The basketball team that will be representing the United States this year in Turkey is almost completed. Currently there are 13 names attached to this year’s 2010 Men’s USA Basketball Team. The U.S. coaches will need to cut 1 more player before the games begin in Turkey at the end of August and will continue into the early part of September. The final cut must take place within 48 hours of the start of this year’s world basketball tournament. The top 24 countries in the World will be on display in Turkey; where each country will be playing for a gold, silver, or bronze medal. The current 13 USA basketball players are:

1. Chauncey Billups

2. Tyson Chandler

3. Stephen Curry

4. Kevin Durant

5. Rudy Gay

6. Eric Gordon

7. Danny Granger

8. Andre Iguodala

9. Kevin Love

10. Lamar Odom

11. Rajon Rondo

12. Derrick Rose

13. Russell Westbrook

A very young group of players who will be representing the teams from Group B in Turkey. A lot of these players are getting their tune-ups for the 2012 Olympic Team; which we will probably see about 5 to 8 of these players on the 2012 Olympic USA Basketball Team.

This group has only one true super star and that is Kevin Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder. He led the entire NBA last year in scoring with over 30 points per game. He set an NBA record as the youngest player to have even won a scoring title. He was 21 years-old and will not turn 22 until later this fall. To put that in perspective, you can look at Jason Heyward for the Atlanta Braves who recently had a birthday and turned 21 years-old. Heyward hasn’t even completed his first season as a professional; while Durant has completed 3 seasons and already has a scoring title under his belt. The future is very bright for Kevin Durant and he will have many more future opportunities with the USA basketball program.

After you acknowledge Kevin Durant as the best player on this year’s 2010 basketball team, it’s hard to choose which player might be next on the list. No clear-cut choice for which other players are the best or will be the most valuable in Turkey this year. Not many big men make up this U.S. team this year and that could prove to be a problem against the bigger teams in this year’s world basketball games in Turkey.

All of the guys on the roster do have some college basketball experience, with the exception of Tyson Chandler, who never played college basketball. During college is when most of these guys learn the fundamentals of the game and this comes up big in International Basketball. It should be interesting to see if this team can win gold and if they can come back with a perfect record.

2010 USA Basketball Schedule

Saturday August 28th – USA vs Croatia

Sunday August 29th – USA vs Slovenia

Monday August 30th – USA vs Brazil

Wednesday September 1st – USA vs Iran

Thursday September 2nd – USA vs Tunisia

This is the current schedule for USA Basketball and the teams who will be playing the USA from Group B. All of these basketball games will be teams from Group B playing against other Group B teams. There are 4 groups and each group has 6 basketball teams in each group. The USA basketball team does have a couple of more games fans can see on TV before they start the games up for real. So be sure to check the U.S. basketball schedule for these tune up games to get a glimpse of the Americans; before they start playing for real in Turkey later this month.