With this defeat, the chances of advancing to the Americas tournament to be hosted by Nicaragua later this year were put on hold.

The Cuban national basketball team lost on Thursday to the Bahamas in the third window of the Qualifiers for the AmeriCup 2025.

The disproportionate score of 97-74 generates several readings that transcend the merely sporting if it is understood that the team travelled with only nine athletes.

The absences of Howard Saint-Roos, Yoanki Mencia and Karel Guzman, perhaps three of those who are considered for a regular pool, became an irreparable handicap.

Coach Osmel Planas had to improvise with the cards he had at hand and it showed in the poor defence displayed, unbecoming of the scheme the strategist defends: a run of 15 consecutive points by the Bahamians between the first and second quarters, the entire second quarter without giving a foul, almost 100 points allowed, a lead of more than 20, almost twenty offensive rebounds by the opponent.

The difference seen on the court did not live up to the defensive shutout that held them to just 62 points in the first leg, played three months ago at the Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum in Havana.

The disparity of 21 points on the counter-attack to nine for the Cubans and more points in the second half spoke more of the spasm of the Major Antilleans than of the quickness that the other team had not shown before.

But if one fact justified the outcome, it was the bottom of the cupboard, perhaps the main limitation of the Cubans, because while the home team scored 35 points with players from the bench, the decimated visitors only made 19 baskets, a difference of 26, even greater than that reflected in the overall score.

Obviously this is due to the disadvantage, although there is also a need for self-criticism if we look at the very poor 33% free throw shooting: it is very daring to aspire to victory by missing two thirds of the shots, even when the opposition did not show good shooting either, scoring just 44% of the time, which also raises the question of why they did not take more advantage of fouls to defend the rim.

A win would have qualified the Cubans for the AmeriCup, in the context of a loss they would depend on the match against Puerto Rico, for which the necessary visas have not yet been confirmed.