ARG - Jasen months away from making Olympic bow
SEVILLE (Olympics) – Hernan 'Pancho' Jasen enters a different world, a basketball nirvana, when the subject of the Olympics comes up.
At 33, Jasen, an Argentinian who has only become an integral part of his national team the past two summers, is just several months away from competing at the London Games.
After playing at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, the small forward was in Argentina this past summer and played at the FIBA Americas Championship.
Along with Argentina basketball icons Manu Ginobili, Luís Scola, Andres Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto and Carlos Delfino, and roared on by the fans watching the golden generation in person maybe for the last time, Jasen went on a wild, emotional ride to the title.
"Mar del Plata was perfect, incredible and amazing,” Jasen says to FIBA.com. “It was unique.
“We struggled, we suffered, we managed to qualify.”
Argentina edged Puerto Rico, 81-79, in the Semi-Finals in Mar del Plata when Jose Barea missed a three-pointer at the death.
That victory clinched a spot in the Olympics.
Argentina then beat Brazil, 80-75, in the gold-medal game.
“It was beautiful to play in our country,” Jasen recalls.
“It was something very special.”
Jasen, a long-time player at Estudiantes in Madrid who now plays in Seville with Cajasol Banca Cívica, has an idea of what the Olympic experience will be like.
Some of his teammates have told him about the Athens Games, where they won gold, and Beijing, where the team claimed bronze.
"I'm looking forward to the Olympic Games,” he says.
“I'm really excited about London.
“There's less time to go to the big event and I just hope to arrive well, and be able to help my national team.
"I've been to London before but I really prefer to go there with a view to play at the Olympics.”
Jasen will experience the Opening Ceremony, the Olympic Village and thrilling games.
It will be, as this summer in Mar del Plata was, a career-defining moment for him.
“This will be the farewell to our group because we are getting on,” he says.
“It's the last important tournament that we will play together and we are approaching it with a lot of enthusiasm."
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