USA BASKETBALL HISTORY
USA MEN’S AMERICUP TEAM 1997 RESULTS
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY • AUGUST 21-31, 1997
Featuring 12 players from the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the U.S. proved to be especially tough down the stretch, persevering to win a number of close games to finish 8-1 and successfully reclaim the Tournament of the Americas title. Featuring 10 nations, the teams also competed for one of the Americas zone’s four berths to the 1998 FIBA World Championship. The U.S. entered the tournament having previously qualified for the World Championship by capturing the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. Based on the final results, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina and Canada claimed qualifying spots for 1998 Worlds. Despite fighting back to grab a three-point lead late in the second half, the USA faltered down the stretch and fell to Venezuela 85-75 in its opener. One day later, behind 33 points (6-6 3FG) by Jason Sasser, the U.S. routed the Dominican Republic 98-70. The USA stormed back from a 94-89 deficit in the final 1:42 of the game to snatch a 102-97 victory from a stunned Canada as Travis Williams accounted for 24 points. Getting 29 points from Williams, the U.S. handed Puerto Rico a 93-82 setback. Opening the semifinal round against Cuba, Mike McDonald came off the bench to score 17 points and Williams added 17 as the U.S. posted a 100-88 victory. The U.S. shut down upset-minded Uruguay in the game’s final minutes. Behind Williams’ 26 points, the Americans outscored the hosts 24-4 over the game’s final 7:38 to earn a 98-84 victory. Led by Rusty LaRue’s 16 points and 15 points from Sasser and Williams, the USA’s balanced scoring effort and strong defensive showing resulted in a 91-78 victory over Argentina on August 29. With a spot in the gold medal game already assured for the USA, behind a 20-point, 12-rebound effort from Williams and Corey Beck’s 19 points (5-6 3FG), the U.S. was solid down the stretch and earned an impressive 93-89 victory over Brazil. Facing Puerto Rico in the gold medal game, six U.S. team members scored in double figures, including a team-best 18 points from Beck, and the USA defeated Puerto Rico 95-86 to finish 8-1 overall with the gold medal. Although the U.S. led Puerto Rico 52-28 at halftime, Puerto Rico rallied to within one point several times in the second half.
1997 USA MEN’S AMERICUP TEAM ROSTER
1997 USA RESULTS (8-1)
NAME
POS HGT WGT AGE
AFFILIATION/SCHOOL
HOMETOWN
Venezuela
L, 75-85 W, 98-70 W, 102-97 W, 93-82 W, 100-88 W, 98-84 W, 91-78 W, 93-89 W, 95-86
Dominican Republic
Corey Beck Evers Burns Jim Farmer Adrian Griffin Kermit Holmes Reggie Jordan Rusty LaRue Mike McDonald Russ Millard Jason Sasser Travis Williams Erik Martin
G
6-3 6-8 6-4 6-5 6-6 6-4 6-2 6-6 6-8 6-7 6-7 6-10
200 265 190 220 225 195 195 220 232 240 200 220
26 25 32 23 28 29 24 26 28 24 23 28
Sioux Falls Skyforce/Arkansas Oklahoma City Cavalry/Maryland Fort Wayne Fury/Alabama Connecticut Pride/Seton Hall Oklahoma City Cavalry/Oklahoma Idaho Stampede/Wake Forest Idaho Stampede/Cincinnati Grand Rapids Hoops/New Orleans
Memphis, TN Laurel, MD Dothan, LA Wichita, KS Okmulgee, OK Oak Ridge, NC West Covina, CA Longview, TX Cedar Rapids, IA
F
Canada
G
Puerto Rico
F F
Cuba
Uruguay Argentina
G G F C F F
Sioux Falls Skyforce/New Mexico State Maywood, IL
Brazil
Puerto Rico
LaCrosse Catbirds/Iowa
Sioux Falls Skyforce/Texas Tech
Dallas, TX
F
Florida Beachdogs/South Carolina State Columbia, SC
FINAL STANDINGS
HEAD COACH: Mo McHone, Sioux Falls Skyforce ASSISTANT COACH: Eric Musselman, Florida Beachdogs ASSISTANT COACH: Mark Hughes, Grand Rapids Hoops TEAM PHYSICIAN: Steve Foley, Sioux Falls Skyforce ATHLETIC TRAINER: Geoff Clark, Yakima Sun Kings
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
#United States (8-1) *Puerto Rico (5-4)
*Brazil (6-3)
*Argentina (4-5) *Canada (5-4)
Cuba (4-5)
Venezuela (4-4) Uruguay (3-5)
1997 USA MEN’S AMERICUP TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS
9. Dominican Rep. (0-4) Mexico (0-4) *Qualified for the 1998 FIBA World Champi- onship #Qualified for the 1998 FIBA World Champion- ship as the 1996 Olympic champion
NAME
G/S
FGM-A
PCT
3PM-A
PCT
FTM-A
PCT
REB
PTS
AST
BLK
STL
Williams
9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 6 5 9 9
59-102 51-102 37- 67 36- 65 27- 53 33- 68 25- 55 22- 30 12- 20 4- 20
0.578 0- 4
0
37- 52
0.712
64/ 7.1
155/ 17.2 148/ 16.4 104/ 11.6 102/ 11.3
3 8 2 4 0 2 6 1 0 0
3 1 0 5 5 3 0 9 9 0 0 0
13 16 16 11 16 7
Sasser
0.5
11- 28 14- 23
0.393 35- 41 0.609 16- 23 0.561 7- 8
0.854 41/ 4.6 0.696 15/ 1.7 0.846 43/ 4.8 0.438 37/ 4.1 0.875 26/ 2.9
Beck
0.552
12
LaRue Burns Jordan Holmes Martin Farmer Griffin Millard McDonald
0.554 23- 41 0.509 0- 0 0.485 0- 0 0.455 13- 31
.--- .--- .--- .---
22- 26
76/ 8.4 73/ 8.1 73/ 8.1 58/ 6.4 30/ 3.3 13/ 1.9 8/ 1.3 5/ 1.0
7- 16
27
0.419 10- 12
0.833
8/ 0.9
5 7 5 1 1 0
0.733
0- 0 0- 0 2- 8 0- 3 1- 2
14- 17 6- 15
0.824 35/ 3.9
0.6 0.2
0.4
25/ 2.8 9/ 1.3
0.25
3- 3 4- 6 2- 2
1
2- 6 1- 6
0.333 0.167 0.52 0.45
0
0.667 9/ 1.5
0.5
1
2/ 0.4
USA OPP.
309-594 244-542
64-140 65-172
0.457 163-221 0.378 206-270
0.738 314/34.9 0.763 237/26.3
845/93.9 759/84.3
65 41
37 15
98
104
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