ARG - National team without Nocioni, needs Quinteros

BUENOS AIRES (FIBA Americas Championship/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Argentina coach Julio Lamas has revealed that veteran Andres Nocioni will not be with this year's squad at the FIBA Americas Championship in Venezuela.

Nocioni's wife is expecting the couple's third child and is expected to give birth at the end of August or in early September.

The tournament is to be staged in Caracas from 30 August to 11 September.

"I already know that I will not have (Manu) Ginobili, Nocioni and (Leo) Gutierrez," Lamas said at a national team press conference on Wednesday.

"We will build the team without them."

Lamas has not given up hope that Carlos Delfino of the Houston Rockets will play.

Delfino injured his right foot at the end of his team's first round play-off series with Oklahoma City and needed an operation.

He won't be able to resume basketball activities for at least three months.

"We still have hope," Lamas said. "We know that he usually overcomes injuries quite well."

The presence of veteran point guard Pablo Prigioni at the FIBA Americas Championship, which serves as a qualifying event for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, isn't known.

Prigioni is nearing the end of his first season in the NBA with the New York Knicks.

"We'll see what his situation is after the NBA season," Lamas said.

Lamas is expected to have some players from last year's Olympic squad, including veteran Luis Scola, in Venezuela.

He also wants Paolo Quinteros to be in the team.

Quinteros, 34, didn't make the team for the London Games but was the MVP of Argentina's national league this season and just led Regatas Corrientes to the title.

He was one of the heroes of the team at the Beijing Games, coming off the bench in the bronze-medal win over Lithuania to provide some timely scoring.

"The team needs him," Lamas said.

"I hope he comes."

Argentina will need a top-four finish at the FIBA Americas Championship to earn a place at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

"Obviously, our aim is to qualify but the tournament will also help us to practice different variables with respect to the future," Lamas said.

FIBA