G League Austin Spurs

USA Men's Pan American Games Team Named

October 20, 2011 - NBA G League (G League)
Austin Spurs News Release


TULSA, Okla. (Oct. 19, 2011) -- The official 12-man USA Basketball Men's Pan American Games Team was announced Wednesday night after six days of training in Tulsa, Okla. The U.S. squad, comprised for the first time in Pan American Games history of NBA Development League players who are under contract to play in the NBA D-League in 2011-12, will continue training in Tulsa through Oct. 22 and will compete Oct. 26-30 in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Selected as a finalists for the USA team were: Blake Ahearn (Erie BayHawks/Missouri State ‚¬Ëœ07); Brian Butch (Injured for 2010-11 season/Wisconsin ‚¬Ëœ08); Justin Dentmon (Texas Legends/Washington ‚¬Ëœ09); Jerome Dyson (Tulsa 66ers/Connecticut ‚¬Ëœ10); Moses Ehambe (Iowa Energy/Oral Roberts ‚¬Ëœ08); Marcus Lewis (Tulsa 66ers/Oral Roberts ‚¬Ëœ09); Leo Lyons (Austin Toros/Missouri ‚¬Ëœ09); Renaldo Major (Dakota Wizards/Fresno State ‚¬Ëœ04); Donald Sloan (Reno Bighorns/Texas A&M ‚¬Ëœ10); Gregory Stiemsma (Sokhumi Tbilisi, Georgia/Wisconsin ‚¬Ëœ09); Curtis Sumpter (Maroussi BC, Greece/Villanova ‚¬Ëœ07); and Lance Thomas (Austin Toros/Duke ‚¬Ëœ10).

"Obviously this is a tough selection just because guys have competed at such a high level. They're doing what we've asked, they're all good guys, but we can only take 12. At the same time you've got to get 12 so we can relax, catch our breath, guys don't have to press now, this is our team and we can really focus on competing in the Pan Ams," said USA Pan American Games and Tulsa 66ers head coach Nate Tibbetts.

"I think what excites me about this team is our commitment to defense, our guys have really bought into that. And then we've got some guards that can really push it and we've got some bigs that are really, really playing hard and are game changers just with their effort."

Assisting Tibbetts on the USA bench are Tulsa 66ers coaching staff members Jermaine Byrd and Dale Osbourne. Additionally, Austin Toros head coach Brad Jones and Idaho Stampede head coach Randy Livingston are assisting as court coaches during the USA's training camp.

The Pan American Games, held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics, are being held Oct. 13-30 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The men's basketball competition, which features eight teams, is being conducted Oct. 26-30.

The USA men were drawn into Group B for the Pan American Games and are joined by national teams from Brazil, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. Competing in Group A are Argentina, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The U.S. men open preliminary round play Oct. 26 facing Dominican Republic (5:30 p.m. CDT), then face defending Pan American Games champion Brazil on Oct. 27 (8 p.m. CDT), and conclude preliminary play versus Uruguay (5:30 p.m. CDT) on Oct. 28. Semifinals action will be played Oct. 29, and the finals will be contested on Oct. 30.

The player and coaching staff selections were made by the USA Basketball Men's Pan American Games Committee, approved by USA Basketball's Board of Directors and are subject to final approval by the U.S. Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer.

The USA Basketball Pan American Games Committee is chaired by USA Basketball Men's National Team Director Sean Ford, and also comprised of Tibbetts, 2000 Olympic gold medalist Steve Smith, NBA Development League Vice President of Basketball Operations & Player Personnel Chris Alpert, and NBA Development League consultant Gordon Chiesa.

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