Argentina 90, Uruguay 69

August 23, 2007 � Las Vegas, Nevada

Day two action at Thomas & Mack Center for the FIBA Americas Championship 2007 kicked off as Uruguay, fresh off its� opening day overtime victory over Panama (88-84), took the floor against Argentina. The well-rested Argentines got on the board first when Luis Scola followed a Carlos Delfino miss with a tip-in, giving Argentina a 2-0 lead. Slowly but surely, Scola and co. padded their lead, eventually emerging with a 90-69 victory.

Argentina (1-0) is one of two squads debuting today (U.S. Virgin Islands being the other) after being idle on Wednesday. Scola, who finished with 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals, was the most impressive performer. Pablo Prigioni added 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting for the winners.

Emilio Taboada�s 14 points led Uruguay, which now stands at 1-1 in tournament play.

Notes: Esteban Batista finished with seven points and nine rebounds for Uruguay, but managed only two second-half points.

SERGIO HERNANDEZ, ARGENTINA HEAD COACH
What are Argentina's objectives for this Championship and the Olympics next year?
Argentina was the last Gold medalist in the Olympic Games, so it's very important for us to qualify for Beijing in 2008. This is our first game today and we need to win a lot more games to qualify for Beijing. Our goal is to be in the first two spots in this tournament because we certainly want to qualify. We are working hard but know we still have to face a lot of good teams in this championship.

You had a very strong rebounding effort and a very strong shooting effort. Is there something that you think you still have to work on?
We are very happy because we know that Uruguay is a very aggressive team. They don't care if they play against the Dream Team or someone else, they always play hard. So we are happy because we played good basketball, we played team basketball. We had great rebounds, good shot selections and I think we played well overall.

What can you say about Argentina's defense throughout the game?
We know Uruguay very well, just like they know us well, so it was hard for Uruguay to score with their star players because our defense was on those guys. The entire team made a great effort. Roman Gonzalez has learned how to guard Batista well, and other players have learned key aspects that have helped our defense overall. We worked well as a team.

Before a game like this one, there's always talk about a rival being tired or a team, like Argentina in this case, feeling the pressure of their first game. What was the case today?
I think there was a little anxiety in the first half because this was our first game. The first game in a tournament is always like this - but we have a lot of experience so we know what to expect. The first game is always special because of the anxiety that builds up and because you face the reality of the other team. It's just a matter of breaking the ice and, today, once we did, Uruguay faced problems with their rotation, similar to the problem they had yesterday.

What makes you happier, the win or the chemistry that the team fell into in this game?
If you ask me after a game - winning. I wish I could win every game. But the team performance is a bonus. We won playing well. They played a great game, knew when to attack and the second half was some of the best playing we've ever done. We're united and that makes us happy.

PABLO PRIGIONI, ARGENTINA
Do you feel this is your best game as a National Team?
I guess that's more other people's expectations, wanting us to play a game like this one. I'm just happy we won; I keep my personal opinions to myself and don't really like talking about it. I'm happy the team won and if I was able to contribute to that, even better.

Are you feeling just as comfortable on the court despite the players that are missing on the team?
If we went on the court thinking about those who are absent, we wouldn't get anything done. That's really something that the press and fans focus on, not us. There are twelve of us here and it's up to us and our coach to perform well. If someone underestimates us because there's a player missing, then that's their problem. We are all important players on this team, like those missing, but they are not here and we are.

On the court, when did you feel you had complete control of the game?
I think it was during the last five minutes of the third quarter, when we were 20 points ahead. That's when we broke the game. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Uruguay began rotating Batista and Mazzarino - I think they were just reserving them for another game. We had a good start in the third quarter and at the end of that quarter, we were able to break the game and secure a significant lead.

ALBERTO ESPASANDIN, URUGUAY HEAD COACH
How difficult was it to have to crunch such a difficult game yesterday, comeback and face an Argentina team that was fresh?
Well, Argentina defeated us with a big lead. The exhaustion from yesterday's game was tough for us and in the third quarter, Argentina ran with a big lead and at that point, the best for us was just to cut the team back and preserve energies for the upcoming games.

ESTEBAN BATISTA, URUGUAY
Were you and Nicolas particularly tired from yesterday's game?
Yes. It's obviously a type of burning out that's normal in a tournament like this, particularly for Nicolas and me. So we need to take advantage of the time we have to rest and recover.

Roman has had a lot of success guarding you. Have you found a way to work around it or does it affect your performance?
We've been playing against Argentina for a while, so we know each other very well. We know our strong points and they try to guard me and Mazzarino, and that certainly makes it difficult, but I don't think it's a reason to lose the game.

It's not surprising that Argentina shot well, but it is surprising that they rebounded so well. Were they doing something to create that difficulty on both the offensive and defensive courts?
Yes, they are a great team and have improved offensively and defensively. We played against a really good team, but now we have to think about Puerto Rico.