2011 FIBA Americas Championship explained

City:	Mar del Plata
Country:	Argentina
Dates:	August 30 – September 11
Num Teams:	10
Venues:	1
Cities:	1
Champion:	Argentina
Count:	2
Second:	Brazil
Third:	Dominican Republic
Fourth:	Puerto Rico
Mvp:	Luis Scola
Top Scorer:	Luis Scola (21.4 points per game)
Prevseason:	2009
Nextseason:	2013

The 2011 FIBA Americas Championship for Men, later known as the FIBA AmeriCup, was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Americas, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London. This FIBA AmeriCup tournament was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from August 30 to September 11, 2011. Argentina won the title, defeating Brazil, 80–75, in the final match. This was the country's second AmeriCup championship.

Host

FIBA Americas named Mar del Plata, Argentina the host of the 2011 competition on May 24, 2010 at a meeting in San Juan.^[1] Games were played at Polideportivo Islas Malvinas, which seats more than 8,000 fans. Toronto and Rio de Janeiro also bid for the tournament before FIBA awarded the competition to then world number-one ranked Argentina. Toronto was eliminated in the first round of voting before Mar del Plata beat Rio de Janeiro in the final round 13 votes to 3.

Venue

Mar del Plata
Polideportivo Islas Malvinas
Capacity: 8,000

Qualification

The ten teams originally selected to receive invitations for the tournament were the host team, the top three finishers at the 2010 South American Basketball Championship, the top two teams in the North America Sub-Zone, and the top four finishers at 2010 Centrobasket. Because the host country, Argentina, came in second at the 2010 South American Basketball Championship, the fourth place team (Venezuela) at the championship was also invited. After the United States (the only team other than Canada in the North America Sub-Zone) automatically qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics by winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship, they withdrew from the tournament. The fifth place team at the 2010 South American Basketball Championship (Paraguay) was then invited to participate.

Below is the final list of participants in the tournament:

South American Sub-Zone (South American Basketball Championship 2010):
- - - - North America Sub-Zone:
  - Central American and Caribbean Zone (2010 Centrobasket):

NBA lockout

Due to the 2011 NBA lockout, insurance costs for players affiliated with teams of the National Basketball Association to play overseas would no longer be afforded by the league and would have to be taken care of by their corresponding national federations. Some national teams, such as the host nation Argentina^[2] and Puerto Rico^[3] took steps to resolve the issue. Below is a list of players whose participation in the tournament was at least potentially affected:

- - Carlos Delfino (Milwaukee Bucks)
- Manu Ginóbili (San Antonio Spurs)
- Andrés Nocioni (Philadelphia 76ers)
- Luis Scola (Houston Rockets)
  - Leandro Barbosa (Toronto Raptors)
- Nenê Hilário (Denver Nuggets)
- Tiago Splitter (San Antonio Spurs)
- Anderson Varejão (Cleveland Cavaliers)
  - Joel Anthony (Miami Heat)
- Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns)
- Andy Rautins (New York Knicks)
- Tristan Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers)
- Jamaal Magloire (Miami Heat)

- - Francisco García (Sacramento Kings)
- Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks)
- Charlie Villanueva (Detroit Pistons)
  - Gary Forbes (Denver Nuggets)
  - Carlos Arroyo (Boston Celtics)
- Renaldo Balkman (New York Knicks)
- José Juan Barea (Dallas Mavericks)
  - Greivis Vásquez (Memphis Grizzlies)

Notes:

Barbosa decided not to participate in the tournament.^[4]
Nash has retired from international play.^[5]
Thompson and Magloire were not called up for Canada's national team.^[6]
Nenê decided not to participate in the tournament.
Varejão was unavailable for the tournament due to injury.

Format

The ten teams are split into two groups. The best four teams of each group advance to the second round, where the teams play against the four teams from the other group; each team carries over all points earned during the first round, except for those earned in the match against the team that was eliminated. The best four teams of this group advance to the semifinals.

The two winners in the semifinals automatically qualify for the Olympics. The remaining three teams from the second round plus seven teams from other continents play the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where the top three qualify for the Olympics.

Squads

See main article: 2011 FIBA Americas Championship squads.

Draw

The draw took place on January 27, 2011^[7] at the NH Gran Hotel Provincial^[8] in Mar del Plata. Notable ESPN Latin America announcer Álvaro Martin conducted the ceremony while FIBA Americas Secretary General Alberto Garcia and a number of sports figures drew the teams. The ten participating squads were paired in five pots, where the first draw from each pot would go to Group A and the second to Group B. Teams were paired according to their world rankings for balance purposes. Being the host, Argentina had the opportunity to choose their group.

width=16%	Pot 1	width=20%	Pot 2	width=22%	Pot 3	width=16%	Pot 4	width=16%	Pot 5
(3) (16)	(23) (15)	(30) (25)	(28) (22)	(NR) (NR)

Note:

NR – Not Ranked

Preliminary round

Group A

width=220	Team	width=20	Pld	width=20	W	width=20	L	width=35	PF	width=35	PA	width=35	PD	width=25	Pts	width=25	Tie
	4	3	1	333	296	+37	7	1–0
	4	3	1	328	302	+26	7	0–1
	4	2	2	381	351	+30	6	1–0
	4	2	2	312	306	+6	6	0–1
	4	0	4	274	373	−99	4

All times local (UTC−3)------------------------------------

Group B

width=220	Team	width=20	Pld	width=20	W	width=20	L	width=35	PF	width=35	PA	width=35	PD	width=25	Pts
	4	4	0	341	248	+93	8
	4	3	1	348	266	+82	7
	4	2	2	271	287	−16	6
	4	1	3	287	352	−65	5
	4	0	4	259	353	−94	4

All times local (UTC−3)------------------------------------

Second round

Advanced to semifinals
Qualified for 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Eliminated in Second Round

width=220	Team	width=20	Pld	width=20	W	width=20	L	width=35	PF	width=35	PA	width=35	PD	width=25	Pts	width=30	Tie
	7	6	1	585	493	+92	13	1–0
	7	6	1	602	473	+129	13	0–1
	7	5	2	571	523	+48	12
	7	4	3	539	543	−4	11
	7	3	4	652	641	+11	10
	7	2	5	514	561	−47	9
	7	1	6	482	560	−78	8	1–0
	7	1	6	496	647	−151	8	0–1

All times local (UTC−3)------------------------------------------------------------

Final round

Semifinals

----

Final

Statistical leaders

Individual Tournament Highs

Points

Pos.	Name	PPG
1	Luis Scola	21.4
2	Greivis Vásquez	19.3
3	Al Horford	19.0
4	Gary Forbes	16.6
5	Manu Ginóbili	15.8
6	Rubén Garcés	15.9
7	Jaime Lloreda	15.9
8	Carlos Arroyo	15.0
9	Jack Michael Martínez	14.5
10	David Cubillan	13.1

Rebounds

Pos.	Name	RPG
1	Jack Michael Martínez	12.1
2	Rubén Garcés	11.3
3	José Manuel Fabio	9.8
4	Esteban Batista	9.5
5	Al Horford	9.2
6	Tiago Splitter	6.6
7	Andrés Nocioni	6.5
8	Luis Scola	6.3
9	Jaime Lloreda	6.1
10	Windi Graterol	5.4

Assists

Pos.	Name	APG
1	Greivis Vásquez	5.8
2	Marcelinho Huertas	5.0
3	Pablo Prigioni	4.7
4	David Cubillan	4.9
5	José Juan Barea	4.2
6	Manu Ginóbili	4.0
7	Carlos Arroyo	3.7
8	Panchi Barrera	3.5
9	Al Horford	3.1
10	Luis Flores	2.7

Steals

Pos.	Name	SPG
1	Juan Pablo Piñeiro	2.5
2	Danilo Pinnock	2.4
3	Al Horford	1.9
4	Carlos Delfino	1.8
5	Panchi Barrera	1.8
6	Renaldo Balkman	1.7
7	Leandro García Morales	1.7
8	Manu Ginóbili	1.5
8	Pablo Prigioni	1.5
10	Andrés Rodríguez	1.2
10	José Juan Barea	1.2

Blocks

Pos.	Name	BPG
1	Guillermo Araujo	2.0
2	Joel Anthony	1.7
3	Federico Kammerichs	1.4
4	Francisco García	1.3
5	Al Horford	1.0
6	Renaldo Balkman	0.9
7	Tiago Splitter	0.8
8	Windi Graterol	0.8
9	Luis Scola	0.6
9	Ángel Álamo	0.6

Individual Game Highs

Department	Name	Total
Points		39
Rebounds		17
Assists		11
Steals		8
Blocks	Joel Anthony Juan Pedro Gutiérrez Renaldo Balkman Federico Kammerichs	4
Field goal percentage		100% (7/7)
3-point field goal percentage		100% (4/4)
Free throw percentage		100% (8/8)
Turnovers		10

Team Tournament Highs

Offensive PPG

Pos.	Name	PPG
1		94.8
2		84.7
3		84.0
4		83.6
5		80.8
6		74.8
7		73.1
8		70.1
9		68.5
10		64.8

Defensive PPG

Pos.	Name	PPG
1		67.9
2		73.2
3		76.2
4		77.5
5		77.9
6		78.3
7		88.2
8		88.8
9		91.6
10		93.2