Indianapolis, Indiana • August 29-September 8, 2002

USA Basketball's 2002 Men's World Championship Team won its first five games in the 2002 World Championship in impressive style, but then stumbled in three of its last four games to finish a disappointing 6-3 and in sixth place. Conducted Aug. 29-Sept. 8, the 14th FIBA World Basketball Championship was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, marking the first time in the event's 52 year history that the prestigious event had been held in the United States.

USA head coach George Karl and the U.S. team gathered in San Francisco to initiate its training on Aug. 16, and 13 days later the USA opened preliminary round play against Algeria. The U.S. roared to a dominating 110-60 win over Algeria as Paul Pierce led the USA offensive charge with 22 points, while Elton Brand, tying a USA World Championship team record for best single game shooting percentage making 8-of-8 shots, added 17 points, and Michael Finley also contributed 17 points.

Facing Germany on Aug. 30, the U.S. posted a hard fought 104-87 win against Germany as Pierce scored six of his team high 26 points in the third quarter's final 2.5 seconds to inspire the USA to a 104-87 victory.

Getting 19 points from Pierce and 15 points from Shawn Marion, the U.S. improved to 3-0 after closing out its first round action with a 84-65 victory over China on Aug. 31.

Pierce finished with 27 points and Andre Miller accounted for 18 as the United States' offense hit the Conseco Fieldhouse floor running on Sept. 2 and the Americans routed Russia 106-82 in their first game of the second round.

Getting 20 point scoring efforts from Finley and Pierce, the USA, behind an impressive offensive showing in the game's third and fourth quarters, improved to 5-0 after earning a lopsided 110-62 victory against New Zealand on Sept. 3.

Closing out its second round play against also 5-0 Argentina, Argentina led from start to finish and relying on a balanced scoring attack that saw six players score between nine and a team best 15 points, shocked the United States with an 87-80 stunning victory on Sept. 4. The U.S. struggled right from the opening tip and fell behind by as many as 20 points in the second quarter. Rallying in the third quarter to cut the gap to six points, the Americans never got any closer as Argentina successfully turned away several USA comeback efforts. Pierce led the USA in scoring, accounting for 22 points. Argentina's upset ended the 58 game win streak in international basketball competitions of USA Basketball teams featuring NBA players.

Despite the loss, the U.S. advanced to the Sept. 5 medal round quarterfinals with a No. 2 Seed. In a do-or-die quarterfinals game featuring the two teams most felt would meet in the gold medal contest, the USA watched its gold medal hopes come crashing down around it after defending world champion Yugoslavia rallied back from 10 points down with 6:42 remaining in the fourth quarter to take an 81-78 victory. The United States' scoring was led by Pierce and Andre Miller who each tallied 19 points, while Yuogslavia was paced by Sacramento Kings All-Stars Predrag Stojakovic and Vlade Divac. Stojakovic finished with a game high 20 points and Divac added 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Relegated to the consolation finals, the U.S. shook off the tremendous disappointment of its quarterfinals loss and behind a team effort that was highlighted by double digit scoring from five players, including 15 points from Jermaine O'Neal and Pierce, the Americans got back on the winning track with an 84-74 victory over Puerto Rico on Sept. 6.

Facing Spain in a game to determine fifth and sixth places, the USA took a nine-point 65-56 lead into the game's final 10 minutes but was outscored 9-0 over the final 2:08 as Spain stormed back to tack an 81-75 loss on the Americans. Playing its ninth game in 10 days, the U.S., which led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, struggled to score in the fourth quarter and made just 3-of-16 shots (18.8 percent) and was outscored 25-10 as Spain rallied for the win. Raef LaFrentz led the USA with 13 points and added seven rebounds, while Ben Wallace had 12 points and a team high eight rebounds.

In the World Championship gold medal game, Yugoslavia defeated Argentina 84-77 in overtime as Dejan Bodiroga scored 27 points, including nine in a row at the end of regulation to rally his team from an eight-point deficit. The gold medal victory was Yugoslavia's second consecutive and its fifth gold medal in the World Basketball Championships. In the bronze medal game, Germany, behind 29 points from NBA All-Star Dirk Nowitzki, earned its first-ever medal in the World Basketball Championships after overcoming an early deficit to defeat New Zealand 117-94.

2002 USA MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM ROSTER

2002 USA MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS