<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Some players spout loyalty to their country at convenient times. Andres Nocioni lives for international play. That's what could make this summer so difficult for Nocioni. As a restricted free agent, Nocioni said he might skip playing for the Argentinean national team at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Las Vegas if his contract status isn't settled. "It's hard because I need to see what happens here first," Nocioni said. "I love to play for the national team. For us, it's really important to play for my country. We have great teammates. It's like my holidays, like a vacation from basketball. I enjoy it a lot." Nocioni has played for his country's senior national team since 1999. He helped Argentina win a surprising gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. But he also took the summer of 2005 off and understands how NBA teams might want to limit international participation, especially after Spain's Pau Gasol suffered a broken left foot during last summer's world championships and missed the Grizzlies' first 22 games this NBA season.</div> Read more...
He knows that if he plays without getting his contract out of the way first it would bother his ability on the court. As with anyone I believe if your future with an organization that you love to play for hangs in the balance your overall play would suffer because that would be on your mind constantly.
