Onel Planas Castillo, technical director (DT) of the Cuban men’s basketball team, highlighted in this capital the good defense of his players in the historic 81-67 victory over the United States team.

That was one of the keys to the victory because we did not allow them to be effective from the perimeter (three-point shots), as they did in the previous game, Planas Castillo declared very excited to the Cuban News Agency.

This Sunday at the Ciudad Deportiva coliseum, the Cuban team achieved its first success in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) qualifying tournament for the AmeriCup 2025 to be hosted by Managua, Nicaragua.

Since the 1971 Pan American Games in Cali, a Cuban team had not been able to beat a U.S. team, when they won 73-69, the only victory for the representatives of the Caribbean nation with 22 defeats.

The coach pointed out that from the beginning he told the boys to go out to the court to play their best, with the philosophy of defending well and not to give many shooting options to the rivals,

He added that the young players and the more experienced ones completed each other very well, and they worked as a team, which is always very important to achieve positive results, he said.

He also highlighted the good effectiveness of the athletes in free throws, with an excellent 88 percent (22/25) and only three misses.

Finally, Planas Castillo said that there are aspects that must continue to be adjusted and they will work hard to improve even more, he concluded.

With its great performance on Sunday, the Cuban team achieved its first victory in this qualifying tournament and took revenge for what happened last Thursday, when it lost 79-100 as a visitor against the Americans at the Silver Spur Arena, located in Osceola County, Florida.