The coach Gonzalo García, with a long career as an assistant to the National Team, anticipates the meeting on Thursday at 9 in the morning for the second date of Tokyo 2020
Argentina already turned the page after the initial shock that was the defeat in the debut against Slovenia. A new chapter will be written this Thursday with Spain as an adversary, an old acquaintance that historically has represented a difficult obstacle to overcome. It is only necessary to review the last antecedent in the final in China, when the European team buried their dreams of champions in the final of the World Cup in China.
Oveja Hernández and the team recognize the crossing as an urgent challenge, not only because of the result but also because of the chance it represents to sow other sensations. The Soul will have the opportunity to recover after the nightmare that Luka Doncic embodied, the Slovenian star who plays for the Dallas Mavericks and consolidates himself as one of the best players in the world.
Gonzalo García, who was a recurring name in the technical bodies of the Argentine National Team since 2004, analyzed for CAB Press the imminent crossing against Spain for the second date of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
But before focusing on the cast of Sergio Scariolo, the coach who directs Boca Juniors in the National League takes a second to take stock of the debut: “We had a player taken out of context in front of us. Many times we fill our mouths saying that this or that is a crack without measuring its true value, but this one is a crack. All analysis falls on deaf ears having a player of such size in front of him. It is not the rule, it does not always happen, to face such a decisive player. In my passage through the selected one I never saw him “.
As repeatedly noted by various members of the national team, the Doncic factor was decisive in tipping the balance in favor of Slovenia. Argentina, even with their mistakes, could have rounded up a better role if they had adjusted their sights: “I saw the team with the intention of repeating his style, a dynamic game with short possessions. Obviously the effectiveness was not on our side, with greater effectiveness it would have been different “.
The record between Argentina and Spain does not play in favor of the national team with just two wins in the ten matches between the World Cup and the Olympic Games. One of them was precisely in Japan, that painful defeat in the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup in which Chapu Nocioni had a triple to win the match.
García was Oveja Hernández’s assistant in that team and recalls the particulars of the recent rivalry with Spain: “What always worried me about Spain is that they have a lot of respect for us. They always play with the alert button on, they are good, they have good players, they have a good team and with us they give them an extra bonus. They have very great players, and in recent years they have taken us an advantage especially in the great people, with Pau and Marc Gasol, but we were always even. Against Argentina what happened to Serbia and France in the World Cup will never happen because they respect us, they play concentrated all the game, knowing that they are facing a team with similar characteristics and that gives me the impression that it makes them more dangerous “.
Reviewing the last antecedent, in the final of the World Cup in China in which Spain prevailed 95-75 to sign his coronation, García analyzed: “He did well to take out any possibility of pick & roll from Facundo (Campazzo). He let him play only to one side, to play penetrations with his left hand. He took every chance of a short or pop role from Scola and from there a large part of our offense was born “.
The ÑBA made its presentation at the Olympic Games with the victory by eleven points in Saitama. What differences does that finalist have with the current version? Garcia responds: “They play very similar. They keep betting on Marc Gasol on the high post, on high-low stocks. They continue to bet on the pick & roll with Rubio, with Rodríguez, on Rudy Fernández’s careers. They have been playing the same for years, with some ups and downs because for example in the World Cup they weren’t the best team but they exploded in the semifinals. With Japan I saw it a little more solid but it had important partials against, I did not see them fine “.
After Doncic’s monologue in the debut, Argentina will face a team that does not have a different physiognomy without a great star but with greater choral value in a squad full of hierarchical names that repeats the World Cup nucleus and added Pau Gasol to the myth for one last dance Is it easier to face a rival with a practically indefensible generational talent like Doncic or to face a rival with multiple resources like Spain?
“At this difficult level is everything, there is nothing easy”Garcia warns. “They are two high-quality teams, players with extreme knowledge of the game. The game plan, defensive, is going to be correct. Slovenia was a totally atypical case in which there were two, three and even four ways to defend Doncic. In this case the game plan is more linear, knowing how to defend each game action. It is a more linear and structured game. Scouting is different, it is another team with another characteristic of players, very good but earthy “.
Spain, indisputably one of the three best teams in the world during the last two decades along with Argentina and behind the United States, has a roster loaded with options and variants, as García describes: “He has a goal in various sectors of the field. The main axis of his entire game is in Ricky Rubio. He feeds his teammates a lot on a team that has a different disposition compared to other teams since his two centers dominate the game from the high post. It is a very difficult team to defend, they dominate the passes, the three-point shots with Marc Gasol, and it becomes very difficult to defend because the court opens up and there are many spaces “.
In any case, García believes that Argentina has good resources to frustrate Spain: “We have good defenders for the greats, Delía for dynamics and Scola for wisdom. The lesser evil is the three-point shot of the greats, it is necessary to avoid that the back doors are born, the actions of hand in hand, of pick & roll. By adjusting that, you can take a large part of the game out of it. “.
Apart from its collective operation, Spain has Ricky Rubio as its determining factor: “He dominates from the knowledge of the game, he manages the rhythms, he has total ancestry in his teammates. He generally has the game in his hands, not so much to score but to drive. In the final in China at times we have done very well, we have put pressure on the whole field. We have players capable of doing it like Campazzo, Vildoza and Bolmaro. You have to try not to dominate the rhythm of the game, although in recent years outside shooting has dominated. Before the concern was to avoid his penetrations, he expected it a meter behind. Now he has shown a great improvement in the three-point shot “.
Argentina will face a final on Thursday morning, determining for their future and mainly for their spirits. In attack, García is clear about what should be the way to tip the balance in favor of Argentina: “It is difficult for Spain to play with teams with a lot of rhythm, that will be good for the Argentine team, which has a very fast midfield. In that sense we can get an advantage. If we play a round trip we will have many chances “.
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