Friday, August 28, 2009

2009 FIBA Americas - Trouble On The Horizon For Tall Albiceleste

A spirited Tall Albiceleste went down to Brazil 76-67 in the opening match in Day 3 of the FIBA Americas Championship played at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Playing against them was expected to be a big task for Sergio HERNANDEZ side, considering the depth they had and the present of their NBA players. It wasn’t a one way traffic throughout the match but the lack of points from the entire team besides Luis SCOLA was just not enough for them to make amend after the surprise defeat from Day 1 against Venezuela.

Anderson VAREJAO and Leandro BARBOSA were a lethal couple for the our defense as they scored every time that they tried to make a comeback. Both of them scored the first ten points and VAREJAO netted a three pointer at the end of the first quarter to leave 21-13.

Argentina came back thanks to Juan Pablo CANTERO who scored a three pointer to be down 23-21 with 2:57 in the second quarter after an 8-0 run. Brazil recovered quickly and made an 11-0 run to lead at halftime 37-23.

In the third quarter Argentina had problems with the referees and Brazil took advantage of it to make another run and finish up 60-46 after a three pointer by Guilherme GIOVANNONI. Leo GUTIRREZ scored a three pointer with 3:31 left to give Argentina some hope, but BARBOSA scored five straight points to seal the game in their favor.

Luis SCOLA led Argentina in the box score once again with 19 points, 3 rebounds & 3 assists and followed by Roman GONZALEZ with 8 points, 4 rebounds & an assist. Pablo PRIGIONI also had 7 points, 8 assists, 2 rebounds, & 2 steals while Federico KAMMERICHS posted 6 points, 10 rebounds & 2 steals.

With this result, the Tall Albiceleste are now in a desperate situation as they need regroup and they must win their next match against Panama or else it just could tht end of the road for them in the competition. All hope is not lost.

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