Holiday named to USA Men's Select Team
Jrue Holiday and Sixers’ teammate Andre Iguodala could be on opposite sidelines this summer.
That’s because Holiday was added to the 2012 USA Select Team that will train against the U.S. Olympic team next week in Las Vegas.
“In naming Jrue to our Select Team we’ve added an athletic guard who can get to the rim and someone who is also a good three-point shooter,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said in a release. “Both those skills will be invaluable in helping prepare our National Team for this summer.”
Team USA will train in Las Vegas on July 6 through July 11 and will face the Dominican Republic in an exhibition on July 12. On July 13 the team will move its training camp to Washington D.C., which culminates with an exhibition game against Brazil at the Verizon Center on July 16.
Following the game the team will resume its camp in Barcelona.
First Colangelo and USA coach Mike Krzyzewski will have to select a final roster and Iguodala is a strong possibility to make the team for the games in London. Picked as one of the 20 finalists, Iguodala’s chances at making the final cut have improved because of injuries to other players. Notably, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are out for the 2012 Olympics, along with finalist and top draft pick, Anthony Davis.
That leaves 15 players for 12 spots. Along with Iguodala, the possibilities for Team USA are: Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin, James Harden, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Lamar Odom, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams.
The team will be announced during a live broadcast on NBA TV on July 7.
Max deal for Holiday?Meanwhile, a report from Yahoo! Sports indicates that Holiday will seek a max contract with his next deal. Holiday has one year left on his current contract and will earn $2.67 million next season.
E-mail John Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com