LAS VEGAS — Sonics rookie forward Kevin Durant will have to wait to wear the red, white and blue in international play.Durant (Left Picture), 18, and Sonics teammate Nick Collison (Right Picture) were the two players cut Monday night as the United States got down to the 12-player limit for the FIBA Americas tournament, an Olympic-qualifying event that begins Wednesday.
The final roster needs to be submitted today, a day before the United States opens against Venezuela.
When Durant, a college standout at Texas, was added to the national-team roster in May, many assumed he was a pick for the future.
But he showed he was a legitimate candidate to make the team this year when he scored 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting in the July 22 intrasquad game to close minicamp.
"With Kevin, one year in college and 18 years old, and he's made giant progress and he's going to be one of the faces of the NBA and USA Basketball who will be considered next year because 10 months from now he's only going to get better," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Krzyzewski, best known for coaching at Duke, also praised Collison.
Collison, 26, has played on eight USA Basketball teams, including one in the 2003 Olympic qualifier. He missed minicamp after getting married, but played well after joining the team for practices.
"Nick wasn't involved from the very beginning, so to be this close to making it after being here for about a week shows what a tremendous job he did," Krzyzewski said. "This was an extremely difficult decision because for both kids, you can make a case for either one."
The U.S. players are Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Howard, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, Michael Redd, Mike Miller, Tyson Chandler, Tayshaun Prince and Deron Williams. All are NBA veterans.
source : seattletimes.nwsource.com
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