SANTA FE (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Carlos Delfino continues to take it one step at a time in his recovery from a foot injury that has kept him off the basketball court for the past year.

A member of Argentina's golden generation, the 31-year-old fractured a bone in his foot in the 2013 NBA playoffs while playing for the Houston Rockets.

He signed a free agent contract with the Milwaukee Bucks but did not play a single minute.

An operation that he had last summer didn't go well, and Delfino needed to go under the knife again on 14 December.

One person who is keen to see the shooting guard returning to the court is his national team coach, Julio Lamas, who paid Delfino a visit in his hometown of Santa Fe this week.

"I am pleased by the visit of Julio," Delfino said in an interview with the Argentinian Basketball Confederation (CABB) website.

"The process is slow. There is no rush to return to the court. But I'm starting to do things that I haven't been able to do.

"I haven't played for a long time, almost a year, so now being able to jog or shoot a little hoops makes me calmer and allows me to see light at the end of the road. I have to keep working and hoping that I'll be able to do everything that I was able to do before."

Delfino has enjoyed a lot of fine moments with club sides in Europe and the NBA, and also with Argentina's national side.

He helped the team capture a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Athens 10 years ago and also played a major role in sides that competed at the 2006 and 2010 FIBA World Championships, and the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

With the FIBA Basketball World Cup tipping off in 99 days, does Delfino have a chance to compete with Argentina in Group B against Greece, Puerto Rico, Croatia, Senegal and the Philippines?

Or is his target to return in time for the next NBA season with Milwaukee?

The Bucks have been very accommodating to Delfino, allowing him to rehabilitate in Sante Fe.

"What I can control is what I'm doing," he said. "Train, rehabilitate and try to put the machine back into operation.

"Once on the court, if it's decided that I can play at the World Cup, so be it …

"The most important thing for me is not to think about dates, but get well, be a good basketball player again, get on the court, do what I love and help the team to meet objectives."

FIBA