Belize men's national basketball team

Belize

FIBA ranking	122 1 (1 March 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA	1973
FIBA zone	FIBA Americas
Coach	Marques Johnson
Olympic Games
Appearances	None
Medals	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
Medals	None
FIBA AmeriCup
Appearances	None
Medals	None
Home Away

The Belize national basketball team is the official national representative of Belize in international men's basketball,^[2] playing in the FIBA Americas division, and more specifically, within the Central American region.

Men

The men's team has little to no international experience. Its first major victory in international play came on home soil in the 1998 Caricom Men's Basketball Championship, held at the Civic Center in Belize City, Belize. Belize placed seventh of eight teams in the 1999 Centrobasquet Tournament in Havana after winning only one game despite playing close all the way. In a return engagement at the 2000 CARICOM Championship in Barbados, Belize placed fourth. Shortly after that, Belize moved to the Central American region and won the Central American Games championship in 2001. The team has failed to duplicate this success, most recently finishing with a 2 and 4 record in the 2006 COCABA Championship.

The team finished second in the 2009 COCABA tournament in Cancun, Mexico where it went 3–0 in group play despite allegations of fielding ineligible players. FIBA decided to treat the Belize National Team's games as unofficial and initially decided to disqualify them from the competition for having more than one naturalized citizen on their team. Belize won an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in April 2010, the players in question are Belizean by descent, not naturalization.

Belize won its opening match in the Centrobasquet Tournament, defeating Trinidad and Tobago, but lost badly to Mexico in a rematch of the COCABA final. A tough win over Cuba set Belize in a position to advance, but they fell to Puerto Rico in their final match and failed to qualify.

Current roster

At the 2010 Centrobasket: (last publicized squad)^[3]

Belize men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. 4 Darwin Raymond Leslie 28 – (1981-07-27)27 July 1981 5 Milton Palacio 32 – (1978-02-07)7 February 1978 6 Leon Dwayne Jacob 26 – (1984-03-17)17 March 1984 7 Leon Robert Watson 33 – (1976-08-19)19 August 1976 8 Alex Leo Carcamo 32 – (1977-08-28)28 August 1977 9 Charles Heny Burgess 26 – (1984-04-03)3 April 1984 10 Richard Douglas Troyer 26 – (1984-03-03)3 March 1984 11 Kenton Levio Paulino 27 – (1983-06-23)23 June 1983 12 Oscar Darwin Carter 33 – (1976-09-28)28 September 1976 13 Elsworth Orlando Itza 26 – (1983-11-12)12 November 1983 14 Kenan Raymond Jourdon 35 – (1974-07-12)12 July 1974 15 Keith Raymond Acosta 33 – (1976-12-19)19 December 1976	Head coach Marques Johnson Assistant coaches Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 5 July 2010

Team members

Front L-R Darwin Carter, Milt Palacio, Darwin Leslie, Charlie Burgess, Leon Jacobs, Kenton Paulino Back L-R Coach Marques Johnson, Darren Bovel, Asst. Coach Alex Lloyd, Elsworth Itza, Alex Carcamo, Sonny Watson, Keenan Jourdon, Keith Acosta, Richard Troyer, Asst Coach Kevin Siroki, Thomas Shaw, Quinton Hamilton

Most recent games

• 1st group match, Centrobasket: Belize 80–71 Trinidad and Tobago
• Final, 2009 COCABA Championship, Cancun, Mexico: Mexico 106–103 Belize
• Semifinal, 2009 COCABA Championship: Belize 99–75 Costa Rica
• 3rd group match: Belize 92–88 Panama
• 2nd group match: Belize 100–63 Guatemala
• 1st group match: Belize 98–67 Nicaragua

International competitions

Olympics

No appearances

FIBA World Cup

No appearances

FIBA AmeriCup

No appearances

Regional championships

• Centrobasket 2010: finished fourth in group
• Centrobasket 1999: 7th

CARICOM Men's Championships

• 2000: 4th (in Barbados)
• 1998: Champions (in Belize)

COCABA championships

• 2009: 2nd
• 2007: did not participate
• 2006: 3rd
• 2004: 7th
• 2001: did not participate

References