Dominican Republic basketball gets stormed by team USA

This is of course the Dominican Baseball Guy and the Dominican Republic is of course known for it's baseball. But there is no baseball in the 2012 Summer Olympics. And this year the Dominican basketball team made a run at an Olympic birth for the first time in many years. They recently lost in a play-in game against Nigeria.

The Dominican Republic basketball team faced off against team USA in a tune-up for the Americans on Friday in Las Vegas. USA basketball pulled off a 54 point win, so there is not much to say about the game. The big news was that Blake Griffin got injured early on.

NBA players Al Hortford and Francisco Garcia, along with Kentucky coach John Calipari, led the Dominicans to within one win of the Olympics. By all accounts they over-achieved, but it is still hard to come so close and lose. The other bad thing for the Dominican squad is that Calipari has said that he will not return to the team.

With Hortford, Garcia, and some other NBA players in the pipeline Dominican Republic basketball should continue to grow and get better. But it would be easier with a top-notch coach like Calipari.

Al Horford with the Dominican flag after winning a national title with Florida,
photo by chasingfun on Flickr