(REUTERS) – Argentina, Olympic basketball champions in Athens in 2004 and last year’s FIBA Americas Championship winners, have named eight of their 12 players for this year’s London Games. San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who also played in the team that won bronze at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, leads the list selected by coach Julio Lamas and posted on the Argentine Basketball Confederation’s (CABB) website on Thursday.
Also included are Houston Rockets centre Luis Scola, forward Andres Nocioni of the Philadelphia 76ers, guard Carlos Delfino of the Milwaukee Bucks, Spanish-based guard Hernan Jasen and guard Pablo Prigioni and centres Leonardo Gutierrez and Juan Pedro Gutierrez who play in the Argentine league.
The 34-year-old Ginobili is recovering from surgery on his left shooting hand on January 5 and is not expected to return for at least a month.
Sergio Hernandez, Argentina’s coach in 2008, has swapped roles with his former assistant and is now Lamas’s number two for the July 29 to August 12 men’s basketball competition at the Games.