Argentina Basketball Team going to Turkey World Cup
Golden Generation goes for their final run
The golden generation of Argentinean basketball players will make their final journey at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Their goal? Win this tournament, say good bye to their fans in Mar del Plata in 2011 and end their run in the 2012 Olympics.
Argentina comes to this FIBA World Championship with a great plan in order to say good bye to the Golden Generation who already won silver in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, gold in the 2004 Olympics and bronze at the 2008 Olympics. Their first step comes here in Turkey where this group of players hope to bring gold for the first time since 1950. This team, led by Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni, Carlos Delfino and Pablo Prigioni, will have the task of confirming Argentina as the top ranked team in FIBA with a great performance in this tournament.
Last year at the 2009 FIBA-Americas Championship they started slowly, but the combination of Luis Scola and Pablo Prigioni, along with great role players, guided Argentina to a bronze medal and Scola finished as the MVP of the tournament. Despite not having Manu Ginobili, Carlos Delfino, Walter Herrman, among others, the Argentinean team rode the storm together and recovered.
In this tournament they won’t have Ginobili and will rely once again on playing as a team to have great results in this tournament. “We can play well without Manu, I'm convinced," said Scola when asked about the impact of not having Manu Ginobili in this tournament. “Manu is a better player than we realise, but basketball is a team sport, you can play just as well if anyone is missing.”
Despite missing Ginobili, the team will have players who have had some good NBA seasons like Andres Nocioni with the Sacramento Kings and Carlos Delfino who came back and made an impact with the Milwaukee Bucks. They also have some rising stars in the ACB like Federico Van Lacke, Diego Garcia, Carlos Matias Sandes and Leo Mainoldi. Veterans like Fabricio Oberto, Leo Gutierrez and Roman Gonzalez will keep the team with a stable production inside.
Pablo Prigioni will be the main main at the point guard position and probably the most important player on the court. Prigioni is a master of playing the position and organising the Argentinean offense. His combination with Luis Scola has been great at all levels and secures Argentina a great performance even when they don’t have their main players.
For this busy Summer they divided the team, where a group of prospects played games against the Chinese national team and another plays in the South American Championship. Head coach Sergio Hernandez followed both tournament closely and will pick the best players from those competitions and will join the Senior team that practices for the FIBA World Championship in order to secure a great showing this year and in the future.
After an MVP performance at the 2009 FIBA-Americas Championship, Luis Scola will be the first option for Argentina in the paint. His durability and great moves inside will be they key to scoring a high percentage of their shots and also opening up shooters like Delfino, Nocioni and Quinteros who are deadly from outside.
Defensively, Argentina is known for their intensity and hard work, they don’t give up easy baskets to anyone and know that a great defensive performance will be key to a good offensive display. In this tournament they will face the best of the best and can’t have the luxury of letting the other teams score easily.
At the 2010 FIBA World Championship, Argentina have been drawn in Group A along with Angola, Australia, Germany, Jordan and Serbia. In the past Argentina had many great games against Serbia, who they defeated in the 2004 Olympics with a last second basket by Ginobili. Also the Germans and Australians are on the rise while Angola and Jordan aren’t easy opponents this time around with the evolution of modern basketball.
Once again, Argentina with their discipline, hard work and team mindset will try to make this one count for their fans and to ensure everyone can see why they are one of the most respected teams worldwide.
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Head coach: Sergio HERNANDEZ
Comments
The team is strong and very united that is the main character of this game to play all together ,challenge every game giving the best , they have the widsom and experience of a great road of talent and suprising victories , this team is part of a legend in Argentina ,quality and profesionalism as the passion to give the best in the court ,
i m sure they will make it ,supporting Scola ,Delfino ,Obricio, Prigioni, Nocioni,Quinteros and everyone are there for a reason to give a great performance and make all fans of this wonderful sport proud of them and enjoy with them so far, keeping Our Manu in the heart of the team because he will be from the outside waving them as they know , we are all very pleased to support this team thank you in advance !Wish you all the best !