LAS VEGAS— The USA Men’s World Cup qualifying team made its journey to the FIBA World Cup easier when it defeated South American power Uruguay, 114-57, to open second round play at the Cox Pavilion here Friday night.
The Americans, (6-1), who are tied with Argentina for the best record among the 12 teams in the two Hemisphere zones, benefited from the fact the NBA Players Association allowed coach Jeff Van Gundy to use second year NBA players before the start of training camp. Nine players on the roster had some NBA experience. Point guard Frank Mason, the former national college Player of the Year from Kansas in 2017 who now plays for the Sacramento Kings, led the U.S. with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and contributed eight assists.
Guard Chasson Randle of the G-League’s Capital City Go-Go had 15 points with three 3 pointers in 23 minutes. Point guard Derrick White of the San Antonio Spurs, who was playing in front of his coach Gregg Popovich, who is coach of the U.S. Senior team for the 2020 cycle, contributed 14 points and six assists. Guard Dwayne Bacon of the Charlotte Hornets and 6-11 Henry Ellenson of the Detroit Pistons both added 10 points apiece.
The U.S. made the game look easy against an undermanned 4-3 team from Uruguay that chose to leave three starters in South America, so they could be fresh for their critical matchup against visiting Mexico (3-4) Monday. The top three teams in each division and the best fourth place team in the Hemisphere zone qualifiers earn spots in the 32-team World Cup next August in China. The top seven teams there plus host Japan will earn automatic bids to the 2020 games in Tokyo.
“There is a big difference between NBA caliber players and the rest of the world,’’ Uruguay coach Marcello Signorelli said. “I don’t think we are 60 points worse than the United States, but we didn’t bring our some of our best players because of travel concerns and because Mexico is a huge opportunity for us if we want to qualify for the World Cup.’’
The U.S., which plays Panama in Panama City Monday, only had a week to put this team together. And Van Gundy, one of the best technical minds in the game, did an excellent job helping his teams make the transition from NBA to FIBA rules. The Americans, who shot 60.8 percent with 30 assists, sharing the ball and playing unselfishly the entire game.
“It’s almost impossible to scout this team,’’ forward Jameel Warney of the G-League Texas Legends, who was the MVP of the AmeriCup last August and used his performance with the Qualifying team to sign a ten-day contract with the NBA Dallas Mavericks at the end of the season. “We have 12 players who could all go off at any time. We scored 114 points in 40 minutes. I’ve played on Qualifying teams in two different windows and this was easily the best team I’ve played on.’’
Young 19-year old star guard Joaquiin Rodriguez scored 11 points for Uruguay, but the U.S. defense made it hard for their opponents to execute, limiting them to 34.2 percent shooting and just 4- for 22 from the three while forcing 18 turnovers. The Americans had a 24-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
Convincing young NBA players to participate has been a huge plus for Van Gundy. “I think guys like Frank (Mason), Derrick White, Dwayne Bacon and Henry Ellenson, they all have something in common that they are on NBA rosters and have yet to carve out an every night role, so they are very hungry,’’ he said. “These games, I think, if used right, because we are relying on team, they can get their intensity right, they can get their game sharp, so that when they go to training camp to fight for minutes, they’ll in a good frame of mind. I think this helps us and I think it helps the individual players as well.’’
Mason set the tone early. But Van Gundy said Mason will have to have a bulldog mentality, playing against former Ole Miss star Trevor Gaskins, who is an excellent pick and roll player, an area the U.S. needs to work on. “It’s going to be a knife fight down there,’’ Van Gundy said. “It’s hard to prepare guys for what the intensity is on the road in a FIBA national team game, when you wear USA across your chest.’’
