ARG - Lamas adds eight to preliminary squad

BUENOS AIRES (FIBA Americas Championship/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Julio Lamas is going to face a major test as the Argentina coach this summer when he attempts to steer the national team into the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Lamas can still rely on the broad shoulders of 33-year-old captain Luis Scola at the FIBA Americas Championship in Caracas, Venezuela, the qualifying event for the World Cup.

But the 36-year-old point guard Pablo Prigioni has joined the list of tournament absentees that already included Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni and Leo Gutierrez.

"I had a chat with Julio and I decided I was not going to play this year,” said Prigioni, who left Spanish outfit Baskonia (Laboral Kutxa) and signed for the New York Knicks last summer.

The 2012-13 campaign was his first in the NBA.

"My family made a lot of effort going from Spain to the United States after living many years in Spain. The season was long because the NBA has a very hectic schedule and you have to travel, so they require more time with me, the kids and my lady.

"So I can't be deaf or blind to their needs. If it were just up to me, I'd play every year because I love playing with the national team, I love playing with my teammates…

"I have to give priority to the family and rest. The decision has been made."

Carlos Delfino's presence is also in grave doubt as he recovers from the foot injury he suffered while playing for the Houston Rockets in the NBA playoffs.

Big contributions will be needed from others who are virtual unknowns on the international stage, with the FIBA Americas Championship tipping off on 30 August.

Argentina will need a top-four finish to reach the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Lamas, in addition to the 12 players in Argentina's Stankovic Cup team, has named eight others to the preliminary squad.

Three are veterans in Scola, Paolo Quinteros and Federico Kammerichs.

Quinteros, one of the heroes in the Bronze Medal Game triumph over Lithuania in Beijing five years ago, was left off last year's Olympic roster.

He is 34 while Kammerichs turns 33 on 21 June.

Juan Fernandez, who celebrates his 23rd birthday on 22 July, impressed in his rookie professional season with Brescia in Italy's Lega Due after a four-year career in American college basketball with the Temple Owls in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He has been added to the preliminary squad, as well as 20-year-old Patricio Garino, a rising sophomore at George Washington University.

Mar del Plata native Garino is a 1.96m guard/forward who averaged 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.3 steals in almost 27 minutes per game for the Colonials in 2012-13.

Juan Pablo Vaulet, Federico Matias Aguerre and Pablo Espinoza are the other three added to the preliminary squad.

Vaulet, a 1.97m forward, plays for Libertad Sunchales and is just 17.

Aguerre, 25, is on the books of Boca Juniors while Espinoza, 26, plays for Obras Sanitarias.

Argentina have not ruled out Delfino, who was operated on after getting hurt.

He needs between four to six months to allow a fractured bone in his foot to heal.

At the FIBA Americas Championship, Argentina will begin the competition in Group B with Mexico, Paraguay, hosts Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.

FIBA