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The United States men's national basketball team won the gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup held in Spain. Prior to 2014, the event was known as the FIBA World Championship. The 24-team tournament was held from August 30 to September 14, and the victory automatically qualified the U.S. into the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Kyrie Irving was named the most valuable player (MVP) of the tournament. The United States had automatically qualified for the World Cup by virtue of the gold medal won by their 2012 Olympic team. The Americans were widely expected to win the World Cup,〔 and advanced to the knockout phase after starting the tournament 5–0 during the group stage. They were an undefeated 9–0 in the tournament, winning by an average margin of 33.0 points. The United States was just the third country in World Cup history to repeat as champions. Combined with their 2010 World Championship along with gold by their 2008 and 2012 Olympic teams, they also became the first country in FIBA basketball history to win four consecutive major titles. ==Roster== The squad consisted of only six former NBA All-Stars after multiple stars declined to participate. Still, the team remained deep in NBA talent, and was widely considered the favorite to win the championship.〔 Holdovers included 2012 Olympic gold medalists James Harden and Anthony Davis, in addition to Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose, and Rudy Gay from the 2010 championship team.〔 The 2014 roster featured four players or larger, the most of any USA team since Mike Krzyzewski began coaching the team in 2006. The team was also the youngest American team since 1992, when professionals were first allowed on the team;〔 the average player was 24.08 years old, roughly a half-year younger than their 2010 team. In January 2014, USA Basketball announced their initial 28-man list of players to be considered for their roster for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Players on the list who withdrew themselves from World Cup consideration were LaMarcus Aldridge, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, Dwight Howard, Andre Iguodala, LeBron James, David Lee, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams. A 19-man preliminary roster was announced on July 14, 2014. Two of the players, DeMar DeRozan and Chandler Parsons, were not named to the initial January roster.〔 On July 25, Blake Griffin pulled out due to concerns with his back, and John Wall was named as a replacement. Mired in unresolved trade talks between his Minnesota Timberwolves and other teams, Kevin Love withdrew on July 25. Love was replaced on the training camp roster by Paul Millsap on July 27. The day before, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said that final squad members could also potentially come from the Select Team that is scrimmaging with the main camp roster in Las Vegas. On July 29, Mason Plumlee was promoted to the senior team to give them an extra big man. During a scrimmage on August 1, Paul George suffered a compound fracture of both bones in his lower right leg, and underwent surgery hours after the injury. George's injury was similar to one suffered by Louisville Cardinals player Kevin Ware during an 2013 NCAA tournament game against the Duke Blue Devils, coached by Krzyzewski. The next set of cuts came on August 5, when Wall, Millsap, and Bradley Beal were cut. On August 7, Kevin Durant withdrew from the team, citing physical and mental fatigue. Coupled with George's injury, the small forward position went from being a strength to a weakness for Team USA.〔 Shortly after Durant's withdrawal, Gay was added to the preliminary roster. Kyle Korver, Chandler Parsons, Gordon Hayward, and Damian Lillard were the final cuts on the team.〔 Big men Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Drummond, and Plumlee—a Krzyzewski favorite whom he previously coached at Duke—were kept in anticipation of facing Spain in the title game against their frontline trio of Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka.〔〔 Rose made the team after team officials were confident in the health of the 2010–11 NBA Most Valuable Player, despite his playing in just 10 games the prior two NBA seasons due to knee injuries.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「2014 United States FIBA Basketball World Cup team」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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