2010-08-26 17:32:15 +0000 #1
ATHENS, Greece -- The U.S. national basketball team finalized its roster for the FIBA World Championship when Boston Celtics star Rajon Rondo asked to withdraw from consideration.
Rondo had started the Americans' first two exhibition games, then surprisingly didn't play at all Sunday when the U.S. edged Spain.
Earlier Tuesday, Rondo told ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan that he felt he might be the team's final cut.
"I think I'm on the bubble," Rondo said Tuesday. "Just looking at the obvious -- I got a DNP last game. That pretty much speaks for itself."
USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said Rondo offered to withdraw to take care of "some family matters to attend to and some things to take care of before the NBA season."
"[Rondo] did an outstanding job during our training, we appreciate the effort and commitment he made to our program and he completely has our support," Colangelo said in a statement announcing Rondo's withdrawal and Team USA's final roster.
The final 12-man roster set Tuesday includes: Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Rudy Gay, Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups, Danny Granger, Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, Stephen Curry, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler and Andre Iguodala.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski's team has one more tuneup against Greece on Wednesday. The world championships start Saturday in Turkey and run through Sept. 12.
After losing his job as the starting point guard to Derrick Rose last weekend in Madrid, Rondo's stock had fallen to the point where he was apparently third on the point guard depth chart behind Rose and Westbrook.
But on Tuesday, before Rondo withdrew, Krzyzewski said his decision would be based on assembling the best roster for the tournament.
"It's not so much what Rajon has to show, it's what our team needs. We've found a good lineup, and the international game is so different from the NBA game, you can ask any of these guys," Krzyzewski said. "Part of it is to make sure that we try not to have two non-shooters out on the court, and there's the physicality, too."
Rondo played poorly (1 of 4, two points, one assist, four turnovers) in the Americans' game against Lithuania on Saturday in which they failed to establish a fast pace and scored just seven points in the first quarter. Rondo and Chandler were replaced by Rose and Odom in the starting five the following night against Spain.
While Rondo is a strong rebounder, his inability to consistently hit jump shots and free throws -- he was 5 of 19 (26 percent) in the NBA Finals -- were two factors working against him.
Rondo had started the Americans' first two exhibition games, then surprisingly didn't play at all Sunday when the U.S. edged Spain.
Earlier Tuesday, Rondo told ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan that he felt he might be the team's final cut.
"I think I'm on the bubble," Rondo said Tuesday. "Just looking at the obvious -- I got a DNP last game. That pretty much speaks for itself."
USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said Rondo offered to withdraw to take care of "some family matters to attend to and some things to take care of before the NBA season."
"[Rondo] did an outstanding job during our training, we appreciate the effort and commitment he made to our program and he completely has our support," Colangelo said in a statement announcing Rondo's withdrawal and Team USA's final roster.
The final 12-man roster set Tuesday includes: Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Rudy Gay, Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups, Danny Granger, Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, Stephen Curry, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler and Andre Iguodala.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski's team has one more tuneup against Greece on Wednesday. The world championships start Saturday in Turkey and run through Sept. 12.
After losing his job as the starting point guard to Derrick Rose last weekend in Madrid, Rondo's stock had fallen to the point where he was apparently third on the point guard depth chart behind Rose and Westbrook.
But on Tuesday, before Rondo withdrew, Krzyzewski said his decision would be based on assembling the best roster for the tournament.
"It's not so much what Rajon has to show, it's what our team needs. We've found a good lineup, and the international game is so different from the NBA game, you can ask any of these guys," Krzyzewski said. "Part of it is to make sure that we try not to have two non-shooters out on the court, and there's the physicality, too."
Rondo played poorly (1 of 4, two points, one assist, four turnovers) in the Americans' game against Lithuania on Saturday in which they failed to establish a fast pace and scored just seven points in the first quarter. Rondo and Chandler were replaced by Rose and Odom in the starting five the following night against Spain.
While Rondo is a strong rebounder, his inability to consistently hit jump shots and free throws -- he was 5 of 19 (26 percent) in the NBA Finals -- were two factors working against him.
