San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili was in South America with Basketball Without Borders in his home country of Argentina and recently even put his coaching hat on to help young players.
While part of the tour, Ginobili took time out to talk about the upcoming FIBA Americas Championship and qualifying for the 2014 World Cup with Argentinian site telam.com.
Ginobili, who is part of the original “golden generation” along with Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto and others, says he is confident Argentina will qualify for the tournament.
I saw the team's games in the Stankovic Cup and I liked the performance. We have an Ace of Spades as Luis (Scola) and I am confident that we will qualify for the World Cup Spain.
The FIBA Americas Championship will start on August 30 in Caracas, Venezuela. Argentina will be competing along with nine other teams. Argentina will be in Group B along with Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Paraguay.
While Argentina should get through group play, they’ll be without the services of Ginobili and could face a stiff challenge in Brazil.