The FIBA World Cup will tip-off in just over a week, with the first round beginning on August 25. Not only will it be fun to watch some highly competitive international basketball during the NBA’s dead season, but Minnesota Timberwolves fans will have several players to follow throughout the tournament:
- Anthony Edwards will play for team USA
- Karl-Anthony Towns will play for the Dominican Republic
- Rudy Gobert will play for France
- Kyle Anderson will play for China
- And Nickeil Alexander-Walker will play for Canada
Each of them will have the chance to be one of the most important players on their respective teams. They can make a name for themselves on an international level while also building hype for Minnesota’s 2023-24 season.
In particular, Karl-Anthony Towns will be primed to have a big impact on his squad’s success in the tournament. He will be his team’s most talented and decorated player by a large margin. Initially, it was reported that Boston Celtics big man Al Horford, and Sacramento Kings guard Chris Duarte would be joining KAT on the Dominican National team. However, new information suggests that neither player will play in the tournament. That leaves KAT as the only active NBA player on their roster besides 22-year-old guard Lester Quinones, who just inked a two-way contract with the Golden State Warriors in late July.
Still, the team doesn’t lack talent despite not having many NBA players. The FIBA World Rankings have the Dominican Republic as the 23rd-best team in the world, and they may soon be climbing the list. The Dominican Republic performed extremely well during the World Cup qualifiers, going 9-3 in a very strong group. They beat 4th-ranked Argentina twice and split their series with 17th-ranked Venezuela. Their only other two losses came to the 15th-ranked Canada, who will have one of the strongest rosters in the World Cup this year led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray.
Even more impressive? They won all these games without KAT. That could mean that adding him will help the Dominican team reach new heights in this year’s FIBA World Cup and potentially have the chance to make a run in the tournament. Let’s take a look at some of the players who helped their team standout amongst the competition during the qualifying rounds.
Angel Delgado is a 6’9” power forward who has played in several professional leagues around the world. He played in two games for the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2018-19 season. However, he spent most of that season with their G League team, where he won G League Rookie of the Year. He also set the G League record for most rebounds in a single game (31), and rebounds per game (14.35). Delgado continues to be a force on the boards, leading the FIBA American Qualifiers in both rebounds per game with 11.1, and double-doubles with 5 in 10 games played. When Delgado gets offensive rebounds, he’s excellent at scoring second chance points via dunk or layup and can use his strength to finish through contact.
Delgado is also a strong rim protector. He averaged 1 block per game during the Qualifiers, ranking him 5th in the tournament. He also ranked 3rd in the Qualifiers in FIBA’s efficiency per game stat, which doesn’t have a detailed explanation. However, it appears to be similar to John Hollinger’s player efficiency rating (PER) and other catch-all stats. Delgado should be a great front court pairing for KAT, because together they should be able to overpower most teams’ frontcourts in the first two rounds. Additionally, they can both switch between 4 and 5 if the situation calls for it. Delgado can take on dunker’s spot duties if the Dominican Republic uses KAT to stretch the floor, and he can provide extra rim protection on defense if teams try to put KAT into switches.
Here are some highlights from one of his big games during the qualifiers, in which he put up a double-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block.
Victor Liz is a savvy 37 year old veteran who is the team’s leader and captain. He won 4 championships in the Dominican Republic’s top league, Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, including one recently in 2022. Liz led the Dominican national team in scoring throughout the qualifiers, averaging 15.7 points per game, which also made him 6th overall in the American Qualifiers.
Liz has great handles. He’s a crafty dribbler in the lane, hesitating to make defenders change pace, and using that split-second advantage to find holes in the defense and get shots or layups off. His height (listed between 6’0” and 6’2”) may become a hindrance when he matches up against taller guards in later rounds of the World Cup. However, his highlights from the qualifiers suggest that he’s very strong for his size, and contact doesn’t bother him too much. Liz shoots efficiently from inside the arc at 52.8% throughout the Qualifiers, and was second on the team in efficiency per game at 14.4.
Jean Montero is one of the youngest players on the Dominican Republic national team at just 20 years old. However, during the FIBA American Qualifiers, he also proved he could be one of the most talented players on the roster. Though Montero only played in 6 of the 12 games possible, he played great when he got on the court, averaging 12.2 points and 1.8 steals. However, he seemed to progress a lot over the 6 games he played. After a quiet first 3 games, the Dominican Republic coaching staff extended Montero’s minutes. As a result, he scored 22, 17, and 22 again on incredible efficiency in his final 3 games. Montero ended the qualifiers shooting a spicy 48% from 3, and 61.9% from 2.
In addition to being a great shooter, Montero is shifty with the ball in his hands and has the acceleration to take advantage of the space he creates with his dribble moves. He has a nasty step-back that catches defenders off-guard while not affecting the form of his jump shot. Montero went undrafted when he declared for the NBA draft. However, he plays in the LIGA ACB, which is the top league in Spain and one of the most talented leagues in the world outside of the NBA. If Montero has a stellar tournament, it could create some massive opportunities for him beyond the FIBA World Cup, and maybe help him gain the eyes of some more NBA scouts.
KAT and the Dominican team will play in Group A, which features Angola (rank 41), Philippines (rank 40), Italy (rank 10). The two teams in each group with the best records advance to the second round, where they are put into new groups of 4. As the second highest ranked team in Group A, the Dominican team is favored and expected to make it out of the first round, especially with KAT on the roster. While Italy is ranked much higher than the Dominican Republic, they just lost Paolo Banchero, who decided to play for the USA instead. They also will not have Danilo Gallinari who sustained an ACL tear last season and has not yet been cleared to play. Without Gallinari, the team will likely not be as strong as it has been in past years.
Similarly, the Philippines have a strong leader in Jordan Clarkson who can win them some games if he gets hot. They also have a talented young big man in Kai Sotto. At 7’2”, he can rake in the rebounds and can present a problem for smaller teams at the rim. However, the Dominican Republic seems to have more depth. With the addition of KAT, they shouldn’t have any problem protecting the rim until the later rounds of the tournament when they face fiercer competition.
As Wolves fans, it should be extremely fun to watch KAT cook again. In the 2021-22 season, KAT added a downhill dimension to his game that proved to be lethal against any team in the NBA that didn’t have a speedy skilled big. Last season, we didn’t get to see KAT use this skill set as much because he had to learn the new spacing of the team’s offense after Rudy Gobert arrived. Towns also got injured before he was fully able to get comfortable. When he came back from injury, it was playoff time. KAT had to fit into a style that fit what was working while he was out, and adjust to Anthony Edwards’ growth as a player and team leader.
There’s pretty much no center in the FIBA World Cup this year that can stop KAT when he gets going downhill besides his Wolves teammate Gobert, and they have both gotten the best of each other over the years in competition. Additionally, based on team groupings, it seems that KAT and Gobert won’t have the chance to face off until the elimination round, if France and the Dominican Republic make it there.
That should set up a great opportunity for the Dominican team to make a run to the final 8, and possibly even further. KAT should be their leading scorer, and he has the potential to be one of the leading scorers of the entire tournament. It will be exciting to watch KAT take over some games, dominate some of the early competition, and have a chance to prove to an international audience that he is undoubtedly one of the five best centers in the world.
