Aleksandar Vezenkov, the 21-year-old Bulgarian swingman, will be in action at 1:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday when Team Bulgaria plays Portugal in the first of the FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers. The game is being played in Sines, Portugal.
Vezenkov wears No. 41. The play-by-play is in Portuguese.
Thirteen European teams, mostly from smaller countries, will play 30 games in various European gyms. Eight of the 13 teams will progress to the World Cup Qualifiers in November. The winnowing out process ends in China with the FIBA World Cup next August. The U.S., as defending champion, doesn’t have to participate.