The United States men’s national basketball team learned who their opponents would be for the 2023 Basketball World Cup qualifiers. The draw held by FIBA on Tuesday placed Team USA in Group D of the Americas region, where they will play Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

The first round of the qualifiers will take part between November and June. During this stage, each county will play the rest of the teams in the group two times. The three best teams from each group will make it to the second round, which takes place in late 2022 and early 2023.

In the end, a total of seven teams will get to take part in the 2023 World Cup that is held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia between August 25th and September 10th, 2023.

Team USA will be looking to get to the 2023 World Cup and redeem themselves for poor results at 2019’s edition of the tournament. The U.S. national team failed to pick up any medals two years ago while finishing seventh overall.

Team USA has five gold medals from World Cups, with their most recent wins coming in 2010 and 2014. They are tied for most wins with Yugoslavia.

The post Team USA to Play Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico in World Cup Qualifiers appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Team USA’s roster for the Tokyo Olympics is getting stronger by day. According to the Excel Basketball agency, their clients Kevin Love and Kris Middleton have committed to play for the United States at the upcoming tournament.

Love will be playing at his second Olympics, after winning the gold with Team USA in 2012, while Middleton is making his debut.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Bucks guard Jrue Holiday will also officially pledge to play in Tokyo in the following days. 

With these three players on board, Team USA’s 12-man roster now only has one spot left. USA Basketball previously got commitments from center Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), and Brooklyn Nets All-Star duo James Harden and Kevin Durant.

It’s unclear who might be the last addition, but reports say that Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George is thinking about adding his name to the list. George’s teammate Kawhi Leonard was also in the mix but will most likely withdraw his name due to health issues.

Several players already declined the invites, including the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, Phoenix’s Chris Paul, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, and the Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell.

Lowry wants to focus on his free agency, while Curry explained his rejection with offseason commitments. Mitchell wants to focus on rehabbing from a recent injury, while fatigue is cited as the reason why Paul declined.

The post Kevin Love and Khris Middleton to Play for Team USA at the Olympics appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Don’t expect to see a Dream Team or anything remotely close at this year’s FIBA World Cup. Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes reported on Tuesday that Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard and San Antonio Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan became the latest stars who withdraw their name from Team USA roster for the tournament.

Lillard and DeRozan join the long list of dropouts that includes the likes of Anthony Davis, Bradley Beal, James Harden, Tobias Harris, C.J. McCollum, and Eric Gordon. According to Haynes, the reason for such a big number of rejections is the players’ wish to be better prepared for the upcoming NBA season. With no clear favorites for the title this year, and a significant number of moves that majority of the teams made in the offseason, NBA stars choose to get to know their teammates better and develop chemistry rather than play in China.

You may think that there is no one left on the Team USA anymore, but the United States will still be the favorite with Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, Boston Celtics’ All-Star Kemba Walker and Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton reportedly confirming their participation. The rest of the roster includes Sacramento Kings’ Harrison Barnes, Los Angeles Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma, Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, Denver Nuggets’ Paul Millsap, Houston Rockets’ P.J. Tucker, and Indiana Pacers’ Myles Turner among others.

Celtics’ duo Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, as well as New York Knicks’ Julius Randle and Chicago Bulls’ Thaddeus Young, are set to join the team during the training camp.

The training camp will take place from August 5th to August 9th  in Las Vegas, after which the Team USA roster will be cut down to 12 players. FIBA World Cup kicks off on August 31st in China.

The post Damian Lillard and DeMar DeRozan Latest Team USA Stars to Skip FIBA World Cup appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The United States men’s national basketball team learned who their opponents would be for the 2023 Basketball World Cup qualifiers. The draw held by FIBA on Tuesday placed Team USA in Group D of the Americas region, where they will play Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

The first round of the qualifiers will take part between November and June. During this stage, each county will play the rest of the teams in the group two times. The three best teams from each group will make it to the second round, which takes place in late 2022 and early 2023.

In the end, a total of seven teams will get to take part in the 2023 World Cup that is held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia between August 25th and September 10th, 2023.

Team USA will be looking to get to the 2023 World Cup and redeem themselves for poor results at 2019’s edition of the tournament. The U.S. national team failed to pick up any medals two years ago while finishing seventh overall.

Team USA has five gold medals from World Cups, with their most recent wins coming in 2010 and 2014. They are tied for most wins with Yugoslavia.

The post Team USA to Play Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico in World Cup Qualifiers appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Team USA’s roster for the Tokyo Olympics is getting stronger by day. According to the Excel Basketball agency, their clients Kevin Love and Kris Middleton have committed to play for the United States at the upcoming tournament.

Love will be playing at his second Olympics, after winning the gold with Team USA in 2012, while Middleton is making his debut.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Bucks guard Jrue Holiday will also officially pledge to play in Tokyo in the following days. 

With these three players on board, Team USA’s 12-man roster now only has one spot left. USA Basketball previously got commitments from center Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), and Brooklyn Nets All-Star duo James Harden and Kevin Durant.

It’s unclear who might be the last addition, but reports say that Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George is thinking about adding his name to the list. George’s teammate Kawhi Leonard was also in the mix but will most likely withdraw his name due to health issues.

Several players already declined the invites, including the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, Phoenix’s Chris Paul, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, and the Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell.

Lowry wants to focus on his free agency, while Curry explained his rejection with offseason commitments. Mitchell wants to focus on rehabbing from a recent injury, while fatigue is cited as the reason why Paul declined.

The post Kevin Love and Khris Middleton to Play for Team USA at the Olympics appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Don’t expect to see a Dream Team or anything remotely close at this year’s FIBA World Cup. Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes reported on Tuesday that Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard and San Antonio Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan became the latest stars who withdraw their name from Team USA roster for the tournament.

Lillard and DeRozan join the long list of dropouts that includes the likes of Anthony Davis, Bradley Beal, James Harden, Tobias Harris, C.J. McCollum, and Eric Gordon. According to Haynes, the reason for such a big number of rejections is the players’ wish to be better prepared for the upcoming NBA season. With no clear favorites for the title this year, and a significant number of moves that majority of the teams made in the offseason, NBA stars choose to get to know their teammates better and develop chemistry rather than play in China.

You may think that there is no one left on the Team USA anymore, but the United States will still be the favorite with Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, Boston Celtics’ All-Star Kemba Walker and Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton reportedly confirming their participation. The rest of the roster includes Sacramento Kings’ Harrison Barnes, Los Angeles Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma, Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, Denver Nuggets’ Paul Millsap, Houston Rockets’ P.J. Tucker, and Indiana Pacers’ Myles Turner among others.

Celtics’ duo Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, as well as New York Knicks’ Julius Randle and Chicago Bulls’ Thaddeus Young, are set to join the team during the training camp.

The training camp will take place from August 5th to August 9th  in Las Vegas, after which the Team USA roster will be cut down to 12 players. FIBA World Cup kicks off on August 31st in China.

The post Damian Lillard and DeMar DeRozan Latest Team USA Stars to Skip FIBA World Cup appeared first on SportzBonanza.