More than two years after the retirement of Manu Ginobili, Argentine basketball will recover the lost place in the NBA. With the arrival of Facundo Campazzo a los Denver Nuggets, the country that achieved the world runner-up with its team in the World Cup that was played last year in China will once again have a representative in the most famous league in the world of this sport.
After saying goodbye to Real Madrid, a club with which he won 11 titles and in which he became the leader of one of the best teams in Europe, the Cordoba base finally made the leap to the best competition in world basketball and signed with the franchise that was a finalist in the Western Conference last season for the next two years.
A few days after landing in Denver, the capital of the state of Colorado, one of the top managers of the Nuggets spoke about the reason for the hiring of Campazzo and told the man who was vital in making the decision to incorporate the former driver from Peñarol de Mar del Plata to the team’s staff.
“Actually, it’s been on our radar for years. One of our scouts, Martynas Pocius, played with him in Murcia some years ago. He is surely among the two best point guards in Europe in the last three or four years, decorated with Real Madrid and the Argentine National Team “, confessed Tim Connelly, president of franchise operations, in dialogue with the US media in the first days of the team’s work.
Who is Pocius? Originally from Lithuania, he is a former player – he retired in 2017 – who played his last season as a professional at UCAM Murcia, the club in which Campazzo demonstrated all his skills in the ACB league in Spain when he had no place at Real Madrid and it was loaned by the White House to another set.
“We are really looking for guys with a big hard IQ. I think with a guy like Facu, it would be difficult to find someone who has more in those two areas. They will not find a tougher player than him “, added Connelly about the aptitudes of one of the factors for the success of the Argentine team in the last World Cup.
In addition, the character in charge of building the Nuggets squad, stressed that Facundo is “very smart”, its “intensity”, and that “He has the ability to make his teammates better”. Connelly himself also confirmed that they had been following Campazzo for some time and together with him they defined that this was the time to leave Europe and make the jump to the NBA.
In an interview with Infobae, the Cordovan gave details of his first sensations when training with the team. “It was only in these hours that the token began to fall on me, when I put on my training shirt, when I was with my teammates for the first time and I began to be part of this world. It was very exciting. But even then it was hard for me. I walked around the facilities and looked at everything, not believing that I was really here. It’s living a dream, ”Campazzo said.
Looking ahead to the start of the preseason, Denver will play three games prior to the start of the 2020-2021 season. On December 12, the team led by Michael Malone will face the Golden State Warriors. Then, it will be his turn to play twice against the Portland Trail Blazers, on the 16th and 18th, respectively. For its part, the opening day of the new campaign for Campazzo’s team will be at Christmas when they face the Los Angeles Clippers.
Interview with Facundo Campazzo, after his arrival in the NBA: “My goal is to have fun on the court”
Bomb transfer in the NBA: Russell Westbrook leaves the Houston Rockets in exchange for a figure who has not played for two years
