Tag: Argentina

Manu looks rusty, but Argentina cruises to easy win over Paraguay

Argentina showed Tuesday why most observers have pegged them as a heavy favorite to win the FIBA Americas  tournament.

“The Golden Generation” jumped on Paraguay early and cruised to an 84-52 victory in their first game of the tournament at Mar del Plata, Argentina.

For Spurs Nation, the best part of the game was seeing Manu Ginobili playing in mid-season form, without the “Robo Cop” bandage on his broken right arm from the playoffs.

Ginobili started at shooting guard, but served more in the role of a playmaker than as a shooter for his team. He struggled at times with three of Argentina’s 12 turnovers, but also added 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. 

The Argentina defense allowed Paraguay to shoot only 30 percent from the field. And their offense was strong as they sliced through Paraguay’s match-up zone defense for 69 percent shooting in the first quarter en route to an early 30-8 lead and cruised from there.

Former Spurs center Fabricio Oberto did not play in Tuesday’s game as he recovers from a ruptured muscle in his hand. He is expected to be ready for Argentina’s game Friday against Puerto Rico.  

Paolo Quinteros led Argentina with 19 points and Luis Scola added 14, including his first five field-goal attempts.

The Argentinians return to action at 4 p.m. Wednesday against Uruguay. Their first-game performance was a strong statement heading into the rest of the tournament.

No, not the nose! Sinus infection nearly benches Manu

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — Spurs guard Manu Ginobili acknowledged Monday that he missed Argentina’s Sunday practice session with a sinus infection that robbed him of good sleep for a couple of days.

Ginobili told the Express-News he wasn’t sure he would feel well enough to suit up against Canada in the first game of the second round of the FIBA Americas pre-Olympic qualifying tournament here.

A round of antibiotics eased the infection, and Ginobili on Monday scored 16 points, with six rebounds and five assists, in Argentina’s 79-53 victory over Canada.

“I had two really bad days and nights, just couldn’t breathe easily,” Ginobili said. “Yesterday (Sunday) I started with some medicine and slept about nine hours.

“That sleep was very helpful for me, but this is a tough tournament if you are not sleeping well. You play four in five nights, then have one day off, and now we have four in four. So resting is huge, and yesterday, by the time we were to come to practice I just couldn’t make it. But I had a good night and today was a different story.”

Manu’s recovery wasn’t good news for Canada, but at least it allowed Spurs draftee Cory Joseph, the former UT star, to meet him briefly during the pre-game exchange of gifts.

“He welcomed me to the family,” said Joseph, a Toronto native who is Canada’s starting point guard.

“We will get to talk much more at training camp in about a month,” Ginobili said. “Well, at least I hope it will be in about a month.”

Tales from the web: ‘The Golden Generation’ favored in FIBA Americas

Argentina’s “Golden Generation” should have one more big sendoff in front of their home fans over the next couple of weeks.

With standouts like Manu Ginobili, Fabricio Oberto, Carlos Delfino, Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni on the team, SB Nation.com’s Tom Ziller predicts the Argentinians are “to win one of  two berths to the Olympics in London next year by qualifying at the FIBA Americas Tournament that begins on Tuesday.

Ziller has an extensive preview and a primer of what to watch for in the tournament.

Here are some other Spurs-related tidbits that have popped up on the web the last several days.

Enjoy.  

  • Andrew McNeill of 48 Minutes of Hell.com pulls out a protractor to develop an infographical look at how successful thein the history of the franchise.
  • Paul Garcia of Project Spurs.com analyzes why Ryan Richards.
  • Janie Annie of Pounding the Rock.com analyzes in its “friendly” victory over Venezuela last week.
  • Tallahassee Democrat sports editor Ira Schoffel admits to whiffing on his prediction that Tim Duncan wasin the NBA.
  • Adam Fromal of the Bleacher Report.com among his most successful franchises in NBA history, trailing , , and his No. 1 choice .
  • Royce Young of CBS Sports.com reports that former Spur George Hill after the lockout started.
  • Rob Mahoney of the Dallas-centric Two Man Game.com relates why he doesn’t expect a rash of willing knockoffs of the Mavericks like .  
  • Phillip Barnett of Forum Blue and Gold.comof the FIBA Americas and Eurobasket tournaments.  
  • Purdue volleyball player Anna Drewry, formerly of Clark High School, tells the Lafayette (Ind.) Journal-Courier’s Sam King that she was back in the day by David Robinson.  
  • Jonathan Tjarks of Real GM.com notes that Duncan is one of the few NBA forwards over the last two seasons who had .