BUENOS AIRES (2015 FIBA Americas Championship) - Faced with another preparations for another FIBA Americas Championship, Luis Scola knew he was paving the way for a new team.

He went into this summer knowing that a generational change was already underway.

A long-time national team player, Scolar has known that he must give away some prominence yet he also accepts that his team will still rely upon his experience.

Other national teams have brought in new faces faster than Argentina.

The time for change is now.

"What happens is that we are experiencing a somewhat slower process because there are more players and a different stage to which we are accustomed," Scola said.

"But we are living in a natural process. We cannot force it or avoid it."

Scola, who is now on the books of the Toronto Raptors, was speaking to Argentina's national daily sports newspaper Olé.

A member of the team that finished runners-up at the 2002 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Scola had a leading role in the side that captured gold at the Athens Olympics and bronze four years later in Beijing.

Scola and the other long-time national team stars have been so good over the years that it's been difficult to replace them.

"As good as the veterans are, sooner or later someone better will come," he said.

"When that time comes, things happen.

"In 1999 it was much more dramatic than what we are experiencing now. The difference is that it was not discussed much because the players that came in that change generated a lot. Players left, although we didn't realize it."

Back to the present and Scola will lead Argentina in Mexico later this month (31 August-12 September), looking to pick off where he left off at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship, where he averaged 18.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game and the team finished third.

Sergio Hernandez's team began their preparations months ago, competing at the 2015 Pan American Games and playing warm-up games in the process.

A year ago, with a players movement calling for a change in Argentina's National Federation, uncertain times were experienced within the men's national team. 

Everything changed and Scola, the man who was the head of the movement, is the first to recognize the great changes that were made.

"Despite the dire situation in which we were last year, with only a year on we've achieved a million things," he said.

"We had a great preparation in Houston for a week, in a place with conditions that we've never had [before]. We had very modern training conditions, with many professionals around. Travel, organisation, people.... It's all much more evolved."

The next part of the preparations for "El Alma" takes place in Puerto Rico, where they will face the national teams of Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic and the host nation in the Jenaro "Tuto" Marchand Continental Cup, starting on Sunday.

The Tuto Cup will be the last part of the preparations for the team that will then travel to Mexico to participate in the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship.

Already thinking about Mexico, Scola does not set out any expectations but instead believes the team needs to find its identity first.

"No matter who you play, if we are not able to create a competitive team, it won't matter. We need to create a competitive team and until that happens, there will be no other priority," he said.

The 35-year-old, who helped his country reach the Round of 16 at last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup, knows that identity has to mix, speed and the characteristic of the Argentinian game.

"In modern basketball you cannot play without running. The teams are increasingly aware that if you don't score three-pointers and fast breaks, you cannot win," he said.

In Mexico, Argentina will play in Group B and tip off their campaign against Puerto Rico before taking on Canada, Cuba and Venezuela.

Argentina will aim to reach the Final in order to achieve direct qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics, or finish second, third or fourth, which would guarantee a place in one of three FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) to be held next year.

Go to fiba.com/Americas2015 for full coverage of the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship.

FIBA