How Argentina manufactures long-serving players

DONGGUAN (China) - The life span of a basketball player at a professional level can be capped at a decade long. Anything above that while performing as they would in their mid-twenties is pure genius, extraordinary and worth celebrating.

For Argentina, it is quickly becoming a culture to create a platform that grooms players to outlive the status quo and document their own special story. In soccer, the Italians are known for this legacy and now the Argentines are on a basketball mission. 

At 39, Argentina center Luis Scola is averaging 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists at the FIBA Basketball World Cup and is not yet done. He has confessed that there is a slim chance that he could take part in the 2023 edition. Why not? He says that it will depend on how he feels in the coming years.

So there is a chance after all. 

Scola sits in second place of the all-time scoring table of all-time at a FIBA Basketball World Cup but it is his humility, continued commitment and hunger to be at his best that has always challenged his younger teammates like 21-year old debutant Maximo Fjellerup who are growing into the system. 

"WHEN OUR PLAYERS STARTED TO PLAY IN THE NBA AND IN TOP LEAGUES IN SPAIN, THEY BROUGHT BACK A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE ON HOW THEIR TEAMS WERE OPERATING."- Former Argentina team doctor Diego Grippo 

In an exclusive interview with FIBA.basketball, Argentina's team doctor from 1998-2018 Diego Grippo reveals that a change in nutrition and sleeping patterns was at the heart of Argentina's golden era that saw them dominate South America and earned a place at the high table of world basketball. 

Winning the FIBA AmeriCup in 2001; finish second at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2002; winning gold at the Athens 2004 Olympics and bronze four years down the road; finishing second in the FIBA AmeriCup in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2015 and 2017, third in 2009 and 2013 and winning it again in 2011 - Argentina has enjoyed a lot of success since the turn of the century. 

"One of the things that helped our program work very well is that we had the same group of players for more than 12 years and great coaches. I think they executed this very perfectly. We do not have the same talent as countries like Serbia, Spain, Russia and Lithuania. We have limitations so we work around this program to help us stay with the same group of players," Grippo explains with a smile on his face.

According to Grippo, an average Argentine eats a lot of pasta and small portions of meat - this he and the coaches agreed was not good enough for the players. They also had to change the players' sleeping routine so that they rest well and fully recover.

"We used to practice twice a day but the players told us that in their clubs in the NBA, they were training once. Manu [Ginobili] said this about the San Antonio Spurs and we realized this was something we had to adjust to and then switch the players' diet to more protein, less carbohydrates and a lot of vegetables."

Ginobili retired one year ago last month at the age of 41

"Our players do not necessarily play the full 40 minutes. They will do 15, 20 or 25 minutes so to be very effective, they need proteins because that is what the body needs. As soon as we put this into effect, we started to see the difference. You can now see it from the way we play at the World Cup."

"The secret of our program also is that we have had the same four coaches in the last two decades and they are the ones that select the players and run the same program because they understand the good effects it has on our eventual success."

Basketball coaching guru Julio Lamas took over Argentina in 1998 through to 2000 before Ruben Magnano who was his assistant took over until 2004. The consistency played a remarkable role in helping the team adjust to the new way of doing things. They won the Olympics in Greece - their highest moment in world basketball. 

Fernando Duro then took over the top job and was assisted by Sergio Hernandez and Gonzalo Garcia from 2005-2010. However, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Hernandez who was considered as having a more understanding of world basketball was appointed as the head coach and he requested Garcia and Lamas to work with him. The pairing already understood the system and the continuation made things easier. 

Lamas returned in 2011 as the head coach assisted by Garcia at the Pan-American Games for his vast knowledge of South American basketball before Hernandez returned to the picture as his assistant. The latter is the current coach at the World Cup in China. 

Scola and Argentina won Gold at the Athens 2004 Olympics in Greece

Before Scola, Ginobili retired at 41 while Andres Nocioni and Pablo Prigioni played competitive basketball for Argentina and at club level until they were 38. Argentina will be looking to continue keeping their talent healthy and productive.  

"When our players started to play in the NBA and in top leagues in Europe, they brought back a lot of knowledge on how their teams were operating. Our coaches also went to Spain to study the situation and returned home to implement the changes," Grippo reminisced the moment things turned around for Argentina. 

Coach Hernandez agrees, "In the last 20 years, the world of sports has changed because if you remember, players used to retire at 28 but now you have Nadal (33) and Federer (38) in tennis playing like young guys because they are more professional and select their own diet. The floors are better, the shoes are better and they know how much they need to sleep. They control everything."

"Of course Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Nosioni showed the rest of the young guys the workings of the professional life. Now [Facundo] Campazzo, [Patricio] Garino and now the new generation have the same habits. This is great."

"Sometimes the players need the coach and medical staff to tell them all the time, to give them the plan but what Manu and Scola did is to show that you do not need the coaching staff and the medical department to tell you. They started it by themselves and now everyone is doing the same thing."

"THIS PROGRAM CAN HELP ALL THE PLAYERS. IT DEPENDS ON BOTH THEIR COMMITMENT AND CONSISTENCY. FOR ME, MY LONG CAREER IS INCLUSIVE OF LUCK BECAUSE IN MY CAREER, I HAD VERY FEW INJURIES."- Scola

Grippo revealed that it took a lot of hard work and determination for Campazzo to change his body into what it is right now. "The transformation was amazing," he said. 

"I think the current young generation will play for a long time to come because the system supports this plan and they have embraced it very well. They are committed to it and seeing as it has worked for Scola and Ginobili, they have role models already."

Scola has some advice for his younger teammates, "This program can help all the players. It depends on both their commitment and consistency. For me, my long career is inclusive of luck because in my career, I had very few injuries. I think it is a sum of several factors."

Research conducted by sports scientists in recent years indicates that a well-planned diet for an athlete reduces injuries. For Argentina, they have the proof and will continue on this page and set an example for the rest. 

FIBA