ARG - Nocioni: "Not going to London would be a big disappointment"

MAR DEL PLATA (FIBA Americas Championship) - Philadelphia Sixers forward Andrés Nocioni, the fiercest of all Argentina's Golden Generation members, has no doubts on what he wants for him and his team on the next days.

Argentina, after a month of workouts and warm-up games, will start Tuesday the way for their third consecutive Olympic Game and Nocioni is one of the six players in Mar del Plata that know how it feels to win an Olympic Gold.

Before Argentina tips off at the FIBA Americas against Paraguay, Andrés Nocioni talked to FIBA about the team's preparations and the pressure of playing home.

FIBA: How did you like this year's preparations?
Nocioni: We didn't play friendly games against top teams in the world as we did previously against Spain or Lithuania, but we faced teams we will meet during the tournament and that was useful to see where we are. The players that didn't suffer any injury practiced really hard during the whole month.

FIBA: Do you take this comeback as something special after missing in Turkey 2010?
Nocioni: I always try to be here. This is no revenge for me after being ruled out of the World Championships due to an injury. What happened before and during Turkey is already in the past for me. That ankle injury was a bad thing in a bad time. But this is something common in our career. We are exposed to injuries.

FIBA: Do you feel any extra pressure of playing home?
Nocioni: It's not a problem for us. We have been one of the favorite teams at many tournaments. We don't have any extra pressure of any kind. We know what we have to do. We have always had our head on our shoulders. The important thing is our goals, which is qualifying to London Games and if we can, also win the tournament. Not qualifying would be a big disappointment for us.

FIBA: The other title-contenders have some big players missing. Is that a good or a bad thing for you?
Nocioni: Every team have their own issues. I don't care if other teams have missing players. We think in ourselves as other will think in themselves. Every team will have to solve their problems alone.

FIBA: How did you recover from missing the winning shot against Spain in the 2006 World Championship Semi-Final?
Nocioni: I took the shot, assumed the risk. It was really hurtful for me and everyone for a long time because we stayed one shot away from a new final. But I would have felt worse if I hadn't taken the shot. Sometimes, winning or losing in basketball is a matter of small details. Those are things that will stay forever in my mind.

FIBA: And did you find your revenge in the Bronze medal match in Beijing 2008?
Nocioni: Yes. Good things make up for bad things. That was a new opportunity, a new challenge. I played a great game, despite my knee injury and got over from Japan's disappointment.
 
FIBA