The second major international basketball event of the summer involving collegians is set to tip off on Saturday, and Team USA appears that it will take a heavily perimeter-oriented team into the World University Games in Shenzhen, China. Of the twelve-man roster of mostly rising juniors and seniors, the Yanks appear to be at a serious size disadvantage with only Greg Mangano (Yale) standing at 6’10” and the beefy but 6’8″-ish forwards Tim Abromaitis (Notre Dame), Trevor Mbakwe (Minnesota), JaMychal Green (Alabama) and Draymond Green (Michigan State) likely to be giving up several inches against many of their opponents.
The team is already in China and managed to find time to clobber Japan by 40 points in a three-quarters scrimmage earlier this week. It’s difficult to predict which teams might be the toughest competition for the Americans in the coming weeks, but the Russian, Lithuanian, Serbian and the host Chinese teams figure to be among the top several contenders. Here are some of the sights and sounds from a recent practice as the team preps for its opening round game against Mexico on Saturday.
In case you missed the final roster announced several weeks ago, here it is:
NAME |
POS
|
HGT
|
WGT
|
DOB
|
YOG
|
SCHOOL | HOMETOWN |
Tim Abromaitis |
F/C
|
6-8
|
235
|
09/17/89
|
2011*
|
Notre Dame | Unionville, CT |
Marcus Denmon |
G
|
6-3
|
185
|
03/20/90
|
2012
|
Missouri | Kansas City, MO |
Ashton Gibbs |
G
|
6-2
|
190
|
01/19/90
|
2012
|
Pittsburgh | Scotch Plains, NJ |
Draymond Green |
F
|
6-7
|
230
|
03/04/90
|
2012
|
Michigan State | Saginaw, MI |
JaMychal Green |
F
|
6-8
|
225
|
06/21/90
|
2012
|
Alabama | Montgomery, AL |
Scoop Jardine |
G
|
6-2
|
190
|
08/09/88
|
2011*
|
Syracuse | Philadelphia, PA |
John Jenkins |
G
|
6-4
|
220
|
03/06/91
|
2013
|
Vanderbilt | Hendersonville, TN |
Orlando Johnson |
G
|
6-5
|
205
|
03/11/89
|
2012
|
UC Santa Barbara | Seaside, CA |
Greg Mangano |
F
|
6-10
|
240
|
10/28/89
|
2012
|
Yale | Orange, CT |
Trevor Mbakwe |
F/C
|
6-8
|
241
|
01/24/89
|
2012
|
Minnesota | St. Paul, MN |
Ray McCallum |
G
|
6-1
|
185
|
06/12/91
|
2014
|
Detroit Mercy | Beverly Hills, MI |
Darius Miller |
G
|
6-6
|
185
|
03/21/90
|
2012
|
Kentucky | Maysville, KY |
View Comments (1)
The team is apparently putting their 3 point shooters to good use early. Vandy's John Jenkins hit 8-10 from beyond the arc as Team USA beat New Century of the China Basketball Association, 88-61, in exhibition play earlier today,