Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Iguodala makes US Select Team

Andre Iguodala is among 10 top young NBA players named today by USA Basketball to the 2008 USA Basketball Men’s Select Team that has been chosen to help prepare the 2008 USA Senior National Team for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, scheduled to take place Aug. 10-24 in Beijing, China.

“It is truly an honor that for the second consecutive year, USA Basketball extended me an invitation to participate with and against some of the best players in the world,” Iguodala said. “I am certainly willing and able to do whatever necessary to assist Team USA in the quest for the gold medal at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.”

"On behalf of the entire 76ers organization, we want to congratulate Andre on being selected to the team and we are certainly excited for him," said Sixers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski.

In addition to Iguodala, the other nine players named to the team include: LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City NBA); Jeff Green (Oklahoma City NBA); Luther Head (Houston Rockets); Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks); Kevin Martin (Sacramento Kings); O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) and Rodney Stuckey (Detroit Pistons).

Iguodala completed in 2007-08 his fourth season with the Philadelphia 76ers and started in all 82 games and recorded a career best 19.9 ppg. (28th in the NBA), 5.4 rpg., 4.8 apg. (26th in the NBA), 2.1 spg. (6th in the NBA). He was also named a member of the 2007 USA Select Team that trained against the USA Senior National Team last summer. Over the course of 322 career games, he has posted averages of 14.8 ppg., 5.7 rpg, 4.1 apg. and 1.9 spg. Additionally, Iguodala was a member of the 2002 USA Basketball Men’s U18 World Championship Qualifying Team that captured a silver medal in Venezuela.

The select squad will begin training July 20 in Las Vegas and is expected to train and scrimmage against the USA Senior National Team from July 21-24.

The Americans will cap the Las Vegas portion of its training on July 25 (5 p.m. Las Vegas local time) with the 2008 State Farm USA Basketball Challenge where the USA will meet the Canadian National Team at Thomas & Mack Center.

As was the case in last summer, Seattle SuperSonics head coach P.J. Carlesimo, who served as an assistant with the 1992 U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" and who has been a head or assistant coach of six other USA Basketball teams, will serve as head coach of the USA Select Team and assisting Carlesimo for a second straight summer is Toronto Raptors assistant coach Jay Triano.

“We also brought into the senior team’s training camp last summer a select team of young NBA superstars and it proved to be valuable preparation for our Senior Team. Again in 2008 the Select Team features some of the league’s most promising young and upcoming players – including Kevin Durant who is a member of our Senior National Team and was the 2008 NBA Rookie of the Year. We’re looking for this select group to really compete and help prepare our senior team for Beijing,” said Colangelo.

“I’ll also repeat something I said last year. Some of these players have represented USA Basketball in the past and there are others who will. This is an opportunity for them to get into the USA Basketball pipeline. We expect many of these players to be part of the next generation that make up the USA Basketball Senior National program.”

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