D-Leaguers Hamilton, Victor and Shipp Added to USA WCQ Team
Published on August 4, 2005 under NBA G League (G League) News Release
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 4, 2005) - Adding three players while seeing two players drop off the previously announced 15-player Trials roster, 16 players who played last season professionally in the NBA Development League (D-League), Continental Basketball Association (CBA), or overseas, will gather in Miami, Fla., Friday for the start of the 2005 USA Basketball Men's World Championship Qualifying Team Trials.
Added to the USA Trials roster were Tang Hamilton (Fayetteville-NBA Development League/Mississippi State â01), Joe Shipp (Albuquerque-NBA Development League/California â03) and Isiah Victor (Roanoke-NBA Development League/ Tennessee â01). Previously announced players who recently informed USA Basketball that they will unable to participate include Michael Batiste (Panathinaikos-Greece/Arizona State â99) and Melvin Sanders (Dakota-CBA/ Oklahoma State â03).
Of the 16 players expected to participate in the Trials, in 2004-05 five played in the NBA Development League, three in the CBA, six were with professional teams in Europe and two played in the Korean Basketball League (KBL).
Hamilton played in 2004-05 with the Fayetteville Patriots in the NBA Development League and after averaging 15.8 ppg., 6.9 rpg., 2.2 apg., and shooting 52.8 percent from the field, Hamilton was named 2005 All-NBA Development League honorable mention. Shipp played in â04-â05 with the NBA Development League Huntsville Flight (now Albuquerque) and averaged 16.2 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 1.8 apg., 1.2 spg., while shooting 49.0 percent from the field. Victor in 2004-05 was a member of the NBA Development League Roanoke Dazzle. Garnering 2005 All-NBA Development League first team honors, Victor averaged 19.5 ppg., 7.1 rpg., 1.9 apg., and shot 51.3 percent from the field.
The 16 professional basketball players will participate in the trials with an eye on earning one of the final 12 roster spots on the 2005 USA Basketball World Championship Qualifying squad. The USA team will compete Aug. 24-Sept. 4 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in the FIBA Americas Men's World Championship Qualifying Tournament. The top four finishing teams (in addition to Argentina who has already qualified by virtue of winning the 2004 Olympics) will earn their nation a qualifying berth in the 2006 FIBA World Championship that is being held in Japan.
In addition to Hamilton, Shipp and Victor, players expected to participate in the USA Team trials will be: Jerome Beasley (Sioux Falls-CBA/North Dakota â03); Charlie Bell (Leche Rio-Spain/Michigan State â01); Ernest Brown (Fayetteville-NBA Development League/Indian Hills C.C. â00); Tyus Edney (Lottomatica Roma-Italy/UCLA â95); Corsley Edwards (Sioux Falls-CBA/Central Connecticut State â02); Noel Felix (Yakima-CBA/Fresno State â03); Lynn Greer (Dynamo Moscow-Russia/ Temple â02); Jimmie Hunter (Sebastiani Rieti-Italy/Life â00); Kris Lang (Unicaja Malaga-Spain/North Carolina â02); Aaron McGhee (Pusan KTF-Korea/Oklahoma â02); Marque Perry (Olympicos-Greece/Saint Louis â03); Alex Scales (Samsung-Korea/ Oregon â99); and Ron Slay (Tulsa-NBA Development League/ Tennessee â03).
Four of the finalists boast of previous USA Basketball experience. Edney was a member of the 1994 USA Goodwill Games Team that captured bronze in St. Petersburg, Russia; Greer was a part of the 2001 USA World University Games Team that won bronze in Beijing, China; Lang, while a UNC Tar Heel, participated in the 1999 USA Basketball National Team Trials; and Shipp was a member of the 1998 USA Basketball Youth Development Festival silver medalist West Team.
The USA Team's trials and training will be conducted at the Miami Heat practice facility inside AmericanAirlines Arena. The first trials session will be held on Friday, Aug. 5, from 5-7 p.m. (all times local). Sessions on Aug. 6 and 8 will be held 10 a.m.-12 noon and 5-7 p.m, with sessions on Aug. 7 and 9 slated for 1-4 p.m.
The U.S. will gain some valuable international experience when it participates in a four-team tournament in Belo Horizonte, Brazil The USA will join teams from Argentina, Brazil and Canada and play three games Aug. 11-13. Continuing is training in Brazil, the U.S. will also play two additional exhibition games against Brazil. The first game is slated for Aug. 15 in São Paulo, Brazil, and the second exhibition is scheduled for Aug. 17 in Brusque, Brazil. Returning to Miami Aug. 18, the team will train at the Heat practice facility Aug. 19-21, then travel Aug. 22 to the Dominican Republic for its final training and the Aug. 24-Sept. 4 competition.
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