GRANADA (FIBA Basketball World Cup/2015 FIBA Americas Championship) - When it comes to looking for a coach to take over a national team, nothing looks better on a CV than experience and success.

Sergio Valdeolmillos obtained both as Mexico coach, and it's why he is a coaching candidate for teams in the Americas.

Puerto Rico, who will play at the FIBA Americas Championship later this year in Mexico and try to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Games, are most frequently linked with him.

Valdeolmillos, a Spaniard who is right now at his home in Granada, spoke to FIBA.com about the Boricuas.

"Puerto Rico has a lot of tradition and having studied the players they have, they have great potential and have possibilities to do well," he said.

"Right now they have a big challenge, which is to qualify for the Olympics and I think this would be appealing and motivating for every coach."

It’s true that I had talks with the federation president back in December - Valdeolmillos

Valdeolmillos met all of the objectives that were set for him in Mexico and had the respect of the players and fans.

"I took over Mexico in 2011 and we won silver at the Pan American games," he said.

"In 2013, we got the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship.

"After that, the gold medal at the CentroBasket.

"At the [FIBA Basketball] World Cup, we fell to Team USA in the last 16 of the competition."

The victories, Valdeolmillos says, are not what he is most proud of when it comes to Mexico.

"Perhaps what I take more from my time there is not the wins, because wins are somewhat ephemeral, as those only help to grow basketball in a country," he said.

Valdeolmillos is just happy to have made a positive impact on basketball in the country.

"I think in that respect I have been able to contribute to that," he said.

"The sadness is that they might go backwards and that in the end, it hasn't served for much."

Valdeolmillos has some interesting thoughts on Mexico.

For starters, he says it is a one-man team.

Valdeolmillos accepts that Real Madrid's Gustavo Ayon is a big part of Mexican basketball, but insists he is not all there is to Mexican basketball.

"I don't think it's a problem regarding Gustavo Ayon," he said.

"Gustavo Ayon does many important things on and off the court for the team.

"[But] Mexico has been successful because of their team, not through individual talent.

"It's true that Mexico doesn't have the potential that other countries have in terms of high quality players.

"Mexico do not have the luxury to do without certain players if they want to achieve something.

"In my opinion, Mexico have two very important aspects, first to bring together all the players that have the best quality and secondly, that collectiveness overtakes individual quality which is where Mexico is capable of achieving success."

As for his own departure from Mexico, Valdeolmillos explained: "It was an economical problem of unilateral breaking the contract by them. Nothing else.

"I had been having problems for a while regarding getting paid. I lasted until the World Cup. After that, the situation became unsustainable.

"They, without telling me, then found a new coach [Bill Cartwright]."

At the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games in late November, Cartwright steered Mexico to a fifth-place finish in Veracruz.

So will Valdeolmillos become the second Spaniard in recent times after Paco Olmos to take the helm of Puerto Rico?

Olmos was shown the door after Puerto Rico failed to progress from the Group Phase at the World Cup.

There is a division within the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation, with some thought to want another Spanish coach while others want a Puerto Rican.

The country is expected to make a decision before 15 March.

Valdeolmillos could end up doing something else.

FIBA.com has learned that the Dominican Republic, following Orlando Antigua's recent decision to step down, contacted Valdeolmillos about the job.

"Right now I’m not coaching," he said.

"I'm following the ACB league (Spanish Liga Endesa), the Euroleague and all the leagues in Latin America.

"I've had options to return to International basketball but I had to stop for personal issues but I’m ready to return."

The Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) have yet to announce who will replace Juan Antonio Orenga.

That is a job that Valdeolmillos would never turn down.

"As a Spaniard and as a professional in basketball who has been coaching for 21 years, it would be something special that if one day it comes my way," he said.

"It would really be exciting. For me, it has been exciting to achieve success with another country and to feel what I have felt, you can imagine what it would be like if it’s with your own country.

"But it's not something that I consider. If it happens in the future, then perfect."

FIBA