San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili and Team Argentina won the 2011 FIBA Americas tournament as they defeated Brazil 80-75 on Sunday night. Ginobili had eight points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and six turnovers in 30 minutes for Argentina.
“We had 9,000 desperate people shouting for us and we were there, celebrating after 45 days of tough work,” said Manu.
“We won a tournament playing at home after 10 years, it’s great.
With the win, Argentina has qualified for the 2012 London Olympic games thanks in large part to an all-around team effort. A team made up of Argentina’s Golden Age players such as Luis Scola (FIBA Americas’ MVP), Fabricio Oberto, Andres Nocioni, and more.
“We are united, a group of friends, we are all really happy about Luis Scola earning the MVP prize after such a tough recovery he had or Nocioni playing with his ankle absolutely injured and these are only a couple of examples we can name,” explained Ginóbili
“Let the legend continue,” said Manu.
And not only did the legend of Argentina basketball grow, so did Ginobili’s stellar resume as he was name to the FIBA Americas all-tournament team along with Marcelo Huertas (Brazil), Carlos Arroyo (Puerto Rico), Luis Scola (Argentina), and Al Horford (Dominican Republic).
Congratulations to Argentina but hopefully now that the tournament is over, Manu and Spurs center Tiago Splitter can get some rest and prepare for the upcoming NBA season, if there will be one.