Puerto Rico’s Ismael Romero. –Marlo Cueto/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—After finishing with a 2-1 record in Group B of the 2023 Fiba World Cup, Puerto Rico assured itself of a second-round appearance with two tough teams awaiting them.
Puerto Rican big man Ismael Romero knows how high the stakes are in the second round where they will face Italy and unbeaten Dominican Republic for a quarterfinals slot.
“All big games. The Dominican Republic will be a hard game we’re ready for them because we have a lot of history so it’s going to be a great game,” Romero said on Wednesday following a 107-89 win over China.
“We’re happy now but we gotta get mentally and physically tough in the next round.”
It wasn’t an easy road for the Puerto Ricans as their record was blemished by Serbia on Monday, 94-77, and needed to beat the Chinese to avoid any complications in making the next round.
“They play so hard. They have a crowd, they play for the country and they never quit but we’re ready for a war like that,” said Romero, who shone with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“We had a big opportunity to get to the second round so we did the job and now we focus on the next round.”
Tremont Waters, who powered Puerto Rico with 22 points and six assists, believes focusing on the team can further improve on is better rather than thinking too much about their opponents.
“We’re gonna go out and play aggressively. We’re not gonna focus too much on them (Italy and Dominican Republic) cause it’s about Puerto Rico, we’ll go out there to play and win,” Waters said.