Luis Scola: ''This team showed it can defeat anyone''

LA RIOJA (FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers 2019) — Argentina defeated the United States as locals at La Rioja’s Superdomo and took a great step towards their objective — qualifying to the World Cup. After overcoming the North American team, 88-63, with a great defense and collective game, the Argentines now have an 8-1 record as absolute Group E leaders in the Americas Qualifiers with three games left to play. Meanwhile, the North Americans placed themselves in the second position, with a 7-2 registry. Both national teams will face each other once again on February 2019.

The captain of the Argentine national team, Luis Scola, is aiming to play his fourth World Cup next year. He was part of the teams that went to Indianapolis 2002, Turkey 2010, Spain 2014, and now the 2018 Qualifiers (China 2019).

“Besides having qualified, we're doing very good. I knew we were going to be there. I'm happy with the way we played. We've been playing well for two years now. There are a lot of players that weren't here today, and we showed that the national team is playing well, that there's an ambiance and a work culture of playing with intensity and rhythm, a (shared) language. We missed them, but whoever's here plays and today we showed that we can play against anyone. When they come, we’ll play even better,” said Luis Scola, captain of the Argentine team, after their triumph against the United States.

Regarding the bad start for the team, the Golden Generation veteran said: “The United States have that capability of going in and be overwhelming. But we could quickly start to compete. We respect all of our rivals, but we believe that we have a team able to compete against the best teams in the world.”

About their next commitment, he added: “If we play like this, we're going to do well against Mexico. We have a lot of chances because we're closer to our greatest possibilities. I feel confident because of that. I like to play as locals, the format is very good. It's good to live experiences both as locals and as visitors, that’s what sports are like. But this is basketball and I think it's great. This is much more fun, the number of people to came out to see us is impressive.”

Coach Sergio Hernández also talked about the great Argentine triumph: “We knew that it wasn't real if we started out 8-0. You have to get used to play against the United States, because they're different from the rest. They make you feel uncomfortable when protecting the ball. When we play against the United States, we always have to arrange the court differently. We must rest to play against Mexico. This is a beautiful generation. They have communication and chemistry and play basketball well. We have to see how we do when we play with the European powerhouses; now we're playing against the powerhouses from the Americas.”

Meanwhile, US coach Jeff Van Gundy assured after the game: “Argentina is a tremendous team, and after the first five minutes they kicked our butts. And, give them all the credit, they played a terrific game on both ends of the floor. We had a rough night all around. I don’t think there were a lot of positives for us in this game, and so much of sport is about when you get your butt kicked how you respond. We’re together three more days, we get another chance on Sunday (versus Uruguay), and hopefully we play much better.”

For his part, Argentine point guard Nicolás Laprovittola, who scored 17 points and 8 assists and is second in assists with a 4.9 average per game behind Facundo Campazzo, analyzed: “We played a great game and I'm very happy for everyone. Aguerre came in on the last minute and made a spectacular job. Faggiano went in and added points and energy. Lucio Redivo arrived at this window and gave us the ability to react. It was a very important game with an enormous significance and we did it very well.”

For the Argentine side, shooting guard Lucio Redivo (14 points) talked about his personal experience with the team: “That’s what we all wanted. We managed to win, and we must continue with the same mentality. People always support us, and this is the second time we've come to La Rioja, we enjoy it a lot. I feel very much at ease with the group, we're all concentrated on playing the best we can. We have to stay like this, play each game like a final and think about our next game in the Qualifiers.”

Both national teams will clash again on February 25, 2019 in a city in the United States that is yet to be announced, in what will be the last game for both teams in these Americas Qualifiers.

FIBA