The Argentine basketball team will begin its long journey to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this Wednesday when it faces a Bahamas full of NBA players in the Pre-qualifier that is taking place in Santiago del Estero.
The team led by Pablo Prigioni will play from 9:10 p.m. at the Ciudad stadium in the capital of Santiago, led by the great Facundo Campazzo and with the return of local credit Gabriel Deck after a knee injury. Television is on behalf of TyC Sports.
The Olympic Prequalifier is made up of two zones of three and four teams each, of which the best two qualify for the semifinals. The prize at stake is a ticket to one of the intercontinental Pre-Olympics next year, so if it is not a champion, the National Team will already be out of the race for Paris 2024.
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The Argentine path to the Games became entangled with the surprising failure to qualify for this year’s World Cup, the main access route to the Paris Olympics. Consequently, the National Team has been preparing long and hard for the Prequalifier, including a European tour (three wins and one loss) and a couple of friendlies in Santiago (two wins).
The Argentina squad, with Campazzo and Deck
After the preparation, Prigioni chose these 12 for the Prequalifier: point guards Facundo Campazzo (team captain; Real Madrid) and Luca Vildoza (Greece Panathinaikos); guards Lucio Redivo (Cividale of Italy), Máximo Fjellerup (Girona of Spain) and Carlos Delfino (Pesaro of Italy); forwards Nicolás Brussino (Gran Canaria of Spain), Patricio Garino (without a club); the inmates Gabriel Deck (Real Madrid), Juan Fernández (Breogán of Spain) and Tomás Chapero (Huesca of Spain); and pivots Francisco Cáffaro (Santa Clara University, USA) and Gonzalo Bressán (Castelló, Spain).
Thus, Argentina shares an area in Santiago del Estero with Panama, the Bahamas and Cuba. The debut was to be this Monday against the Panamanians but since they dropped out of the tournament a few days before, the Group A fixture was reduced.
The Bahamas NBA of Ayton, Gordon and Hield
The Bahamas gave the note in the pre-qualifier by summoning four NBA players, three of them renowned: the giant DeAndre Ayton (24-year-old center and 2.11 meters from the Phoenix Suns, with averages of 18 points and 10 rebounds the last season), 3-point shooter Buddy Hield (30-year-old Indiana Pacers guard, averages 16.8 points, 3.6 3-pointers and 42% shooting percentage) and veteran Eric Gordon, naturalized at the last minute (34-year-old guard Los Angeles Clippers, with averages of 11 points and 2.1 triples, with 42% effectiveness). The fourth member of the Bahamian NBA is the athletic Kai Jones (22-year-old center and 2.11 meters, with a minor role in Charlotte Hornets).
Bahamas did debut this Monday with a comfortable victory against Cuba by 109 to 68, enjoying a great effectiveness in triples (17 hits out of 34 attempts). The team’s top scorer was Hield with 24 points (6/8 in doubles, 4/12 in triples) and 5 assists. The rocky Ayton stood out with 22 units (10/14 in doubles, 2/3 in free throws) and 10 rebounds, while Gordon signed 17 (2/3 in doubles, 4/7 in triples and 1/2 in free throws) and 4 assists. Jones, meanwhile, did not play.
Background between Argentina and Bahamas
Argentina and Bahamas shared a group in the last FIBA Americas (World Cup Qualifiers) and met twice, both with white and blue success: 95 to 77 in Mar del Plata at the end of August 2022 (incredible 37 points from Gabriel Deck) and adjusted 80 to 76 in Nassau in November with a Selection without its figures (the scoring leader was Juan Vaulet with 19). Argentina finished with 8 wins and 4 losses in that area while the Bahamas was last with 3 and 9. From that Caribbean team to the current one, Ayton and Gordon joined.
Thursday against Cuba
This Wednesday’s game will be a litmus test to see what Argentina is for, although it is by no means definitive. The second (and last) match of the group will be on Thursday at 10:10 p.m. against Cuba, in La Banda. The Selection is enough with a victory to pass the phase as second.
Group B is made up of Uruguay, Chile, the Virgin Islands and Colombia and opened this Monday with victories for Chile (62-61 over the Virgin Islands) and Uruguay (80-65 over Colombia).
The semifinals will be played on Saturday and the final on Sunday. The champion will qualify for one of the Pre-Olympics next year. In total there will be four Pre-Olympics of six teams each, with a ticket to Paris 2024 as a prize in each one.
2023-08-15 19:15:38
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