ARG - Shooting guard the big question
BUENOS AIRES (FIBA Americas Championship/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Argentina coach Julio Lamas has decided upon the 17 players he wants to consider for national team duty at the FIBA Americas Championship in Caracas. Fresh off a Stankovic Cup triumph in China, where the side won eight of its nine games, the No. 3 team in the FIBA Ranking Men has less ...
BUENOS AIRES (FIBA Americas Championship/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Argentina coach Julio Lamas has decided upon the 17 players he wants to consider for national team duty at the FIBA Americas Championship in Caracas.
Fresh off a Stankovic Cup triumph in China, where the side won eight of its nine games, the No. 3 team in the FIBA Ranking Men has less than two months to get ready for the tournament in Venezuela.
Captain Luis Scola, coming off his first season with the Phoenix Suns, is the most experienced player in the squad.
London Games Olympians Manu Ginobili, Pablo Prigioni, Leo Gutierrez and Andres Nocioni are all missing, while Carlos Delfino is doubtful.
The sharpshooter had his best NBA season with the Houston Rockets in 2012-13 but is recovering from foot surgery.
Lamas had hoped to have Paolo Quinteros in the squad but the veteran sharpshooter, axed from the side that played in London, has withdrawn his name from consideration.
With no Ginobili, no Quinteros and the likelihood of no Delfino, the biggest vacancy to fill appears to be shooting guard.
One player at the position who seems to have a great chance of making the team is Selem Safar, who impressed in the Stankovic Cup.
Lamas has also called 33-year-old Diego Garcia, a member of the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship team, into the group.
In terms of point guard, Facundo Campazzo played a lot of minutes in London and is in the preliminary squad.
Other than Scola, veteran big men in the squad are Juan Gutierrez and Federico Kammerichs.
Argentina will play in Group B against Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Paraguay.
The top four sides will qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Argentina's 17-man preliminary squad for the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship: Facundo Campazzo, Nicolas Laprovittola, Juan Fernandez, Selem Safar, Diego Garcia, Patricio Garino, Adrian Hector Boccia, Marcos Daniel Mata, Pablo Anibal Espinoza, Federico Matias Aguerre, Juan Pablo Vaulet, Luis Scola, Leo Mainoldi, Federico Kammerichs, Matias Bortolin, Juan Gutierrez and Marcos Delia.
FIBA