LAS VEGAS, NEVADA (July 31, 2014) – USA Basketball today announced the rosters for the USA Blue and USA White teams that will square off in the USA Basketball Showcase that will be held Friday, 8 p.m. (CST) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The USA White Team, led by 2012 Olympic gold medalists Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) and James Harden (Houston Rockets), will go against the USA Blue squad led by 2012 Olympic gold medalist Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans), and 2010 World Championship gold medalists Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) and Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls). The 2014 USA Basketball Showcase will be televised live nationally on ESPN, Mark Jones and analyst and international basketball expert Fran Fraschilla will provide commentary for the game.
The Blue-White intrasquad game, which concludes four days of training that started July 28 in Las Vegas, will feature all 19 members of the 2014 USA Basketball National Team and Mason Plumlee (Brooklyn Nets), who was a member of the 2014 USA Select Team and who was added for the Showcase.
“In order to have two squads of 10 players we needed 20 players. Mason Plumlee performed well in camp with the USA Select Team and because of the position he plays he was a logical choice to be part of this game,” said Jerry Colangelo, USA National Team managing director.
The USA White Team, coach by USA assistant coach and Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, includes Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards); DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings); Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons); Durant; Harden; Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers); Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers); Paul Millsap (Atlanta Hawks); Chandler Parsons (Dallas Mavericks); and Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors).
The USA Blue Team, which will be led by USA assistant coach and New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams, includes Curry; Davis; DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors); Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets); Paul George (Indiana Pacers); Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz); Kyle Korver (Atlanta Hawks); Plumlee; Rose; and John Wall (Washington Wizards).
Tickets for the 2014 USA Basketball Showcase start at $10, and can be purchased by calling 702-739-FANS or online at www.UNLVtickets.com.
“The USA Basketball Showcase has been an exciting conclusion to the USA Basketball National Team Las Vegas training camps since 2007 and this year’s game promises to be as exciting and as competitive of a game as we’ve ever had,” said Colangelo. “After four days of training, the players are looking forward to playing in a competitive game situation. The game will also be beneficial in our decision making process for selecting finalists for our team that will eventually represent the United States at the FIBA Basketball World Cup.”
The 2014-16 USA Basketball National Team coaching staff features USA head coach and Duke University’s Naismith Hall of Fame mentor Mike Krzyzewski. Serving as assistant coaches are USA Basketball and Syracuse University and Naismith Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, Thibodeau and Williams.
Following the Las Vegas camp, selected team finalists will have a 12-day break before reassembling in Chicago for training Aug. 14-15 and an exhibition contest versus Brazil at the United Center on Aug. 16. The American squad will continue its World Cup preparations Aug. 18-22 in New York, and play a pair of exhibition games at Madison Square Garden, Aug. 20 against Dominican Republic, and Aug. 22 versus Puerto Rico. The USA will complete its pre-World Cup exhibition tour on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain. Training Aug. 24-25, the U.S. will close out its exhibition tour on Aug. 26 facing Slovenia at Gran Canaria Arena. Conducting a basketball clinic for youth on Aug. 27 in Dakar, Senegal, the USA team will complete its training for the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Basketball World Cup Aug. 28-29 in Bilbao, Spain, the site of its World Cup preliminary round play.
The 2014 World Cup, featuring a total of 24 national teams, is scheduled to be held Aug. 30-Sept. 14 in Spain. The USA will play its preliminary round games in Bilbao, after being drawn into Group C along with teams from the Dominican Republic, Finland, New Zealand, Turkey and Ukraine.
The USA opens the 2014 World Cup preliminary round play on Aug. 30 against Finland, and then faces Turkey on Aug. 31 in a rematch of the 2010 FIBA World Championship gold medal game, a contest in which the USA claimed an 81-64 victory. Following a day off on Sept. 1, the USA resumes play Sept. 2 facing New Zealand. The U.S. will go against the Dominican Republic on Sept. 3, and will conclude its preliminary play on Sept. 4 facing Ukraine.
Each team at the 2014 World Cup will play the other teams in its preliminary group, and the top four finishing teams from each of the four preliminary round groups will then qualify for the round of 16. Winners of the round of 16 games will advance to the quarterfinals, while losers are eliminated. Winners of the quarterfinals games will advance to the medal round semifinals, while the quarterfinals losers are eliminated from the competition. Winners of the semifinals will advance to the Sept. 14 gold medal game, while semifinals losers will meet in the bronze medal game on Sept. 13. The games from the round of 16 to the semifinals will be played in Barcelona and Madrid, and the bronze and gold medal games will be held in Madrid.