The USA Basketball Training Camp in Vegas is an All-Star Weekend

Basically, this is how it goes… There’s the 2007 US Men’s Select Team coached by Seatlle Supersonics head coach PJ Carlesimo, who aslo served as an assistant on the 1992 US Olympic “Dream Team.” The 2007 US Select serves as a practice squad for the 2007 US Men’s Senior National Team. Headed by Duke University Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, the 2007 US Senior National Team will be playing at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship which will kick off next Wednesday (August 22)  in Las Vegas.

Right now, there’s a training camp going on in Sin City, and the 2007 Select is going to go head-to-head with the 2007 National Senior Team. The Select team hopes to beat the hell out of the Senior National Team to give them the training they deserve. But even if they win, The Select Team will still be cheering from the sidelines during the FIBA Americas Championship. As far as the USA Basketball program is concerned — the Senior National Team play in the FIBA, and the Select Team is the “punching bag” team that works out the Senior Team. Of course, it takes a bunch of all-stars to train all-stars. Make sense? Anyway…
NBA Players expected to participate in the Select Team include Aaron Brooks (Houston Rockets); Channing Frye (Portland Trailblazers); Jeff Green (Seattle SuperSonics); Devin Harris (Dallas Mavericks); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); Al Jefferson (Minnesota Twolves); Jason Kapono (Toronto Raptors); and David Lee (NY Knicks).

The roster for the Senior Team includes Carmelon Anthony (Denver Nuggets); Chauncey Billups (Detroit Pistons); Chris Bosh (Toronto Rapotors); Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers); Tyson Chandler (New Orleans Hornets); Nick Collison (Seattle SuperSonics); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers); Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets); Mike Miller (Memphis Grizzlies); Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons); J.J. Redick (Orlando Magic); Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks); Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns) and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz).

On paper, it looks like the Senior Team will have the advantage over the Select Team, but then let’s see maybe the oddsmakers will be kind enough to give a fair handicap for the Select Team’s roster of NBA stars.

If not, there’s always the FIBA Americas Championship next week in Las Vegas, and for sure there’s going to be some lively betting happening across the globe.

Brazil were champions of the 2005 FIBA Americas Championship and earning the gold medal when they defeated Argentina, who earned the silver. Team USA lost to Venezuela in the fight for 3rd place that saw the ecstatic Venezuelans claiming the bronze.

USA looks like a favorite for the tournament with a reinforced 2007 Senior National Team that has a wealth of MVP performance in the roster. I’d have to check the odds, the spreads and the match-ups before I start hitting the books, but one thing I know for certain. It’s going to be a lively action-packed tournament.

USA will be matched up against Venezuela next Wednesday (August 22). Remember the last time — Venezuela won.

For odds on anything about basketball, click here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 at 2:03 pm and is filed under Basketball, Dallas Mavericks, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA All-Star Weekend, NBA Basketball, Sports, Sports Betting, Sportsbooks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.