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DeRozan Named To 2014 USA World Cup Team

USA Basketball has announced that Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan is one of 12 players selected to represent the United States at the 2014 FIBA World Cup of Basketball being held August 30-September 14 in Spain.  The selections were announced by USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team program Managing Director Jerry Colangelo following the USA’s 112-86 exhibition victory over Puerto Rico at Madison Square Garden.

DeRozan, 6-foot-7, 220 pounds, was selected ninth overall by the Raptors in the 2009 NBA Draft. He finished ninth in NBA scoring during the 2013-14 campaign with a career-high 22.7 points. DeRozan also posted career highs for rebounds (4.3), assists (4.0) and minutes (38.2). For his efforts he was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team for the first time in his career. 

“I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this team,” DeRozan said. “This is what all my hard work is for and I'm glad that it has paid off.

“I look forward to continuing to put in the work and doing whatever I can to contribute to the team's success and bringing back gold.”

The following players will join DeRozan on the 2014 USA Basketball World Cup team: DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans); Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons); Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets); Rudy Gay (Sacramento Kings); James Harden (Houston Rockets); Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers); Mason Plumlee (Brooklyn Nets); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); and Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors).

Duke University’s Naismith Hall of Fame coach, Mike Krzyzewski, will lead the USA National Team in Spain. Rounding out Krzyzewski’s coaching staff as assistant coaches are Syracuse University and Naismith Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau and New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams. 

“The first thing is we are very pleased with the overall effort of every player who was a part of the process,” said Krzyzewski. “To select twelve was difficult, because our pool is so good. As we go forward, we not only go forward as twelve, we go forward as a pool for USA Basketball. As a staff we want to thank the players who are not going forward.

“I’m excited about the 12 players selected and feel we have excellent versatility and the makings of a really good defensive team.”

The USA will complete its pre-World Cup exhibition tour on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain. Training August 24-25, the U.S. will close out its exhibition tour on August 26 facing Slovenia at Gran Canaria Arena. The USA team will complete its training for the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Basketball World Cup August 28-29 in Bilbao, Spain, the site of its World Cup preliminary round games.

The 2014 World Cup, featuring a total of 24 national teams, is scheduled to be held August 30-September 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 on August 30 against Finland, and then faces Turkey on August 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 September 1, the USA resumes play September 2 facing New Zealand. The U.S. will go against the Dominican Republic on September 3 and will conclude its preliminary play on September 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 September 14 gold medal game, while semifinals losers will meet in the bronze medal game on September 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. 

2014 USA Basketball World Cup Team

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