NEW YORK (NBA) - They are rookies in name only.

One is older.

Both are excited to be in the NBA.

Pablo Prigioni, 35, a lynchpin in Argentina’s national team and a player who figures to start at point guard next summer at the FIBA Americas Championship and the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, has at long last crossed the Atlantic to get a taste of the best league in the world with the New York Knicks.

Victor Claver, 24, a high-flying talent out from Valencia and member of Spain’s national side since 2009, has left his hometown club for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Neither player knows how the season will pan out, yet neither is anxious.

They have competed in big games before with their clubs in Europe and countries in international competition.

“No, I do not feel anxious,” said Prigioni, who spent the majority of his playing in career in Spain with Caja Laboral but also suited up for Alicante and Real Madrid.

His fellow national team players Manu Ginobili (San Antonio Spurs), Luis Scola (Phoenix Suns) and Carlos Delfino (Houston Rockets) are in the NBA, now.

“I have tried to be very focused and to understand what the coach (Knicks boss Mike Woodson) wants and to work many hours, including when I am apart from the team, in order to be able to adapt to a basketball that is different to that of FIBA (rules),” Prigioni said.

“And the debut is always special, but it's not only because I'm here.

“In Spain, the first game was also special.”

If Prigioni has joined a veteran Knicks side that has the likes of Team USA stars Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler, Claver has moved to Oregon and a more youthful squad where France’s Nicolas Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge are the established players.

Fellow Spain internationals Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez also played for Portland in recent years, though not as much as they would have liked.

Both are back in Spain now, playing for Real Madrid.

Claver is ready to see what the year brings.

“I haven’t come to the United States to be a tourist or to live the NBA experience,” he said in an interview with Marca.com.

“I have come to play. What is important to me is to play more each day and to adapt little by little to the league.

“The aim is to be a solid player in the rotation and to play little or a lot, but with regularity.”

Of the two, Prigioni has had a more prominent role in Europe and on the international stage.

As a starter with Argentina, he is regarded as one of that country’s all-time greats.

Claver has had to settle for being a reserve in the Spain squads because the national team is so deep, yet he figures to get a lot more playing time in the tournaments to come, including at next year’s EuroBasket in Slovenia.

As a national team player, Claver has captured gold medals at EuroBaskets 2009 and 2011, and silver at the London Games.

Each is acutely aware that their family, friends and compatriots back home are following them closely.

Both Claver and Prigioni are treating the season like any other, though, going to practice and trying to help their teams win games.

Neither Claver, nor former Unicaja Malaga big man Joel Freeland, received any court time on Wednesday night when Portland handed the Los Angeles Lakers their second straight defeat to open the season.

Meanwhile, Prigioni’s debut with New York has been put off until Friday when the Knicks host the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden.

New York were supposed to take on the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday but Hurricane Sandy has caused the postponement of that game.

Prigioni is optimistic about what is coming.

“I feel that we are a group of players and coaches with a lot of desire to work together in the same direction,” he said.

“I am trying to know all of my teammates quickly in order to be able to take advantage of their qualities and at the moment, I'm am happy playing with them."

FIBA