FIBA Basketball
ARG - Lamas going for gold
BUENOS AIRES (FIBA Americas Championship) - Argentina coach Julio Lamas has told his players they can have no target other than gold when they host the FIBA Americas Championship in Mar de Plata. Argentina last week got clearance for their NBA stars to play in the tournament - organising an insurance deal to overcome the league lockout - and the ...
BUENOS AIRES (FIBA Americas Championship) - Argentina coach Julio Lamas has told his players they can have no target other than gold when they host the FIBA Americas Championship in Mar de Plata.
Argentina last week got clearance for their NBA stars to play in the tournament - organising an insurance deal to overcome the league lockout - and the news has sparked fresh optimism as the 'golden generation' are reunited once again.
Argentina's only FIBA Americas crown came in 2001, and Lamas is desperate to win it again with a ticket for the London Olympics on the line.
"Argentina has never won the tournament when it serves as an Olympic qualifier," he said. "It will not be easy, but with the players we have, we have to aspire to win this, even while offering respect to our opponents.
"The games will not be won before they have been played. I think the experience of our players ensures we will not underestimate any situation we will find in the tournament.
"I'm calm, and know the favourites do not always become the champions. We must perform as a team."
San Antonio Spurs star Manu Ginobili has been raring to go this weekend after finally getting word of the insurance deal on Friday, allowing him to begin workouts for his first international tournament since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"It is a reunion for me after three years," he said. "I have not been with the team and so now I feel a tingling of excitement all over. Our main objective is to qualify for London."
Argentina have been drawn in Group B and will face Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Panama and Paraguay when the tournament gets under way on August 30.
FIBA