Ten top young NBA players were named today by USA Basketball to the 2008 USA Basketball Men’s Select Team that has been chosen to help prepare the 2008 USA Senior National Team for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, scheduled to take place Aug. 10-24 in Beijing, China.
The ten players named to the USA Basketball Select Team include: LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City NBA); Jeff Green (Oklahoma City NBA); Luther Head (Houston Rockets); Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); Kevin Martin (Sacramento Kings); O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) and Rodney Stuckey (Detroit Pistons).
Additionally, USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team managing Director Jerry Colangelo announced that two rising stars from the 2008 NBA Summer League will be selected to join the 2008 USA Select Team. The 2008 NBA Summer League is taking place July 11-20 in Las Vegas.
As was the case in last summer, Oklahoma City head coach P.J. Carlesimo, who served as an assistant with the 1992 U.S. Olympic “Dream Team” and who has been a head or assistant coach of six other USA Basketball teams, will serve as head coach of the USA Select Team and assisting Carlesimo for a second straight summer is Toronto Raptors assistant coach Jay Triano.
“We also brought into the senior team’s training camp last summer a select team of young NBA superstars and it proved to be valuable preparation for our Senior Team. Again in 2008 the Select Team features some of the league’s most promising young and upcoming players – including Kevin Durant who is a member of our Senior National Team and was the 2008 NBA Rookie of the Year. We’re looking for this select group to really compete and help prepare our senior team for Beijing,” said Colangelo.
“I’ll also repeat something I said last year. Some of these players have represented USA Basketball in the past and there are others who will. This is an opportunity for them to get into the USA Basketball pipeline. We expect many of these players to be part of the next generation that make up the USA Basketball Senior National program.”
“P.J. Carlesimo will again coach the USA Select Team and Jay Triano will assist. They are a great fit as P.J. has a lot of USA Basketball experience and Jay is a former coach of the Canadian national team and currently an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptor,” added Colangelo.
The select squad will begin training July 20 in Las Vegas and is expected to train and scrimmage against the USA Senior National Team from July 21-24.
The Americans will cap the Las Vegas portion of its training on July 25 (5 p.m. Las Vegas local time) with the 2008 State Farm USA Basketball Challenge where the USA will meet the Canadian National Team at Thomas & Mack Center.
After playing four games between July 31- Aug. 5 that are part of the USA Basketball International Challenge in Macao and Shanghai, China, the United States will arrive in Beijing, Aug. 6.
Preliminary round play of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games takes place Aug. 10-18.
