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Scola claims young Argentina teammates weren't starstruck by Team USA

Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports

Luis Scola - along with the likes of Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, and Carlos Delfino - acts as one of the veteran voices on an Argentina Olympic squad looking to make some noise in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this summer.

The nine-year NBA pro will bring valuable veteran leadership and savvy to a roster where half of the players are 25 years of age or younger. Having played for his country dating back to the 2001 FIBA Americas Championship, Scola knows what it's like to be one of the young guys, and how much of a shock to the system it can be to compete in high-profile tournaments against the top players on the planet.

Friday night against Team USA, Argentina was outclassed by a 12-man conglomerate of some of the NBA's biggest stars in a 111-74 loss in exhibition action. While his team didn't pull out the victory, Scola is at least happy some of his teammates didn't lose themselves in the moment.

"The first time we played the Americans when I was young, we took pictures and asked for their jerseys," Scola said after the game, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst. "Our young guys didn't do that, so that was good."

Scola had 10 points and five rebounds on just 3-of-10 shooting in 23 minutes of action at T-Mobile Arena, while Nocioni led the way with 15 points of his own. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 23 points.

Argentina as a whole only shot 40.4 percent from the field, so perhaps the star power of the U.S. men's side was a bit blinding for the younger guys after all.

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