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Twenty Finalists Selected For 2012 U.S. Olympic Men’s Team
January 16, 2012

Eight 2008 Olympic gold medalists, 10 members of the 2010 USA World Championship gold medal winning team, one national team player and one newcomer to the USA Basketball National Team were among the 20 finalists named today for the 2012 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team by USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo . The official 12-man U.S. Olympic team roster will be announced later this year.

Named as a finalist for the 2012 USA team were: LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers); Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks); Chauncey Billups (Los Angeles Clippers); Chris Bosh (Miami Heat); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (New Orleans Hornets); Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); LeBron James (Miami Heat); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); Lamar Odom (Dallas Mavericks); Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat); Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder); and Deron Williams (New Jersey Nets). Griffin was also officially added to the USA Basketball National Team roster.

The 2012 USA coaching staff is led by Duke University's Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, and serving as USA assistant coaches are Syracuse University's Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, New York Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni, and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan.

"The USA Basketball Men's National Team program has come a long way as the elite list of players who are now part of our program shows. The selected finalists are a very, very talented group; the depth of the talent is extraordinary. This selection decision was as difficult of a challenge as I've faced since I took on the USA National Team program in 2005," said Colangelo, who has served as the managing director of the USA Men's National Team since 2005.

"I feel like we have an outstanding blend of talents from the 2008 Olympic and 2010 World Championship teams that won gold. Reducing to the official roster limit of 12 players will be an even tougher decision, but we'll evaluate how guys play during the 2011-12 NBA season and as we've done with our teams in the past, we'll attempt to select the very best team we can."

"Jerry has built an extremely deep and talented USA National Team roster of 35 players and I want to thank each player for their incredible commitment to being part of USA Basketball. Reducing to 20 players was unbelievably difficult," stated Krzyzewski, who has coached USA National Teams to a sterling 48-1 record since 2006.

"Aside from the obvious special basketball talents that all of these players possess, what struck me most about the finalists was their commitment to USA Basketball and the international basketball experience they have compiled. Among our 20 finalists, we have two players who possess 55 or more games of international experience, two with 40 or more international games under their belts and eight others who have played between 23 and 38 international games - that's a lot of experience, which is going to be extremely valuable.

"These players have helped restore the winning tradition of USA Basketball while also gaining the respect of people around the world for the manner in which they have done it," added Krzyzewski.

Three of the finalists are two-time Olympic medalists, including Anthony (2004 bronze and 2008 gold), James (2004 bronze and 2008 gold) and Wade (2004 bronze and 2008 gold).

Eight of the selected finalists were members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team that compiled an unblemished record of 8-0 and captured gold in Beijing, including Anthony, Bosh, Bryant, Howard, James, Paul, Wade and Williams. Four finalists – Anthony, James, Odom and Wade - were part of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team that earned the bronze medal.

Ten finalists were members of the 2010 USA World Championship squad that went 9-0 and captured gold in Istanbul, Turkey. Billups, Chandler, World Championship MVP Durant, Gay, Gordon, Iguodala, Love, Odom, Rose and Westbrook were all members of the USA World Championship Team.

The finalists represent 14 different NBA teams, with the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers leading the way with three players each; while the New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder each have two players among the 20; and the Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers each are represented by one player.

Eighteen of the finalists possess impressive international experience with Anthony leading the way with 59 games of international experience. He is followed by James (55), Williams (47), Wade (40), Howard (38), Paul (37), Bosh (32), Billups (30), Odom (28), Chandler (25), Bryant (24), Gay (23), Durant (17), Iguodala (16), Rose (16), Gordon (15), Love (15) and Westbrook (15). Aldridge, who was a member of the 2008 USA Select Team that trained against the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, and Griffin, who is the youngest finalist at 22-years-old, have not played in an international game.

The USA’s complete training schedule will be released at a later date.

2012 TEAM USA BASKETBALL ROSTER

LaMarcus Aldridge
Carmelo Anthony
Chauncey Billups
Chris Bosh
Kobe Bryant
Tyson Chandler
Kevin Durant
Rudy Gay
Eric Gordon
Blake Griffin
Dwight Howard
Andre Iguodala
LeBron James
Kevin Love
Lamar Odom
Chris Paul
Derrick Rose
Dwyane Wade
Russell Westbrook
Deron Williams

Managing Director: Jerry Colangelo
Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University
Assistant Coach: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse University
Assistant Coach: Mike D'Antoni, New York Knicks
Assistant Coach: Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers

2012 TEAM USA BASKETBALL PLAYERS SORTED BY POSITION
This is just how we at InsideHoops group the list of 20 finalists.

PG: Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Chauncey Billups.
SG: Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Eric Gordon, Andre Iguodala.
SF: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Rudy Gay.
PF: Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Bosh, Lamar Odom.
C: Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler.


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OLDER USA BASKETBALL NEWS AND INFO

15 Finalists Named For USA Men’s Pan American Games Team
Oct. 17, 2011

Following five training sessions held between Oct. 14-16, 15 NBA Development League players were selected finalists for the 2011 USA Basketball Men’s Pan American Games Team. The finalists will continue training in Tulsa through Oct. 22 and the official 12-man USA team will be announced before the team departs Oct. 23 for the Pan American Games competition that is being held Oct. 26-30 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Selected as a finalists for the U.S. squad were: Blake Ahearn (Erie BayHawks/Missouri State ‘07); Brian Butch (Injured for 2010-11 season/Wisconsin ‘08); Chris Daniels (KCC Egis, South Korea/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ‘08); Justin Dentmon (Texas Legends/Washington ‘09); Jerome Dyson (Tulsa 66ers/Connecticut ‘10); Moses Ehambe (Iowa Energy/Oral Roberts ‘08); Ron Howard (Fort Wayne Mad Ants/Valparaiso ‘06); Marcus Lewis (Tulsa 66ers/Oral Roberts ‘09); Leo Lyons (Austin Toros/Missouri ‘09); Renaldo Major (Dakota Wizards/Fresno State ‘04); Donald Sloan (Reno Bighorns/Texas A&M ‘10); Gregory Stiemsma (Sokhumi Tbilisi, Georgia/Wisconsin ‘09); Curtis Sumpter (Maroussi BC, Greece/Villanova ‘07): Lance Thomas (Austin Toros/Duke ‘10); and Luke Zeller (Bakersfield Jam/Notre Dame ‘09).

“Coming in you never know what kind of shape the guys are going to be in and I thought they were in good shape. The guys competed at a high level and it is tough making cuts, but we felt comfortable getting down to our 15,” said USA Pan American Games and Tulsa 66ers head coach Nate Tibbetts.

“I think our perimeter is formidable, we’ve got some guys that can handle the basketball and not just at the one, the two or the three. We’re going to have to be a team that guards people on every possession and were asking our bigs to do some things that maybe they haven’t been asked to do. So getting that group of bigs to come along defensively is important, but we’ve got some bigs that can really shoot it and we’re excited about that.

“I think we’ve now got to step up our offensive execution, we’ve got start putting some more stuff in. We kind of tried to keep it basic here just so we could see guys play. We didn’t want to overwhelm them, have them thinking about too many things, and so now we can really start focusing on our prep for Guadalajara,” added Tibbetts.

Assisting Tibbetts on the USA bench are Tulsa 66ers coaching staff members Jermaine Byrd and Dale Osbourne. Additionally, Austin Toros head coach Brad Jones and Idaho Stampede head coach Randy Livingston are assisting as court coaches during the USA’s training camp.

The Pan American Games, held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics, are being held Oct. 13-30 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The men’s basketball competition, which features eight teams, is being conducted Oct. 26-30.

The USA men were drawn into Group B for the Pan American Games and are joined by national teams from Brazil, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. Competing in Group A are Argentina, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The U.S. men open preliminary round play Oct. 26 facing Dominican Republic (5:30 p.m. CDT), then face defending Pan American Games champion Brazil on Oct. 27 (8 p.m. CDT), and conclude preliminary play versus Uruguay (5:30 p.m. CDT) on Oct. 28. Semifinals action will be played Oct. 29, and the finals will be contested on Oct. 30.

The player and coaching staff selections were made by the USA Basketball Men’s Pan American Games Committee, approved by USA Basketball's Board of Directors and are subject to final approval by the U.S. Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer.

The USA Basketball Pan American Games Committee is chaired by USA Basketball Men’s National Team Director Sean Ford, and also comprised of Tibbetts, 2000 Olympic gold medalist Steve Smith, NBA Development League Vice President of Basketball Operations & Player Personnel Chris Alpert, and NBA Development League consultant Gordon Chiesa.

USA Men In The Pan American Games

The Pan American Games are organized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) and are a multi-sport competition open to men and women representing countries from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.

Comprised of college players, the USA men in the 2007 Pan Ams dropped their first two games and then reeled off three consecutive wins to finish 3-2 and in fifth place. The American men have earned a medal in 12 of their 15 Pan Am Games appearances, including a record eight golds, as well as three silvers and one bronze. The U.S. men currently own an 84-13 (.866 winning percentage) all-time mark at the Pan Am Games.

Held since 1951, the USA dominated the first five Pan Am Games, earning five consecutive golds. At the 1971 Pan Ams, despite a record of 2-1 in the preliminary round, the USA did not advance to the medal round and for the first time in Pan American history did not win the gold medal. However, the United States rebounded for a 26-0 record over the next three Pan Am Games and captured its last Pan Am gold in 1983. The gold medal has eluded U.S. teams the past six Pan American Games as the Americans have earned three silvers and a bronze medal.

Many USA Basketball athletes who have been selected to a Pan American Games team have gone on to compete in the Olympic Games, while many others enjoyed stellar professional careers. In all, 34 USA Pan Am basketball players have also been a member of a U.S. Olympic squad, including Ernie Grunfeld, Grant Hill, Luscious Jackson, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner, Danny Manning, Chris Mullin, Emeka Okafor, Sam Perkins, Oscar Robertson, David Robinson, Isiah Thomas, Jerry West and Jo Jo White.

While the list of former Pan American Games players is impressive, the list of head coaches is even more striking. The list of head coaches of USA Pan American Games teams includes Jay Wright (2007), Tom Izzo (2003), Mo McHone (1999); Mike Thibault (1995); Gene Keady (1991); Denny Crum (1987); Jack Hartman (1983); Bob Knight (1979); Marv Harshman (1975); Jim Gudger (1971) Hal Fischer (1967); Garland Pinholster (1963); Fred Schaus (1959); Lt. Norman Pilgrim (1955); and Hal Fischer and John Longfellow (1951).

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Sweet Revenge, USA Takes Lithuania 107-105 In OT Thriller
July 5, 2011

University of Connecticut guard Jeremy Lamb ( Connecticut/ Norcross, Ga.) tallied a game best 35 points and University of Florida center Patric Young (Florida/Jacksonville, Fla.) came up in overtime with two three-point plays off of monster dunks to lead the USA U19 Team to an outstanding 107-107 overtime victory over Lithuania (3-2) Tuesday in second round play at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Riga, Latvia.

The win improved the United States' record to 5-0 and insures it of Group F's number one seed for the medal round quarterfinals. The U.S. will conclude its second round games Wednesday against Croatia (3-2).

"I felt we would have to play really well in order to have a chance to win the game. I felt we played well in spurts but Lithuania has continued to impress me, they impressed me with how they came back this afternoon," said USA mentor Paul Hewitt (George Mason). "We're very lucky to win this game and at this point we just talked to our team about trying to get better. We need to continue to improve as we move through the tournament and we've got to try and play better tomorrow against Croatia."

It was a rollercoaster game for the USA with all sorts of twists and turns. The Americans saw an apparent victory snatched away in regulation's finals seconds; then looked at defeat and at what would have been a heartbreaking loss straight on after falling behind by six with a little over three minutes remaining in overtime; then ultimately saw redemption, as the team's perseverance and belief paid off in the form of a hard-fought victory.

Lamb led the USA charge with 35 points which came on 13-for-23 shooting overall, 5-of-7 from behind the 3-point arc, and 4-of-5 free throws. He added four rebounds, two assists and three steals in his 37 minutes of action. Lamb's 35 points is the second highest single game point production for a USA U19 or Junior World Championship team member since the event was staged in 1979.

“I was just in a rhythm, finally got in a rhythm and I was able to knock down some shots,” remarked Lamb on his day’s work.

“Jeremy Lamb is a great scorer. I thought he used screens very well today. When he gets it rolling then it’s easier for him to manufacture shots one-on-one,” said Hewitt about his guard’s scoring binge.

“In the second half I tried doing a good job of screening and getting guys open because I knew Jeremy Lamb was feeling it and we had to find ways to get him the ball and he took over,” USA forward Doug McDermott (Creighton/Ames, Iowa) stated.

While Lamb’s scoring powered the Americans and left them in control for much of the contest, it was Young’s critical plays in overtime that carried the USA to its win.

Seeming to have victory in hand with a 94-86 lead with 37 seconds left in the game, Lithuania’s Edgaras Ulanovas scored and was fouled with 29.7 second to go. His free throw was off target but Doyydas Redikas tipped in his miss to cut the gap to 94-90. Jonas Valanciunas added another basket and the U.S. lead was down to 94-92.

The USA’s Young grabbed an offensive rebound with 7.3 seconds left in regulation and was fouled. Stepping to the line, he missed both attempts and Lithuania’s Arnas Butkrvicius drove to the basket and was credited with two points on a goaltending call by the officials.

With the game even at 94 and 1.7 seconds left on the scoreboard, the Americans were unable to get a shot off.

Valanciunas, who was the number five draft pick of the Toronto Raptors in the recent NBA draft, started the overtime with a hoop, then Butkrvicius scored to give Lithuania a 98-94 lead with 3:35 left in the overtime. Tim Hardaway, Jr. (Michigan/Miami, Fla.) made one of two free throws to get the USA going in OT, but Ulanovas drilled a three to push his team’s lead to six, 101-95.

It was time for Young to step up and he did so in a big way. Making two free throws with 2:39 left to close the deficit to 101-97, on the USA’s next possession he received a pass from Lamb and was fouled as he slammed home two and made the awarded free throw to pull the U.S. back within one.

Jackson made a critical steal on the other end and fed James Bell (Villanova/Orlando, Fla.) who flushed down a breakaway dunk and the U.S. now led 102-101 with 1:35 left. Valanciunas scored to give Lithuania a one point advantage, but Young once again took change and grabbed a pass from Jackson, was fouled while slamming home another two. Young dropped the free throw and the U.S. led 105-103 with 1:07 left in overtime.

Lithuania tied the game with just under a minute to play on a pair of free throws from Ulanovas. The game’s winning shot was a clutch turn back baseline jumper by Lamb with 1.5 ticks left on the clock. Lithuania called timeout and received the ball inside midcourt, and the desperation three was well off mark giving the USA the win.

“You have to put them behind you,” said Young about his free throw misses at the end of regulation., “. Remember the player for the Buffalo Bills that dropped that touchdown not too long ago and he said he was never going to forget that, but you have to move on because it’s going to affect you for the rest of the game. We went into overtime and there still an opportunity for me to redeem myself and for us to win the game even though they jumped out on us with a nice six point lead. When I went to the line I said ‘I’m going to trust and have confidence in what I do, what I practice in my craft and I went and knocked the free throws down, I went four-for-four.

“I thought it said an awful lot about Patric’s toughness and mental toughness. To miss two free throws, it would have been easy for him to be disappointed and drop his head but he continued to play hard and made some big plays in overtime. I think overall our team showed some togetherness there, but in particular I thought Patric Young showed a lot of character how he bounced back from missing those two free throws at the end of regulation,” said Hewitt about Young’s play.

In addition to Lamb’s 35 points, Joe Jackson (Memphis/Memphis, Tenn.) posted 19 and added six assist. Young finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, while McDermott added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Hardway capped the double-digit scoring with 10 points. Tony Mitchell (North Texas/Dallas, Texas) grabbed eight rebounds, marking the fifth straight game he has led or shared for the USA’s high rebounding effort.

The Americans started well and after getting out to an 11-7 lead, ripped off seven straight points to expand its lead to 18-7. At the conclusion of the first 10 minute period the USA led 25-15. The two squads battled evenly over the first five minutes of the second quarter, and with 4:21 left the U.S. lead stood at 37-29. The USA offense got things going and after rolling to an 11-0 offensive spurt, the lead was 19, 48-29, with 2:02 to play in the quarter.

Lithuania responded right back and closed the half with a 10-1 run of its own that left the Americans up by 10, 49-39, at the half.

Lithuania cut the USA advantage to five in the third quarter, but a Jackson drive an layup just before the buzzer pushed the USA lead to 69-60.

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USA U19 World Championship Team Perseveres To Pull Out 80-78 Win Over Serbia
July 1, 2011

Some big plays at critical times by a mixture of USA players and a balanced scoring attack that was paced by Memphis guard Joe Jackson’s (Memphis/Memphis, Tenn.) 19 points helped pave the way to a exciting 80-78 USA (2-0) victory over Serbia (1-1) Friday in FIBA U19 World Championship preliminary round play in Liepaja, Latvia. The win, the second in as many nights, assured the USA of earning the No. 1 seed for Group D regardless of the outcome in its final preliminary round game Saturday. The USA meets China (0-2), a 100-96 double overtime loser to Egypt (1-1), in its game Saturday.

“Joe Jackson made big time plays in transition all game long,” said USA and George Mason University head coach Paul Hewitt.

While Jackson led the U.S. offense, Patric Young (Florida/Jacksonville, Fla.) finished with 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting and added seven rebounds, Tony Mitchell (North Texas/Dallas, Texas) was credited with 11 points and a team high nine rebounds, and Tim Hardaway, Jr. (Michigan/Miami, Fla.) scored 11 points, including the game winning jumper with 47 second left, and also added a team high four assists and a pair of steals.

“This was a great test for our guys. We’re just trying to get better in each and every game,” stated Hewitt. “I think this is the type of game we can benefit from moving forward. We’re obviously happy with the win and feel fortunate that we got the win, but I think the benefits from this game may be shown later in the tournament.”

Leading most of the game and entering the fourth quarter possessing a 57-53 lead thanks to Mitchell’s old fashioned three-point play which saw him take a feed from Jackson a slam home two and convert on the foul shot with 56.7 seconds left in the third quarter.

Following another Mitchell dunk off an offensive rebound, and a fast break layup from Jackson that came off a Mitchell block at the other end, the USA opened up a 61-53 lead with 9:27 left in the game.

But Serbia rallied behind five points from guard Aleksandar Cvetkovic and ripped off seven straight points to close within a single point, 61-60. After a 3-pointer from Luka Mitrovic found the bottom of the net, Serbia owned a 69-65 lead with 6:15 remaining.

Trailing 77-74, the U.S. was the benefactor of several crucial plays. Mitchell grabbed a huge offensive rebound and made both free throws after being fouled to cut the deficit to 77-76 at 2:24. Jackson drove and scored to tie up the contest 78-78 with 1:58 left, and Hardaway nailed a short driving jumper with 47 seconds showing on the clock to push the U.S. ahead 80-78. Bell made a steal with 34 seconds to play on the other end, and while the Americans failed to score, they used some precious time before turning the ball over to Serbia with 22.9 seconds left.

“It came down to some big plays. We didn’t hold our head down, we all came together as a team and I think this W proves to everybody that we are playing together and we are getting better,” stated Hardaway, Jr.

Serbia went to Cvetkovic, who had scored 20 points, and Bell matched up against him. Working it for a final shot, Cvetkovic’s 3-pointer was solidly defended and off target and Jeremy Lamb cleared the rebound, his seventh of the game, with 3.8 seconds to go and he ran out the clock to seal the victory.

“I just focused on trying to make a play instead of going for the ball; staying solid, staying in front of my man and the opportunity came for me to make a play and I just did it…It wasn’t just me, it was a team effort,” remarked Bell.

“Cvetkovic caused problems for us all day. There were times when we were trying to go over the ball screen and he got into the paint and created easy shots for himself or teammates. We got an eight point lead and I made the decision, not a very bright move in hindsight, to go under the screen and he stepped behind and made a three to get them back in the game.”

Young scored five points during a 7-0 USA run to help his team to an early 11-6 lead. The scored was even at 17 with 31.9 seconds left in the first quarter when Meyers Leonard (Illinois/Robinson, Ill.) was fouled and Serbia’s bench was whistled for a technical. Leonard made his two free throws and Keith Appling (Michigan State/Detroit, Mich.) added two more to help the U.S. to a 21-17 lead, an advantage they took into the second quarter.

Getting point production from four different players – Jeremy Lamb (Connecticut/ Norcross, Ga.), Doug McDermott (Creighton/Ames, Iowa), Mitchell and Hardaway, Jr. - the USA reeled off eight consecutive points to jump ahead 36-26 with 3:21 remaining. The American squad owned a 38-31 lead at halftime.

In the game, the U.S. held a 43-29 rebounding advantage and its 17 offensive boards help it overcome a 1-for13 shooting night from beyond the 3-point line. The USA was deadly from the foul line sinking 25-27 tries.

“Yeah, it was a fun game, but it got tough, they got tough late,” said Jackson who was limited to 24 minutes of action by foul trouble. “They made it a tight game because we kept them at the free throw line. We were trying to play aggressive but the refs were controlling the game so we couldn’t play physical like we do in the U.S. That’s something you have to learn playing overseas, it’s different. They let you play physical but you can’t ride guys and that’s what we were trying to do.”

Sixteen nations are battling for the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men gold medal. The U.S. concludes its preliminary round play versus China on Saturday2 (11:15 a.m. EDT).

The top three teams from each preliminary group will qualify for the preliminary second round, while the fourth place teams will qualify for the classification round to determine 13th to 16th places. The quarterfinals will be held on July 8, semifinals are slated for July 9 and the gold and bronze medal games, as well as the 5th/6th place and 7th/8th place games will be contested on July 10.

Assisting Hewitt on the U.S. sidelines are collegiate head coaches Randy Bennett of St. Mary’s College and Cliff Warren of Jacksonville University.

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USA Men Open FIBA U19 World Championship With Lopsided 115-60 Victory Over Egypt
June 30, 2011

The suspense for the USA in its FIBA U19 World Championship preliminary round opening game in Liepaja, Latvia, was over quickly as the Americans (1-0) started the contest scoring the game's first 22 points and sailed on to record a 115-60 victory over Egypt (0-1). The USA continued preliminary play Friday facing Serbia (1-0), 78-73 winners over China (0-1).

All 12 USA players scored in the game. Doug McDermott (Creighton/Ames, Iowa) headed the red, white and blue's scoring with 19 points, while Joe Jackson (Memphis/Memphis, Tenn.) and Jeremy Lamb (Connecticut/ Norcross, Ga.) aided the victorious cause with 15 points each. Meyers Leonard (Illinois/Robinson, Ill.) recorded a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Meyers and Patric Young (Florida/Jacksonville, Fla.), each swatted four shots to tie the USA single game record (done on four previous occasions, last recorded in 2009).

"The young men focused on the things we wanted to focus on, defensively especially. I like the fact that we shared the basketball and we had a lot of guys get some good looks at the basket and make some shots," said USA U119 mentor Paul Hewitt (George Mason).

"I was happy with our ball movement and I thought we defended well, but in particular ball movement and we made some threes. I think any team that wins this world championship is going to have shoot the ball well from the outside and that's usually keyed by good passing."

Young tapped the opening tip down court to Lamb who sailed in for the layup and the game's first points. With six different U.S. players contributing points, the Americans pounded their way to a 22-0 lead with 3:20 left in the opening quarter. Egypt posted its first points of the game with 2:55 left in the period when Seif Samir made one of two free throws.

Carrying a 25-5 lead into the second quarter, the U.S. pushed its advantage to 32-9. Egypt got its offense on track and after outscoring the USA 13-2, trailed 34-22 with 6:54 remaining before halftime. Leonard scored to get the U.S. back on track and 12 of the team's final 14 points in the quarter came courtesy of four 3-pointers, two from Jackson and two from Lamb.

The USA's dominating showing continued in the second half and the U.S. outgunned Egypt 32-15 in the third and 33-16 in the final quarter.

"At the beginning of the game we were really focused on rebounding, defense, pushing the ball up the floor, the things that Coach Hewitt told us before the game started to really focus and key in on. We really executed those things at the beginning of the game because we wanted to make a statement that we are a team, and we came here to win a gold medal," said Young, who finished tied with Leonard for a team high with four blocked shots.

The U.S. owned a 57-40 advantage on the glass and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds. Meyers, 11 rebounds, Tony Mitchell (North Texas/Dallas, Texas), 10 boards, and Young, 8 rebounds, handled the majority of the USA's rebounding.


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2010 TEAM USA BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

August 21: USA vs Lithuania (exhibition in Madrid)
August 22: USA vs Spain (exhibition in Madrid)
August 25: USA vs Greece (exhibition in Athens)
August 28-September 12: 2010 World Basketball championship in Turkey

FINAL 12-MAN USA ROSTER: Click here.

Worlds: USA beats Turkey, wins gold
September 12, 2010

For the second time in as many nights, and just as he had in virtually every game at the 2010 World Championship, Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) put the USA on his back offensively and coupled with the team’s devastating defense, the USA stormed to an impressive 81-64 victory over Turkey to capture the 2010 FIBA World Championship title.

Durant’s 28 points propelled the Americans to their first World Championship gold medal finish since 1994 as the USA finished a perfect 9-0 in Istanbul, Turkey. With the world title, the U.S. collected the automatic qualifying berth for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

“We didn't have an identification. They were called the 'B Team'. I think that's over with,” said USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelgo. “I think they established who they are. Kevin Durant, welcome to the international stage in terms of your ability as a player. That was great for him because he's such a terrific young man. “So a great job by everyone involved. It's great for our program. We go from here.”

Durant was named MVP of the World Championship after averaging 22.8 ppg., 6.1 rpg., and shooting 55.6 percent from the field, 45.6 percent from 3-point and 91.2 percent from the foul line.

The USA’s golden effort in addition to Durant’s contributions featured for the second consecutive night a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds from Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers) and 14 points from Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).

“This is the best. This is the best,” said USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski (Duke University). “With this group, they really have represented our country, USA Basketball so well. Such a young group. They played with enthusiasm. They played great defense throughout.

“Not much was expected. I shouldn't say that. They're always expecting a lot. But most people didn't think we could win. But they kept getting better. … “We had such big bench contributions. I'm just so happy, so fulfilled. This is as good as it gets right now.”

The first half was a tough, physical contest where no points came easy. The two teams were whistled for a combined 23 personal fouls that resulted in Turkey shooting 11-for-16 from the charity stripe while the U.S. went 10-for-11.

Behind eight points including two 3-pointers from Durant the U.S. took an early 14-9 lead. Turkey stormed back and behind a pair of threes by Hidsyet Turkoglu posted an 8-0 run to move in front 17-14 with 3:28 left in the opening quarter.

Durant stopped the assault when he connected on his third 3-pointer of the quarter to even the score at 17. After Durant made a highlight reel block on a Turkey fast break at the other end, Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) did what he does and drained a three, and after Westbrook added a pair of free throws with 1.1 seconds left in the quarter, the U.S. had a 22-17 lead after the first 10 minutes.

Holding a 27-21 lead early in the second quarter, Durant struck again and, while adding a pair of 3-pointers, he posted the USA’s next nine points in a span of 2:55 to push the U.S. ahead 36-26.

From there the U.S. lead fluctuated between 10 and seven points and at halftime the U.S. went to the locker room possessing a 42-32 lead.

Whatever hope Turkey had to get back in the game quickly was shot down when Durant opened the third quarter with a pair of 3-pointers and when Odom added an offensive put back the Americans lead was up to 50-32.

Following a 9-2 run by Turkey that reduced the U.S. advantage to 11, 52-41, with 4:08 to play in the third quarter, Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies) swished a jumper in the lane and one minute later Westbrook found nothing but net from behind the 3-point arc and just that quick the U.S. lead was back to 16.

Turkey continued to battle with the encouragement of its partisan capacity crowd and heading into the final 20 minutes the game was still in question even though the U.S. was leading 61-48.

A 9-2 USA offensive run that was started by a pair of fast break layups from Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) and finished by an Odom 3-pointer and then a fast break basket off a picture perfect pass from Rose left the USA fully in charge 70-50 with 7:00 to play.

Turkey never really challenged the U.S. again as the Americas marched in for the memorable 81-64 win.

Although badly outsized by the Turks, the U.S. work ethic nonetheless helped it to a 42-31 advantage on the glass and to 15 offensive boards.

The all out USA defense chased, harassed and frustrated Turkey into 36.4 percent (20-55 FGs) shooting for the game and 14 turnovers.

In Sunday’s bronze medal game, Lithuania (7-1) handled Serbia (6-3) 99-88 as Toronto Raptors forward Linas Kleiza, who the U.S. limited to 4 points and 1-for-11 shooting in Saturday's semifinal, scored 33 to lead Lithuania. Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola recorded 22 points and 11 rebounds to help lead Argentina (7-2) to an 86-81 win over Spain (5-4) to claim fifth place at the World Championship.

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Worlds: USA beats Lithuania, advances to gold medal game
September 11, 2010

There was no stopping Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) and the U.S. rode his record setting 38 point performance to earn an 89-74 win over previously unbeaten Lithuania (7-1) Saturday night in World Championship semifinals play. The win advanced the Americans into Sunday’s 2010 FIBA World Championship gold medal game.

Durant, who had 17 of the USA’s 23 first quarter points to single-handedly outscore Lithuania over the first 10 minutes, rewrote three USA World Championship single game records and tied another. His 38 points established a new USA scoring high, improving on the previous record of 35 points that was set by Carmelo Anthony (versus Italy, 8-23-06). Additionally, Durant set U.S. World Championship records for made field goals with 14, bettering the previous record of 13 that was set by five players and last done by Dwyane Wade (versus Argentina, 9-2-06); and his 25 attempted field goals set a new record, bettering the previous mark of 21 set by Kenny Anderson (vs. Greece, 8-8-90) and Billy Owens (vs. Greece, 8-8-90). He also tied a USA record for 3-point field goals attempted with 12, the mark was originally set by Mark Price (versus Greece, 8-13-94).

“I was just trying to be aggressive. That’s all. I was trying to make some shots and my teammates, they kept looking for me. It’s not all me. It’s how they play and I just feed off it,” Durant said of his record setting night.

“When a guy is doing that well, you have to keep getting him the ball,” said USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski (Duke University). “His teammates were looking for him all the time and we kept telling him, ‘keep shooting, keep shooting’, which says a lot for the guys on our team. All they are concerned with is trying to win. He just had an incredible scoring night.”

The USA will face host and undefeated Turkey (8-0) in Sunday’s gold medal game (9:30 p.m. local time). Turkey scored with .05 seconds left in the game to claim the 83-82 win.

It’s been 16 years since the USA played in World Championship gold medal game. The last time the U.S. did so was 1994 when the U.S., led by Shaquille O’Neal, Reggie Miller and Dominique Wilkins, dominated the worlds and finished 8-0 to capture the world championship title.

“We told our team coming in that they (Lithuania) will play every possession and never give up. We have to play as hard as they did. I thought tonight we did play as hard as they did. It showed in our defense. I think Andre’s defense was a key part of this game,” said Coach K.

The USA trailed 11-9 with 5:22 to play in the opening stanza and Lithuania did not score another field goal the remainder of the quarter while Durant poured in 10 points during a 12-0 USA run that left the U.S. leading 21-11 with 2:14 left in the quarter.

Up 23-12 after the first 10 minutes, the U.S. opened a 29-14 lead following an offensive tip by Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers).

Lithuania got eight points from former Duke guard Martynas Pocius and outscored the U.S. 11-4 to slash the American’s advantage to eight points, 33-25.

The USA regained control and closed the half with a 9-2 offensive spurt. Fueled by five points from Durant and four from that Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder), the Americans pushed ahead 42-27.

Lithuania struggled to get its shots to fall in the first half and made just 9-of-36 tries, including 3-of-12 from 3-point.

The U.S. lead was cut to 10, 50-40, with 5:42 to play in the third following a 3-pointer from Mantas Kalnietis, but the USA, getting points from four different players, went on a 9-0 run and with 3:09 left in the third quarter had it largest lead of the night, 59-40.

The U.S. entered the fourth quarter holding a 65-53 lead and with 5:53 left in the game it the scoreboard read 73-62 in favor of the Americans.

Durant stepped up again and closed the deal for the U.S. Hitting a mid-distance jumper, then following a pair of free throws from Westbrook, Durant hit a 3-pointer to score his 36th point, and he finished off his night’s production with a jumper to push the USA ahead 84-67.

Durant in addition to posting big scoring numbers, also brought down nine rebounds. He was complimented on his record setting night by Odom, who finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, and by Westbrook’s 12 points and seven rebounds. Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers) finished with nine points, four rebounds and four steals, and played a major role in shutting down Lithuania’s leading scorer Linas Kleiza, who will play for the NBA Toronto Raptors in 2010-11. Kleiza, who came into the game averaging a Lithuania best 19.1 points a game, was limited to four points on 1-of-11 shooting.

“The coaches pretty much send me out to slow down the #1 guy on the team as far as their scorer,” said Iguodala who leads the U.S. team in steals averaging 2.0 steal per game. “Tonight, I just tried to make it tough for him. There are great ball players all across the world and you’re not going to stop all of them, but if you make it tough for them, maybe you’ll wear them down, start making them think about it.”

In Saturday’s game to determine the seventh place finisher, Russia (6-3) finished strong to take an 83-78 victory over Slovenia (5-4).

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Worlds: USA handles Russia 89-79
September 9, 2010

Kevin Durant’s (Oklahoma City Thunder) 33 point scoring outburst and the USA’s wear ‘em down defense were the difference Thursday night as the U.S. grinded out an 89-79 victory over Russia (5-2) to advance to the 2010 FIBA World Championship medal round semifinals. Durant’s 33 point performance, which came on 11-19 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 free throw accuracy, tied for the third most all-time by a USA player in World Championship action.

The USA improved to 7-0 with the hard fought victory and next meets undefeated Lithuania (7-0) on Saturday (7:00 p.m. local time) in a medal semifinals match. Lithuania easily handled Argentina 104-85 in Thursday’s other quarterfinals contest. The USA defeated Lithuania 77-61 on Aug. 21 in an exhibition contest in Madrid, Spain, and the U.S. is 0-1 all-time in World Championship games versus Lithuania having lost 84-82 in the 1998 World Championship.

Aiding the USA’s winning effort Thursday night with 15 points and five assists was Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets), Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) added 12 points and three steals, while Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers) worked the inside and recorded 12 rebounds and two steals to go with six points.

“We knew it would be a very difficult game and it was. I thought we were ready and we played hard. It’s just that Russia played with great passion and they played very well. It was a very well earned win against a terrific team with a terrific coach,” said USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski (Duke University).

The U.S. behind seven Durant points took an early 15-9 lead. Russia countered late in the first period with a 7-0 run and the first quarter finished in a draw 25-25.

Russia outscored the Americans 10-5 over the second quarter’s first 5:12 to grab control 35-30. Following a USA timeout, the U.S. came to life and assembled a 12-0 run that saw it move ahead 42-35 with 1:08 in the quarter. At halftime the USA owned 44-39 lead.

“The main thing in the timeout was just relax. It’s a long game, just play each possession,” said Coach K about what he tld his team during the timeout.

“They were playing good defense and we weren’t hitting shots. They seemed to be in control of the game. What I worry about for a U.S. team in those spots is game pressure where all of a sudden the other team is playing so well and you put so much pressure on yourself.”

The U.S. first half lead was obtained in part because of 14-of-18 shooting from the foul line, while Russia took advantage of its size and outrebounded the U.S. 29-22 with 13 boards coming on the offensive end.

With 5:53 to play in the third quarter and holding a six point lead, 53-47, the USA cranked up its defense and behind several steals got out on the run and outscored Russia 12-3 to break the game open 65-50.

Westbrook scored seven straight points during the game clinching spurt, recording two steals that he finished off with thunderous dunks, while hitting a three in between his steals.

Russia, however, refused to call it quits, and after three periods the USA had a 70-56 lead.

Following a 3-pointer from Durant and then a basket off a drive, the USA lead was upped to 18, 81-63, with 7:26 left in the game.

Thanks to a 9-3 mini run, with 3:28 left in the contest Russia whittled the lead down to 12, 84-72.

Durant again turned back the comeback with a jumper and then a traditional three point play, which pushed the U.S. back up 86-72 and from there the U.S. rolled in for the win.

“Today was a very tough game for us. In the beginning they made a lot of shots. We had to adjust and I think we did a good job of doing that. We got better as the game was going,” offered Durant.

After giving up 13 offensive rebounds in the first half, the U.S. kept their opponent off the offensive glass for the second 20 minutes, limiting Russia to just one offensive board. Additionally, after seeing Russia make 4-of-6 3-pointers in the first quarter, the USA defense limited them to 3-of-15 3-point shooting over the remaining three quarters.

“It was a fight. It was like an Eastern Conference playoff game,” stated Billups. “It was very physical from the jump. The team that was going to win was going to be the team that imposed their will on the game. They want to play slow, they want to bang. We want to play fast and we want to be physical as well but we want to speed the tempo up and we finally got to that in the second half.”

While the U.S. was held to a tournament low 42.6 percent shooting for the game, it did hit on 10-of-26 shots from 3-point.

Durant over the course of the USA’s seven World Championship victories has averaged 19.9 ppg. and 5.9 rpg., while shooting 54.9 percent from the field, 43.8 percent from 3-point, and 92.6 percent from the foul line.

“We’re going to go to him (Durant),” said Krzyzewski. “I’ve learned that in coaching, you should get your best player the ball. There is a lot of pressure on him because we’re a young and everyone is pointing to him and overall he has responded in a truly magnificent way.”

With wins tonight, the USA and Lithuania advance to meet in one of the medal round semifinals, while Serbia and host Turkey, winners in Wednesday night’s quarterfinal games, move on to meet in the other media round semi. The winner of the two semifinals advance to Sunday’s gold medal game (9:30 p.m. local time), while the semifinals losers will play for the bronze medal on Sunday (7:00 p.m.).

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Worlds: USA rocks Angola 121-66
September 6, 2010

Like a one-sided championship boxing match, the USA (6-0) delivered a series of punches to quickly knockout African Zone champ Angola (2-4) Monday night and earn a 121-66 victory to advance to the 2010 FIBA World Championship medal round quarterfinals. The USA was led to the win by Chauncey Billups’ (Denver Nuggets) 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point, and by 17 points from Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder), Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies) and Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers).

With the win, the USA’s sixth of the championship, the Americans receive two days off before returning to face Russia on Sept. 9 in a medal quarterfinals contest. Russia advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating New Zealand 78-56 in Monday’s nightcap. The USA’s last meeting against Russia in World Championship play came in 2002 when the U.S. battled to a convincing 106-82 win.

“Our guys were sharp, they played hard and they were very unselfish. We played very well,” remarked USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski (Duke University). “We were very unselfish. It showed in the number of extra passes that we made. We had 30 assists.

“I thought we just stayed aggressive the whole game. A couple days of practice, I think, really helped us. We had not practiced since Aug. 27 and we had two good days of practice. The guys have responded. I’m just pleased that we played like we practiced which is always what a coach wants to see. Hopefully we can keep that attitude as we go into our next game.”

A Billups three and a dunk from Durant got the U.S. out to a 5-0 lead and the red, white and blue never looked back. Owning a 5-4 advantage, the USA reeled off seven straight points and sprinted on for a 17-3 run to grab control 22-7 with 3:41 remaining in the opening quarter.

Owning a 33-13 lead after one quarter, the USA kept the pressure on Angola and at halftime was completely in charge, leading 65-38.

The first half was as impressive of a half as the U.S. had played in the ’10 World Championship. Scoring 33 and 32 points, respectively, in the two quarters, the U.S. had just one turnover in the first 20 minutes, it came with 1:45 left in the first quarter. Of its 22 made shots, 17 USA baskets were assisted on. The Americans made 58.0% of its shots in the first half and behind Billups 4-of-6 3-point shooting, made 8-of-18 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc.

“I thought we came out very aggressive,” said the 33-year-old and USA co-captain Billups. “We knew if we weren’t aggressive, they could get going and make a long night for us and we can be beaten. We didn’t want that so we came out and stuck to a great game plan what we had. I thought it was a great game for us.”

For the night, the USA had 30 assists on 41 made baskets, and just five turnovers. Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) paced the U.S. with six assists each.

“Our point guards did a great job of finding opening shots for everybody. I think we drove the ball well and drove and kicked and guys made shots,” said Durant.

Outrebounding Angola 48 to 23, Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers) led the U.S. on the glass with a game best eight boards, while Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks) and Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers) pulled down seven each.

“It doesn’t matter who we play against. We just want to play the same way all the time no matter who we play and that’s with a lot of energy, lot of effort. We’re trying to become the best defensive team in the tournament. If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance to win,” said Odom, a 10-year NBA veteran.

Angola was led by 21 points from Joaquim Gomes.

Six of the eight quarterfinal teams are now know with Serbia and Spain advancing from Saturday’s eight-finals games, while host Turkey and Slovenia earned a trip to the quarterfinals with wins on Sunday. The final two quarterfinal spots will be determined Tuesday when Lithuania meets China (6 p.m. local time) and Argentina plays Brazil (9 p.m. local time).

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Worlds: USA wrecks Tunisia 92-57
September 2, 2010

Behind Eric Gordon's (Los Angeles Clippers) game high 21 points, 13 which came in the second half, the United States dominated Tunisia (0-5) in the second half and closed out preliminary play at the FIBA World Championship with a perfect 5-0 record after handling Tunisia 92-57 Wednesdayay evening.

The USA again featured a balanced scoring attack with 11 players scoring. Gordon led the charge for the red, white and blue behind 7-of-10 shooting overall, 4-of-7 from 3-point, in 25 minutes of action. Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) added 14 points in 18 minutes; Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) was also credited with 14 points, and Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) accounted for 13 points and drained 3-of-5 3-pointers.

The win concluded the USA's preliminary round play and the Americans next play on Monday against Angola (2-3), the No. 4 seed from Group A. Medal round quarterfinals action is slated for Sept. 8-9, with semifinals scheduled for Sept. 11 and the gold and bronze medal games will be contested Sept. 12.

"In practice we have to get better. In these next few days, we have to get better. We have had eight games in 13 days and coach would tell you that when you have a lot of games, there is slippage. So we have to take care of slippage but I know our guys want to take care of that. Hopefully - I think we are going to play Angola - on Monday night, we need to be ready for that and remember it's one and done. If you don't win, you can't win it. It's kind of like the NCAA tournament," USA and Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

With Group B's number one seed already assured regardless of the final preliminary round game's result, the USA was sluggish in the game's first two quarters.

The U.S. trailed 8-6 with 4:26 left in the opening quarter after Tunisia's Marouan Kechrid connected on his first of his five made 3-pointers. Durant pumped in the first five points of a 13-3 USA surge that saw its lead increased to 19-11.

With Coach Krzyzewski going with a different five to start the second period, Gordon pushed the U.S. ahead 22-13 with a drive and an ensuing free throw after being fouled. With 7:06 left in the second quarter, following two consecutive baskets by Curry, the USA was up 28-18.

Tunisia, thanks to Kechrid's 3-point shooting touch, refused to go away. Following Kechrid's fifth 3-point of the opening half, Tunisia trailed by just two, 33-31, with 1:51 left in the second period.

Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Westbrook closed out the half with baskets and at intermission the U.S. led by six, 39-33.

The U.S. stepped up its defensive pressure and a Durant 3-pointer started a game deciding run that saw the Americans outscore Tunisia 24-13 in the quarter and earn the U.S. a 63-46 lead heading into the game's final 10 minutes.

The USA's dominance continued in the fourth quarter. Gordon started the quarter with a pair of 3-pointers and sandwiched a pair of free throws in between as the USA went on a 15-1 run to take full control 78-47.

"Tunisia really played us hard, especially in the first half. I just thought our defense really turned up … it was good throughout the game but really mostly in the second half. And it converted into easy baskets for us," said Gordon. "I just had a lot of open shots and I had to knock them down. That was the thing … we played really good defense and came down the floor in transition. We had a lot of guys that were open and luckily I was the one that was able to knock down the 3-point shots."

"Eric tonight played like he's been playing most of the time with us except for the last two games. For some reason, he was hesitant to shoot … I talked to him actually before the game and I said, 'just shoot' and if you do make a move to the basket, don't look to pass. He's a scorer and his teammates know that," said Krzyzewski.

The USA shot well, 52.2 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from 3-point, and a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line. Tunisia managed to make just 27.8 percent of its tries for the game, including 28.6 percent from 3-point. Called for 16 turnovers compared to 10 for the U.S., Tunisia outrebounded the Americans 46-39, and had 25 offensive rebounds.

"We're right we thought we were going to be or hoped we would be after pool play," said Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets). "We went 5-0 and had pretty good games. These last two games were kind of tough games to play knowing that you don't really want to win by 50, 60. You want to be respectful of different countries but at the same time, you want to try to get better a little bit. That's why you see the lapses that we have but I feel like we're in a good spot, a great spot actually."

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Worlds: USA rocks Iran 88-51
September 1, 2010

Powered by a balanced scoring attack that saw all 12 USA players register points, including a team best 13 points from Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves), the Americans took control early and sailed on to post an 88-51 victory over Iran (1-3) Tuesday night at Abdi Ipekci Arena in Isanbul, Turkey. The win improved the U.S. record to 4-0 in preliminary play and guaranteed the squad Group B's number one seed for the eighth-finals.

"That's what we wanted to do," said Lamar Odom on the U.S. earning the number one seed for Group B. "We came out, focused on our goal, attained it and now it's time to move on."

The U.S. concludes preliminary play Thursday versus Tunisia. The medal round eight-finals, which features the top four teams from each of the four preliminary round groups advancing, will be played Sept. 4-7. Quarterfinals action is slated for Sept. 8-9, with semifinals scheduled for Sept. 11 and the gold and bronze medal games will be contested Sept. 12.

"We were a little bit fresher today. In our last game, when we played Brazil, that was our sixth game in 10 days in three countries. I just thought we were tired, more mentally than physically. No U.S. team has ever played six games in 10 days in three countries," said USA mentor and Duke University's Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski. "I thought as the game moved along, we got better in the game and we're hoping we can do that again.

"It's just a long race and people want to judge you by every game instead of looking at your body of work. Our kids have done a good job, and they did a good job again in a hard-fought game today."

U.S. forward Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) opened the scoring with a traditional three-point play, but Iran connected on a jumper and a 3-pointer to grab a 5-2 lead. The lead was short lived as Durant and Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers) hit threes on consecutive possessions and the USA had the lead for good, 9-5.

With the USA holding a 12-10 advantage with 3:27 left in the first quarter, the Americans expanded their lead to 19-10 after scoring seven consecutive points as Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls), Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies) and Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks) all put points up on the scoreboard in the run.

Leading 19-13 after one quarter, and 24-16 with 6:53 remaining before halftime, Love reeled off nine straight points for the USA and with 5:01 left in the second stanza the U.S. lead was up to 33-19.

At the end of the opening half, the U.S. advantage stood at 42-28, as Iran had managed to hit just 7-of-23 shots from the floor and was only 3-of-11 from 3-point, while the U.S. was hitting 53.1 percent from the field.

Stepping up its energy and defensive pressure to open the third quarter, Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets) opened the quarter's scoring with a steal and layup, which was followed by a Rose drive for two; a Durant slam off a Rose steal and assist, and another Rose drive that left the score 50-28.

From that point to the final horn the USA was in control and its lead never fell below 19 points.

For the game, the U.S. shot 57.8 percent from the floor, 41.2 percent from 3-point. Iran was limited to 28.8 percent shooting overall, 14.3 percent from 3-point. The Americans won the battle of the boards 39-31, and were led by Love's seven and Chandler's six rebounds. The U.S. defense forced Iran into 25 turnovers.

"I just try to come in and have energy," remarked Love, who after four games is averaging 8.3 ppg. and a team high 7.0 rpg. "I think everybody has kind of bought into their role. For me, it's to come in and be an energy guy. Guy that rebounds and gets easy baskets, shoot high percentage and plays good defense. A couple of things I can always do is play defense and rebound. That's the kind of mindset I have coming into the game and it's worked for me this far in my career and this far in this tournament."

Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi led Iran with 19 points and Rice University sophomore Arsalan Kazemi added 14 points.

"I think you always have to be ready to play. We have a deep team so any guy can come off the bench and give us a spark … or a starter can play big minutes for us. On our team, we just always have to be ready and whenever our number is called, we have to get out there and do what is expected of us," said Chandler.

In Group B's other prelim games Wednesday, Croatia (2-2) owned Tunisia (0-4) 84-64, while Slovenia (3-1) handed Brazil (2-2) its second consecutive loss 80-77. In Group A action, Argentina (4-0) remained perfect with an 88-79 decision over Jordan (0-4), Serbia (3-1) beat Australia (2-2) 94-79, and Angola (2-2) defeated Germany (1-3) 92-88 in overtime. In Group C, Russia (3-1) fended off China (1-3) 89-80, Greece (3-1) upended Ivory Coast (0-4) 97-60, while host Turkey (4-0) kept its record clean with a narrow 79-77 victory over Puerto Rico (1-3). Group D play saw New Zealand (2-2) knock off Canada (0-4) 71-61, Spain (2-2) won over Lebanon (1-3), and Lithuania (4-0) earned a 69-55 win over France (3-1).

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Worlds: USA edges Brazil 70-68
August 30, 2010

USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski described the game versus Brazil as a character game.Thanks to 27 points and 10 rebounds from Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) and a strong defensive effort in the second half, the USA passed the character test and edged Brazil (2-1) 70-68 in a battle of Group B unbeatens Monday evening at Abdi Ipekci Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. The win improved the U.S. record to 3-0 and put the Americans in excellent shape to earn the group's number one seeding for the eighth-finals.

Durant led the U.S. scoring on 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point, while Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets) added 15 points, Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) contributed 11 and Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers) was credited with eight points and nine rebounds.

"We only allowed 22 points in the second and when you're offense isn't going very well, to still play great defense shows that you have character. I said (to the team) that I thought they had the character to win because it was not easy to win tonight. They had to do it doing tough things," Krzyzewski said.

"It was not (a game) - especially in the second half - where points came easy. Both teams still played with great heart. I think it showed the character of each team. When that happens, to me, a team can show its character in a bad way or a good way. I thought both teams showed it in a good way. I found out something about my team tonight."

The contest was a tale of two different halves. Over the first two quarters the two teams combined to score 89 points with Brazil heading to their locker room at intermission with a 46-43 lead.

The defenses clamped down in the second half and the two teams managed to score 49 points combined, and only after the U.S. outscored Brazil 27-22 in the last two quarters did the Americans post the 70-68 win.

"They came out first and did a great job of putting pressure on us but I thought we fought hard all game. Shots weren't going down for us, but we still continued to play defense in that second half. It's a learning experience for us. It was a game we needed," stated Durant.

The USA jumped out early to a 10-6 lead, but Brazil found its groove offensively and finished off the quarter with eight straight points to secure a 28-22 lead.

Brazil upped its lead to 37-30 following a pair of free throws by Marcelo Huertas, but the U.S. rallied back and behind six consecutive points scored by Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder), Durant and Rose, closed the gap to 37-36. At half the Americans trailed by three, 46-43.

Down 50-47 with 7:26 to go in the third, Durant connected from behind the 3-point arc, Rose scored, Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers) added a free throw and Billups added two more from the charity stripe to finish off an 8-0 run, and the U.S. had its largest lead of the night to that point, 55-50.

Brazil refused to let the U.S. out of its sights and heading into the final 10 minutes, the USA was up 61-59 and facing its first test of the World Championship.

With the shot clock about to expire, Brazil's Marcus Vieira hit a three to even the score at 62 all. Odom counted on the other end and Rose pushed the USA back ahead 66-62 with 6:51 to play when he converted a pass from Billups into a pretty reverse layup.

The U.S. lead stood at 68-64 with 3:54 to play following a pair of clutch free throws from Rose and neither team was able to score again until 1:04 was left when Huertas scored on a drive to pull Brazil back within two, 68-66. Billups countered with his own drive at the other end, and then Brazil's Leandro Barbosa scored with 51.4 remaining to again make the contest a two-point game, 70-68.

The U.S. missed a three with 11 seconds to go that would have sealed the game and with 3.5 seconds left Huertas was fouled in the lane. Missing his first free throw, on the second attempt he purposely threw the ball hard off the rim and then came up with the rebound. Passing the ball into the lane to Barbosa, the guard's game tying toss rimmed out at the buzzer and the USA had the win.

"Chauncey made some big plays. He's the leader of this team so we got to follow him….he did a great job of carrying us in the second half," remarked Durant.

Both teams struggled with its shooting on the night, Brazil managed 42.2 percent for the game, while the USA hit 41.8 percent. The USA was 18-of-23 from the foul line, compared to Brazil's 4-of-8 charity shooting. The U.S. also held a slight advantage on the glass, 36-32, but had 22 turnovers and Brazil turned it over 20 times.

"Adversity makes a family tougher," Odom said. "You have to go through some things in life. It was good for us to have a challenge and be pushed to the limit."

Monday was a day off for the teams in Group C and Group D, and in Group A play in Kayseri, Argentina (3-0) remained perfect with a 91-70 win over Angola (1-2); Serbia (2-1) tore through Jordan (0-3) 112-69, and Australia (2-1) took apart Germany (1-2) 78-43. In Group B's other action Monday, Slovenia (2-1) fought off Croatia (1-2) 91-84, and Iran (1-2) upended Tunisia (0-3) 71-58.

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Worlds: USA beats Slovenia 99-77
August 29, 2010

In a game of offensive surges, the USA (2-0) had several more than Slovenia (1-1) and behind a game best 22 points from Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) the USA rolled to a 99-77 victory Sunday evening at Abdi Ipekci Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the second consecutive convincing victory for the Americans in as many nights.

“Coach told us that we wanted to disrupt their offense by pressuring them and getting into the passing lanes and I just tried to do that. I played my hardest and I was able to get my hands on a couple basketballs and get us some easy points,” said Durant, who hit 8-of-13 shots for the evening.

Four U.S. players in addition to Durant finished with double digit point production. Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies) tallied 16 points and nailed 3-of-6 3-pointers, Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers) and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) contributed 11 points each, and Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) added a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds in just 13 minutes.

The U.S. continues World Championship preliminary round play Monday against FIBA Americas Zone champion Brazil. Brazil, which was 1-0 after earning an 81-65 win over Iran Saturday, faces Tunisia in Sunday’s Group B nightcap.

“It was a good, tough international game. They have a great perimeter. It’s tough to cause turnovers because they really have three guys who can handle the ball,” said USA mentor and Duke University’s Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski. “All in all I thought it was a good day for us to get the amount of experience that we had out there today. I have to keep bringing the team along.

“I think our defense is good. Our offense can hurt it. We had 12 turnovers in that first half and they forced some of those turnovers and then we forced our own turnovers and that puts a lot of pressure on the defense. But, overall I’m very happy with the effort. Our kids played hard. We’ve played 80 minutes in this tournament and we’ve played hard for 80 minutes. As long as we get that effort, we’re going to have a chance.”

Sprinting out of the gate, Durant, five points, and Iguodala, four points, combined to scored nine of the USA’s first 10 points as the U.S. jumped out to a 10-2 lead. The U.S. lead would never get below five points again.

Enjoying a 23-11 lead after the first stanza, the U.S. defense was again aggressive and disruptive right from the start. Limiting Slovenia to an arctic 4-of-18 shooting from the field and just 1-of-9 accuracy from 3-point in the game’s first 10 minutes, the USA hit 9-of-14 shots but turned the ball over seven times.

Slovenia opened the second quarter with a 12-5 run that cut the gap to five, 28-23, with 3:36 left in the period. The U.S., which failed to hit a field goal in the quarter until the 3:29 mark, finally got on track and following a jumper in the lane from Westbrook finished the half with 14-3 run that left it holding a 42-28 advantage at halftime.

The Americans opened the second half by mimicking their first half start, but this time outscored Slovenia 17-4 to blow the game wide open 59-32 with 4:28 left on the clock. The run was fueled by the USA’s defense which saw Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets) make a steal and covert with a layup, then next possession, Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) made a steal and found Durant for another uncontested layup. The USA continued to surge and when Durant dropped a 3ball the U.S. had extended its lead to 59-32.

Slovenia, spurred by its very large and vocal crowd, pushed back and after out gunning the U.S. 14-4, the score was 61-46 with 1:08 to play in the third.

Iguodala made one of two free throws and Gay capped the quarter with an old fashioned three-point play off of an offensive rebound and put back, and the U.S. was back in control 67-46 after three periods.

From there the USA lead never feel below 18 and the USA sailed in for the 99-77 win.

“There were points in the game where we had to rethink the kind of basketball we were playing especially with the second group,” remarked Gay. “Basketball is a game of runs. They made their run. We had a couple of turnovers. We fixed that and made our lead bigger.”

“When we don’t rebound and we don’t play defense, we don’t play well. That’s the key to us. Everybody has their staple and that’s our staple,” he added.

Behind Love’s 11 boards and nine more from Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers), the USA outrebounded Slovenia 50-33, with 14 offensive boards to its credit.

“Brazil is really like an NBA team. They’ll play like we do. They’re veterans. You got guys who are strong contributors on NBA teams in (Leandro) Barbosa and (Anderson) Varejao and Splitter will be one of the newcomers who’s not so young in the league. It’ll be like a medal round game. We’re looking forward to it because it will give us a lot of great experience as we go into the following week,” stated Coach K.

The USA-Brazil World Championship series stands at 6-5 in favor of the United States with the two teams’ last meeting in the 1998 World Championship. Following a day off on Aug. 31, the USA resumes play Sept. 1 against Asia Zone champ Iran, a team it has not faced previously in World Championship play, then closes out preliminary play with a contest versus Tunisia on Sept. 2, another team that the Americans have not met in World Championship action.

In Group B’s middle game Sunday, Croatia (1-1) rolled to a 75-54 win over Iran (0-2), while the nightcap features Brazil (1-0) against Tunisia (0-1). In Group A play in Kayseri, Angola (1-1) defeated Jordan (0-2) 79-65 and Germany (1-1) outlasted Serbia (1-1) 82-81 in a 2 OT thriller. The Group A last game of the day features Argentina (1-0) meeting Australia (1-0). In Group C play in Ankara, China (1-1) outscored Ivory Coast (0-2) 83-73 and Greece (2-0) nipped Puerto Rico (0-2) 83-80. The finale in Group C tonight features host Turkey (1-0) versus Russia (1-0). In Group D games played in Izmir, Lithuania (2-0) rallied to take down Canada (0-2) 70-68 and France (2-0) knocked off Lebanon (0-2) 86-59. The final Group D game features Spain (1-0) against New Zealand (0-1).

The 2010 USA World Championship Team assistant coaches are Syracuse University’s Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan and Toronto Raptors head mentor Jay Triano.

The 2010 FIBA (International Basketball Federation) World Championship for Men is being held Aug. 28-Sept. 12 in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Kayseri, Turkey. Twenty-four teams are competing in the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Men and those teams were divided into four preliminary round groups consisting of six teams each.

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Exhibition: USA beats Greece 87-59
August 25, 2010

The 2010 USA Men’s World Championship Team turned up its defensive pressure in the second half and ran away with an 87-59 victory over Greece on Wednesday night at OAKA Arena in Athens, Greece. Guard Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers) came off the bench to lead the U.S. with 18 points while shooting 4-of-7 from 3-point range as the American men closed out its pre-FIBA World Championship exhibition schedule with a perfect 4-0 slate.

Also scoring in double digits in the win were Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) with 15 points and seven boards, Player of the Game Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) shot 6-of-7 from the field and scored 13, while Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) checked in with a double-double of 10 points and a game-best 12 rebounds.

“We know it’s an exhibition game,” said USA and Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Greece did not have its two big guys (Sofoklis Schortsanitas and Yiannis Bourousis) inside, but for us it was good to play another international game against a great country, a good atmosphere, and it just gives us more experience. We’re happy that we got a chance to play everyone and I think they played all their healthy players. The score is insignificant really because they didn’t have their complete team against us.”

“Well, I’m just making open shots,” said Gordon. “Our team was in great rhythm and I basically scored off transition baskets, just hitting threes and just hitting easy layups.”

Greece, which was playing without the services of two of its centers, Sofoklis ‘Baby Shaq’ Schorsanitas, who was injured during warm-ups, and Yiannis Bourousis, got on the board first, but the lead was short-lived. Rose hit a three at 7:52 and the USA never again trailed. Rose’s three was the start of a 16-4 USA run that ended with another three, this one from Gordon, which put the U.S. up 16-6 with 4:05 still to go in the first period.

However, the U.S. had a hard time pulling away from the Greeks as the USA’s 22-14 lead at the end of the first quarter was expanded to just 10 points, 42-32, at halftime.

Greece edged back to within eight points, 45-37, three minutes into the second half. From there, the USA’s defense clamped down and slowly wore out the hosts. On the other end, Durant scored five consecutive points, followed by an Andre Igoudala (Philadelphia 76ers) dunk on a fast-break pass from Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets) and the red, white and blue was off and running. Including the 7-0 run fueled by Durant, the U.S. machine outpaced Greece 23-7 to close out the quarter with a commanding 68-44 lead.

“We went out with a bang,” said Rose. “We played well. At halftime, we just tried to come out, play aggressive and not let them back in, like we did Spain. That’s something we’ve been working on and it’s coming along.”

During the third-quarter assault, when the USA outscored Greece 26-12, the USA notched five steals, forced seven turnovers and dished out seven assists. Additionally, the U.S. shot an even 60.0 percent (9-15 FGs) from the field in the third quarter, while limiting Greece to just 36.4 percent (4-11 FGs).

“We were up 10 and we wanted to use that opportunity to practice playing with a lead,” said Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors). “We wanted to use our energy on defense to get some stops to make it easier on ourselves down the stretch.”

The USA edged Greece 19-15 in the fourth period.

“Obviously they didn’t have the big fellow (Schortsanitas) playing, he’s a tough match-up with anybody,” said Billups. “They weren’t the Greece that I’m sure we’ll see if we play them in Turkey. But at the same time, I’m sure they wanted to come out and win, playing on their home soil. We have a really competitive rivalry with that team as well, so they wanted to win. I thought we came out and play as hard as we could.”

Kostas Tsaartsaris hit 9-of-12 of his shots from the field and finished with a game-high 24 points for Greece.

Outrebounding Greece 44-22, the American defense forced 24 Greek turnovers and posted 18 steals.

The 2010 USA World Championship Team assistant coaches are Syracuse University’s Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan and Toronto Raptors head mentor Jay Triano.

All four of the USA’s pre-World Championship friendlies were part of the new Global Community Cup, which will include all USA Basketball exhibition games played outside of formal international competitions. Along with the games, the Global Community Cup features a social responsibility element that will highlight USA Basketball’s commitment to giving back to communities in the U.S. and abroad.

The USA will travel tomorrow to Istanbul, Turkey, where the 2010 FIBA World Championship will tip-off on Aug. 28 versus Croatia. The 2010 FIBA (International Basketball Federation) World Championship for Men is being held Aug. 28-Sept. 12 in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Kayseri, Turkey. Twenty-four teams will compete in the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Men and those teams were divided into four preliminary round groups consisting of six teams each. The United States is joined in preliminary round Group B by Brazil, Croatia, Iran, Slovenia and Tunisia.

The U.S. opens the ‘10 Worlds on Aug. 28 against Croatia, a team it has never faced in World Championship play, but a squad the USA is 3-0 versus in Olympic action. Facing its second European team in as many days, the Americans on Aug. 29 will meet Slovenia, a team it defeated 114-95 in 2006 World Championship preliminary play in their only prior World Championship meeting. FIBA Americas Zone champion Brazil will challenge the U.S. on Aug. 29. The USA-Brazil World Championship series stands at 6-5 in favor of the United States with the two teams’ last meeting in the 1998 World Championship. Following a day off on Aug. 31, the USA resumes play Sept. 1 against Asia Zone champ Iran, a team it has not faced previously in World Championship play, then closes out preliminary play with a contest versus Tunisia on Sept. 2, another team that the Americans have not met in World Championship action.

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Rajon Rondo is final Team USA cut
August 24, 2010

With one exhibition game remaining and just tfour days out from the tip of the FIBA World Championship for Men, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo today announced the 12 players who will represent the United States at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Named to the 12-man 2010 USA World Championship Team were: Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets); Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers); Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).

The 2010-12 USA National Team coaching staff is led by Duke University’s Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, and features as USA assistant coaches Syracuse University’s Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan and Toronto Raptors head mentor Jay Triano.

“Rajon came to us and said he was going to withdraw from the team, that he had some family matters to attend to and some things to take care of before the NBA season. He did an outstanding job during our training, we appreciate the effort and commitment he made to our program and he completely has our support,” said Colangelo.

The USA World Championship Team will complete their exhibition tour facing Greece in Athens on Wednesday (12 noon EDT). The U.S. will then travel to Istanbul on Aug. 26 and train prior to starting the World Championship.

The 12 members of the USA World Championship Team, by the end of the FIBA World Championship (Sept. 12), average out to be 24.66 years old. The roster features six players 22 years old or younger - four players who are just 21 years old (Durant, Rose, Gordon, Westbrook) and two who are 22 years old (Curry, Love). The oldest player on the USA roster is Chauncey Billups, who is 33 years old.

By comparison, the 2006 team averaged 24.58 years of age; 26.16 in 2002; 27.83 (NBA lockout year) in 1998; 26.33 in 1994 and in 1990, the last team consisting of collegians, was 20.08 years old.

The 2010 USA World Championship squad averages 5.0 seasons of NBA experience, with one player having one season (Curry), four players (Gordon, Love, Rose, Westbrook) possessing two seasons, one with three (Durant), one (Gay) with four, one with five (Granger), one with six (Iguodala),one with nine (Chandler), one with 11 (Odom) and one with 13 seasons (Billups).

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FINAL 2010 12-MAN TEAM USA BASKETBALL ROSTER
August 24, 2010

This is the final, 12-man roster Team USA will bring to the 2010 World Basketball Championship tournament in Turkey:

NAME POS HGT WGT DOB CURRENT TEAM / COLLEGE or HIGH SCHOOL
Chauncey Billups G 6-3 202 9/25/76 Denver Nuggets / University of Colorado
Tyson Chandler C 7-1 235 10/02/82 Dallas Mavericks / Dominguez H.S. (CA)
Stephen Curry G 6-3 185 3/14/88 Golden State Warriors / Davidson College
Kevin Durant G 6-9 230 9/29/88 Oklahoma City Thunder / University of Texas
Rudy Gay F 6-8 230 8/17/86 Memphis Grizzlies / University of Connecticut
Eric Gordon G 6-3 222 12/25/88 Los Angeles Clippers / Indiana University
Danny Granger F 6-8 228 4/20/83 Indiana Pacers / University of New Mexico
Andre Iguodala G/F 6-6 207 1/28/84 Philadelphia 76ers / University of Arizona
Kevin Love F 6-10 260 9/07/88 Minnesota Timberwolves / UCLA
Lamar Odom F 6-10 230 11/06/79 Los Angeles Lakers / University of Rhode Island
Derrick Rose G 6-3 190 10/04/88 Chicago Bulls / University of Memphis
Russell Westbrook G 6-3 187 11/12/88 Oklahoma City Thunder / UCLA

COACHING STAFF

Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University
Assistant Coach: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse University
Assistant Coach: Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers
Assistant Coach: Jay Triano, Toronto Raptors
Team Physician: Steve Traina, Denver Nuggets
Athletic Trainer: Joe Sharpe, Oklahoma City Thunder
Athletic Trainer: Casey Smith, Dallas Mavericks

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POSITION-BY-POSITION 2010 12-MAN TEAM USA BASKETBALL ROSTER
August 24, 2010

With the makeup of Team USA's undersized roster, certain guys will have to play bigger than they really are. Here our needs-adjusted listing of the player positions:

Guards: Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Chauncey Billups, Stephen Curry, Eric Gordon

Forwards: Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, Andre Iguodala

Centers: Tyson Chandler, Lamar Odom, Kevin Love

With Chandler being the only "true center" on the roster, forwards Odom and Love will spend time at the position.

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Exhibition: USA edges Spain 86-85
August 22, 2010

The 2010 USA Men’s World Championship Team fought through adversity, fended off a second half attack and edged host and defending world champion Spain 86-85 on Sunday night inside the Magic Box in Madrid, Spain. Playing in a raucous stadium filled to its 10,960 capacity, the USA’s charge was led by Player of the Game Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder), who posted game-highs of 25 points and 10 boards, and also had a pair of key blocks in the closing seconds.

Also in double digits were Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls), who scored 13 points, including the game’s final two points from the line; Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers) notched 12 points and nine boards; and Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets) tossed in 10 points.

“This is something I’m never going to forget … never,” said Rose.

“I got to hit them,” he recalled about what he was thinking during his game-clinching free throws. “As your legacy goes on or the way you want your legacy to finally end, this is something that some people are going to remember.”

The U.S., now 3-0 in its three exhibition games, will travel to Athens tomorrow to prepare for its final exhibition game against Greece on Aug. 25 at 7:00 p.m. local (12:00 p.m. EDT live on ESPN).

“Great crowd, two excellent teams playing their hearts out and we felt fortunate to win. We made one more play then they did and that’s how good the game was,” said USA and Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “We were trying to learn about our younger players so we started a different lineup.

“Before we talk about the outside (players), Lamar Odom should be our starting center. He’s finally into shape I think to play at this level. Curry has been out so we wanted to give him a chance and we already know what Rondo and Granger can do, and Love was out. The doctor wanted to keep him out because of hitting his head and because it’s back-to-back, so that was a precaution. That was our plan tonight, just to take a better look at our team.”

Trailing since the first basket of the game, Spain took its first lead of the night, 82-80, with under two minutes to play on a Felipe Reyes layup. Durant countered to knot the score 17 seconds later and after Ricky Rubio tossed the ball away the U.S. had a shot to pull ahead again, but Odom’s 3-pointer was off the mark and Spain had the ball back.

However Reyes missed his next attempt and Odom secured the rebound. With seven seconds left on the shot clock and 32.99 seconds to play in the game, Rose nailed a driving bucket and the U.S. was back in the lead, 84-82.

Following a Spanish time out, Juan Carlos Navarro was fouled driving to the hoop. He converted on the 3-point play to give his side the lead once again with 27.82 ticks on the clock.

Rose shook off a determined defensive effort by Rubio and was fouled as he drove to the basket. Ignoring the deafening roar of the crowd, he calmly stepped to the line and swished both his attempts with 16.92 to go.

“He made two big free throws and like I told him after the game, those were really big confidence-wise for him and the rest of the team to know that we got a guy we can go to down the stretch,” said Andre Igoudala (Philadelphia 76ers).

Spain again called time, which enabled the hosts to advance the ball to half court.

“We’ve practiced a lot with the zone and we used zone on all under out of bounds which were good. Then from the timeout Jim Boeheim said let’s go orange” said Krzyzewski on what the plan was out of the final time out. “We call it orange with respect for Jim, he said he doesn’t have any buildings named after him in Syracuse so we’ll name the zone after him. I agreed with him, but it was his suggestion and the guys did a good job with it.”

After inbounding the ball, the Spaniards moved the ball around and finally Rubio found room to attempt a 3-point attempt. However, there wasn’t enoughspace as Durant partially deflected the shot. The rebound was bobbled around and Spain came up with it, but Durant was again there to block Rudy Fernandez’ 3-point attempt and the clock expired with the U.S. collecting its third victory in as many exhibition games.

“I just wanted to cover a much ground as I could and help my teammates out,” said Durant about the game’s final possession. “I saw Ricky Rubio open in the corner and I just wanted to use my length to get out there and tip the shot. I was able to get a finger on it and I had the ball and it kind of slipped out of my hand and Rubio got it back and threw it to Fernandez and I just didn’t want to jump and get a foul on a 3-point shot so I stayed down and kind of timed it pretty well and I was fortunate enough to get a block and the game was over. I just wanted to do something to help my team win.”

The USA, which opened up a 16-3 gap to start the game, held a 45-33 lead at the midway break.

Spain charged out of the locker room and in addition to hitting 6-of-7 from the line, knocked down a couple of threes and in the span of almost five minutes, to close the gap to 55-53.

The U.S. came back to life. Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) scored to start the USA on 8-1 run that was capped by consecutive baskets from Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) that left the Americas holding a 63-54 lead. After a pair of Spain baskets, the Americans closed the third quarter’s final 1:05 with a 6-0 spurt to open a double-digit, 69-58, lead with 10 minutes to play.

Plagued by fouls most of the game, the U.S. picked up three quick ones in the first 1:12 of the fourth quarter. Trying to stay out of the bonus and keep Spain off the line, the USA’s defense sagged and Spain battled its way back into the game as the hosts outscored the red, white and blue 20-11 over the opening seven minutes in the fourth and then tied the game at 80-all with 2:37 to play.

The USA had a much better shooting night against Spain than Saturday night’s contest against Lithuania, hitting 48.5 percent (33-68 FGs) from the field, while holding Spain to 41.8 percent (28-67 FGs). However, the U.S., which owned the glass 39-27, sent Spain to the line for 29 attempts and the hosts converted on 24 (.828). In contrast, the American men made 14-of-18 from the line (.778).

Spain was led by Navarro’s 20 points, Marc Gasol had 17, Reyes tossed in 16 off the bench.

“It was a tough game. On their home court. We just fought through adversity and came out with a win,” said Westbrook.

“First off it was a fun game, one of those games that was a learning experience for us, coming over here and playing one of the best teams in the world,” stated Durant. “I think we made key plays down the stretch and we also played together as a team and stuck together through tough times. So it was a good test for us.”