ARG – Argentina’s Fernandez follows in footsteps of Lobito and Pepe Sanchez

BUENOS AIRES (CABB) – "What next?"

That’s what everyone outside Buenos Aires has been asking about Argentina’s ageing national team for a few years.

Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino, Andres Nocioni and Pablo Prigioni are still around but Athens 2004 gold-medal winners Ruben Wolkowyski, Alejandro Montecchia and Pepe Sanchez are gone while Fabricio Oberto and Manu Ginbobili are on the wrong side of 30.

The answer about the future, or at least part of it, is found in the American basketball hotbed of Philadelphia where Juan Manuel Fernandez, the son of legendary Argentina guard Gustavo "Lobito" Fernandez, played college basketball for Temple University this year as a freshman.

"I chose Temple with the idea that I feel it's an investment in the future," Fernandez said.

Many of Fernandez’s friends are playing basketball for a club but he decided to take the same route that Sanchez took over a decade ago by playing for the Owls.

"Had I gone to a club and signed a contract, I would have earned money," he said.

"But the way I see it is that it's more difficult for a youngster to have minutes in the first team because there are professional players in the team, great players that compete for your place, or there are coaches that are under pressure to win and many times they don't risk giving minutes to the youngsters.

"At the university we are all in the same boat but if you work very hard, you know you will get minutes.

"I spoke to my father and he told me that a player in reality, although there are exceptions, turns pro usually at 21 or 22, and that is the age when I will finish my career at Temple.

"If you are able after four years to come out with a degree, it’s all the better because it is something my parents wanted even if I'm playing (club) basketball."

There have been numerous comparisons to Sanchez. Fernandez is a 6ft 4in guard, the same position of Athens gold-medal winner Sanchez.

"It makes me proud," Fernandez said, when asked what it was like to be mentioned in the same breath with Sanchez.

"I have been a Pepe admirer since I was young and to be linked with him is madness. I know I have a lot to improve on and I take those comparisons as a motivation to continue to train hard."

At Temple, it’s as if the arrival of Fernandez is the second coming of Sanchez.

"When I got here, wearing the number 4 jersey, I knew that comparisons were going to be made because we hail from the same country, we are both guards and the number of our jersey is the same," Fernandez said.

Fernandez has already represented his country by playing at the PanAmerican U18 Championship with Argentina and winning the title.

"I will never forget it because of the players and the team that we had," he said.

"There was a lot of human quality in that team. We were friends on and off the court, something that’s not easy when you don't see each other that much.

"To have beaten United States was the perfect final.

"But I also know that none of us have settled just for that and those that have a chance to go to the (FIBA U19) World Championship in New Zealand, whether I'm there or not, will fight for the medals without a doubt."

To represent his country is something that is almost sacred in Argentina.

"It means a lot," Fernandez admitted.

"I think for an Argentina player to put that jersey on is the best feeling ever. You know that on the court the whole country is supporting you.

"To feel that support is something that cannot be explained. The fact that I can experience that makes me someone privileged."

One day, Fernandez may get the call to play for Argentina. He could, perhaps, play for an Argentina team that attempts to reach the podium at the 2012 Olympics in London just as his compatriots did five years ago in Greece.

Playing for the senior team is something that he dreams about.

"Each day," he said.

"I know it can't be easy to play for the senior team, especially after what this group has achieved. I think the place left open by Pepe (Sanchez) is going to be very difficult to fill.

"It would be a great honor for me to have a chance to play for the senior national team in the future. There are many good guards but I think I could battle for a place one day."

Fernandez’s dad

Fernandez’s father has been instrumental in his son’s career.

"He loves playing coach with me and that helps me a lot," Fernandez said. "My father played for 15 years in the league (Argentinian) and he won five titles.

"It's better to listen to the advice of someone that has that experience and that on top of it, he is my father."

Fernandez says he has a lot to work on if he is to help safeguard Argentina’s proud history in the sport.

"I need to improve on defense, which is something that I find hardest on the court," he said on Argentina’s Basketball Confederation website.

"I see myself as someone who will have to work extremely hard in practice during these years at Temple in order to become a professional in the future."

FIBA