The USA Team needs to finish top 2 at the coming FIBA Americas Championship which begins today, August 22, in order to secure an entry permit for 2008 beijing Olympics.
Only three holdovers remain from the team that succumbed to a big fat Greek pick-and-roll party and had to settle for a bronze medal at the FIBA World Championships in Japan -- LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard. Reinforcements came in the form of Kobe Bryant, Chauncey Billups, and Jason Kidd. USA Basketball also brought in Michael Redd and Mike Miller to provide more consistent perimeter shooting against zone defenses, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler for rebounding and shot-blocking.
Here is what the team looks like:
PG: Kidd, Billups, Williams
SG: Bryant, Redd
SF: James, Miller, Prince
PF: Anthony, Chandler
C: Stoudemire, Howard
More roster details are on nba.com (http://www.nba.com/usabasketball/roster_070820.html).
And the tournament schedule:
Aug. 22: vs. Venezuela (11 PM ET, ESPN Classic)
Aug. 23: vs. US Virgin Islands (11 PM ET, ESPN Classic)
Aug. 25: vs. Canada (3 PM ET, ESPN2)
Aug. 26: vs. Brazil (9 PM ET, ESPN2)
Aug. 27-30: Second Round
Sept 1: Semifinals
Sept 2: Finals
My questions are,
will the Championship be a sure thing for USA with all these talents?
How do we watch the games as we do not have the extended TV program?