Tag: Carlos Delfino

Ginobili’s heart in FIBAs, mind on lockout

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — As Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has helped his Argentine national team qualify for the semifinals of the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament, he has kept track of two situations thousands of miles from here: the NBA lockout and teammate Tony Parker’s pursuit of an Olympic berth for his French team.

Thus far, it has been much more enjoyable for Ginobili to read about Parker’s exploits for France in the Eurobasket tournament in Lithuania than to follow the progress, or lack of, in the labor talks..

The unquestioned leader of one of the best international teams of the past dozen years, Ginobili and four of his NBA colleagues have remained focused on the competition at Malvinas Argentinas Arena while receiving details on the state of negotiations for the lockout imposed by the league on July 1.

As important as the tournament is to Ginobili, Luis Scola (Houston Rockets), Andres Nocioni (Philadelphia 76ers), Carlos Delfino (Milwaukee Bucks) and Fabricio Oberto, the lockout never is far from their thoughts in this resort town on the Atlantic coast, some 300 miles northeast of Ginobili’s hometown of Bahia Blanca.

“Of course we all pay attention to what is happening with the lockout,” Ginobili said. “We get updates. We talk about it. We are all worried. We don’t want this to happen, but we know every decade there is a chance this can happen.

“We understand it is a huge business and everyone wants to take care of their part. So we are just here now thinking about this (tournament), and once it is over, we will start to be more concerned about what is going on in the NBA.”

Ginobili expressed regret that the lockout has the potential to interrupt the love affair between San Antonians and the Spurs.

“I think it is a pity,” he said. “I am with such a wonderful organization with an amazing fan base. I’d really love to go back and start training camp and be with all the guys. Hopefully, it is a one-time thing and is not going to happen again in a few years.

“Hopefully it is just once in a blue moon. I’m just hoping for a fair solution.”

Ginobili spends some of his time between games keeping tabs on what is happening at Eurobasket, where Parker has been one of the leading scorers and has yet to suffer a loss with the French national team.

“I haven’t been able to watch the games, but I follow the stats, and I know (France) is undefeated,” Ginobili said before Argentina fell to Spurs teammate Tiago Splitter and Brazil 73-71 on Wednesday. “I know they beat Serbia in the last second. Tony is rolling.

“Good to see that France is doing what they are capable of doing. In the past, they were always a threat, but they were never able to finish it. Hopefully, this year they do.”

Ginobili for several years has touted the Olympic experience to his Spurs teammate.

“I’d really love for Tony to get to play the Olympic Games,” Ginobili said. “He’s a good friend, and any athlete of a high level should learn what it is to be in the Olympics. I told T.P. this a million times, and I think he’s really focused and wants to be there.”

Argentina insures Ginobili’s contract

The celebrations keep on coming for Manu Ginobili.

After turning 34 on Thursday, the Spurs guard reveled Friday in the news that he would be able to represent his native Argentina in the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament in his homeland next month.

The Argentine Basketball Federation negotiated a deal to insure the contracts of the four NBA players on the nation’s national team. The news turned out to be one of the better birthday gifts ever received by the Spurs All-Star guard.

Ginobili and Luis Scola (Houston Rockets), Carlos Delfino (Milwaukee Bucks) and Andres Nocioni (Philadelphia 76ers) had traveled to Buenos Aires for the first day of the Argentine team’s training camp, but were uncertain when they’d be able to take the court. One report indicated all four players remained on the sidelines during the opening session. The tournament will be held Aug. 28-Sept. 11 in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

A Friday morning announcement by Argentine Basketball Federation president German Vaccaro, on the FIBA Americas official website, ended the suspense. An Argentine insurance company had agreed to become a sponsor of the national team and provide the insurance.

The insurance issue was complicated by the NBA’s lockout of its players following expiration of its collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union. Insurance typically provided by NBA teams for its players participating in FIBA-sanctioned competitions no longer was available, putting a much greater financial burden on the national federations.

Vaccaro spent most of July searching for an insurance solution for the four NBA players who make up the core of Argentina’s team. He said arrangements with Sancor, the insurance company sponsoring the federation, will be finalized next week.

“At this moment, I am just very happy to have managed this,” he told FIBAAmericas.com. “It has been a very exhausting process of endless meetings, moments of uncertainty and some disappointments. But, as I said at the outset, we will send the best team possible to Mar del Plata.”

Ginobili reacted to the news by posting this on Twitter, albeit in a truncated version: “Today Argentina national team’s training camp starts in Buenos Aires. Very happy to play with El Chapu (Nocioni), Scola, (Fabricio) Oberto, Delfino and the whole team again.”

Oberto, who played four seasons for the Spurs and was the starting center on the team that won the 2007 NBA championship, had retired from basketball because of a cardiac arrhythmia problem. He was medically cleared to return to the Argentine team on July 1.

Spurs center Tiago Splitter is on the roster of the Brazilian team that will play in the tournament, but there has been no announcement yet about insuring his NBA contract, or those of other NBA players on the Brazilian roster.

The French national team already has secured insurance for its NBA players, including Spurs starting point guard Tony Parker.

Lockout red tape keeps Ginobili waiting

The Argentine senior men’s basketball team will begin training today in Buenos Aires in preparation for the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament, but Spurs guard Manu Ginobili’s participation remains clouded by the NBA lockout.

According to the ESPN Deportes website, the availability of Ginobili and fellow NBA players Luis Scola (Rockets), Carlos Delfino (Bucks) and Andres Nocioni (76ers) remains uncertain because the Argentine basketball federation has yet to secure insurance to cover the contracts of the NBA players.

Ordinarily, NBA teams are required to insure 80 percent of the contract of any player participating on a national team in a FIBA-sanctioned event. Because of the lockout, the entire burden of insuring the contracts falls on national federations, an expensive proposition for nations with multiple NBA participants.

German Vaccaro, president of the Argentine federation, is quoted in the ESPN Deportes article expressing confidence that the insurance, estimated to total $500,000, will be paid so the four players can join their national team for the tournament Aug. 28-Sept. 11 in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

“One way or another, we are going to solve it, and NBA players will be able to play with the team,” Vaccaro told ESPN Deportes. “If we have to pay it, we’ll pay it, but I am very optimistic.”

In an interview with the Express-News in June, Ginobili said playing in the Olympic qualifying tournament in his homeland was “very, very important.” Equally vital to the Spurs All-Star guard: the opportunity to reunite with six teammates from the team that won the Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004.

“I know I only have this one and probably the next one to play with all my great friends on the team, Luis (Scola) and Fabri (Oberto) and (Andres) Nocioni and (Carlos) Delfino and the rest,” Ginobili said in June. “It is really exciting.”

Bogut out: Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut will spend his time during the lockout as assistant coach of the Australian national team that will face New Zealand in an Olympic qualifying series.

Bogut hoped to play for Australia in the best-of-3 series, the winner of which will qualify for the 2012 London Games. But Basketball Australia was unable to insure his multimillion dollar contract, and instead the former No. 1 NBA draft pick will assist coach Brett Brown, the Spurs’ assistant coach, on the bench.

Brown joked Thursday: “He’ll be my richest assistant coach. He’s fantastic about wanting to play, but with injury and insurance issues with the NBA lockout, he’ll play his role from the bench next to me.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.