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The 2004 Argentina squad was the peak of that country’s golden basketball generation. Led by Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Sanchez, they were the first team to beat Team USA in international play two years earlier at the FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis. That was brushed aside as a lesser tournament. But beating USA in the Olympics was a historic moment, for both Argentina and international basketball. Pepe Sanchez, who played collegiately for John Chaney at Temple and briefly in the NBA, is frustrated that it seems to be forgotten. “Just because we are a small-population country, I guess we are being overlooked,” he said. “If we were Americans, we would be in the Hall of Fame.” Symbolically, Argentina winning gold in 2004 was a basketball parallel to the Miracle on Ice in 1980 without the same geopolitical undercurrent.
Argentina did, and the result was a gold medal. But the impact stretched well beyond the South American country’s borders. It spurred further development around the world, including the United States. “They called them the Redeem Team. What were they redeeming themselves from?” Sanchez asked rhetorically. Hall of Famer Larry Brown, the USA coach in 2004 agreed with Sanchez. “Basketball has been getting better around the world because of what the Dream Team did in ’92,” Brown said after the tournament. “Rather than knocking our guys, we should give credit to the guys who won.”
Brazil wins gold at FIBA AmeriCup
For the first time in 16 years and the fifth time in their history, Brazil won the continental championship of America, prevailing 55-47 over Argentina in Managua, Nicaragua. Point guard Yago Santos capped a brilliant individual tournament, leading Brazil with 14 points and 5 assists, as the team of Croatian head coach Aleksandar Petrovic won the event for the first time since 2009. Alongside their five championship trophies, the Verdeamarela also boasts three silver medals and four bronze.
Bryan Fonseca: Team USA led Brazil 68-58 after three quarters. Brazil dominated the fourth, outscoring Team USA 34-9. Team USA will play for the Bronze tomorrow. Brazil awaits the winner of Canada vs. Argentina in tomorrow night's Gold Medal game.
Jose Alvarado suffers scary fall in AmeriCup play
Puerto Rico NBA guard Jose Alvarado gave his team and fans a scare after a hard fall during Thursday night’s AmeriCup matchup against Argentina. The 27-year-old appeared to suffer a lower back or tailbone injury after driving to the rim in a tight overtime battle.
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In front of a sold-out PalaDozza, Gianmarco Pozzecco’s team extended its friendly-game winning streak to 4-0, taking down Argentina 84-72. Simone Fontecchio (19 points and 3 steals) and Baskonia‘s newest point guard Matteo Spagnolo (18 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists) were the main protagonists
John Collins: I still enjoy a coffee every now and then, but most of the time we got mate. This is the gourd, and this is called a bombilla. Obviously, I’ve got the leaves inside in here. It’s a Uruguayan, Argentinian, Paraguayan… I don’t want to offend, I don’t know who created it—but it’s a South American tea. You sort of refill it over the course of the day. Helps me with energy, and I cramp a lot—coffee makes me cramp. So I was trying to find a different alternative."
When Luca Vildoza came back from the NBA to sign with Crvena Zvezda, Baskonia announced the rights for the Argentinian playmaker belonged to them. Now, with an official press release, the Basque team communicated the decision of a sentence coming from the Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country, which condemns the current Panathinaikos player to pay one million euros to his former team.
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After his adventure with Victoria Libertas Pesaro, it seemed like Carlos Delfino’s career arrived to a definite ending after 24 years on the highest stages in the International basketball landscape. According to Eurohoops’ Cesare Milanti, however, the 41-year-old Argentinian is now expected to keep playing, moving to Benedetto XIV Cento in the Italian second division. Carlos Delfino last played in August against the Bahamas, losing in the 2023 FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament.
Matt Williams: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at 2023 FIBA World Cup: 25.0 PPG 55% FG pct Still some tournament left, but since 1994, 2 players have averaged 25 PPG and 50% FG in a single FIBA World Cup: 2010 Luis Scola 2006 Yao Ming
Mychal Thompson on his son Klay playing for The Bahamas: 'We'll see'
I checked in with the elder Thompson in search of some clarity. Mychal Thompson is naturally beaming about The Bahamas' breakthroughs in Argentina and said: "The only person not surprised by their success is me. I knew all we had to do was get all of our talent together." When I asked him specifically about Klay’s international future, Mychal Thompson kept it to a coy "we'll see."
“It's just been years in the making,” Chris DeMarco told NBC Sports Bay Area on Thursday night in a phone interview. “There's 45 million people in Argentina and there's 400,000 in the Bahamas. It’s smaller than all of Sonoma County to put it in perspective, and that's a basketball powerhouse. They’re fourth in the world. And to go there and have the resilience and the focus to beat them twice in Argentina, it's just incredible. The players showed poise when it mattered, they answered all their runs. The focus was tremendous.”
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