24 October 1991 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Pioneros de Los Mochis F/C — Zamora, Rodrigo Adrián 28 – (1986-10-28)28 October 1986 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Halcones Rojos Veracruz	Head coach Sergio Valdeolmillos Assistant coach(es) Ramón Diaz Javier Ceniceros Mateo Rubio Legend Club – describes current or most recent club Age – describes age on 30 August 2015

Depth chart

Gustavo Ayón

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Inactive
C	Israel Gutiérrez	Gustavo Ayón	Adam Parada	Edgar Garibay
PF	Héctor Hernández	Adrián Zamora	Lorenzo Mata	Jesus Hiram López
SF	Francisco Cruz	Juan Anderson	Marco Ramos	Román Martínez
SG	Orlando Méndez	Gabriel Girón	Jesus González	Jovan Harris
PG	Jorge Gutiérrez	Pedro Meza	Paul Stoll	Carlos Toussaint

Head coach position

• Augustin Garcia - 1959
• Enrique "Kiki" Romero - 1960
• Pedro Barba Ramos - 1963
• Agustin Garcia Arreola - 1964
• Lester Lane – 1967, 1968
• Pedro Barba Ramos - 1974
• Carlos Jose Bru - 1976
• Guillermo Vecchio – 2003
• Nolan Richardson – 2007
• Silvio Jose Santander – 2008
• Nolan Richardson – 2009
• Arturo Guerrero – 2009
• Josep Claros – 2010-2011
• Sergio Valdeolmillos – 2011
• Josep Claros – 2012
• Arturo Guerrero – 2013
• Sergio Valdeolmillos – 2013-2014
• Bill Cartwright – 2014-2015
• Sergio Valdeolmillos – 2015-2017
• Ramón Díaz – 2018
• Iván Déniz - 2018-2019
• Sergio Molina - 2020-present

Past team rosters

Scroll down to see more.

1936 Olympic Games: finished 3rd among 21 teams (Bronze Medal Team)

Jesus Olmos, Alfonso Rojo, Carlos Borja, Silvio Hernandez, Rodolfo Choperena, Jose Pamplona, Andres Gomez, Greer Skousen, Raul Fernandez, Victor Borja, Luis Ignacio de la Vega, Francisco Martinez

1948 Olympic Games: finished 4th among 23 teams

Hector Guerrero, Jose de la Cruz Cabrera, Jorge Cardiel, Emilio Lopez, Ignacio Romo, Rodolfo Diaz, Angel Acuna, Isaac Alfaro, Jose Rojas Herrera, Jorge Gudino, Francisco Galindo, Alberto Bienvenu, Josue Neri, Fernando Rojas Herrera

1952 Olympic Games: finished 9th among 23 teams

Hector Guerrero, Jose de la Cruz Cabrera, Jorge Cardiel, Jose Rojas Herera, Carlos Jose Bru Villarreal, Emilio Lopez, Jose Pioquinto Soto Villanueva, Fernando Rojas Herrera, Sergio Olguin Fierro, Ruben Almanza Garcia, Rolando Rubalcava Pena, Jose Meneses Luna, Filiberto Manzo Hernandez

1959 World Championship: finished 13th among 13 teams

Carlos Quintanar, Hector Aizpuro, Edmundo Marquez, Arturo Escalera, Felipe Manzo, Armando Herrera, Daniel Cuevas, Ignacio Chavira, Jaime Rodriguez, Jose Maria Lozano, Hugo Orozco, Jorge Renteria, (Head Coach: Agustin Garcia)

1960 Olympic Games: finished 12th among 16 teams

Carlos Quintanar, Guillermo "Billy" Wagner, Hector Aizpuro, Armando Herrera, Gayle "Chato" Bluth, Jose Maria Lozano, Ignacio Chavira, Urbano Zea, Eulalio Avila, Cesar Herrera, Guillermo Torres, Alberto Almanza (Head Coach: Enrique "Kiki" Romero)

1963 World Championship: finished 9th among 13 teams

Carlos Quintanar, Manuel Raga, Carlos Vega, Guillermo Torres, Ricardo Pontvianne, Urbano Zea, Humberto Camero, Luis Enrique Grajeda, Mario Pena, Rafael Heredia, Jaime Castillo, Ruben Izaguirre (Head Coach: Pedro Barba Ramos)

1964 Olympic Games: finished 12th among 16 teams

Carlos Quintanar, Manuel Raga, Luis Enrique Grajeda, Ricardo Pontvianne, Mario Pena, Armando Herrera, Eulalio Avila, Alberto Almanza, Rafael Heredia, Miguel Arellano (Head Coach: Agustin Garcia Arreola)

1967 World Championship: finished 8th among 13 teams

Carlos Quintanar, Manuel Raga, Arturo Guerrero, Ricardo Pontvianne, Rafael Heredia, Eulalio Avila, Raul Palma, Antonio Ayala, Alejandro Guzman, Miguel Arellano, Fernando Tiscareno, Ricardo Monreal (Head Coach: Lester Lane)

1968 Olympic Games: finished 5th among 16 teams

Carlos Quintanar, Manuel Raga, Arturo Guerrero, Ricardo Pontvianne, Luis Enrique Grajeda, Rafael Heredia, Antonio Ayala, Alejandro Guzman, John Hatch, Miguel Arellano, Oscar Asiain, Fernando Tiscareno (Head Coach: Lester Lane)

1974 World Championship: finished 9th among 14 teams

Manuel Raga, Ricardo Pontvianne, Arturo Guerrero, Raul Palma, Antonio Ayala, Jesus Garcia, Ricardo Monreal, Guillermo Marquez, Jesus Alvarado, Manuel Saenz, Gustavo Hernandez, Oscar Asiain (Head Coach: Pedro Barba Ramos)

1976 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 12 teams

Manuel Raga, Arturo Guerrero, Antonio Ayala, Manuel Saenz, Jesus Garcia, Samuel Campis, Hector Rodriguez, Gabriel Nava, Ruben Alcala, Jorge Flores, Rafael Palomar, Anastasio Reyes (Head Coach: Carlos Jose Bru)

2013 FIBA Americas Championship: finished 1st among 10 teams (Gold Medal Team)

Jorge Gutierrez, Orlando Mendez, Román Martínez, Hector Hernandez, Gustavo Ayón, Paul Stoll, Jovan Harris, Noe Alonso, Fernando Benitez, Lorenzo Mata, Pedro Meza, Jesus Gonzalez (Head Coach: Ramón Diaz)

2014 Centrobasket: finished 1st among 10 teams (Gold Medal Team)

Jorge Gutierrez, Román Martínez, Hector Hernandez, Gustavo Ayón, Paul Stoll, Noe Alonso, Pedro Meza, Francisco Cruz, Marco Ramos, Gabriel Giron, Rodrigo Zamora, Adam Parada

2014 FIBA World Cup: finished 14th among 24 teams

Jorge Gutierrez, Román Martínez, Hector Hernandez, Gustavo Ayón, Paul Stoll, Orlando Méndez-Valdez, Pedro Meza, Francisco Cruz, Marco Ramos, Israel Gutiérrez, Rodrigo Zamora, Adam Parada (head Coach: Sergio Valdeolmillos)

Kit

Manufacturer

2015: Under Armour

Sponsor

2015: mainbit

See also

• Mexico women's national basketball team
• Mexico national under-19 basketball team
• Mexico national under-17 basketball team
• Mexico national 3x3 team

References

1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
2. "FIBA.com: 2009 FIBA Americas Championship for Men". Puertorico2009.fiba.com. 6 September 2009. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
3. "FIBA.com: 2009 FIBA Americas Championship for Men Top players". Puertorico2009.fiba.com. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
4. "MEX – Najera reports to Mexican national team". Fiba.com. 13 June 2014.
5. "HoopsHype – Earl Watson: "I signed with the Pacers because they want to win now"". Blogs.hoopshype.com. 3 August 2009. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
6. "FIBA.com: 2009 FIBA Americas Championship for Men Team profile". Puertorico2009.fiba.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
7. "Spain 2014-bound Mexico are 2013 Americas champions!". FIBA. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
8. "FIBA Archive; Mexico". FIBA. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
9. "TEAM STATISTICS; TEAM LEADERS". FIBA. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
10. http://www.nba.com/article/2018/06/29/mexico-shocks-usa-basketball-world-cup-qualifying
11. "USA Basketball". USA Basketball. 6 August 1967. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009.
12. "USA Basketball". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 6 September 2009.
13. "USA Basketball". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009.
14. "Mexico Ends USA's Pan American Games Gold Medal Quest 71–55". USA Basketball. 29 October 2011. Archived from the original on 31 October 2011.
15. "Latinbasket – Central American Championships '01". Latinbasket.com.
16. "LATINBASKET – 5th Tournament of the Americas (Copa America) 2005 Basketball, Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings, Pro Basketball". Latinbasket.com.
17. "LATINBASKET – COCABA – Centro America Championships Basketball, Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings, Pro Basketball". Latinbasket.com.
18. "COCABA-Championships Basketball, Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings". Latinbasket.
19. 2017 FIBA AmeriCup roster

External links

• Official website
• FIBA Profile
• Latinbasket – Mexico Men National Team

Videos

• Iran v Mexico - Highlights - 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament - Italy Youtube.com video