Argentina’s national team competing in London is off to a good start through the preliminary rounds, currently in second place in Group B behind only the USA’s Dream Team. These two teams will match up on August 6 in what should be a tougher contest for team USA. Argentina destroyed Lithuania by 23 points while the USA had their difficulties in only beating Lithuania by 5 points. Argentina has already lost once in group play to France, in a game where only Luis Scola and Manu Ginobili made any kind of contribution. Fittingly, the two Argentinian players we focus on for their 2012 NBA fantasy worth are;
Manu Ginobili
He is coming off a forgettable 2011 campaign that saw him miss most of the season due to injury. Playing in only 34 regular season games, Ginobili looked rusty and out of rhythm, as a result he saw his numbers across the board take a tumble. Good news for fantasy owners, Ginobili looks real healthy and appears to be back on track. Manu is scoring again and making those signature cuts to the hoop that results in easy points. For Ginobili the London Games are a perfect tune up for the 2012 season as he gets to push himself against world class athletes in a quest to bring Argentina to the medal podium. Watch for Ginobili to continue asserting himself once the season starts and rebound from a bad 2011 campaign. I like Ginobili as a fantasy player as he scores, rebounds and dishes assists which all add valuable extra points to your roster. Ginobili’s motor is always running high and you never know when he is going to go off for a big night.
Luis Scola
The power forward is having a fantastic London Games, he is the leading scorer for Argentina at 22.5 points per game and is shooting 60 percent from the field. This NBA off season Luis Scola saw himself included in the Houston Rockets house cleaning and was claimed off amnesty waivers by the Phoenix Suns. Scola figures to be the Suns starting power forward and should expect to play about 30 minutes a game. Scola should have no difficulty in replicating last season scoring average and look for his rebounding numbers to increase. Many leagues may have this player undervalued due to his previous seasons in Houston, but Scola figures to play a bigger role on the re-building Phoenix Suns and will be a fantasy bargain for owners.