Updated 09:34 AM EDT, Tue, Mar 19, 2024

Team USA FIBA World Cup 2014 Roster: 16 Players Remain After Paul George, John Wall & Bradley Beal Cut

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The roster for Team USA has been cut down to 16 finalists after a 25-day camp to determine the players who will represent the country at the FIBA World Cup. 

According to AP Sports, 16 players have been chosen to complete the roster and fill the role of Paul George, which is very essential for the national team. George suffered a terrible leg injury last Friday.

''He's a guy that would demand significant minutes ... even on a US team, where he probably would've been a starter,'' said coach Mike Krzyzewski. He added that George could have played some power forward along with a small forward.

Krzyzewski added that George is one of the "great defensive players" in the league. "Earlier in the week we had talked - he had even come up to me and said, 'Coach, that's the role I want. I want to be able to defend whoever is the best perimeter player. Whoever you want me to be on, I want to do that for you.' And so you lose a player of that caliber, you take a hit," Krzyzewski added.

AP Sports added that the list of players was trimmed when John Wall and Bradley Beal from Washington and Paul Millsap from Atlanta were not included in the team. They reportedly, still have to choose 12 among the 16 remaining players before the World Cup of basketball starts on Aug. 30 in Spain.

The 16 players in the US Team roster are Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, Chicago's Derrick Rose, Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, New Orleans' Anthony Davis, Golden State's Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Houston's James Harden, Atlanta's Kyle Korver, Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins, Dallas' Chandler Parsons, Utah's Gordon Hayward, Toronto's DeMar DeRozan, Portland's Damian Lillard, Denver's Kenneth Faried, Detroit's Andre Drummond and Brooklyn's Mason Plumlee, AP Sports reported.

George, according to AP Sports, was supposed to be part of the team but during camp practice, he injured his leg when he crashed into the bottom of the basket stanchion after trying to block a shot. The player had surgery last Saturday.

Krzyzewski expressed on the USA Basketball website his confidence that the team will perform well during the World Cup games.

"We're excited about where the team is headed. Really all 16 guys have a chance to make to the team, which usually does not happen in a training camp, and it shows that all of the guys thus far have done an excellent job. Then it's just a matter of finding what chemistry that we can develop with the entire group and I don't think we'll know that until we play some exhibition games. The 16 guys give us a chance to look at a way of playing in a number of different ways and we just have to figure out what those ways are and then the 12 who will fit best," he explained.

An article by Bleacher Report noted that there is still a lot of talent on the roster chosen to compete for the World Cup. The same report, however, pointed out that players from other international teams are getting younger and stronger.

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