USA men's senior national team honcho Jerry Colangelo tapped 10 young NBA players and recent draft picks, including No. 1 overall pick Derrick Rose (Chicago), to serve as practice fodder to prepare the U.S. for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Seattle (cough, cough), I mean, Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant is the only player on the U.S. Select Team who is on the full men's national team, from which the Olympic team was chosen. Durant, the 2008 NBA Rookie of the Year, was the lone newbie added to the team last summer so the U.S. could start building a pipeline for future national teams.
Philadelphia 76er Andre Iguodala served on the select team last summer. The others, who will be coached by OKC coach P.J. Carlesimo, are LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland), Durant's teammate Jeff Green, Luther Head (Houston), Al Horford (Atlanta), Kevin Martin (Sacramento), O.J. Mayo (Memphis) and Rodney Stuckey (Detroit).
Two other bodies will be plucked from the NBA Summer League, which is wrapping up its Vegas leg on Sunday. The U.S. Olympic team will train in Vegas July 21-24. The U.S. begins a five-game warmup on its way to China with a game against Canada on July 25.
