USA Men's National Team Preparation For FIBA World Championship To Include Exhibition Games In New York, Madrid, And Athens

June 9 , 2010 - Colorado Springs, Colorado

USA Basketball Men's National Team, in preparation for the Aug. 28-Sept. 12 FIBA World Championship, will play four world basketball powers in exhibition games during the newly launched 2010 Global Community Cup Tour, USA Basketball announced today.

USA Basketball officially announced its complete domestic and international training and exhibition game plans for the 2010 USA Men's National Team. The Americans will face France at Madison Square Garden in New York on Aug. 15, meet Lithuania on Aug. 21 and Spain on Aug. 22 in Madrid, Spain, and play Greece in Athens on Aug. 25.

All of these -friendlies" are part of the new Global Community Cup, which will include all USA Basketball exhibition games played outside of formal international competitions. Along with the games, the Global Community Cup features a social responsibility element that will highlight USA Basketball's commitment to giving back to the communities they touch, in the U.S. or abroad.

-We set out to establish a very challenging lineup of exhibition opponents for our 2010 USA National Team Tour and we have accomplished that. In order to get our team as best prepared as possible for the 2010 World Championship we believe it is important to face top competition in challenging settings. In facing France in New York, Spain in Madrid, Greece in Athens and Lithuania in Spain, not only will we be facing formable teams that rank #3 (Spain), #4 (Greece), #6 (Lithuania) and #15 (France) in the FIBA world rankings , but we'll also be playing two of those teams in their home country," said Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball chairman.

-I'm sure these four exhibition games will be exciting and memorable events for all basketball fans. As we begin the building of our National Team for 2010-12, the first year is critical and in looking at our training and exhibition schedule this summer, we will face some very talented teams. France, Lithuania, Spain and Greece are all World Championship medal contenders and the training and the exhibition games that are ahead for the USA team will be critical to our preparations for the World Championship," said USA and Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

USA Basketball previously announced that the USA National Team will open its 2010 training with a July 19-24 team training camp in Las Vegas. That camp will culminate with the 2010 USA Basketball Showcase, a Blue-White intra-squad game that will be held on Saturday, July 24, 7 p.m. (PDT) at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV. The USA training camp will also feature daily practice sessions from 12-3 p.m. (PDT) July 20-23 at UNLV's Cox Pavilion. Tickets are now on sale for the 2010 USA Basketball Showcase. Tickets are priced $75, $50, $35 for plaza seats and $18 and $12 for balcony and can be purchased by calling 866-388-FANS or on line at www.UNLVtickets.com.

Reassembling Aug. 9 in New York and training Aug. 10-11 at John Jay College, the USA National Team will be a prominent part of the first ever World Basketball Festival, which is being held by Nike and USA Basketball in New York City Aug. 12-15. The World Basketball Festival officially tips off on Aug. 12 when the U.S. team takes part in a special showcase in an unprecedented open-air setting in Times Square on Aug. 12.

Following practice on Aug. 13, the team will travel to Springfield, Mass., to participate in the 2010 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony. Training Aug. 14 at Madison Square Garden, the USA will culminate its week of training and the World Basketball Festival with an exhibition double-header at Madison Square Garden The USA will face France (1 p.m. EDT) in the first exhibition game, while China will meet Puerto Rico (3:30 p.m. EDT) in the second contest.

Following a practice in New York on Aug. 16, the USA's training moves to Madrid. Training Aug. 17-20, the USA will play Lithuania on Aug. 21 (9 p.m. local time), then face defending World Champion Spain on Aug. 22 (9 p.m. local time). Both Madrid exhibition games are part of the 2010 Global Community Cup and will be played at La Caja Mágica. Tickets are on sale now and available online at http://www.entradas.com/entradas/comprar-global_community_cup.

The U.S. will resume its training Aug. 24 in Athens, and will meet Greece on Aug. 25 (9 p.m. local time) in the final 2010 Global Community Cup exhibition game at OAKA Arena.

USA-FRANCE SERIES HISTORY
The USA-France exhibition in New York will be the first matchup between the two nations since the gold medal game in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney where the U.S. edged France 85-75 to claim the Olympic gold medal.

France, currently ranked #15 in the world by FIBA, placed fifth in the 2009 EuroBasket after defeating Croatia 69-62 in the 5th/6th place game.

Since NBA players became eligible to participate in FIBA competitions, the USA has compiled a 1-0 win-loss record versus France in official FIBA competitions.

The scheduled Aug. 15 USA-France exhibition at Madison Square Garden is the first exhibition game between the two teams since the Dream Team defeated the French National Team in Monte Carlo, Monaco, in 1992.

USA-GREECE SERIES HISTORY
Greece, which finished fifth in the 2008 Olympic Games and second in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, currently lists No. 4 in the FIBA World rankings. The U.S. and Greece met in preliminary round play at the 2008 Olympics and the USA recorded a 92-69 win. Greece stunned the U.S. in semifinals action in Japan at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, handing the Americans a 101-95 loss.

Since NBA players became eligible to participate in FIBA competitions, the USA has compiled a 3-1 win-loss record versus Greek national teams in official FIBA competitions.

The only previous time a USA Basketball National Team comprised of NBA players met Greece in an exhibition game came prior to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The USA defeated Greece 128-62 in front of 36,702 fans.

USA-LITHUANIA SERIES HISTORY
Lithuania, which placed fourth in the 2008 Olympic Games and seventh in the '06 World Championship, currently, lists No. 6 in the FIBA world rankings. The U.S. and Lithuania did not play in the 2008 Olympics, however, the U.S. did post a 120-84 win over the Lithuanians on Aug. 1, 2008, in a pre-Olympics exhibition game in Macao, China. The two teams last met in a FIBA competition in the bronze medal game (8/28/2004) of the 2004 Olympics.

Since NBA players became eligible to participate in FIBA competitions, the USA has compiled a 5-1 win-loss record versus Lithuania national teams in official FIBA competitions.

The only previous times a USA Basketball National Team comprised of NBA players met Lithuania in an exhibition game came in 2008 prior to the Beijing Olympic Games and in 2006 ahead of the 2006 World Championship. The USA defeated Lithuania 120-84 in Macao, China (9/1/2008) and posted a 111-88 victory in Seoul, South Korea (9/13/2006).

USA-SPAIN SERIES HISTORY
The USA-Spain exhibition on Aug. 22 will be the first matchup between the two powers since the 2008 Olympic gold medal game that has been described as one of the greatest international games ever played. The USA fought off a determined Spain squad 118-107 to earn gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Two years earlier, while the U.S. finished third at the 2006 FIBA World Championship after being stopped by Greece (101-95) in the semifinals, the Spaniards defeated Greece 70-47 in the gold medal game to claim the World Championship title.

Spain, currently ranked No. 3 in the world by FIBA, won the 2009 EuroBasket title after easily defeating Serbia 85-63 in the championship game, captured the silver medal in Beijing at the 2008 Olympic Games, placed runner-up after being nipped 60-59 by Russia in the 2007 EuroBasket championship game and won gold at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan.

Since NBA players became eligible to participate in FIBA competitions, the USA has compiled a 5-1 win-loss record versus Spanish national teams in official FIBA competitions.

The only previous time a USA Basketball National Team comprised of NBA players met Spain in an exhibition game came in 2000 prior to the Sydney Olympic Games. The USA defeated Spain 95-66 in the opening game (9/5/2000) of the Super Dream Games 2000 in Saitama, Japan.

2010-12 USA Men's National Team
Thirty-two NBA players have been named to the 2010-12 USA Basketball Men's National Team, including 2008 Olympic gold medalists Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets); Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz); Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers); Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets); Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons); Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat); and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz). Rounding out the list of Olympians on the U.S. national squad roster are 2004 Olympic bronze medalists Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers) and Amar'e Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns).

Completing the list of National Team players are LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers); Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers); Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers); Jeff Green (Oklahoma City Thunder); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); Al Jefferson (Minnesota Timberwolves); David Lee (New York Knicks); Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies); Kendrick Perkins (Boston Celtics); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); Gerald Wallace (Charlotte Bobcats) and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).

The USA Basketball Men's National Team Program in 2010-12 is again headed by Phoenix Suns and USA Basketball Chairman Colangelo, who served as Managing Director of the USA Men's National Team for 2006-2008.

The 2010-12 USA National Team coaching staff is led by Duke University's Hall of Fame coach Krzyzewski, and features as USA assistant coaches Syracuse University's Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, New York Knicks head mentor Mike D'Antoni and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan.

Over the course of 2010-2012, USA Men's National Teams will compete in the 2010 FIBA World Championship (Aug. 28-Sept. 12 in Turkey); if necessary the 2011 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD); and if the USA qualifies, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games (July 26-Aug. 12 in London, England).

USA Basketball initiated its historic men's national team program in 2005 and capped the 2005-2008 quad competitions with a magnificent gold medal run at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

During the three-year period between 2006 and 2008, USA Basketball's National Team program compiled a striking 36-1 overall win-loss record and just as importantly reestablished the USA team and its members as positive ambassadors for the United States and the sport.

The USA squad culminated the quadrennium by finishing 8-0 to reclaim the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the USA's first gold in a major international competition since 2000. The USA National Team also won gold at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship with a 10-0 record to qualify the U.S. men for the 2008 Olympic Games. In the program's first year, the U.S. captured the bronze medal with an 8-1 record at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan.

Since first fielding a USA Basketball team of legendary NBA stars in 1992, USA Basketball National Teams comprised of NBA players have claimed gold medals in 10 of 13 major international basketball competitions, while compiling an impressive 100-7 overall record (.935 winning percentage) in those competitions and a record of 33-1 (.971 winning percentage) in exhibition games.

2010 FIBA World Championship
The 2010 FIBA (International Basketball Federation) World Championship for Men will be held Aug. 28-Sept. 12 in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Kayseri, Turkey. Twenty-four teams will compete in the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Men and those teams were divided into four preliminary round groups consisting of six teams each. The United States was drawn on Dec. 15 into preliminary round Group B, and is joined by Brazil, Croatia, Iran, Slovenia and Tunisia.

The U.S. will open the ‘10 Worlds on Aug. 28 against Croatia, a team it has never faced in World Championship play, but a squad the USA is 3-0 versus in Olympic action. Facing its second European team in as many days, the Americans on Aug. 29 will meet Slovenia, a team it defeated 114-95 in 2006 World Championship preliminary play in their only prior World Championship meeting. FIBA Americas Zone champion Brazil will challenge the U.S. on Aug. 29. The all-time USA-Brazil World Championship series stands at 6-5 in favor of the United States with the two teams' last meeting in the 1998 World Championship. Following a day off on Aug. 31, the USA resumes play Sept. 1 against Asia Zone champ Iran, a team it has not faced previously in World Championship play, then closes out preliminary play with a contest versus Tunisia on Sept. 2, another team that the Americans have not met in World Championship action.

Held every four years and considered international basketball's diamond event, the U.S. has had mixed results in World Championship play. Claiming the bronze medal with an 8-1 record in 2006 when the championship was held in Japan, the U.S. last claimed gold at the 1994 World Championship in Toronto, Canada, with a team comprised of NBA all-stars.

All told, the USA has won 10 medals in World Championship play - three gold medals (1954, 1986 and 1994), three silver medals (1950, 1959 and 1982) and four bronze medals (1974, 1990, 1998 and 2006). USA teams have compiled an overall 105-27 win-loss record in the World Championships for a 79.5 winning percentage.

The winner of the 2010 FIBA World Championship automatically earns a berth in the 2012 London Olympics.