After suffering through international play for years now, I'm excited to see this new USA basketball team. USA Basketball announced on Monday its 12-man roster for the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, which will be played from Aug. 22-Sept. 2. Some of the nation's best are on the team and I'm ready to see them ball.
One of the team's glaring weaknesses from the past was its outside shooting and with the additions of Mike Miller (46% FG, 40.6% 3-PTR last season) and Michael Redd (46.5% FG, 38.2% 3-PTR), the team's outside shooting should be solid. I'd like to see one more guy who's great from the outside, but maybe Kobe Bryant (46.3% FG, 34.4% 3-PTR) can be reliable from there. The roster includes:
Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets); Chauncey Billups (Detroit Pistons); Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Tyson Chandler (New Orleans Hornets); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers); Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets); Miller (Memphis Grizzlies); Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons); Redd (Milwaukee Bucks); Amaré Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns); and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz).
Kevin Durant and Nick Collison were cut.
The first game is Wednesday at 8 p.m. against Venezuela and will be televised on ESPN 360 and ESPN Classic.
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