Daniel Brown Paces Balanced USA Attack

DALLAS, Texas (July 5, 2003) -- A balanced scoring attack led by guard Daniel Brown’s (Illinois/ Maywood, Ill.) 18 points and nine assists powered the USA Junior World Championship squad (5-0) to an impressive 104-80 victory over the Global Games Select Team (3-2) in the gold medal game of the 2003 Global Games Saturday night at Southern Methodist University.

The win was the USA’s fifth straight win in six nights. The U.S. team will next travel to Thessaloniki, Greece to compete in the 7th annual FIBA Junior World Championship that is being played July 10-20.

Deron Williams (Illinois/The Colony, Texas), who averaged 10.8 ppg. and shot 58.3 percent (14-24 3pt FGs), was selected as co-MVP of the tournament along with J.R. Giddons of the Global Select team. USA forward Paul Davis (Michigan State/Rochester, Mich.) was named to the 10-member All-Global Games Tournament Team after posting 9.6 ppg. and 6.8 rpg.

“This was an excellent way to end this tournament,” said Daniel Brown. “Our defensive intensity was great and we showed them that defense was key in the game. That’s a great team that we just played against, young guys who were very capable of beating us, so it’s a good way to finish it.

“I haven’t been shooting the ball well and my teammates have been getting on me and telling me to shoot more. Today, earlier in our walk through, I shot like 200 extra shots and I felt good about my shot and came out shooting the ball well,” added Brown.

Unlike the first meeting (July 2) when the USA team quickly established its dominance and sailed in for the 97-77 win, the two teams went toe-to-toe for the first 10 minutes. The U.S. slid out to a 13-8 lead, the Global Select Team regained the lead 15-13 with 1:41 to play after a 7-0 run. The USA grabbed control and behind four points from Ryan Hollins (UCLA/Pasadena, Calif.), finished the quarter on a 5-0 run to grab an 18-15 advantage.

Thanks to 14 second quarter points from Daniel Brown, including three 3-pointers that fell in a span of 1:52, the U.S. pushed its lead to double figures. With Daniel Brown contributing 12 points the USA outscored the Select squad 19-9 over the second quarter’s first 4:35 and moved out to a 37-23 lead with 5:25 to go. The Selects fought back to within eight, 39-31, following a pair of 3-pointers by Giddens, but once again the USA closed strong and outscored the Select team 11-4 to take a 50-35 lead at halftime.

Holding an 11-point advantage with 4:29 remaining in the third stanza, the American juniors closed out the quarter with a 17-11 run to increase its lead to 77-60. Opening the fourth quarter with a 14-4 blitz, the U.S. sprinted on to the 104-80 victory.

“The biggest thing defensively was keeping that team off the boards,” said USA head mentor Ernie Kent. “They had 28 offensive rebounds in their win against SerbiaMontenegro, they had six in the first game against us and 13 in this game. That was the game right there, keeping them off the glass.

“Our balance, chemistry and defensive intensity are going to be the keys for us. It’s important for this team to have the ability of having different guys step up. Tonight I thought David Burgess and Ryan Hollins really stepped when our big guys got in foul trouble. They had about a five or six minute stretch where they both played especially well, and in the second quarter Dee Brown stepped up big time as well.

“We told the team if we defend these teams in this tournament, and if we can defend in the World Championship, we’ll have an excellent opportunity to get out and get a lot of easy buckets in transition. The difference between this team this year and last year is that they have been coached by good college coaches and when you talk about defense and put stuff on the board and work on stuff in practice they’re able to understand it and pick it up a lot quicker than last year’s team did,” added Kent.

Headlined by all 11 healthy players scoring, five finished in double figures. The USA got solid contributions from Kevin Pittsnogle (West Virginia/Martinsburg, W. Va.), 14 points, Hollins finished with 13 points, Maurice Ager (Michigan State/Detroit, Mich.) added 12, while Mustafa Shakur (Philadelphia Friends Central High School/Wynnewood, Pa) dropped 11. Also, high schooler David Burgess (Woodbridge High School / Irvine, Calif.) was credited with nine points and a team high eight boards. J.J. Redick was the only USA player not to see action. Redick has been bothered during the Global Games by a pulled left hamstring.

The USA shot 53.2 percent overall from the field and owned a 43-38 advantage on the glass. The USA limited the Global team to 44.6 percent shooting overall, and forced them into 24 turnovers.

In the day’s other Global Games’ final contests, SerbiaMontenegro (4-1) held off Canada (2-3) 87-81 to earn the bronze medal; Lithuania (3-2) dominated Puerto Rico (2-3) 114-78 to claim fifth place; Ukraine (2-3) defeated Africa (2-3) 81-70 to capture seventh place, and Scandinavia (2-3) bested Brazil 77-66 to finish ninth.

The USA Basketball junior squad began training June 24 and will compete July 10-20 in the 2003 FIBA Men’s Junior World Championship that is being held in Thessaloniki, Greece. Featuring 16 junior national teams that qualified last summer, the teams have been placed into four groups of four for preliminary round robin play. The top two teams from each group will advance to the medal second round, while the remainder of the field will compete for 9th - 16th place. The USA has been placed in Group C, joining China, Nigeria and Slovenia. The USA will open play against Slovenia on July 10, and face China on July 11 and Nigeria on July 12. Second round action is being played July 14-16, while the world championship semifinals slated to be held July 19 and the finals will be played July 20.

Eligibility for the 2003 USA Basketball Men’s Junior World Championship Team is limited to any male athlete who is a U.S. citizen and 19-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1984). The USA team finalists were selected by the USA Basketball Men’s Collegiate Committee. The official 12-member USA junior team was finalized during the team’s June 24-July 6 training camp in Dallas.

2003 GLOBAL GAMES FINAL STANDINGS: W-L
1. United States 5-0
2. Global Games Select 3-2
3. Serbia-Montenegro 4-1
4. Canada 2-3
5. Lithuania 3-2
6. Puerto Rico 2-3
7. Ukraine 2-3
8. Africa 2-3
9. Scandinavia 2-3
10. Brazil 0-5

Sunday, June 29
Puerto Rico 99, Scandinavia 85
Serbia-Montenegro 121, Brazil 69

Monday, June 30
Canada 73, Africa 65
Scandinavia 84, Ukraine 66
Global Games Select 104, Puerto Rico 93
USA 79, Lithuania 63

Tuesday, July 1
Ukraine 95, Brazil 89
Canada 98, Scandinavia 71
Africa 62, Lithuania 53
Serbia-Montenegro 84, Puerto Rico 74
USA 97, Global Games Select 77

Wednesday, July 2
Lithuania 98, Canada 97
Serbia-Montenegro 90, Ukraine 70
Global Games Select 106, Brazil 69
USA 97, Africa 69

Thursday, July 3
Lithuania 70, Ukraine 52
Africa 66, Scandinavia 64
Puerto Rico 73, Brazil 57
Global Games Select 94, Serbia-Montenegro 87
USA 102, Canada 71

Finals

Saturday, July 5
9th/10th Place: Scandinavia 77, Brazil 66
7th/8thPlace: Ukraine 81, Africa 70
5th/6th Place: Lithuania 114, Puerto Rico 78
Bronze Medal Game: Serbia-Montenegro 87, Canada 81
Gold Medal Game: USA 104, Global Games Select 80