Basketball in Argentina
On August 30, 1929, the Argentine Basketball Federation (current "Confederación Argentina") was established, with founder members from Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santa Fe, La Rioja, North Federation and Bahía Blanca. The Federación Argentina focused on the spread of basketball in Buenos Aires as in the rest of the provinces of Argentina.
History of the Argentina national basketball team
For the 1985 South American Championship, León Najnudel, the mastermind behind the LNB's inception, was selected as the national coach. With him came a renovation in the national squad, with the youngsters Héctor Campana (20 years old), Hernán Montenegro (18), Sergio Aispurúa (20) and the two tallest Argentine players in history: Jorge González (19 and ) and Fernando Borcel (17 and ). Argentina finished the tournament third, enough to qualify for the 1986 FIBA World Championship to be held in Spain. However, Najnudel did not coach the team during the World Cup, having left the position due to a fight with CABB's president Amadeo Cejas.
Puerto Rican Flor Meléndez, by the time coach of Unión de Santa Fe in Argentina, was selected to manage the national team. The coach made up a squad with experienced players like Miguel Cortijo, Esteban Camisassa, Carlos Romano, Luis González, Luis Oroño and Gabriel Milovich, and youngsters like Campana, Sebastián Uranga, Diego Maggi, Marcelo Milanesio, Montenegro and Aispurúa. To get the necessary international experience, the team played a total 19 preparation matches in one month, though during the first games Meléndez' assistant Juan Carlos Alonso took up coaching duties while the former coached his team in the Puerto Rican league's playoff matches. During the preparation, González suffered an injury and had to be replaced by Borcel for the World Championship squad.