Prigioni will continue to be the DT of the basketball team, after the hard blow in the qualifiers

Despite the impact that thethe failure to qualify for the World Cup which will be held this year in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesiathe Argentine Basketball Confederation (CAB) reported on Wednesday that Pablo Prigioni will continue to serve as coach of the Argentina national team men with the aim of obtaining a place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The parent company of vernacular basketball said the decision had been made “in mutual agreement” with the coach, who also serves as an assistant in the Minnesota Timberwolves and took charge of the national team on August 31 last year, as a replacement Nestor Garciawhose relationship with the CAB was abruptly terminated hours before the team was due to travel to Brazil to play the AmeriCup.

Although the team won that tournament undefeated, which marked the beginning of Cordovan’s second experience as main driver (he had had a brief spell with Baskonia in 2017), the impossibility of accessing the World Cup (Argentina was second in last edition, in China 2019) after the defeat against the Dominican Republic in Mar del Plata 10 days ago had a big impact. However, the process will not be stopped.

“It’s a huge blow not to be at the World Cup now we have to focus on the possibility we have to reorganize as a team. Our short-term goal is clear: to go one step further in the pursuit of qualification for the Olympic Games. I have great confidence in the team and we have, as always, the full support of the Confederation to succeed,” Prigioni said in statements reproduced on the CAB website. And he added: “We have players with ample room for growth. They are young people with great potential, who can take on greater commitments as a team accompanied by their managers”.

Meanwhile, the president of the CAB, Fabian Borrodescribed as “a difficult, painful and unexpected blow” the non-qualification for the World Cup, but assessed that the right driver for this period of reorganization is the former base of the chosen one. “We have to focus on sporting revenge and all of us together with Pablo and our players have a new goal: to qualify for the Olympic Games. It won’t be easy, the road is long. Pablo’s commitment and professionalism make him the best choice for this enormous challenge”, highlighted the leader.

Having been excluded from the World Cup, the path that the team will have to go through to obtain a place at the next Olympic Games will not be easy, as of the 12 places available for Paris 2024, seven will be resolved in that race ( two for selected from America , two for Europe, one for Africa, one for Asia and one for Oceania) and one will be for the host country’s team, although this decision could be reversed by the Central Committee of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in June, which would guarantee an extra quota through qualifying matches.

The first stop for Argentina will be one of the pre-qualifying tournaments taking place between August 12-20 at a venue to be confirmed. In this pre-qualification instance, 40 teams will participate and only five will advance to the next instance: two from Europe, one from America, one from Africa and one from Asia-Oceania.

The five selected will join the top 19 from the World Cup who did not qualify for the Games through that tournament to play in the qualifying rounds, which will be four (each with six entrants). The winner of each will enter the Games.