USA basketball roster for the 2012 London Olympics announced - James Harden, Andre Iguodala and Blake Griffin make the cut – NBA Update
After two days of practicing in Las Vegas, USA Basketball management wasted no time and have gone ahead to announce the final 12 players who will be representing United States in this year`s London Olympics.
The final selected roster will see LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul return back to the team which won gold in Beijing 4 years ago. Joining them would be first timers, Kevin Durant, Tyson
Chandler, Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook.
All nine of these players had already been given a confirmed slot on the team earlier this week and after a couple of days practice, the final three positions available have been given to Blake Griffin, James Harden and Andre Iguodala.
According to Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball chairman, trimming down to a total of 12 players was a very hard task given the amount of talent that had been selected to take part in the training camp.
"We projected we would have difficulty getting down to a roster of 12, regardless of the number of injuries that have taken place, because they are such an outstanding group of people and athletes," Colangelo said. "The final selections
keep us in concert with our game plan to have athleticism, versatility and strong depth on our roster. I think our final roster epitomizes all of that."
The players who failed to make the final cut include this year`s number one draft pick Anthony Davis, Rudy g*y and Eric Gordon.
Team USA`s coach Mike Krzyzewski was very thankful of the commitment shown by these players and considered them at the forefront of his radar if any further injuries happen.
"The guys who were not selected are in our pool, and if someone did get hurt, they are already part of our team and could be seamlessly woven in at a later date. We really appreciate the commitment of all of these guys." – Krzyzewski
The selected players, after completing training camp in Las Vegas, will be going over to Washington D.C and practice there before heading into a series of friendly fixtures against Argentina and Spain - the teams ranked number
3rd and 2nd respectively on the FIBA rankings.
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