Ginobili, Team Argentina begin training next week

It’s another sign that this offseason is going to be busier than usual.  While the Finals will most likely still be going on, several NBA players will be getting ready for another tournament, the Olympics.  There will be several San Antonio Spurs playing in this summer’s games and one of the most prominent is guard Manu Ginobili.  According to Horacero.com (thanks to Google for translating), Team Argentina’s “Golden Generation” begins what is almost certainly their last run for an Olympic medal next week.

“For London, (Argentina head coach Julio) Lamas submitted a list of 15 names, so there’s still a ‘cut’ of three players for the final list.

This selected players will begin training on 23 June, and will have friendly matches against Uruguay (28 and June 30), home against Buenos Aires (5 and 6 July) and Foz do Iguacu (11 and July 12) with Brazil, Mexico and a rival to confirm, and two separate duels with Spain (July 20) and USA (July 22).”

So that’s approximately three weeks of vacation before Manu has to get himself back in to form.  It’ll be interesting to see how Team Argentina fairs.  Right now I’d put them just a smidge above Team France to win the bronze (U.S.A. and Spain are clearly the odds on favorite for gold and silver), and Brazil is literally looming large.  They’re in the same group with the U.S. and France so we’ll no early in pool play how much of threat Argentina will be in it’s last stand.  The Olympics get underway from with the opening ceremonies from London on July 27.