Road to the World Cup: the basketball team achieved a crucial victory in the knockout window

It wasn’t easy, but Argentina won a key win to maintain the goal of qualifying for the 2023 Basketball World Cup to be held in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. At the Sir Kendal Isaacs Gymnastics in Nassau, the albiceleste formation defeated Bahamas 80-76 and reached the second position of Group E to the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, the three with 17 points. Specifically: the team led by Pablo Prigioni won a game that they could not and should not lose, but there is still a lot to do to reach the top event.

The selected team did not shine, much less. He achieved a laborious victory, suffered at times. It is true that, in this qualifying window, as will probably happen in the next one, Argentina lacked important, starting, decisive players. And it was noticed. Facundo Campazzo and Leandro Bolmaro, busy in the middle of the NBA season, were not there; Gabriel Deck and Nicolás Laprovittola, in the Spanish league; Carlos Delfino, in the Italian.

In return, Argentina had a very good performance from Juan Pablo Vaulet, who contributed 19 points and 4 rebounds to the cause; Lucio Redivo (15 points) and Nicolás Romano (10) added from the bench. The national team from our country had a maximum advantage of 19 points (66-47), led by the player from Manresa, from Spain, decisive for Argentina to take distances, including 12 in the third quarter. But the closing of the team was discreet and in the last seconds the Bahamas came close to a double (76-78); Redivo, with four free, managed to close a victory of little lights, but valuable in numbers.

Through the same window, the Dominican Republic beat Venezuela 72-68, a result that evens everything out. After five windows of these Qualifiers, the Argentine representative has the same record as the Dominican Republic and Venezuela (7 wins and three losses), but is in fourth place for having a worse difference than his predecessors. The first of Group E is Canada, which won the 10 games it played, the last one on Sunday night categorically as a local against Panama by 112 to 71.

How is the panorama? The best 7 of America go to the World Cup, in a tie with two zones (the first three of each group and the best fourth). Argentina will play everything in the last two dates, in which they will have the home advantage. On Friday, February 24, they will host Canada, already qualified, and on Monday, February 27, they will face the Dominican Republic in a decisive duel. Possibly, with the ticket already secured, the Canadians may have a lower squad than what has been shown so far, to the point that it is the only unbeaten one. The Dominican will visit Panama on the 24th, the weakest team in the group, and then they will come to Argentina. For its part, Venezuela that same 24th will receive the Bahamas and then Canada on the 27th of that month.