Perfect FIBA window for Lopez not enough

Mexico was facing a quite challenging task this week. As they were drawn in Group C of the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers, one of the three spots to advance to the competition was already awarded to Nicaragua, which is set to host the competition later this year. Only two spots were available for the remaining teams of Canada, Mexico and Dominican Republic — three highly-ranked teams in the region. 

After taking care of the home game against Nicaragua on Saturday, Karim Lopez and his teammates needed to beat Canada by 16-plus points to qualify. It was an enormous goal that the home team was not able to pull off, with the final score in San Luis Potosí City that saw Mexico beat Canada by only four points (98-94). 

The Next Star from the New Zealand Breakers had 24 points combined in the two games, showing both incredible highlight plays and his clutch gene, as he made the two decisive free throws in the last minute against Canada. 

With the Perth Wildcats scheduled to play game 1 of the Playoffs in Melbourne on Thursday, their Next Star Izan Almansa has re-joined the team coming off a successful FIBA window with Spain. 

They split their two games — a loss on the road to Latvia and a home win against Belgium — and managed to qualify to EuroBasket 2025 as second in their group. Almansa did not get much playing time against Latvia as he was caught a virus, but he recovered in time to start and play 20+ minutes against Belgium, contributing with 5 points and 5 rebounds to the team’s win.