San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili and Team Argentina got off on the right foot yesterday with a 
84-52 win over Paraguay as the 2011 FIBA Americas tournament kicked off.
There is not doubting the Argentinian team is loaded. Aside from Ginobili, Fabricio Oberto, Carlos Delfino, Andres Nocini and Luis Scola round out a deep roster thus making Argentina the heavy favorite. But according to Ginobili, having a roster dotted with solid players is not enough to win it all in Mar del Plata.
“It’s true we have many talented players but if you don’t supply talent with hard work it’s useless,” said Ginóbili, an Olympic champion in Athens 2004. “Talent is not enough. How many talented teams have lost on the first days of competition in history?”
Manu is right and Spurs fans know first-hand about a talented roster losing prematurely. All they need to do is point to the Spurs in the 2011 NBA playoffs when the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies upset the first-seeded Spurs.
Manu went on to speak about the lopsided win over Paraguay and stated the win allowed for rest for their older veteran players.
“The good thing about this game was that players such as Luis (Scola), who is still recovering from an injury, didn’t have to play much and will be rested for next games,” said the San Antonio Spurs players.
Team Argentina will look to win their second in a row today as they face Uruguay in day two of the FIBA Americas tournament.
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