Wednesday, 02.08.2006	posted by Jeff Taylor 20:00 pm
Category: FIBA World Championship

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CRY FOR ARGENTINA'S QUINTEROS

I was surprised.

Argentina named their squad for the FIBA World Championship on Monday and there was no place for Paolo Quinteros, the Boca Juniors guard who looks at Michael Jordan videos for inspiration before he plays games.

Quinteros is a wonderful player who, in the words of his coach Sergio Hernandez, is a "born shooter, not common in Argentinian basketball."

So what gives? Why isn't he in the squad?

Hernandez coached Quinteros at Boca and it was clear that he wanted him on the national team, but simply could not fit him in.

"It´s a difficult decision, but especially a painful one," Hernandez said to the media after announcing his 12-man squad.

What did he say to Paolo? I hope he was sympathetic to a player who could have a big part to play in Argentina's future.

He might have said something like, 'Paolo, this is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you. I can't take you to Japan.'

I hope he didn't say, `Paolo, I'm sorry, you won't be eating much sushi from August 19-September 3.'

Surely he wasn't gutless like my Junior High baseball coach back in Charlotte, North Carolina, who simply put a list of players on the window to his office. If you're name wasn't on that list, then you weren't in the team.

Truthfully, I don't think Quinteros expected to make it. Thinking back to some of his comments, he was living a dream by rubbing shoulders with Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, Luis Scola and Fabricio Oberto.

For the 27-year-old Quinteros to practice with Ginobili, I'd go so far as to say it might have been the highlight of his career.

Then again, Quinteros had said: "I came here to win a place, to train hard, to compete like all the others - not to take pictures."

Quinteros, I look forward to seeing you play one day at an Olympics, a FIBA World Championship or a FIBA Americas Championship.

Now, let's look at the Argentinian team.

Here it is in case you missed it.

Pepe Sánchez (Unicaja Malaga), Pablo Prigioni (Tau Cerámica) y Daniel Farabello (Varese); Emanuel Ginóbili (San Antonio Spurs) y Carlos Delfino (Detroit); Andrés Nocioni (Chicago) y Walter Herrmann (Unicaja); Fabricio Oberto (San Antonio Spurs), Luis Scola (Tau Cerámica), Rubén Wolkowyski (BC Khimki), Gabriel Fernández (Varese) y Leonardo Gutierrez (Ben Hur de Rafaela).

It is downright nasty and these guys are on a mission. Argentina reached the final in 2002 and lost in overtime to Yugoslavia. Even though they won gold in Athens, I think that near miss four years ago still burns.

This is not a hyped-up bunch of individuals.

They have experience. They boast players at top clubs in the US, and Spain (the best league in Europe).

They have size, quickness, three-point shooters, athleticism (Nocioni can jump out of the gym).

They also have a very important intangible. They have self-belief. What we don't know yet is if they will have luck.

I think they were unlucky in Indianapolis, losing to Yugoslavia in the final. Manu Ginobili got injured in the semi-final and couldn't play in the final.

Luck? Why did the referee not blow his whistle and call a foul against Yugoslavia when Hugo Sconochini got hammered and knocked to the floor while driving to the basket at the end of regulation? The game went to OT and Yugoslavia won.

In Greece, they were very good, but also lucky.

Principally, they were lucky they did not begin to peak until the quarter-finals when they beat a tough Greek team in front of a tough Greek crowd. They were lucky that Fragiskos Alvertis took a horrible three-pointer near the end and missed, icing the game for Ginobili and Co.

Make a case for Argentina winning the title, you ask?

Okay, say these two words slowly.

Luis Scola.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca, Spain power forward Felipe Reyes, who plays for Real Madrid, was asked who he thought the dirtiest player in the ACB is.

He replied: "Luis Scola."

I think he meant it as a compliment, saying Scola will do anything to win.

When Scola catches the ball on the low block with his back to the basket, he won't be stopped.

Still need convincing? Read these two words.

Andres Nocioni.

He is the toughest player in a very tough Argentina team. Don't mess with that guy.

Not enough skill in the Argentina team, you say?

Manu Ginobili. There goes that doubt.

There are, in my opinion, four other teams capable of winning the tournament. France, the United States, Greece and Spain. Something in the back of my mind is saying Brazil have a chance to win as well.

We'll look at that later on.

There is something else to consider here before signing off.

Johan Petro (Seattle) and Ronny Turiaf (LA Lakers) are fighting it out for a place in the French team. What does this say about the state of the international game that NBA players are not assured of a place in their national sides?

I've not seen Petro play this year. I did see him play in his last season at Pau Orthez and guess he must have improved a lot since then. As for Turiaf, he made a nice statement on Tuesday. Coming off the bench at the end with Croatia having pulled even, the former Gonzaga Bulldog scored his team's last eight points to lead France to victory.

Claude Bergeaud has a tough decision to make.