ARG - Gonzalez chases NBA dream

OLAVARRIA (FIBA South American Championship) - Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez has backed Roman Gonzalez's decision play in the NBA Summer League instead of representing his country in the South American Championship.

The Leon centre has accepted an invitation to play for the Denver Nuggets and has been replaced in Hernandez's squad by Diego Romero, who has just won the 2005-06 Liga Nacional with Gimnasia y Esgrima from Comodoro Rivadavia.

Hernandez told the Argentinian Basketball Confederation's official website, www.cabb.com.ar: "As long as I'm the national team coach, I'll understand provable reasons.

"This is one of them, because when a player gets to an age and there's a NBA chance, it makes you re-evaluate everything in your career and it's logic that he wants to bet everything on this. Gonzalez chose that possibility and the national team have to go on with the plan.

"Roman did a great job in the last FIBA Americas Championship and was going to be a key man in this team for the South American Championship. It'll be an important absence in this team."

Gonzalez becomes the third player to withdraw from the national squad after Martin Leiva linked up with a Milwaukee Bucks in their training camp and Federico Kammerichs declined due to personal reasons.

In Venezuela, Argentina will line up alongside Uruguay, Paraguay and Colombia in Group B of the South American Championship. The tournament will will be played from July 11 to 16.

Argentina squad:
Antonio Porta (Livorno, Italy), Juan Gutierrez, Nicolas Gianella (both Granada, Spain), Sebastian Ginobili (Libertad), Raimundo Legaria, Leonardo Gutierrez, Diego Garcia (all Ben Hur), Carlos Matias Sandes, Paolo Quinteros (all Boca Juniors), Julio Mazzaro (River Plate), Hernan Jasen (Estudiantes, Spain), Diego Logrippo (Cantabria, Spain), Diego Romero (Gimnasia y Esgrima from Comodoro Rivadavia), Leonardo Mainoldi (Burgos, Spain) and Pedro Calderon (Quilmes).

By PA Sport
Exclusively for FIBA