European Prospects

A new competition implicates new features on Europeanprospects.com. With the upcoming first ever U17 World Championship in Hamburg, I decided to check out with different authors from all around the globe to get an insight and preview on their team. At the moment where I write this introduction, I am not quite sure if I get somebody from all the participating nations, but honor to the first one who answered: Facundo Iatzky from Argentina.

The Argentinean U17 NT is in the last days of preparation to the upcoming World Championship. The expectations of this team are high, because of the performances of this team in previous tournaments and due to the very good level of some players. Coach Enrique Tolcachier has released the official list of 12 players and it contains the names of the most talented players from the country: Matias Bortolin, Patricio Garino and Luciano Massarelli.

Massarelli talked some days ago with the media about the chances of Argentina in this tournament. He said that

Our idea is to play the best World Championship and of course, to arrive at the top. We are more united than ever because we know that what we are playing for is something important.

The current squad won a tournament played 2 weeks ago in Buenos Aires, after have won against a Brazilian team, an American team and a team of Entre Rios, one of the regions of Argentina.

Analyzing the best prospects, we find Patricio Garino. This small forward is a player of Union of Mar del Plata, the city of the FIBA Americas 2011, and he has received an invitation from the United States to go to a preparation school in a couple of months. This will open the door of the most important NCAA Colleges for him. He is very skillful and has a great future.

Then Matias Bortolin, player of Atenas Cordoba, the most important team of Argentina, is the new promise in the inside game of Argentina. Some compare him with Fabricio Oberto already. He is tall and really has quick and has good movements in the post.

Other names to pay attention are the mentioned before Luciano Massarelli, Carlos Benitez Gavilan, Lucas Goldenberg, Valentin Marchisio and Tomas Zanzottera.

The team continues training and there is no doubt that they are one of the favorites to at least be in the semifinals.

Official Roster for Argentina

Lucas Chaves – 1m80 – Guard – 1994 – Bahiense del Norte Bahia Blanca
Joaquin Tuero – 1m83 – Guard – 1993 – Liniers Bahia Blanca
Valentin Marchisio – 1m88 – Guard – 1993 – Sionista Parana
Luciano Massarelli – 1m78 – Guard – 1993 – Ramos Mejia LTC
Martin Massone – 1m87 – Guard – 1994 – San Andres
Lucas Goldemberg – 1m90 – Guard – 1993 – Sionista Parana
Patricio Garino – 1m95 – Forward – 1993 – Union Mar del Plata
Tomas Zanzottera  – 1m88 – Guard – 1993 – Sport Pergamino
Carlos Benitez Gavilan – 1m91 – Forward – 1993 – Boca Juniors
Federico Herrera – 1m98 – Forward – 1993 – Social Las Brenas
Tayavek Gallizzi  2m02 – Center – 1993 – Quilmes Mar del Plata
Matias Bortolin – 2m02 – Center – 1993 – Atenas Cordoba

Facundo Iatzky played basketball in Quilmes Mar del Plata, one of the most important teams of Argentina until the age of 18. He is currently studying management and used to work with a basketball agent, but left two years ago. Currently, he is the Argentinean correspondent for Latinbasket.com.

Argentina qualified for the World Championship with a 2nd place at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship. They lost in the Final 101-87 against the United States. Watch the last quarter comeback of the team during the Final in the Video below.