Argentina 87, Puerto Rico 75

August 24, 2007 � Las Vegas, Nevada

In one of the most highly anticipated contests of the preliminary round at the FIBA Americas Championship 2007, Argentina remained perfect (2-0) by knocking off Puerto Rico 87-75.

Luis Scola was impressive once again, tallying 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Argentines, who also got 15 points from Carlos Delfino. Elias Ayuso led Puerto Rico with 21 points while Carlos Arroyo chipped in with 20.

The contest was closer than the final margin of victory would indicate, as Puerto Rico actually led by as many as 14 points in the first half. Cold shooting from the field after the first period, however, would prove to be their downfall. After connecting on 9-of-18 field goals in the opening period, Puerto Rico went just 17-of-56 (30 percent) the rest of the way.

With the loss, Puerto Rico falls to 1-2 in tournament play.

ARGENTINA HEAD COACH - SERGIO HERNANDEZ
What's your recap of today's game?
It's important to point out that from this point on, we are playing to qualify. Puerto Rico was very focused in the first quarter, making their baskets, very controlled, with great shot selections and a very good defense that caught us off guard. We had put in every player, including a players that had been injured the past 10 days. We had to work very hard, defend and then when we finally found the drives to the basket, we started to make a comeback and feel more powerful. But this was a completely different team than we saw in Puerto Rico, even though they were still a good team back then. They have improved significantly. They did a great job yesterday and today, which makes our win even more significant.

Can you talk about Argentina's patience in the game - behind by 13 and then making a comeback in the second half?
Argentina has a lot of experience. We have players that have a lot of experience in international games and have lived this type of game hundreds of time. So it's easy when you have a team that knows that there's no need for panic when you're behind in the first quarter and that you just have to work hard to recover. It's not difficult for us to have patience. Maybe players without this much experience get anxious and end up in a worst situation. The idea when we were 14 down was to recover, work hard and remain calm. The truth is that the difference between Puerto Rico and Argentina's game was harder for us to recover from than the 14 point gap. Puerto Rico played incredibly well and Argentina played poorly in the first half.

When Ramos picked up his fourth foul, you were still down by six, but it seems like at that point, your team was driving to the basket a lot more defensively. Is that accurate?
Yes, it is. When Ramos picked up his fourth foul, we tried to play inside the paint a lot more and tried to get him his fifth foul. We can't play against Ramos, he's too big. So it was good for us to have him in foul trouble.

With so many of your players missing, what are you asking of Delfino that you normally wouldn't if your other players were here?
When we came here we decided not to think about the players that are missing but to focus on the players that are here. Delfino and Scola are NBA players, Scola is maybe one of the most important players in Europe in the last five years, but that's not what's important. I don't tell Delfino he needs to do anything differently than the rest of the team, just because he's an NBA star. That would put too much pressure on him, and he doesn't need more pressure. He needs to play calm.

LUIS SCOLA, ARGENTINA
At the end of the first half you were really upset with the officials, can you tell us what happened?
One referee called the foul on Pablo and another referee called it on me. So one of the referees asked me to take the free throws, he made both, and then there was a time out. After the time out, the referee said the free throws didn't count because Pablo had to take them. Obviously we were upset because those two points for us were like gold.

PUERTO RICO HEAD COACH - MANOLO CINTRON
What happened in the game?
Well, we know that Argentina will always play half court pressure, and that doesn't work for my team. They also have bigger and quicker men than mine, and that complicates us significantly. I have foot work problems with my big men, so that was a big problem for us.

What do you expect for tomorrow?
Tomorrow is a win-win situation, no other option. Losing is hard, but we need to face it and move on because we need to be ready for tomorrow. We are calm and just need to play hard tomorrow.

You came out strong and then when Ramos picked up his fourth foul, your pace changed. Is that true?
When Peter is out, everyone gets the offensive rebounds over us. He's out big man, we don't have any others. So when Peter is out, it really affects out plays.

PETER JOHN RAMOS, PUERTO RICO
You hurt your knee at one point in the game, are you OK?
I'm fine. I knocked my knee with another player, but I'll be active for tomorrow.