With the sole exception of July 9, Freyre, who withdrew from participating, Atlético Bell of Bell Ville, July 9, Rio Tercero, Independent of Oliva and 9 de Julio de Morteros move without fanfare, but looking for their best face to participate in a new edition of the Federal Basketball Tournament.
The four Cordovan clubs will animate the contest that occupies the third step in the national basketball hierarchy, but which is by far the most numerous of the national tournaments. On this occasion, the competition will bring together 64 teams from all over the country including eight from the Development League (LDD), such as Ferro, Obras, Boca, Regatas, Oberá, Libertad, Quimsa and Olímpico.
Eager to return to the competition after a year of standing, with renewed ambitions and with the intact dream of leadership, the four coaches told World D what their new schools will be and they talked about three topics:
- Expectations and goals of your teams
- Characteristics of the new campus
- Opinion on the participation of LDD teams.
Agustín Pujol, coach of Atlético Bell
1-Expectations and objectives. “At the results level, and as has happened in recent years, the club wants to be at the top of the division in which they play and then try to get as far as possible in the playoffs. Logical that the tournament will put us where we should be. We know it will be an unusual season and a short tournament. But we also believe that we put together a good team, which will be there to compete as equals to anyone, and that if it works well during the week, it can be the protagonist. We put together a team where we have 50 percent local players and we maintain the idea of being able to give the boys minutes, so that little by little they develop, winning a place in the first team and so that in the future we will have more professionals trained in the city”.
2- Characteristics of the new campus. “By having a very young squad, which does not have Sub23 chips, only five older chips and the rest are 19 and 20 year old boys, we will try to be more intense, but in tune with what we were last year. We changed the pair of interns and replaced the second row, with very talented players, wanting to have minutes on the court and who want to develop while playing. That is why we aspire to maintain a dynamic game during the 40 minutes ”.
3-Participation of LDD teams. “It is difficult to evaluate it a priori. I have been running five federal tournaments and it will be rare to come across A League clubs featuring Development teams. Let’s hope that competitiveness is maintained, that beautiful games are made, that the kids of the Development League can win minutes and can take responsibility to take a quality leap. We will take them as one more team, as one more rival in the category and we will face them with the appropriate seriousness, as we think these teams will do with us ”.
Bell’s squad: Bases: Facundo Toia (26), Julián Beso (17), Joaquín González (18) and Alexis Mato (19). Bodyguards: Sebastián Faure (30) and Gino Pagliarone (21). Forwards: Gastón Sieiro (35), Tomás Ruffiner (18) and Juan Ignacio Dassie (18). Power forward: Patricio Allocco (34) and Ismael Amprimo (19). Pivots: Guillermo Saavedra (34), Marcos Hellman (21), Felipe Aogeda (18) and Felipe Closa (16). DT: Agustín Pujol. Assistant: Lucas Ferrero.
Martín González, DT of Independiente de Oliva
1-Expectations and objectives. “Our first objective is to arrive physically well, so we promote practices and avoid friendlies. The tactical and the technical will be given within the competition. But the idea is to go beyond what was done in previous tournaments. In the last one we set the bar high and we will try to be among the four to fight for promotion. We know that it is very tough, we have the teams from Córdoba and Santa Fe, referents in national basketball and very complicated. But we are preparing to meet our expectations of improving what has been done in previous years ”.
2- Characteristics of the new campus. “It is a young, long team, with a lot of game dynamics and will have many multi-functional players who will fulfill more than one role and occupy more than one position. That will give us variations in terms of play and a lot of intensity. We also chose to build a long team, because by playing in less time, we need to have a good rotation to maintain a constant rhythm ”.
3-Participation of LDD teams. “The Federal Tournament is a very beautiful competition, I have been saying and observing it for years. It has a good level and that is why it will be good to include it to give a shot to the guys who don’t have a place in their National League clubs. More now due to the situation of the pandemic, in which they also have no places to compete locally. It will open a door for them to play and it will allow them to be on the move without having to emigrate to other clubs ”.
Independent squad: Bases, Iván Alvarez (26), Nicolás Nieto (20), Tomás Ramallo (19); Escorts: Santiago Ramallo (25), Matías Cueva (23), Benjamín Herrera (21), Mateo Bono (18), Forwards: Agustín Pautasso (23), Mateo Brarda (19), Elías Moral (17), Emanuel Beltramone (16 Pivots: Salvador Giletto (27), Facundo Marcos (25) Pivots: Fernando Martina (39), Ulises Sangoy (20). DT: Martín González. Assistants: Emanuel Alonso and Ignacio Irazuzta.
Sebastián Figueredo, DT of July 9 (Río Tercero)
1-Expectations and objectives. “Based on the expectations with which we plan our work and taking into account that the group has not competed for a year, we will focus on increasing the performance of the players. The objective will be mainly individual and, from there, assemble it in the team dynamics. We hope to meet the objectives we set for ourselves when the competition starts and we can establish at what level we are in relation to the rivals ”.
2-Characteristics of the new campus. “We will try to carry out the defensive rules that we have been rehearsing daily and to be able to polish corrections. We aspire to have a quality defensive identity and, on an offensive level, try to run the court when the game allows us and develop our systems with some freshness; characteristic that we hope the youngest segment of the workforce will give us ”.
3-Participation of LDD teams. “I am not in a position to generate an opinion on this issue, such as the incorporation of teams from the Development League. I just hope that those who have decided to play are up to the competition and that they help the other teams to grow ”.
Squad of the “Nueve” of Río Tercero: Bases, Facundo Casco (19), Gastón Torre (36), Santiago Rosso (23), Forward: Martín Melo (38), José Gerlero (24). Pivot winger, Octavio Sarmiento (19). Pivot, Alejandro Quigley (27) and Federico Repetti (20). A major counter and a U23 counter remain to be defined. DT: Sebastián Figueredo. Assistant: Víctor Rocci.
Gustavo Rossotto, DT 9 de Julio de Morteros
July 9, Mortars. (@elnuevedemorteros)
1-Expectations and objectives. “Expectations are the best for the new team, which has some player changes but has been working well. The first thing we did was reactivate the physical condition of the players after such a great stop. And now that we have been in the preseason for more than a month, we are starting to look for the tuning in basketball, both technically and tactically. So with the best expectation trying that when the competition starts we are at 80 percent of our possibilities to try to qualify for the playoffs.
2- Characteristics of the new campus. “Quite similar to the previous season, without changing much despite the new additions. Try to maintain a tactical order, a discipline that allows us to run, together with a good defensive block. Afterwards, try to be orderly and respect the offensive actions that the team has in its different positions and facets ”.
3- Participation of LDD teams. “I think it is good. Having been and going through this stage of formation of the players in the League allowed me to see that there are many clubs with good recruits and player projects. That is why I understand that it will be a benefit for young people to be able to rub shoulders at a semi-professional level, but with top players. In the Federal Tournament there are very good players, very good coaches and good coaching staff who work well. So I think it will be beneficial to the young values of the Development League. “