ARGENTINA - On for a Repeat?

The golden boys from Athens are back for one last showing. The veteran group of Argentina that includes Ginobili, Nocioni, Scola and Oberto is hoping for an encore in Beijing.

Can they still bring on the magic, and deny gold to what is expected to be an impressive Team USA? Never underestimate the hearts of champions. Wiser and extremely motivated after a heartbreaking semi-final defeat to Spain at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, Argentina will be fired up and ready to go! Imagine what the state of international basketball would have been had Andres Nocioni's attempt from the right corner fallen through the hoop instead of hitting off the rim and bouncing away. The Albiceleste would have played in the final. Instead, Spain made it to the title game and thrashed Greece.

While several Olympic champions are no longer with Argentina, including a pair of sensational playmakers in Pepe Sanchez and Alejandro Montecchia, the team still has superstar shooting guard Manu Ginobili. An ankle injury he suffered in the NBA play-offs with the San Antonio Spurs made him a doubt but he recovered enough to be named in Sergio Hernandez's final squad.

Even before that decision, Argentina underlined his importance to not just the national team but the entire country when announcing that the Bahia Blanca icon would be their flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez tried to remain calm despite the uncertainty. "What would happen if Manu cannot go to the Olympics?" Hernandez was asked in early July. He said: "There's always a Plan B but I am optimistic that he will recover. If that didn't happen, you cannot cry in a tournament because you are missing a player. What the team must do is not to focus on the ones that are absent but on the potential the team has." Just how effective Ginobili turns out to be in China remains to be seen. He did not play in friendly warm-ups.

While preparing for the Olympics without Ginobili, Argentina struggled to beat Poland in their first friendly and while that may have raised eyebrows, it should not have come as much of a surprise considering that neither Ginobili, nor Carlos Delfino, played. Additionally, Poland are getting ready to host next year's EuroBasket and had played Germany twice in very extensive preparations before travelling to South America. Luis Scola, who is coming off a fine rookie campaign with the Houston Rockets, certainly was not concerned. "We did win, but we played badly," Scola said. "But the important thing for us is to face teams that test you in different ways so that we see how we can resolve or overcome them."

The biggest question for Argentina before the Ginobili injury scare had been about the point guard situation. Because the 31-year-old Sanchez announced before the end of the ACB season in Spain with Barcelona that he was no longer going to play for the national team, Hernandez was left with the two playmakers from last year's team at the FIBA Americas Championship. Pablo Prigioni of Tau Ceramica and Antonio Porta of Spartak St Petersburg had done enough to help Argentina win a silver medal. While Prigioni led Tau to the Spanish title, and appearances in the Copa del Rey final and the Euroleague Final Four, Porta's season was disrupted by a knee injury. He wasn't confirmed for Beijing until mid-July.

Power forward Scola, the physical San Antonio Spurs center Fabricio Oberto and the Chicago Bulls' tough-as-nails Nocioni are still there. Nocioni is coming off a disappointing season with the Bulls and is eager to take out his frustration on the competition in China. Argentina were drawn in Group A with Australia, Lithuania, Russia and Iran, and Nocioni said: "Everyone is strong," he said. "We don't fear the Dream Team (USA) and we are capable of winning a medal. We are going as one of the favourites. Each of us knows what our role in the National Team is and what we have to do."

Perhaps Ginobili said it best. "Humility and sacrifice have always been keys to our national team," he said after being named in the squad. "For the Olympic Games, we not only depend on our game, but also on the health of all of our players."

How did they qualify
2007 FIBA Americas Championship, Final Round
2nd place (8 W - 2 L)

Preliminary round
Aug-22th 2007 Argentina b. Uruguay 90-69
Aug-24th 2007 Argentina b. Puerto Rico 87-75
Aug-25th 2007 Argentina b. Mexico 104-83
Aug-26th 2007 Argentina b. Panama 109-92

Quarter-final round
Aug-27th 2007 USA b. Argentina 91-76
Aug-28th 2007 Argentina b. Venezuela 98-63
Aug-29th 2007 Argentina b. Brazil 86-79
Aug-30th 2007 Argentina b. Canada 85-70

Semi-final
Sept-1st 2007 Argentina b. Brazil 91-80

Third-place
Sept-2nd 2007 USA b. Argentina 118-81