FIBA Americas Championship -- 1989
The 1989 USA World Championship Qualifying Team, under the direction of Georgia Tech mentor Bobby Cremins, journeyed to Mexico City, Mexico, looking to earn one of the Americas zone’s five qualifying spots for the 1990 FIBA World Championship.
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1989 USA RESULTS (6-1)
1989 FIBA AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS
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Sending to Mexico a team featuring top collegians like Billy Owens, Gary Payton, Lionel Simmons, Antonio Davis, and Christian Laettner among others, the USA lost its first and last games and reeled off six wins in between en route to finishing with a 6-2 record and the silver medal.
Opening preliminary play on June 8, despite 24 points from Simmons, the U.S. came out on the short end of a 116-108 contest against the Dominican Republic. The USA got on the winning track the following day and behind 26 points from Owens scored a convincing 105-92 win over Puerto Rico.
The USA winning ways continued as the U.S. squad edged Cuba 95-93 as Rodney Monroe led the USA offense with 16 points. Panama was overwhelmed 118-97 on June 11 as Owens exploded for 32 points on 13-of-17 shooting from the field. Closing out preliminary play against host Mexico, the U.S. battled to a 96-86 victory as Laettner posted team highs of 20 points and eight rebounds.
The USA, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic finished preliminary play tied with identical 4-1 records, and based on the FIBA tie-breaking formula of results between the three tied teams, Puerto Rico edged out the U.S. for the No. 1 seed, the U.S. was seeded second and the Dominican Republic earned the No. 3 seed.
Facing 3-2 Canada, Owens recorded a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds as the U.S. squeezed out a 75-73 victory to keep its medal hopes alive. The quarterfinals win assured the USA of a berth in the ‘90 World Championship.
The semifinals pitted the 5-1 USA against unbeaten 6-0 Brazil. Owens put up his second consecutive double-double after finishing with team highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds and the USA fought off Brazil for a 99-96 victory to advance to the gold medal contest.
Meeting Puerto Rico in the gold medal contest, Doug Smith scored 18 points but the U.S. was held to its second lowest offensive output in an 88-80 setback to Puerto Rico.
While the U.S. earned a qualifying spot for the 1990 FIBA World Championship, also qualifying were Puerto Rico, Brazil, Venezuela and Canada.
Owens paced the American offense averaging 20.4 ppg. and a team leading 7.4 rpg., while Simmons contributed 14.8 ppg. and 7.3 rpg., Monroe scored 12.9 ppg., and Smith added 11.3 ppg.
1989 USA TOURNAMENT OF THE AMERICAS TEAM ROSTER
| NAME |
POS
|
HGT
|
WGT
|
AGE
|
COLLEGE | HOMETOWN |
| Matt Bullard |
C
|
6-10
|
212
|
22
|
University of Iowa | West Des Moines, IA |
| Chris Corchiani |
G
|
6-0
|
186
|
21
|
North Carolina State | Miami, FL |
| Antonio Davis |
F
|
6-9
|
221
|
20
|
University of Texas El-Paso | Oakland, CA |
| Greg Dennis |
F
|
6-11
|
193
|
20
|
East Tennessee State University | Charleston, WV |
| Christian Laettner |
F
|
6-10
|
237
|
19
|
Duke University | Angola, NY |
| Jason Matthews |
G
|
6-3
|
175
|
19
|
University of Pittsburgh | Los Angeles, CA |
| Rodney Monroe |
G
|
6-3
|
173
|
21
|
North Carolina State University | Hagerstown, MD |
| Billy Owens |
G
|
6-9
|
212
|
20
|
Syracuse University | Carlisle, PA |
| Gary Payton |
G
|
6-3
|
176
|
20
|
Oregon State University | Oakland, CA |
| Elliot Perry |
G
|
6-1
|
151
|
20
|
Memphis State University | Memphis, TN |
| Lionel Simmons |
F
|
6-6
|
221
|
20
|
LaSalle University | Philadelphia, PA |
| Doug Smith |
F
|
6-10
|
217
|
19
|
University of Missouri | Detroit, MI |
| HEAD COACH: Bobby Cremins, Georgia Tech | ||||||
| ASSISTANT COACH: Les Robinson, East Tennessee State | ||||||
| ASSISTANT COACH: Joby Wright, Indiana University | ||||||
| TEAM PHYSICIAN: Gerald Lawrence, Willimantic, Connecticut | ||||||
| ATHLETIC TRAINER: Ed Ryan, U.S. Olympic Committee | ||||||
1989 USA TOURNAMENT OF THE AMERICAS TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS
| NAME | G |
FGM-A
|
PCT
|
3PM-A
|
PCT
|
FTM-A
|
PCT
|
REB
|
PTS
|
AT
|
BK
|
ST
|
| Owens | 8 |
69-115
|
.600
|
16- 35
|
.457
|
9- 15
|
.600
|
59/ 7.4
|
163/ 20.4
|
13
|
6
|
4
|
| Simmons | 8 |
50-100
|
.500
|
0- 7
|
.000
|
18- 32
|
.563
|
58/ 7.3
|
118/ 14.8
|
17
|
6
|
6
|
| Monroe | 8 |
40- 82
|
.488
|
19- 43
|
.442
|
4- 4
|
1.000
|
34/ 4.3
|
103/ 12.9
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
| Smith | 8 |
39- 72
|
.542
|
0- 1
|
.000
|
12- 17
|
.715
|
48/ 6.0
|
90/ 11.3
|
5
|
0
|
5
|
| Laettner | 8 |
27- 49
|
.551
|
3- 12
|
.250
|
15- 19
|
.789
|
47/ 5.9
|
72/ 9.0
|
2
|
2
|
6
|
| Davis | 8 |
21- 27
|
.778
|
0- 0
|
.---
|
14- 31
|
.452
|
38/ 4.8
|
56/ 7.0
|
0
|
18
|
4
|
| Matthews | 8 |
15- 33
|
.455
|
12- 22
|
.545
|
9- 10
|
.900
|
10/ 1.3
|
51/ 6.4
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
| Corchiani | 8 |
16- 31
|
.516
|
2- 11
|
.182
|
11- 15
|
.733
|
11/ 1.4
|
45/ 5.6
|
18
|
1
|
4
|
| Payton | 8 |
12- 29
|
.414
|
5- 18
|
.278
|
0- 3
|
.000
|
19/ 2.4
|
29/ 3.6
|
11
|
2
|
11
|
| Perry | 8 |
9- 18
|
.500
|
0- 2
|
.000
|
10- 13
|
.769
|
8/ 1.0
|
28/ 3.5
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
| Bullard | 7 |
9- 16
|
.563
|
0- 0
|
.---
|
3- 3
|
1.000
|
16/ 2.3
|
21/ 3.0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
| Dennis | 3 |
0- 2
|
.000
|
0- 0
|
.---
|
0- 0
|
.---
|
4/ 1.3
|
0/ 0.0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| USA | 8 |
308-575
|
.536
|
55-148
|
.372
|
107-164
|
.652
|
352/44.0
|
776/ 97.0
|
69
|
36
|
51
|
| OPP. | 8 |
740/ 92.5
|
