Team USA begins their daily scrimmages as preparation for the 2007 FIBA Americas championships. Team USA will play daily scrimmage games against Team USA Select, a secondary group of young, high rising NBA players, until August 22nd, when the FIBA Americas tournament begins.
The FIBA Americas Championship tournament is held in Las Vegas, between August 22nd and September 2nd. The bracket style tournament splits ten teams into 2 groups. The top two teams from this tournament will have earned a place in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th place finishers will participate in the 2008 Olympic Qualifiers to earn a place in the Olympic Games. Teams finishing outside of the top 5 are eliminated and will not be represented in the Olympics.
Without a doubt, Team USA is heavily favored to be in the Top 5 of this tournament. If Team USA cannot place in the Top 5 from the scrub nations of the Americas, they do not deserve to be in the Olympic Games. The NBA would have serious image issues and lose credibility across the globe, especially after the Tim Donaghy scandal. This is a must win tournament for Team USA.
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