By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
BEIJING – Argentina is getting ready to face a France team who knocked out Team USA on Wednesday, in the FIBA Basketball World Cup quarter-finals. Head coach Sergio Hernandez addressed the media on Thursday, talking about being considered the underdogs, as well as his team’s youngsters and Luis Scola’s experience.
“We weren’t the favorites when we played against Russia, maybe Nigeria, Serbia, etc,” said Hernandez. “We don’t care. Of course, we are happy, but we want more. We want to play in the final. The Argentinian players are so competitive, aggressive. If we can’t win, we’ll go for the bronze medal. But, we always want to win.”
Luis Scola has been a huge part of Argentina’s success over the years. At 39 years old, he’s still going strong, proving he belongs in the elite. “Luis Scola is almost 40 years old. We feel great with the experience we have,” says Argentina’s head coach. “We have young players, but with experience. A lot of them have played professional basketball since they were 17 years old. It’s my third World Cup. Some of our players have played in Spain’s World Cup, the Olympics, and some others play professionally in Spain”.
Team Argentina’s practice ritual ahead of tomorrow’s semi-final: pic.twitter.com/pBd4Mku2I0
— Dionysis Aravantinos (@AravantinosDA) September 12, 2019
Photo Credit: FIBA.Basketball