Orlando Antigua officially named the head coach of the Dominican Republic National Team

Photo by @vianaraujo

Congratulations to Orlando Antigua, who was officially named the head coach of the Dominican Republic National Team this morning. We’ve known for a while that Coach O would succeed Calipari as the DR National Team’s new coach, but the Dominicans made it official with a press conference. Coach O was in Utah working at a camp with the Jazz, but Skyped in for the celebration.

The whole press conference was in Spanish, but my friend Google Translate helped me figure out some of his remarks:

— Coach O says he’ll use some of the schemes Calipari used while he was the DR National Team’s head coach

— He says that he is humbled by the opportunity and the process will make him a better leader

— Workouts for the team will begin the first week of August, and they are continuing to evaluate roster spots

— Like his predecessor/boss, Antigua thinks the point guard is the head of the team, and has every confidence that the Dominicans have the talent to do the job.

— Coach O says Rod Strickland will return to the DR National Team coaching staff, as will Jose Maita Mercedes and Ron Sanchez (assistant at University of Virginia)

— He named Tyler Thompson as the designated blogger to follow the team through their summer workouts in Punta Cana (I wish.)

Hopefully we’ll have a human translation of this later on.