Scola leads Argentina past Brazil and into Olympics

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Argentina will get to defend its Olympic gold medal because of a team nobody thought could get it there.

Missing four NBA players who were the keys to winning the gold in 2004, Argentina rode its two stars on a roster of no-names to earn a berth in the Beijing Olympics.

"People just keep talking about the guys who are not here and that ticks us off," said Luis Scola, one of this team's NBA players who had 27 points in the 91-80 win over Brazil on Saturday in the semifinals of the FIBA Americas tournament. "Let's start talking about the guys who are here. This is the national team of Argentina, like it or not, so let's start talking about it. We finally gave people who didn't want to talk about us something to talk about."

Scola, who signed with the Houston Rockets, and Carlos Delfino, who plays for the Toronto Raptors, led the third-quarter rally for Argentina, which lost one game in this tournament -- 91-76 to the United States in the second round.

The four NBA players from the gold medal team -- Manu Ginobili, Fabricio Oberto, Andres Nocioni and Walter Herrmann -- are all expected to join Argentina for the 2008 Olympics.

"We give them a big hug from long distance," Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez said. "We are not closing any doors but all players in the Olympics will have to be ready to compromise and play with discipline to be part of this team."

Argentina, the United States, which beat Puerto Rico in the other semifinal, China, the host, Spain, the reigning world champion and zone champions Iran, Angola and Australia have all earned berths in Beijing. Two European entrants will be decided this month.

Brazil, Puerto Rico and fifth-place finisher Canada all advanced to a 12-team qualifying tournament next July that will determine the final berths in Beijing.

"Right now, that was such a tough game and we know how close we were to qualifying," Brazil's Tiago Splitter said. "We just feel so bad right now."

Brazil, despite losing center Nene to a leg injury four minutes into the game, was able to take a 51-40 lead with 7:13 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Leandro Barbosa.

That's when Scola and Delfino stepped up, proving they were the stars of this Argentina team.

With Scola attacking the basket and Delfino finally finding his touch, Argentina closed the quarter with a 25-5 run that gave it a 65-56 lead. Scola had 10 points and Delfino, who missed his first six shots from the field until this run, added seven points.

Just like in their second-meeting, which Argentina won 87-69 in overtime, Brazil stayed close, getting within three points twice in the final 1:44.

After two free throws by Alex Garcia brought Brazil to 79-76, Scola drew two defenders to him then made a drop pass inside to Federico Kammerichs for a layup that restored the five-point lead with 1:29 left. Splitter scored on a putback for Brazil to make it 81-78 with 1:14 left but Paolo Quinteros of Argentina hit his only 3-point attempt of the game with 55 seconds left to start a 7-0 run that put the game away.

"We got more aggressive, Luis got very aggressive in the third quarter," said Delfino, who finished with 13 points. "Many people thought this team couldn't do this but we got confidence and we played with the same chemistry on the court that we had off the court. We did a great job of being a team."

Argentina will be making its fifth Olympic appearance with the gold in Athens its only medal.

Barbosa, who plays for the Phoenix Suns, had 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting for Brazil. In the earlier meeting, Barbosa, the tournament's leading scorer at 23.5 points per game, had 16 points on 5-for-18 shooting.

Nene, who plays for the Denver Nuggets, entered the game averaging 9.3 points and 7.0 rebounds. When he injured his leg he left for the locker room and did not return. He left Thomas & Mack Center in a wheelchair.

"He did not hurt his knee, it was a muscle problem he already had in his leg," Brazil coach Aluisio Ferreira said. "The doctors are still evaluating the extent of the injury but it has nothing to do with his knee."

Brazil's last Olympic appearance was in 1996.

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