Indianapolis, Indiana • November 29-30, 2020

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Playing the November 2020 window of Group D AmeriCup Qualifying games in a "bubble" in Indianapolis, Indiana, the USA picked up a pair of impressive home wins and secured its spot in the AmeriCup 2020. Due to COVID-19 precautions, team and coaches were tested daily and no spectators or outsiders were permitted to attend the games. Again under the direction of former NBA head coach Mike Fratello, the USA defeated Bahamas 99-59 and Mexico 94-78 to improve its record to 4-0.

	NOV. 2020 USA RESULTS (2-0) USA 99 Bahamas 59 USA 94 Mexico 78

The USA earned its third straight AmeriCup Qualifying victory with an 99-59 romp over the Bahamas on Nov. 29 in its first game of the second window of FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying play at the Indianapolis Convention Center in Indianapolis.

Never trailing versus Bahamas, the first quarter saw the USA methodically compile a 24-14 lead. The USA came out with the hot hand in the second quarter – sinking four 3-pointers in the first 3:50 to go up 42-23, and by halftime the USA pushed its lead to 24 points, 53-29.The USA opened the second half with back-to-back 3s and rolled in unthreatened for the 99-59 win.

They tried to show a zone. They started zone, switched to man, they switched everything, and you can only do so many things in a game when you have a limited number of bodies, said USA head coach Mike Fratelloof the Bahamas, which suited up just eight players. “And I was really happy with the way our guys recognized whatever it was, attacked it. And defensively, I thought we were good. If I'm right, I think at halftime we did not have any turnovers. And that's obviously vital to you being able to score, because if you don't turn the ball over, you give yourself more opportunities to score the basketball. But we had a number of people, five, six people, in double figures and one or two that were close to being in double figures. I like the unselfishness that we played with and passing the ball to the open man. But for me, the players know this, I start at the defensive end, and we're doing well at the defensive end of the floor.”

The USA shot 51.4% from the field (38-74 FGs) and 41.4% from 3-point (12-29 3pt FGs), dished out 22 assists, committed just seven turnovers, including no turnovers in the first half, and 11 players put points on the board.

Amile Jefferson led the USA with 17 points and 11 rebounds; Tyler Hall, who was 4-of-6 from 3-point on his way to 12 points and four assists; John Jenkins added 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point; Levi Randolph, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds; and Travis Trice was credited with 10 points and six assists.

“For a lot of guys, you know, this is their first game, real actual game playing since March,” Jefferson said. “So, to be back out there after a great week of practicing and getting to know each other and building chemistry was amazing. And the fact that we're playing for USA, it's something bigger than ourselves, makes it all that much better. So, I thought our guys played really hard and aggressive, and I thought the coaches put in a great game plan. We executed, so I was really happy with our performance today.”

Facing 2-1 Mexico, who had defeated Puerto Rico x the night before, the USA fended off a resilient Mexico team to earn a 94-78 victory on Nov. 30 at the Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. The victory assured the United States its berth into the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 by virtue of at least a top-three finish in its FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying Group D.

“Winning the two games was great in window number one, but that didn't get us in. That didn’t qualify us,” said Fratello. “And when they invited me back to coach window two, I was very excited and happy, because I wanted to be part of helping the United States move on, qualify for the next thing. So that the fact that we were able to do that was very rewarding to me. I love to see young guys get together, form a team, work together, play defense together, pass the ball together and then have success. And that's what this week, last two weeks has been all about, trying to grow together and get better.”

The first quarter featured six lead changes, and the USA ended the period leading 23-20. The American squad outscored Mexico 29-14 in the second quarter to pull away and led by as many as 26 points in the third quarter, but Mexico fought back to within 11 points in the fourth quarter. The USA fended off the charge, however, helped by its 54.4 shooting percentage and by its 21-of-27 shooting from the free throw line. 

Yante Maten led the USA with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field to go with nine rebounds; Josh Magette, who missed game one because of an injury, added 19 points and was 7-of-7 from the free throw line; Jenkins finished with 16 points; Trice contributed 14 points and six assists; and Randolph compiled 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.

“We're all talented basketball players, and so we just read what the defense gave us and then just executed from there and played unselfishly,” Maten said. “I think that's was the biggest thing was that led to us winning.

"It means a lot," added Maten on his opportunity to represent the United states, "just because I get to represent from our country. I think everyone can represent in a different way, and I represent mine through basketball. And so, I'm very honored to be here and get to say that I helped accomplish something big.

NOVEMBER 2019 USA MEN'S AMERICUP QUALIFYING TEAM ROSTER

NAME	POS	HGT	WGT	AGE	2019-20 TEAM/SCHOOL	HOMETOWN
Kaiser Gates	F	6-7	225	24	Maine Red Claws/Xavier	Alpharetta, GA
Tyler Hall	G	6-5	209	23	Westchester Knicks/Montana State	Rock Island, IL
Jalen Hudson	G	6-6	192	24	Capital City Go-Go/Florida	Richmond, VA
Amile Jefferson	F	6-9	222	27	Lakeland Magic/Duke	Philadelphia, PA
John Jenkins	G	6-4	215	27	Hapoel Eilat (Israel)/Vanderbilt	Hendersonville, TN
Jemerrio Jones	F	6-5	175	25	Wisconsin Herd/New Mexico State	Memphis, TN
Josh Magette	G	6-1	160	31	Lakeland Magic-Alabama-Huntsville	Birmingham, AL
Yante Maten	C	6-7	240	24	Maine Red Claws/Georgia	Pontiac, MI
Sir'Dominic Pointer	F	6-5	200	28	Canton Charge/St. John's	Detroit, MI
Levi Randolph	G/F	6-6	210	28	Canton Charge/Alabama	Madison, AL
Tyler Roberson	F/C	6-9	237	26	South Bay Lakers/Syracuse	Union, NJ
Travis Trice	G	6-2	175	27	Gemani Basket Brescia (Italy)/Michigan State	Huber Heights, OH
Paul White	F	6-9	225	25	Salt Lake City Stars/Oregon	Chicago, IL
Head Coach:  Mike Fratello
Assistant Coach:  Othella Harrington
Assistant Coach:  Joe Prunty
Team Physician:  Stephen Foley, Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, SD)
Athletic Trainer:  Ed Lacerte, ProSports Therapy, Inc. (Waltham and Westford, MA)
Athletic Trainer:  Ron Weathers, Embodi Physical Therapy and Sports Performance (Charlotte, NC)
Team Scout:  Allen Deep, Westchester Knicks
Video Coordinator:  Mario Casamajor, Iowa Wolves

 

NOVEMBER 2020 USA MEN'S AMERICUP QUALIFYING TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS

NAME	G/S	FGM-A	PCT	3PM-A	PCT	FTM-A	PCT	REB	PTS	AT	BK	ST
Magette	1/0	5-    8	.625	2-    5	.400	7-    7	1.000	2/  2.0	19/ 19.0	3	0	1
Jenkins	2/2	9-  13	.692	8-  12	.667	2-    2	1.000	5/  2.5	28/ 14.0	3	1	0
Maten	2/2	11-  16	.688	1-    2	.500	5-    9	.556	11/  5.5	28/ 14.0	2	2	2
Trice	2/2	8-  16	.500	2-    6	.333	6-    9	.667	5/  2.5	24/ 12.0	12	0	3
Randolph	2/2	7-  14	.500	2-    4	.500	7-    8	.875	12/  6.0	23/ 11.5	7	0	2
Jefferson	2/0	8-  10	.800	0-    0	.---	3-    6	.500	15/  7.5	19/   8.5	4	0	1
Hall	2/0	5-  10	.500	5-    8	.625	0-    0	.---	3/  1.5	15/   7.5	4	0	2
Gates	2/2	6-  18	.333	1-    7	.143	1-    2	.500	14/  7.0	14/   7.0	1	0	1
Roberson	1/0	2-    3	.667	0-    0	.---	1-    1	1.000	2/  2.0	5/   5.0	0	1	0
White	2/0	4-    9	.444	1-    3	.333	0-    0	.---	3/  1.5	9/   4.5	1	1	1
Pointer	2/0	3-    8	.375	1-    3	.333	0-    0	.---	4/  2.0	7/   3.5	4	0	1
Hudson	1/0	1-    6	.167	0-    2	.000	0-    0	.---	6/  6.0	2/   2.0	0	0	1
Jones	1/0	0-    0	.---	0-    0	.---	0-    0	.---	4/  4.0	0/   0.0	0	0	0
USA	2	69-131	.527	23-  52	.442	32-  44	.727	93/46.5	193/ 96.5	41	5	15
OPP.	2	47-130	.362	15-  57	.263	28-  41	.683	60/30.0	137/ 68.5	28	2	10

 

 

 

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. • February 20-23, 2020

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The 2020-21 FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying Tournament got underway in an impressive way for the USA as the squad earned a pair of convincing victories over Puerto Rico in February.

	FEB. 2020 USA RESULTS (2-0) USA 83 Puerto Rico 70 USA 95 Puerto Rico 73

Former NBA head coach Mike Fratello was head coach of the USA Team, and the roster featured 11 players who were active in the NBA G League in 2019-20.

The USA, which led from wire-to-wire, sprinted to a 27-point halftime lead and held off Puerto Rico (0-1) in the  second half to take a 83-70 victory on Feb. 20 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Ten U.S. players put points on the board, led by a double-double of  16 points and 11 rebounds from Jalen Jones. Also scoring in double digits were James Webb III with 13, Justin Anderson added 11 points and Jaylen Adams, who shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and had a pair of 3s, chipped in 10 points.

“Our team effort in the first half sensational. It was about as good of a first half as you can play. We defended and we shot the ball well,” said Fratello. “Jalen (Jones) is an inspiration to us. Jalen is a guy who when he is on top and talking, he’s a glue, he brings our team together. And then when he steps up and makes a big shot at the right time, or a couple free throws when we need it, they're the keys to us being able to hang on.

Holding an 8-6 lead early on, the USA netted a trio of 3s in a 11-0 run that put the U.S. up 19-6 midway through the first  period. The USA continued to increase its lead to 33-14 behind nine 3s after the first 10 minutes of play. The USA outscored Puerto Rico 18-10 in the second quarter to up its lead at halftime to 51-24. Puerto Rico outscored the USA 26-14 in the third quarter to pull back to within 15 points, 65-50, and although the fourth quarter was relatively even scoring wise, won by Puerto Rico 20-18, the USA lead was cut to 10 points three times in the quarter, but each time the Americans scored a crucial basket to turn back the rally.

“We’ve been putting in so much work like coach said,   practice after practice, a lot of film sessions and we knew this wasn’t going to be an easy game,” said Jones. “The coaches did a great job of preparing us for this, we knew it was going to be a battle, knew it was going to be a fight. I’m just glad we were able to win. Puerto Rico came out with a great competitive spirit and it was a great game. 

The USA men topped Puerto Rico 95-73 to cap off play in the first window of FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying play on Feb. 23 at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. Fogg led the USA with 18 points and a game-high eight assists; Anderson finished with 17 points and seven rebounds; Jones added 14 points; Josh Magette had 11 points; and Eric Mika tallied 10 points.

“I was very proud of the (USA’s) performance,” said Fratello. “Puerto Rico came out very tough, very determined, but we wanted to try and finish what our mission was, and that was to go play two games against Puerto Rio and try to win both of them.

The U.S. limited Puerto Rico to 37.7% shooting from the field (23-61 FGs) and, led by 10 rebounds from Webb III, out-rebounded Puerto Rico 47-36. While the USA shot 44.4% from deep (16-36 3pt FGs), Puerto Rico was limited to just 25.0% from 3-point (6-of-24 3pt FGs). The USA bench outscored Puerto Rico’s 33 to 17.

“The toughest thing we did was to respond like we did and play the way we played in Puerto Rico and not get too high on our ourselves,” Anderson said.  “I think we did a really good job of  coming together, and we were locked in from the jump. We knew that Puerto Rico was going to come out with a lot of       intensity, so as far as how we played, Coach emphasized a couple of things. He gave us a comparison in our meetings about rebounding and assists. Well, today it looks like we won both of those battles, and as a team if we can do that time in and time out with our  athleticism, with our talent and our ability to share the ball, rebound the ball, we’re a tough team to beat, and I think we did a really good job of displaying that as a collective group.

 

FEBRUARY 2019 USA MEN'S AMERICUP QUALIFYING TEAM ROSTER

NAME	POS	HGT	WGT	AGE	AFFILIATION/SCHOOL	HOMETOWN
Jaylen Adams	G	6-2	190	23	Wisconsin Herd/St. Bonaventure	Baltimore, MD
Justin Anderson	F	6-6	230	26	Long Island Nets/Virginia	Montross, VA
Cody Demps	G	6-4	195	26	Stockton Kings/Sacramento Kings	Elk Grove, CA
Kyle Fogg	G	6-3	188	30	Beijing Royal Fighters (China)/Arizona	Brea, CA
Devon Hall	G	6-2	215	24	Oklahoma City Blue/Virginia	Virginia Beach, VA
Jalen Jones	F	6-7	220	26	Capital City Go-Go/Texas A&M	Dallas, TX
J.P. Macura	G	6-5	203	24	Canton Charge/Xavier	Lakeville, MN
Josh Magette	G	6-1	160	30	Lakeland Magic/Alabama-Huntsville	Birmingham, AL
Eric Mika	C	6-10	230	25	Stockton Kings/Brigham Young	Highland, UT
Ivan Rabb	F	6-10	220	23	Westchester Knicks/California	Sacramento, CA
Levi Randolph	G/F	6-6	210	27	Canton Charge/Alabama	Madison, AL
James Webb III	F	6-9	202	26	Iowa Wolves/Boise State	Augusta, GA
Head Coach:  Mike Fratello
Assistant Coach:  Andy Greer
Assistant Coach:  Othella Harrington
Team Physician:  Stephen Foley, Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, SD)
Athletic Trainer:  Ed Lacerte, ProSports Therapy, Inc. (Waltham and Westford, MA)
Team Scout:  Sydney Johnson
Video Coordinator:  Ryan Winters

 

FEBRUARY 2020 USA MEN'S AMERICUP QUALIFYING TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS

NAME	G/S	FGM-A	PCT	3PM-A	PCT	FTM-A	PCT	REB	PTS	AT	BK	ST
Jones	2/2	9-   18	.500	6-  10	.600	6-    8	.750	16/  8.0	30/ 15.0	1	0	0
Anderson	2/2	10-  22	.455	7-  18	.389	2-    2	.500	10/  5.0	28/ 14.0	3	1	2
Fogg	2/2	5-  12	.417	4-    7	.571	12-  14	.857	7/  3.5	26/ 13.0	12	0	3
Adams	1/0	4-    4	1.000	2-    2	1.000	0-    0	.---	0/  0.0	10/ 10.0	0	0	0
Magette	2/2	4-  15	.267	3-  12	.250	7-    7	1.000	5/  2.5	18/   9.0	6	0	3
Mika	2/2	6-  10	.600	0-    0	.---	6-  10	.600	11/  5.5	18/   9.0	4	0	0
Webb III	2/0	5-  15	.333	3-    9	.333	3-    4	.750	14/  7.0	16/   8.0	0	4	2
Demps	2/0	4-    8	.5000	0-    0	.---	4-    4	1.000	3/  1.5	12/   6.0	1	0	1
Hall	1/0	2-    5	.400	1-    3	.333	0-    0	.---	0/  0.0	5/   2.5	1	0	1
Randolph	2/0	3-  10	.300	2-    5	.400	2-    2	1.000	4/  2.0	9/   4.5	5	0	2
Macura	1/0	1-    1	1.000	0-    0	.---	0-    0	.---	1/  1.0	2/   2.0	0	0	0
Rabb	2/0	1-    6	.167	0-    0	.---	2-    2	1.000	7/  3.5	4/   2.0	3	2	1
USA	2	54-126	.429	27-  63	.429	43-  53	.811	85/42.5	178/ 89.0	36	7	14
OPP.	2	53-130	.408	12-  48	.250	25-  43	.581	75/37.5	143/ 71.5	34	11	11

 

 

 

 

Greensboro, North Carolina • February 22-25, 2019

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Although the all-important 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifying spot had already been earned, first place for Group E in the FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifying came down to the final game in window six, and in fact it took a buzzer beater by the USA to earn a one-point win over Argentina and claim the group's top honors with a 10-2 overall record.

FEB. 2019 USA RESULTS (2-0) USA 111   Panama 80 USA 84   Argentina 83 2019 FIBA AMERICAS WORLD CUP QUALIFYING FINAL STANDINGS GROUP E GROUP F 1. #USA (10-2) 1. #Canada (10-2) 2. #Argentina (9-3) 2. #Brazil (9-3) 3. #Puerto Rico (8-4) 3. #Venezuela (9-3) 4. Uruguay (6-6) 4. #Dominican Rep. (7-5) 5. Mexico (5-7) 5. U.S. Virgin Islands (3-9) 6. Panama (4-8) 6. Chile (2-10) *Cuba (0-6) *Bahamas (1-5) *Paraguay (0-6) *Colombia (0-6) #Qualified for the 2019 FIBA World Cup *Eliminated after first round after finishing fourth in their group.

Opening window six on Feb. 22, 2019, in Greensboro, North Carolina, the USA needed just a few minutes to find its groove before cruising to a record-setting, 111-80 win over Panama.

Closing the game with three straight 3-pointers, Cameron Reynolds set five U.S. Men’s World Cup Qualifying individual records, including points (26), field goals made and attempted (10-17 FGs) and 3-pointers made and attempted (6-11 3pt FGs). Travis Trice also entered his name into the U.S. WCQ record book with 10 assists and four steals. And as a team, the team set USA WCQ records for field goals attempted (81), 3-pointers made and attempted (18-48) and for free throw percentage (.867, 13-15 FTs).

“We just want to play good basketball, to the standard of USA Basketball, what they’ve set,” said head coach Van Gundy. “So, qualified or not, we just want to play well, and I thought Panama played outstanding in the first half, really shot it well. Our defense might have been a little sub-par, and then our depth I thought really showed through in the second half. And, Cam (Cameron Reynolds) had a big, big night, and he’s an outstanding player who has had a dramatic improvement from November until now.”

“Really, I was just open,” Reynolds said of his records. “I mean, my teammates, we did a good job of finding each other, ball movement. We had 27 assists as a team, that’s really unheard of as a team, you know, just coming together. So, they did a really good job of finding me, and it’s just my job to knock them down, take the right shots, not to take any bad ones. So, I feel like the shots that I was getting were the right ones, and I took them.”

The game was a 3-point party in the first quarter, with the USA sinking five as a team, including three from Reynolds, while Panama made six 3s. After trailing 6-2 to start, a 10-run helped the USA lead 22-21 after the first period. The USA again hit five 3-pointers in the second quarter, while Panama cooled off from deep. The USA pushed its lead to eight points twice, before Panama fought back to pull within two points, 48-46, with 1:06 left before halftime. The USA, however, which posted 31 points from eight different scorers in the second period, scored the last five points to go ahead 53-46 at halftime. 

The first half highlight seemingly was a dunk from the USA’s 6-foot-2 Josh Adams, who got the crowd onto their feet with his slam midway through the period. 

The USA opened the third with another crowd-pleasing dunk – this time Kyle Casey slammed home an assist from Travis Trice.

That ignited the USA, which pushed its lead to as many as 18 points, 78-61, with 41.6 on the clock. 

With an 80-64 lead to start the fourth period, the USA increased its lead all the way through the final buzzer, outscoring Panama 31-16 to earn the 111-80 win.

The USA finished with 63 points off of the bench, outrebounded Panama 46-27 and shot 49.4 percent from the field. Panama ended up shooting 48.3 percent from the field.

Facing Argentina three days later on Feb. 25, 2019, and in need of a victory if the USA was to take top honors in Group E, a buzzer-beating jumper from Reggie Hearn lifted the USA past Argentina to a hard-fought 84-83 win.

The USA and Argentina already had qualified for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, and the only thing on the line in the final qualifying game was bragging rights for first place in Group E, which was enough to bring out the best from the both teams.

“Well, the game was a high-level, intense game,” said Van Gundy. “I have so much respect for Argentina. Their program, their depth of quality players and they just play great basketball. It was very fitting that Reggie, who has participated in the most qualifying games for us, was the one to hit the shot. I was very happy for him.

“What I respect about our guys most is that both teams were qualified, both teams could have just gone through the motions and both teams fought with every ounce that they had.”

With the USA trailing by one point, 83-82, and one second on the clock, Travis Trice, who finished with six assists, inbounded the ball to Hearn, who sank a tough shot from the corner to just beat the buzzer and win the game. 

“In terms of the shot, I knew that if it was coming my way, I was going to rise up and I felt pretty calm about my ability to put it in,” Hearn said. “I started thinking in my mind about the mechanics of turning and watching the ball go in. So, I tried to visualize it. So, calm going into it … crazy hectic afterwards.”

Michael Frazier II finished with 23 points and a USA World Cup Qualifying record five steals, and Charles Cooke was the only other player to reach double-digit scoring for the USA with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.

“Honestly, when coach drew the play up, I was like, 'if Reggie gets the shot, I know it’s going in,'” Frazier said. “There’s no way he’s missing the shot. It’s only right. We call him Captain America. That’s his nickname, so it’s only right for him to end it all the way that he did. And then after, you all saw it, everybody was so excited and so happy, happy for him, happy for us as a ball club. It’s a great feeling when a guy can knock down a shot like that after all the ups and downs in the game. Then to come out on top, there are really no words. It was just an incredible shot by him.”

In the first period, the U.S. defense held Argentina to just 26.7 percent from the field (4-15 FGs) and closed the quarter with a 7-0 run to lead 22-14 after the first 10 minutes. 

The USA pushed its advantage to 12 points, 26-14, early in the second period, but Argentina put together a 9-0 run and cut it to  26-23 and then worked its way to within one point, 34-33. The USA closed strong, and riding an 8-2 run, led 42-35 at halftime.

Argentina in the third quarter sank six 3s and not only took its first lead but went ahead 65-59 at the end of the period.

With chants of “defense” and “USA” from the crowd in the fourth quarter, the U.S. battled back from down by nine points with 8:17 remaining to tie the game at 72-72 and 75-75. Argentina sank a 3 and added three points to lead 81-75 with 1:51 to play. 

After points from each side, Frazier sank free throws and Trice connected from deep to put the USA within one point, 83-82, with 37.3 remaining. Argentina missed its next shot attempt, and the USA had 15.4 seconds. Adams’ shot rimmed out, but the USA had one last possession after Argentina knocked the rebound out of bounds. With 1.0 second remaining, the USA inbounded to Hearn who sank a tough shot  to give the USA the 84-83 win. 

FEBRUARY 2019 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM ROSTER

NAME	POS	HGT	WGT	AGE	G LEAGUE TEAM/SCHOOL	HOMETOWN
Josh Adams	G	6-2	190	25	Raptors 905/Wyoming	Parker, CO
Kyle Casey	F	6-7	225	28	Memphis Hustle/Harvard	Medway, MA
Chris Chiozza	G	6-0	175	23	Capital City Go-Go/Florida	Memphis, TN
Charles Cooke	G	6-5	195	24	Sioux Falls Skyforce/Dayton	Trenton, NJ
Michael Frazier II	G	6-4	200	24	Rio Grande Valley Vipers/Florida	Tampa, FL
Reggie Hearn	G	6-4	209	26	Stockton Kings / Northwestern	Fort Wayne, IN
Tanner McGrew	F	6-8	250	25	Salt Lake City Stars/West Virginia Wesleyan	Buckhannon, WV
Xavier Mumford	G	6-3	190	26	Wisconsin Herd/Rhode Island	Newark, NJ
Chinanu Onuaku	C	6-9	250	22	Greensboro Swarm/Louisville	Lanham, MD
Cameron Reynolds	F	6-8	225	23	Stockton Kings/Tulane	Pearland, TX
Travis Trice	G	6-2	177	25	Austin Spurs/Michigan State	Huber Heights, OH
Stephen Zimmerman	C	6-11	240	22	Westchester Knicks/UNLV	Las Vegas, NV
Head Coach:  Jeff Van Gundy
Assistant Coach:  Mark Fox
Assistant Coach:  John Thompson II
Team Physician:  Stephen Foley, Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, SD)
Athletic Trainer:  Ed Lacerte, ProSports Therapy, Inc. (Waltham and Westford, MA)
Team Scout:  Othella Harrington
Video Coordinator:  Luke Stanaland

 

FEBRUARY 2019 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS

NAME	G/S	FGM-A	PCT	3PM-A	PCT	FTM-A	PCT	REB	PTS	AT	BK	ST
Frazier	2/2	13- 23	.565	6- 12	.500	2- 2	1.000	13/ 6.5	34/ 17.0	5	0	6
Reynolds	2/0	11- 20	.550	6- 13	.462	0- 2	.000	6/ 3.0	28/ 14.0	6	0	1
Trice	2/1	7- 18	.389	5- 10	.500	3- 3	1.000	2/ 1.0	22/ 11.0	16	0	4
Cooke	2/2	8- 14	.571	1- 6	.167	2- 2	1.000	3/ 1.5	19/ 9.5	3	0	1
Mumford	2/1	6- 14	.429	1- 3	.333	5- 5	1.000	5/ 2.5	18/ 9.0	1	0	1
Adams	2/0	4- 13	.308	1- 7	.143	8- 8	1.000	7/ 3.5	17/ 8.5	6	1	1
Onuaku	2/2	7- 9	.778	0- 0	.---	3- 6	.500	11/ 5.5	17/ 8.5	1	1	3
Hearn	2/0	5- 12	.417	2- 6	.333	0- 0	.---	3/ 1.5	12/ 6.0	3	0	2
Zimmerman	2/0	5- 6	.833	0- 0	.---	2- 3	.667	6/ 3.0	12/ 6.0	1	0	0
Casey	2/2	4- 11	.364	1- 4	.250	2- 4	.500	6/ 3.0	11/ 5.5	1	0	0
McGrew	2/0	1- 4	.250	1- 2	.500	2- 2	1.000	7/ 3.5	5/ 2.5	1	2	2
Chiozza	0/0	0- 0	.---	0- 0	.---	0- 0	.---	0/ 0.0	0/ 0.0	0	0	0
USA	2	71-144	.493	24- 63	.381	29- 37	.784	80/40.0	195/ 97.5	44	4	21
OPP.	2	54-117	.462	27- 53	.509	28- 35	.800	63/31.5	163/ 81.5	45	8	14

 

 

 

Las Vegas, Nevada and Panama City, Panama • September14-17, 2018

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The USA opened the World Cup Qualifying second round with a pair of impressive victories, defeating Uruguay 114-57 in a home contest, then going on the road to defeat Panama 78-48.

	SEPT. 2018 USA RESULTS (2-0) USA 114 Uruguay 57 USA 78 Panama 48

With USA Men’s National Team head coach Gregg Popovich in attendance, the USA dominated Uruguay 114-57 to open second-round play at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas on Sept. 14, 2018.

As the starting floor general for USA, Frank Mason III  led the USA with 16 points and eight assists. Playing cool, calm, and collective, Mason never forced the issue and kept Uruguay's players on their heels whenever he was on the court. Additionally, Mason broke the USA World Cup Qualifiers records of eight assists and shooting 7-of-8 from the field. 

Chasson Randle tallied 15 points on 3-of-5 from 3 in 23 minutes. Derrick White contributed 14 points in front of Popovich and Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka. Dwayne Bacon and Henry Ellenson both chipped in 10 points each.

USA played superb defense from the start, forcing 18 turnovers, compared to only eight for the red, white, and blue. 

Sharing the ball was a constant theme throughout, for the home team. USA dished out 30 assists, while Uruguay finished with 12. USA mentor Jeff Van Gundy was pleased with how the team played as a unit, instead of trying to pile up individual numbers. 

“I thought we moved the ball well. I thought Frank (Mason) got into the teeth of the defense exceptionally well. And we shared it. FIBA is not about putting up numbers, this is about getting connected to one another in a short period of time and enjoying the competition, forming a brotherhood. And I think if you can do that, you’ll share the ball, you’ll help on defense, and you’ll do all those things to help you win,” said Van Gundy. 

As if foreshadowing the rest of the night, the first play commenced with two offensive rebounds for USA, followed by a Mason put-back to open the game.  

USA outrebounded Uruguay 45 to 27, and had a 24-6 edge in points generated from turnovers. Moreover, USA finished with a commanding 18-2 lead on fast break points.  

The game was never really close. USA jumped out to a 22-7 lead with two minutes to go in the first quarter. Randle capped the first quarter with a 3 to push the score to 28-8. With the score 56-24 at halftime, the second half was essentially for USA to work on their sets, and for Uruguay to play for pride. 

Uruguay came in with the game plan to push the pace whenever they had the opportunity. But to no avail, USA was bigger, stronger, faster both physically and mentally, and Uruguay never stood a chance.  

Van Gundy stressed multiple times how Uruguay didn’t play their best guys for this game because of their harsh travel schedule.  

“So much of it was they were undermanned too. We did a lot of good things, and they were undermanned because they chose to rest their players back home.”

Uruguay as a team shot a meager 18-of-55 from the field, and a staggering 4-of-22 from the perimeter. 

“I think our greatest strength is our depth,” said Van Gundy.  “Again, we’ve pretty much done this throughout. We play 10 or 11 guys, anywhere from 10 or 11 minutes up to the low 20’s. We try to take advantage of our depth."

Although the USA shot just 33.3 percent (6-18 FGs) from the field in the first quarter, the Americans’ defense frustrated Panama into 2-of-12 shooting (16.7 percent) and forced five turnovers as the USA led 18-7 after the first 10 minutes.

SEPTEMBER 2018 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM ROSTER

NAME	POS	HGT	WGT	AGE	G LEAGUE TEAM/SCHOOL	HOMETOWN
Bryce Alford	G	6-3	185	23	Oklahoma City Blue/UCLA	Albuquerque, NM
Dwayne Bacon	F	6-7	221	23	Charlotte Hornets/Florida State	Lakeland, FL
Henry Ellenson	F	6-11	245	21	Detroit Pistons/Marquette	Rice Lake, WI
Reggie Hearn	G	6-4	209	26	Grand Rapids Drive/Northwestern	Fort Wayne, IN
Isaiah Hicks	C	6-9	242	24	New York Knicks/North Carolina	Oxford, NC
Dakari Johnson	C	7-0	255	22	Free Agent/Kentucky	Brooklyn, NY
Frank Mason III	G	5-11	194	24	Sacramento Kings/Kansas	Petersburg, VA
Ben Moore	F	6-8	220	23	Fort Wayne Mad Ants/SMU	Bolingbrook, IL
Chasson Randle	G	6-2	185	25	Capital City Go-Go/Stanford	Rock Island, IL
Travis Trice	G	6-2	177	25	Austin Spurs/Michigan State	Huber Heights, OH
Jameel Warney	C	6-7	258	24	Texas Legends/Stony Brook	Plainfield, NJ
Derrick White	G	6-5	195	24	San Antonio Spurs/Colorado	Parker, CO
Head Coach:  Jeff Van Gundy
Assistant Coach:  Mike Miller, Westchester Knicks
Assistant Coach:  John Thompson II
Team Physician:  Stephen Foley, Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, SD)
Athletic Trainer:  Ed Lacerte, ProSports Therapy, Inc. (Waltham and Westford, MA)
Team Scout:  Mark Fox
Video Coordinator:  Luke Stanaland

 

SEPTEMBER 2018 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS

NAME	G/S	FGM-A	PCT	3PM-A	PCT	FTM-A	PCT	REB	PTS	AS	BK	ST
Hearn	1/0	4- 6	.667	4- 6	.667	0- 0	.---	2/ 2.0	12/ 12.0	0	0	1
Mason	2/2	9- 12	.750	2- 3	.667	2- 2	1.000	5/ 2.5	22/ 11.0	10	0	0
Bacon	2/2	9- 20	.450	1- 3	.333	1- 2	.500	5/ 2.5	20/ 10.0	0	0	2
White	2/2	8- 25	.320	2- 10	.200	1- 1	1.000	8/ 4.0	19/ 9.5	10	1	3
Randle	2/0	6- 13	.467	4- 8	.500	2- 4	.500	1/ 0.5	18/ 9.0	4	0	3
Moore	2/0	6- 8	.750	0- 1	.000	5- 6	.833	11/ 5.5	17/ 8.5	3	1	2
Trice	2/0	6- 13	.461	3- 7	.429	2- 2	1.000	3/ 1.5	17/ 8.5	9	0	2
Warney	2/0	6- 12	.500	0- 0	.---	5- 6	.833	10/ 5.0	17/ 8.5	3	0	0
Ellenson	2/2	6- 13	.461	0- 4	.000	4- 4	1.000	20/10.0	16/ 8.0	4	0	1
Johnson	2/2	7- 9	.778	0- 0	.---	1- 1	1.000	10/ 5.0	15/ 7.5	2	2	0
Hicks	2/0	5- 6	.833	0- 0	.---	3- 6	.500	9/ 4.5	13/ 6.5	0	0	1
Alford	2/0	2- 5	.400	2- 4	.500	0- 0	.---	0/ 0.0	6/ 3.0	2	0	1
USA	2	74-142	.521	18-46	.391	26-34	.765	95/47.5	192/96.0	47	4	16
OPP.	2	37-116	.319	9-52	.173	22-36	.611	61/30.5	105/52.5	25	1	5

 

 

 

Orlando, Florida and Greensboro, North Carolina • November 24-26, 2017

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Opening the first window of competition of the 2017-19 FIBA World Cup Qualifying, the Americans posted a pair of impressive victories, edging Puerto Rico 85-77 and man-handling Mexico 91-55. 

	NOV. 2017 USA RESULTS (2-0) USA 85 Puerto Rico 77 USA 91 Mexico 55

Featuring a roster consisting primarily of NBA G League players, the USA looked to several returning 2017 AmeriCup gold medalists and earned its first World Cup Qualifying win after recording an 85-78 victory over Puerto Rico in the two teams opening game of FIBA World Cup Qualifying first-round play at the University of Central Florida’s CFE Arena in Orlando.

Played on Thanksgiving Day, in the win, the USA received a double-double of 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds from 2017 AmeriCup MVP Jameel Warney and 17 points and eight rebounds from USA AmeriCup gold medalist Reggie Hearn.

“I was really proud of our guys. For those of our players that have played in a FIBA game, I think (they) knew what to expect, but those that had not played in a FIBA game, it was harder for them initially to adapt and adjust,” said USA head coach Jeff Van Gundy. “We got hit with haymakers early, and I was really proud of our guys. We played well down the stretch and we made big time plays.”

Puerto Rico came out firing and nailed six 3-pointers in the game’s first 7:12 to grab control 18-10. USA center Travis Wear scored five consecutive points and Warney scored off of an offensive rebound to help reduce the deficit, and after the first 10 minutes the USA trailed 23-17.

Puerto Rico continued to counter each U.S. rally and with 4:03 left in the second quarter, Puerto Rico led 33-29. Behind five points from Xavier Munford, another AmeriCup returner, the USA outscored Puerto Rico 9-2 to take its first lead, 38-35.  However, the lead was short lived as Puerto Rico scored the first half’s final four points to take a 39-38 lead at halftime.

“We let them off the hook in the first half by giving them easy shots, letting them on the glass and out on the break,” said Warney. “We stopped turning the ball over and started getting rebounds. We started playing our game and that’s what happened in the second half.”

The teams traded baskets in the third quarter and Puerto Rico pushed its advantage to 57-51 with 2:51 left in the third quarter. 

Getting six points from Munford, the U.S. ripped off 10 straight points to regain the lead 61-57 with 50 seconds left in the third.

The U.S. took a 61-58 lead into the game’s final 10 minutes, but Puerto Rico battled back to even the score 63-63.

The U.S. finally managed to create some breathing space as Semaj Christon and Munford each scored five points in a 10-2 USA run that lifted the red, white and blue to a 73-65 lead with 5:21 left in the game.

Puerto Rico never again got closer than four points as the USA held-off Puerto Rico for the 85-78 win.

In addition to Hearn and Warney scoring 17 each, the USA was aided by Munford’s 12 points and Markel Brown added 10 points.

The USA bench outscored Puerto Rico’s bench 49-28, and the USA dominated the glass and outrebounded Puerto Rico 44-26, including 17 offensive boards.

The USA shot 49.2 percent from the field and made 10-of-21 3-pointers. Puerto Rico made 45.2 percent from the floor and shot 12-of-25 from 3.

Starting the game with six-straight 3-pointers, the USA relied on a balanced scoring attack to defeat Mexico 91-55 on Nov. 26, 2017, at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse. Four U.S. players finished with 14 points each, including Brown, Jonathan Holmes, Munford and Wear, who added 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double.

“I was very, very proud of our team,” remarked Van Gundy. “Nine days together, they worked hard. It’s really hard to put a group together that quickly unless players are selfless, and we had a bunch of selfless guys who sacrificed not only their time, but participating in the G League, to represent their country. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

The USA shot a solid 50.8 percent (33-65 FGs) from the field, but it was even better from 3-point, where it was 54.2 percent (13-24 3pt FGs).

Despite having a short training window in which to develop team chemistry, the USA also tallied 21 assists, including seven from Donald Sloan.

The U.S. offense was not the only highlight, however. It’s defense also was impressive, limiting Mexico to 31.1 percent (19-61 FGs) from the field and converting 18 turnovers into 21 points.

“We came out and executed our game plan,” Wear said. “We hit them first right off the bat. We let them go on a little run at the end of the (first) half. But, we came back and executed down the stretch and got it done.”

Overall in the first period, the USA sank seven 3-pointers, highlighted by 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc by Holmes, and the U.S. ended the quarter with a 25-12 lead.

After the USA pushed its advantage to 32-15 just 3:20 into the second period, Mexico fought back with a 12-0 run that closed the gap to just five points 32-27.

Despite outscoring the USA 17-15 in the quarter, that was as close as Mexico would get for the remainder of the game.

An offensive rebound and score from Warney ended Mexico’s run, and the USA closed the first half by outscoring it opponent 8-2 to lead 40-29 at halftime.

The second half began with a fast break score by Brown off an assist from Sloan, and the USA was on its way to a 32-point third quarter, while allowing Mexico just 18 points to lead 72-47 after three periods.

“I think we played great collectively as a group,” Brown said. “Everybody came out there and played their part well, whether rebounding the ball, playing defense, passing it or scoring it.”

The USA reached its largest lead of the game, 39 points, when local favorite and University of North Carolina alumni Meeks made two free throws with 57.2 seconds remaining in the game. Mexico tallied just eight points to the USA’s 19 in the fourth, and Sloan dribbled out the clock on the USA’s final possession for a 91-55 win.

Larry Drew II missed his second-straight game due to a strained right hamstring, while Hearn was limited to 13 minutes after suffering a sprained right ankle during the second quarter.

NOVEMBER 2017 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM ROSTER

NAME	POS	HGT	WGT	AGE	G LEAGUE TEAM/SCHOOL	HOMETOWN
Markel Brown	G	6-3	185	25	Oklahoma City Blue/Oklahoma State	Alexandria, LA
Semaj Christon	G	6-3	190	25	Free Agent/Xavier	Cincinnati, OH
Larry Drew II	G	6-2	180	27	Sioux Falls Skyforce/UCLA	Woodland Hills, CA
Reggie Hearn	G	6-4	209	26	Reno Bighorns/Northwestern	Fort Wayne, IN
Jonathan Holmes	F	6-9	242	24	Maine Red Claws/Texas	San Antonio, TX
Amile Jefferson	F	6-9	222	24	Iowa Wolves/Duke	Philadelphia, PA
Kennedy Meeks	C	6-10	263	22	Raptors 905/North Carolina	Charlotte, NC
Elijah Millsap	F	6-6	225	30	Iowa Wolves/Louisiana–Lafayette	Grambling, LA
Xavier Mumford	G	6-3	190	25	Wisconsin Herd/Rhode Island	Newark, NJ
Donald Sloan	G	6-3	205	29	Texas Legends /Texas A&M	Dallas, TX
Jameel Warney	C	6-7	259	23	Texas Legends/Stony Brook	Plainfield, NJ
Travis Wear	F	6-10	229	27	South Bay Lakers/UCLA	Long Beach, CA
Head Coach:  Jeff Van Gundy
Assistant Coach: Mo McHone
Assistant Coach:  John Thompson II
Team Physician: Stephen Foley, Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, SD)
Athletic Trainer: Ed Lacerte, ProSports Therapy, Inc. (Waltham and Westford, MA)
Team Scout:  Ken McDonald
Video Coordinator:  Brad Jones

 

NOVEMBER 2017 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS

NAME	G/S	FGM-A	PCT	3PM-A	PCT	FTM-A	PCT	REB	PTS	AS	BK	ST
Mumford	2/0	10-  19	.526	4-  10	.400	2-    2	1.000	7/ 3.5	26/13.0	6	1	3
Brown	2/2	8-  17	.471	6-    9	.667	2-    2	1.000	6/ 3.0	24/12.0	5	1	1
Warney	2/0	11-  19	.579	0-    0	.---	1-    1	1.000	16/ 8.0	23/11.5	1	1	1
Hearn	2/2	8-  14	.571	5-    7	.714	2-    4	.500	12/ 6.0	23/11.5	2	0	0
Wear	2/0	9-  15	.600	2-    5	.400	1-    2	.500	14/ 7.0	21/10.5	3	0	1
Holmes	2/2	5-    7	.714	3-    5	.600	1-    2	.500	5/ 2.5	14/  7.0	2	0	0
Christon	2/0	4-    9	.444	2-    2	1.000	3-    3	1.000	2/ 1.0	13/  6.5	5	0	2
Millsap	2/0	2-    7	.286	0-    2	.000	6-    9	.667	8/ 4.0	10/  5.0	3	0	2
Sloan	2/2	3-  13	.231	1-    4	.250	2-    2	1.000	6/ 3.0	9/  4.5	9	0	0
Jefferson	2/1	4-    7	.571	0-    0	.---	1-    2	.500	8/ 4.0	9/  4.5	1	1	1
Meeks	2/1	1-    3	.333	0-    1	.000	2-    2	1.000	0/ 0.0	4/  2.0	0	0	0
Drew	0/0	0-    0	.---	0-    0	.---	0-    0	.---	0/ 0.0	0/  0.0	0	0	0
USA	2	65-130	.500	23-  45	.511	23- 31	.742	87/43.5	176/88.0	37	4	11
OPP.	2	47-123	.382	19-  59	.322	20- 30	.667	62/31.0	133/66.5	32	7	14

 

 

La Rioja, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay • November 29-December 2, 2018

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Faced with the difficult task in window five of playing road games against strong Argentina and Uruguay national teams, USA head coach Jeff Van Gundy directed his squad a critcal split which insured the United States men of a 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifying berth.

	NOV./DEC. 2018 USA RESULTS (1-1) Argentina 80 USA 63 USA 78 Uruguay 70

Despite starting the game by scoring the first 12 points and jumping out to a 12-0 lead, the USA was unable to sustain its scoring and fell to Argentina 80-63 on Nov. 29, 2018, in front of passionate, at-capacity home crowd number 11,000 plus in La Rioja, Argentina.

The win earned Argentina sole possession of first place of the FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifying second round Group E, and the USA fell to second place.

“Argentina is a tremendous team, and after the first five minutes they kicked our butts,” said USA head coach Jeff Van Gundy. “And, give them all the credit, they played a terrific game on both ends of the floor.

“We had a rough night all around. I don’t think there were a lot of positives for us in this game, and so much of sport is about when you get your butt kicked how you respond. We’re together three more days, we get another chance on Sunday (versus Uruguay), and hopefully we play much better,” added Van Gundy.

The USA held Argentina scoreless for more than four minutes to start the game, and behind points supplied by four different U.S. players, including back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game from Julian Washburn and Travis Trice, the USA jumped out to a 12-0 lead with 4:47 left in the opening quarter.

Argentina got its offense on track and fought its way to within three points by the end of the first quarter, and the USA led 16-13 after the first 10 minutes. The USA held onto its lead until the final minute of the second quarter and trailed at halftime, 35-32, after Argentina scored the first half’s final three points from the foul line.

Washburn opened the third quarter with a U.S. basket to cut Argentina’s lead to 35-34, but Argentina responded with an 8-0 run to pull ahead 43-34. The Americans trailed 48-40 with 2:41 left in the third, and Argentina capped the quarter with a 10-0 run that resulted in the USA being outscored 23-8 in the third period.

Argentina carried a 58-40 lead into the game’s final 10 minutes, and although the U.S. cut the deficit to 63-50 after a Scotty Hopson basket with 6:11 to play, Argentina turned back the rally with six consecutive points and sailed on for the 80-63 win.

“We just didn’t really execute, and we didn’t hit shots,” said USA guard Trice. “You have to give them credit, they came out with a lot of energy. We made the first punch, and they answered back.”

Trice led the USA scoring with 16 points and added four assists, Reggie Hearn, Hopson and Chasson Randle each accounted for nine points.

The USA narrowly lost the rebounding battle as Argentina recorded 45 rebounds to the USA’s 44. Tyler Zeller accounted for 12 rebounds for the USA, while Eric Moreland added eight. 

"Defensively we were great. We were down 61-54 and things going not well for us – ejections, losses of poise, and then we defended well and made some big shots, some big 3s," said Van Gundy. “Eric Moreland was terrific tonight."

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM ROSTER

NAME	POS	HGT	WGT	AGE	G LEAGUE TEAM/SCHOOL	HOMETOWN
Joel Berry II	G	6-0	195	23	South Bay Lakers/North Carolina	Orlando, FL
Reggie Hearn	G	6-4	209	26	Stockton Kings/Northwestern	Fort Wayne, IN
Scotty Hopson	G	6-7	230	29	Oklahoma City Blue/Tennessee	Hopkinsville, KY
John Jenkins	G	6-4	215	27	Westchester Knicks/Vanderbilt	Hendersonville, TN
DeAndre Liggins	F	6-6	209	30	Sioux Falls Skyforce/Kentucky	Chicago, IL
Eric Moreland	F	6-10	238	26	Free Agent/Oregon State	Missouri City, TX
Chasson Randle	G	6-2	185	25	Capital City Go-Go/Stanford	Rock Island, IL
Cameron Reynolds	F	6-8	225	23	Stockton Kings/Tulane	Pearland, TX
Richard Solomon	F	6-11	235	26	Oklahoma City Blue/California	Inglewood, CA
Travis Trice	G	6-2	177	25	Austin Spurs/Michigan State	Huber Heights, OH
Juian Washburn	F	6-8	220	26	Austin Spurs/Texas El-Paso	Duncanville, TX
Tyler Zeller	C	7-0	259	28	Free Agent/North Carolina	Washington, IN
Head Coach: Jeff Van Gundy
Assistant Coach: Mark Fox
Assistant Coach: John Thompson II
Team Physician:Stephen Foley, Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, SD)
Athletic Trainer:Ed Lacerte, ProSports Therapy, Inc. (Waltham and Westford, MA)
Team Scout: Othella Harrington
Video Coordinator: Luke Stanaland

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS

NAME	G/S	FGM-A	PCT	3PM-A	PCT	FTM-A	PCT	REB	PTS	AT	BK	ST
Trice	2/2	10- 22	.455	6- 11	.545	7- 8	.875	6/ 3.0	33/ 16.5	8	0	2
Hopson	2/0	6- 21	.286	1- 6	.167	7- 8	.875	7/ 3.5	20/ 10.0	4	0	2
Randle	2/0	7- 16	.438	3- 7	.429	2- 2	1.000	2/ 1.0	19/ 9.5	2	1	1
Jenkins	2/2	5- 16	.313	2- 7	.286	3- 3	1.000	5/ 2.5	15/ 7.5	1	1	1
Hearn	2/0	5- 16	.313	2- 10	.200	2- 5	.400	5/ 2.5	14/ 7.0	0	0	3
Moreland	2/0	6- 10	.600	0- 0	.---	0- 4	.000	21/10.5	12/ 6.0	2	3	3
Solomon	2/2	5- 7	.714	0- 2	.000	0- 1	.000	6/ 3.0	10/ 5.0	0	1	0
Zeller	2/2	3- 9	.333	0- 0	.---	0- 0	.---	14/ 7.0	6/ 3.0	0	1	0
Washburn	2/2	2- 3	.667	1- 2	.500	0- 0	.---	1/ 0.5	5/ 2.5	0	0	1
Berry	2/0	2- 8	.250	0- 3	.000	0- 0	.---	3/ 1.5	4/ 2.0	1	0	0
Reynolds	2/0	1- 7	.143	1- 3	.333	0- 0	.---	2/ 1.0	3/ 1.5	1	1	1
Liggins	0/0	0- 0	.---	0- 0	.---	0- 0	.---	0/ 0.0	0/ 0.0	0	0	0
USA	2	52-135	.385	16- 51	.314	21- 31	.667	85/42.5	141/ 70.5	19	8	14
OPP.	2	48-126	.381	23- 62	.371	31- 49	.633	83/41.5	150/ 75.0	36	8	20

 

 

 

 

Santa Cruz, California • February 23-26, 2018

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Picking up a pair of impressive home wins in window twoin FIBA's World Cup qualifying, the USA defeated Cuba (84-48) and Puerto Rico (83-75) to improve its record to 4-0 and insured the U.S. of advancing to the World Cup Qualifying second round.

	FEB. 2018 USA RESULTS (2-0) USA 84 Cuba 48 USA 83 Puerto Rico 75

The USA earned its third straight World Cup Qualifying victory with an 84-48 win over Cuba in its first game of the second window of FIBA World Cup Qualifying first-round play at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California, on Feb. 23, 2018.

The game was a rout from the start, with the USA holding Cuba scoreless for the first 4:40 while building a 15-0 lead. Overall, the U.S. defense held Cuba to just 25.0 percent from the field (16-64 FGs) and forced 19 turnovers, while its offense got 44 points from the bench and recorded 28 fastbreak points.

“We’re happy with the win,” said USA head coach Jeff Van Gundy. “We also know that there is much improvement to be made if we’re to compete against Puerto Rico. But, I was really happy for Xavier (Silas), he played outstanding basketball. In my short time with him, he’s a tremendous pro, gets himself ready to play and it shows.”

Rodney Purvis led the USA in its win over Cuba with 14 points, Xavier Silas added 13, David Stockton scored 10 to go with three assists and Devin Williams tallied eight points and game-highs of 12 rebounds and six assists.

After the USA’s hot start, Cuba sank a free throw for its first point in the game at 5:20 in the first period and then put together a 7-2 stretch to cut the deficit to 19-8. However, Stockton pulled up for a jumper with 2.3 seconds left in the first quarter to give the USA a 21-8 lead at the first break.

The second quarter was the most evenly matched of the game, and the USA increased its lead by just four points after outscoring Cuba 20-16 to lead 41-24 at halftime.

The USA started the second half, much like the first half, and racked up 10 unanswered points in the first 4:11. But, Cuba’s Osmel Oliva his two straight 3s, and Van Gundy called a timeout at 5:09. After the break, the USA closed the third quarter by outscoring Cuba 11-6 to lead 62-36. The USA continued to push through the end of the game, reaching its largest lead of 36 points at the game’s end as Stockton put up two points from the free throw line to end the game 84-48 win.

After leading Puerto Rico by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, the USA found itself defending a one-point lead with 5:44 remaining at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California. But, it was the USA that rallied to come out victorious 83-75.

Sinking free throws down the stretch to help seal the win, the USA also was helped by its 42.3 percent shooting from 3-point (11-26 3pt FGs) and a 46-36 rebounding advantage.

The game was hard-fought, with 53 fouls called, and, thanks to its boisterous fans, Puerto Rico, seemed to be playing a home game as the away team.

“I’m very proud of our players,” said Van Gundy. “Obviously, we had a rough second half, but that was due to how good a team Puerto Rico is. We have the utmost respect for their coaches and players and how hard they play, their depth.

“I think what happens is, I think it’s subconscious, but you start to play the score instead of the game,” Van Gundy continued. “You get up 22 and as a player you don’t try to let up, but it only took the end of that third quarter where they went from 17 to 12, and then we throw the ball away on the inbound pass, and now it’s 10. So, we have a lot of missteps that I’m sure if we were going to be together for the rest of the year, we’d learn from. Obviously, we were disappointed with that stretch, but I was even prouder of how we responded down the stretch to make enough big plays, good plays, to finish the game against a team that … we have had two games against them and they both could have gone either way. We win one by seven and one by eight, but it could have gone either way.”

Aaron Harrison led the USA with 16 points; Larry Drew II added 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds; while Rodney Purvis added 12 points. As a team the USA collected 14 steals.

“I thought we played hard, gave a lot of energy and, like coach said, big ups to Puerto Rico,” Drew said. “They’re a great team. They fought their way back into the game, which I knew was probably going to happen at some point. You don’t just bury a team like Puerto Rico, as much pride as they have in their country and everything they’re fighting for and going through. I also want to thank them for bringing out the best in us. I’m glad that we were able to get the win and keep advancing and keep qualifying.”

Seven U.S. scorers put points on the board in the first period to help the USA take a 20-13 lead, and that momentum carried into the second quarter, with the USA increasing its advantage by 10 points to 47-30 at halftime.

Most of the third quarter was much like the first half, but the momentum changed when Puerto Rico’s Gian Clavell, who finished with 23 points, converted on a four-point play with 1:18 left in the quarter. That kicked off a 23-2 run for Puerto Rico that stretched into the fourth quarter, and Puerto Rico trailed by just one point, 68-67, with 5:44 to go.

The next few minutes were back and forth, and Puerto Rico remained within one point before the USA found some breathing room. At 3:50 Purvis slammed home a fastbreak dunk, which was followed by a jumper from Harrison to put the USA ahead 76-71 with 3:05 left. Though Puerto Rico made one free throw next, Williams, Purvis, Stockton and Silas all sank free throws down the stretch to help secure the 83-75 win.

“It was a great game,” Harrison said. “They are a good team, so we knew they were going to make a run. So, we just had to stay mentally tough and figure out how to win. So, that’s what we did.

“I think our will showed up,” Harrison added. “Coach talked about being relentless all 10 days that we were together, so I think we were all definitely relentless at the end of the day. Everyone stepped up and made big plays.”

FEBRUARY 2018 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM ROSTER

NAME	POS	HGT	WGT	AGE	G LEAGUE TEAM/SCHOOL	HOMETOWN
Taylor Braun	F	6-7	210	26	Salt Lake City Stars/North Dakota State	Newberg, OR
Larry Drew II	G	6-2	180	27	Sioux Falls Skyforce/UCLA	Woodland Hills, CA
Alonzo Gee	F	6-6	220	30	Sioux Falls Skyforce/Alabama	Riviera Beach, FL
Aaron Harrison	G	6-6	209	23	Reno Bighorns/Kentucky	Richmond, TX
Damion Lee	G	6-6	210	25	Santa Cruz Warriors/Louisville	Baltimore, MD
Rodney Purvis	G	6-4	205	24	Lakeland Magic/Connecticut/	Plymouth, NC
Xavier Silas	F	6-5	198	30	Northern Arizona Suns/Northern Illinois	Austin, TX
David Stockton	G	5-11	165	26	Reno Bighorns/Gonzaga	Spokane, WA
Rashawn Thomas	F	6-8	230	23	Oklahoma City Blue/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi/	Oklahoma City, OK
Travis Wear	F	6-10	229	27	South Bay Lakers/UCLA	Huntington Beach, CA
Devin Williams	F	6-9	255	23	Maine Red Claws/West Virginia	Cincinnati, OH
Derek Willis	F	6-9	228	22	Grand Rapids Drive /Kentucky	Mount Washington, KY
Head Coach: Jeff Van Gundy
Assistant Coach: Mo McHone
Assistant Coach: John Thompson II
Team Physician: Stephen Foley, Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, SD)
Athletic Trainer: Ed Lacerte, ProSports Therapy, Inc. (Waltham and Westford, MA)
Team Scout: Ken McDonald
Video Coordinator: Brad Jones

 

FEBRUARY 2018 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS

NAME	G/S	FGM-A	PCT	3PM-A	PCT	FTM-A	PCT	REB	PTS	AS	BK	ST
Purvis	2/0	10- 20	.500	3- 8	.375	3- 7	.428	2/1.0	26/13.0	2	0	1
Harrison	2/2	9- 20	.450	5- 11	.455	2- 2	1.000	5/2.5	25/12.5	3	0	0
Silas	2/2	7- 18	.389	5- 10	.500	3- 3	1.000	7/3.5	22/11.0	4	0	1
Drew	2/2	8- 14	.571	2- 6	.333	3- 4	.750	7/3.5	21/10.5	11	0	1
Stockton	2/0	4- 12	.333	2- 3	.667	7- 8	.875	5/2.5	17/8.5	7	0	3
Thomas	2/0	3- 7	.429	0- 0	.---	8- 12	.667	11/5.5	14/7.0	2	0	1
Williams	2/2	4- 15	.267	0- 2	.000	4- 4	1.000	23/11.5	12/6.0	7	0	1
Wear	2/1	3- 12	.250	0- 6	.000	2- 4	.500	13/6.5	8/4.0	1	0	2
Braun	2/0	4- 5	.800	0- 0	.---	0- 0	.---	1/0.5	8/4.0	1	0	1
Lee	2/1	1- 8	.125	0- 5	.000	5- 8	.625	4/2.0	7/3.5	4	0	0
Gee	2/0	2- 2	1.000	0- 0	.---	1- 2	.500	5/2.5	5/2.5	1	0	0
Willis	1/0	1- 4	.250	0- 2	.000	0- 0	.---	2/2.0	2/1.0	0	1	1
USA	2	56-137	.409	17- 53	.321	38- 54	.704	100/50.0	167/83.5	43	1	12
OPP.	2	43-131	.328	9- 47	.191	28- 36	.777	78/39.0	123/61.5	30	7	11

 

 

Mexico City, Mexico and Havana, Cuba • June 28-July 1, 2018

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Suffering its first setback in FIBA World Cup Qualifying play, the USA rebounded in its second game to earn an critical split in window three and finish 5-1 in first round play and claim first place in Group C. 

	JUNE/JULY 2018 USA RESULTS (1-1) Mexico 79 USA 70 USA 93 Cuba 62

Falling into a 21-point hole in the first quarter, the USA fought back to within two points but was unable to get any closer as the Americans dropped their first FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifying game to Mexico 78-70 in front of a packed house and vocal home crowd on June 28, 2018, in Mexico City, Mexico.

Marcus Thornton led four U.S. scorers in double digits with 14 points; Xavier Munford scored 11 points and dished out five assists; and Reggie Hearn and David Stockton chipped in 10 points apiece.

“Mexico dominated us from the start and that’s on me,” said USA head coach Jeff Van Gundy.  “We were not ready to compete at the level Mexico did. Give them all the credit, they played a great, great game. In the second half we competed at a high level and that high level got us back in the game, but we just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Mexico sprinted out to an 18-0 lead as the U.S. missed it first nine shots and after the first 10 minutes the USA had dug itself into a huge hole, trailing 31-10. In the decisive opening quarter the USA managed to make just 3-of-18 shots, while Mexico made 9-of-15 shots.

Trailing 33-10 after Mexico put the first two points of the second quarter on the scoreboard, the Americans, behind Munford’s seven points, posted a 13-2 run to cut the gap to 35-23 with 5:57 to play before half. Mexico turned back the USA charge and outscored the U.S. 10-5 to take 45-28 lead at halftime.

Behind 52-36 with under five minutes to play in the third period, Alex Caruso made a 3 and Thomas added back-to-back 3s as the USA went on a 13-2 scoring run to cut the deficit to two points, 53-51. However, Mexico’s Gabriel Giron scored with :02 remaining in the third and Mexico carried a 55-51 lead into the fourth.

“Yeah, for sure, for sure,” said Thornton about the USA regaining the momentum in the third quarter.  “I thought we had a great momentum swing right there, we started stringing together stops, which is really the reason we were able to get into our offense and make some shots and get it going a little bit. That was good going into the fourth quarter, but it’s all about getting stops.”

The USA closed to within two early in the fourth, but Mexico created some breathing room and then made 6-of-8 free throws in the final 1:07 to seal the win.

Mexico’s Francisco Cruz led all scorers in the game with 24 points, and Orlando Mendez added 20 points. 

The USA shot just 37.7 percent (26-69 FGs) from the field, while Mexico shot 43.3 percent (26-60 FGs), including an even 40.0 percent (10-25 3pt FGs) from behind the line. Mexico also owned an advantage at the foul line, making 16-of-24 charity tries compared to 9-of-15 shooting by the USA from the line.

After allowing Cuba to score 28 points in the first quarter, the USA defense dug in and limited the hosts to just 18 points over the next two quarters to pave the way to a 93-62 win in the final first round FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifying game on July 1, 2018, in Havana, Cuba.

The game marked the first time the United States men’s national team had played in Cuba since the 1991 Pan American Games.

Claiming first place in Group C, the USA advanced into the FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifying second round as the top-seeded team out of Group C. 

“We knew Cuba was really big and athletic, and we had trouble with that in the first quarter,” said USA Van Gundy. “And then after that I thought our defense was outstanding over the last three quarters, and we really shot the ball well from 3.  The last three quarters we were outstanding defensively, swarming, they had a size advantage and we overcame that with speed and intensity and passion, and they bounced back well from a rough game in Mexico and a rough start tonight.”

After a back-and forth first quarter, the USA trailed 28-24 at the end of the first period after Cuba finished the opening stanza with an 8-0 run.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Hearn and Caruso gave the U.S. a lead it would never relinquish and ignited a game-deciding 17-0 run that pushed the USA ahead 41-28 with 5:12 to play in the first half.

Outscoring Cuba 20-9 in the second quarter and allowing Cuba just one made field goal and one 3-pointer, the U.S. led 50-37 heading into the midway break.

“We think our athleticism and our length on the defensive end are very helpful to us and we’re a big collection of players that haven’t played together a lot. So, on offense it can sometimes be a little clunky. But we know we can defend, so that has to be our strength,” said Reggie Hearn, who made 4-of-6 3-point shots.

Continuing its defensive dominance, the USA outscored Cuba 24-9 in the third quarter and led 74-46 with one quarter to play. Outproducing Cuba 19-16 in the fourth, the Americans sealed the 93-62 victory.

Six USA players scored in double digits. Hearn and Xavier Munford tied as the USA’s leading scorers with 16 points. David Stockton added 13 points, Alex Caruso notched 11, and Trey McKinney Jones and Marcus Thornton chipped in 10 points apiece. 

Outrebounding the bigger Cuba team 43-35, the USA’s effort on the glass was led by Amile Jefferson, Munford, McKinney Jones and Rashawn Thomas, who each pulled down five boards.

The USA hit an even 50.0 percent (32-64 FGs) of its shots from the field, including a red-hot 51.7 percent (15-29 3pt FGs) from 3-point range, while limiting Cuba to just 33.3 percent (20-60 FGs) shooting overall and 21.2 percent (5-23 3pt FGs) from beyond the arc. 

“It came down to defense and just talking,” McKinney Jones said. “A lot of defense is just communicating with each other so everybody is on the same page.  Obviously in the first quarter we gave up too many points, we were on pace to give them over 100, so I think we did a good job of taking their confidence away. If you give teams like these confidence, that’s where it can be dangerous. So it started with the communication and then it went from there.”

JUNE/JULY 2018 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM ROSTER

NAME	POS	HGT	WGT	AGE	G LEAGUE TEAM/SCHOOL	HOMETOWN
Taylor Braun	F	6-7	210	26	Salt Lake City Stars/North Dakota State	Newberg, OR
Alex Caruso	G	6-5	205	24	Los Angeles Lakers/Texas A&M	College Station, TX
Reggie Hearn	G	6-4	209	26	Grand Rapids Drive/Northwestern	Fort Wayne, IN
Jonathan Holmes	F	6-9	242	25	Maine Red Claws/Texas	San Antonio, TX
Amile Jefferson	F	6-9	222	25	Maine Red Claws/Texas	Philadelphia, PA
Nicki Johnson	G	6-3	200	25	Austin Spurs/Arizona	Gilbert, AZ
Kevin Jones	C	6-8	250	28	Baskonia (Spain)/West Virginia	Mount Vernon, NY
Trey McKinney Jones	F	6-5	220	27	Fort Wayne Mad Ants/Miami	Milwaukee, WI
Xavier Mumford	G	6-3	190	236	Wisconsin Herd/Rhode Island	Newark, NJ
David Stockton	G	5-11	165	27	Stockton Kings/Gonzaga	Spokane, WA
Rashawn Thomas	F	6-8	230	23	Oklahoma City Blue/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Oklahoma City, OK
Marcus Thornton	G	6-4	190	25	Canton Charge/William & Mary	Upper Marlboro, MD
Head Coach: Jeff Van Gundy
Assistant Coach:Josh Longstaff, Erie Bayhawks
Assistant Coach: John Thompson II
Team Physician: Stephen Foley, Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, SD)
Athletic Trainer: Ed Lacerte, ProSports Therapy, Inc. (Waltham and Westford, MA)
Team Scout: Mark Fox
Video Coordinator: Brad Jones

JUNE/JULY 2018 USA MEN'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS

NAME	G/S	FGM-A	PCT	3PM-A	PCT	FTM-A	PCT	REB	PTS	AS	BK	ST
Mumford	2/2	9-24	.375	3-8	.375	6-10	.600	7/3.5	27/13.5	9	1	1
Hearn	2/2	9-18	.500	7-12	.583	1-2	.500	7/3.5	26/13.0	2	0	0
Thornton	2/0	8-20	.400	6-14	.400	2-4	.500	6/3.0	24/12.0	1	0	1
Stockton	2/0	8-18	.444	3-8	.375	4-5	.800	6/3.0	23/11.5	5	0	2
T. Jones	2/0	5-13	.417	2-4	.500	2-2	1.000	10/5.0	14/7.0	6	0	2
Caruso	2/2	4-7	.571	2-2	1.000	4-6	.667	5/2.5	14/7.0	2	1	4
K. Jones	2/0	6-10	.600	0-1	.000	0-0	.----	9/4.5	12/6.0	0	2	0
Jefferson	2/2	4-7	.571	0-0	.---	2-3	.667	9/4.5	10/5.0	0	0	0
Thomas	2/0	4-8	.500	0-0	.---	2-5	.400	9/4.5	10/5.0	0	1	2
Holmes	2/2	1-2	.500	1-2	.500	0-0	.---	4/2.0	3/1.5	1	1	2
Braun	2/0	0-5	.000	0-2	.000	0-0	.---	4/2.0	0/0.0	1	0	0
Johnson	2/0	0-2	.000	0-1	.000	0-0	.---	1/0.5	0/0.0	1	0	1
USA	2	58-133	.436	24-55	.436	23-37	.623	81/40.5	163/81.5	28	6	15
OPP.	2	46-120	.383	15-48	.313	33-50	.660	78/39.0	140/70.0	25	20	13

 

 

Oregon's upset of the USA Women's National Team has been voted by the fans as the 2019 USA Basketball Moment of the Year.