Team USA 2017 – The Worst Team USA Of All Time
The FIBA has released a new qualifying format for this year, making it impossible for NBA players to play for their respective countries. For Team USA 2017 this concerns the AmeriCup 2017, which they have to play to make themselves eligible for more important events such as the FIBA World Cup.
Team USA was able to land Jeff Van Gundy as its head coach. The now ABC analyst and commentator has already coached in the NBA Finals and will most likely be the most experienced and known member of Team USA 2017.
The training camp will start next week in Houston and Van Gundy will have to find 12 players to play for Team USA. He told USA TODAY Sports:
“What we have to do is match and exceed their passion, how hard we play, how together we are as a group. Because when the U.S. has not succeeded in international competitions, it’s because there wasn’t as much maybe sacrifice as you need, or maybe you were deficient in one skill that was important.”
But how could this roster possibly look like? Well, among the 17 players Van Gundy has invited to training camp, the most known are Kendall Marshall, Reggie Williams, and Marshall Plumlee, who weren’t able to find a spot on an NBA roster for the coming season (yet). The other players mostly are G-League players, because as stated earlier, NBA players won’t be permitted to play.
This will be a whole new era of Team USA basketball.