The Argentine basketball team, led by Cordovan coach Pablo Prigioni, began the final stretch of preparation prior to the game that will be played next Thursday in Mar del Plata against Canada, in the last qualifying window for the 2023 World Cup.
The team led by Prigioni, who has the collaboration of his close assistants Gonzalo García and Leonardo Gutiérrez, settled in Mar del Plata since Sunday, where they began to design physical and tactical movements with the ball in the Peñarol club’s micro-stadium.
The players who gave the present to the first training session in the seaside resort were Tayavek Gallizzi and Bautista Lugarini (Instituto de Córdoba), Juan Pablo Vaulet (Baxi Manresa, Spain), Leonardo Lema and Roberto Acuña (Olímpico de La Banda), Carlos Delfino ( Libertas Pesaro, Italy) and Juan Ignacio Marcos (Lleida, Spain). During this Monday, Patricio Garino and Máximo Fjellerup (both from Basketball Girona, Spain), Nicolás Brussino (Gran Canaria, Spain), Juan Francisco Fernández (Fuenlabrada, Spain) and Marcos Delía (BC Wolves, Lithuania), among others, will join that the arrival of Facundo Campazzo, the great figure of the team, is expected.
The 45-year-old coach Prigioni delivered a preliminary list of 24 basketball players, from which he will have to choose -in a few more hours- the 15 that will finally be assigned to the matches against Canada (Thursday the 23rd) and the Dominican Republic (Sunday the 26th). to define quotas in the Philippines-Japan-Indonesia 2023 ecumenical event, to be held between August and September.
From the list initially awarded, it is known that the Santiago forward Gabriel Deck (Real Madrid, Spain), the point guard from Mar del Plata Luca Vildoza (Red Star, Serbia) and the Buenos Aires guard Nicolás Laprovittola (Barcelona, Spain) will not be part of the game because they will continue to be affected to their respective teams, which will hold Euroleague matches this week.
The opposite is the case for Campazzo (Red Star), who will join the training sessions, because the player is not authorized by the records of the European continental organization, after a punishment imposed on the Belgrade institution for financial irregularities. in hiring.
Meanwhile, the cut imposed on Leandro Bolmaro by the Utah Jazz of the NBA in recent days clearly opens the expectation that the Cordovan can reintegrate the selected albiceleste. If the perimeter continued to be tied to the Salt Lake City franchise, it would have been impossible for him to join the team.
Canada, without the NBA or the Euroleague
The first rival of the sixth and final window is Canada, the only team on the continent that has already secured their qualification for the World Cup, with a more than convincing 10-0 record, although they will arrive in Mar del Plata with a greatly diminished squad. The roster includes players who are not members of NBA or Euroleague teams, who were not authorized to intervene in these commitments.
So, the list includes brothers Phil and Thomas Scrubb (both from Obradoiro, Spain); Jahvon Blair (Westchester Knicks, G-League, USA), Kalif Young (Bayreuth, Germany) and Trae Bell Haynes (Buducnost, Montenegro), among the best known. There’s also Kenny Chery (Petkim Spor, Turkey); Kadre Gray (A Coruña, Spain); Kaza Kajami Keane (Le Mans, France); Conor Morgan (Slask Wroclaw, Poland), Prince Oduro (Korihait, Finland); Lloyd Pandi (Darussafaka, Turkey); Chad Posthumus (Ottawa Black Jacks, Canada) and Jackson Rowe (Bayreuth, Germany)
Argentina, with a 7-3 mark, needs to prevail in the two remaining matches to ensure qualification for the World Cup, since two victories would guarantee -at least- place as the best fourth in zone E, in which is also fighting to enter Venezuela (with a 7-3 record; led by Argentine Fernando Duró) and the Dominican Republic (7-3; led by Néstor “Che” García from Bahía). In case of winning only one game, you will have to wait for other results to find out your luck.
The Islas Malvinas Sports Center will be the scene of the last two window matches: on Thursday, at 9:40 p.m. against Canada; and on Sunday, at 9:10 p.m., against the Dominican Republic.
