2011 FIBA Americas Semifinals Analysis: Argentina & Brazil Earn Olympic Bids

ARGENTINA 81, PUERTO RICO 79Was not expecting this game to be competitive but Puerto Rico had a chance in the last minute to pull off the shocking upset. But Argentina survived to play for the Americas championship on Sunday, and also earned an automatic bid to the Olympics. Give Puerto Rico props for pushing Argentina to the brink at home. Puerto Rico could have easily folded after Argentina made runs in the 1st and 3rd quarter. But Puerto Rico chipped away at leads in the 2nd and 4th quarters to hang around.Thought after Argentina started to gain momentum in the 3rd that they would eventually leave Puerto Rico in the dust and end up beating them by 15-20 points. But Puerto Rico responded well in the 4th and had a few chances to take the lead in the last two minutes.Argentina started the game sizzling and scored 29 points on 13-of-17 shooting in the 1st quarter. Luis Scola led the rampage with 16 points on 8-for-8 shooting in the first stanza. But Argentina slowed their roll i...