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USA Too Much For Virgin Islands, Seven Players Score In Double Digits In Balanced Scoring Attack At Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Allen Iverson (Philadelphia 76ers) scored 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting to lead seven USA players in double figure scoring as the U.S. rolled easily to a 113-55 victory over the U.S. Virgin Islands (0-3) Saturday evening at the FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico. With the victory, the USA finished off its preliminary play 4-0 and earned the Group B No. 1 seed for the Aug. 25-28 second round.

The USA strolled to its lopsided victory without the services of NBA MVP center Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs). Duncan, who was born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, asked not to play in the game.

"It was a personal decision of course," Duncan said afterwards. "I did speak with the coaches and some of my Virgin Islands friends and came to the decision that it was the best gesture to make, the right thing to do and that it felt right in this situation."

The Virgin Islands squad kept it tight for one quarter. Kevin Sheppard made a steal and scored on the layup to make the score 22-19 in favor of the United States with 2:01 remaining in the quarter. Tracy McGrady (Orlando Magic) connected on a 3-pointer and Ray Allen (Seattle SuperSonics) made one of two free throws to help push the USA to a 26-19 lead after the first quarter.

The Virgin Islands scored first to open the second quarter, and the USA responded with a game- clinching 20-0 run that was fueled by seven points from Mike Bibby (Sacramento Kings) and Kenyon Martin (New Jersey Nets) that left the score 46-21. The USA went on to lead 60-32 at halftime, 90-48 after three quarters, and the Americans outscored their opponents 23-7 in the fourth quarter to make the final tally 113-55.

"You know, I've been reading a lot of comments from our players and comments from the people throughout the country and I think they recognize how much he's (Allen Iverson) trying to play like a team player... to defend and share the ball," USA head coach Larry Brown (Detroit Pistons) responded when asked about Iverson's play throughout the tournament. "I've said it since I coached him at Philly, he had to do a lot of things that maybe some people thought were selfish. But, he was trying to help us win. I wish he could have been involved with a situation like this four or five years ago. But, I'm proud of the way he's played and I think his teammates are as well."

Assisting the USA in it's 113 point production were Vince Carter (Toronto Raptors), 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting, Martin added 14 points and a team best seven rebounds, Nick Collison (Seattle SuperSonics) was credited with 13 points and five rebounds, Jermaine O'Neal (Indiana Pacers) made all five of his shots and finished the day with 12 points, while Allen and McGrady each tossed in 10 points. Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets) recorded 10 assists, and Bibby scored nine points, and added six assists and five steals.

On the evening, the USA shot 65.6 percent from the field overall and 47.4 percent (9-19 3pt FGs) from 3-point. The unselfish play of the USA team was again evident as the U.S. had assists on 38 of its 42 baskets, and it committed just 12 turnovers. The Virgin Islands was limited to 28.9 percent shooting and forced into 18 turnovers.

The USA, which concluded preliminary round play averaging 108.0 points a game and compiled an average margin of victory in the first four games of 39.7 points per game, will resume play on Monday. The specific game schedule for the second round will not be known until after Sunday's final four preliminary round games.

"Well, I thought we were tested against Brazil. And, I think our players felt that way," summarized Brown about his team's play in the preliminary round. "You know the other teams were undermanned. Brazil was really well coached and they had a lot of talent. Kenyon (Martin) said it best. They have a lot of respect for Argentina, respect for Puerto Rico. Steve Nash is on Canada and we've played them in the past. We're not looking past anybody."

In Saturday's first game, Canada (2-1) edged Uruguay (0-3) 90-84, while host Puerto Rico (2-1) handed Mexico (2-1) a 92-70 setback. Saturday's 10 p.m. game features Brazil (1-1) versus Venezuela (0-2).

Ten men's national teams from North, South and Central America are competing in the 2003 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the top three finishers will qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Preliminary round play takes place Aug. 20-24, then the top four finishing teams from each of the two preliminary round groups will advance to the second ground where they form one group. The second round games are scheduled for Aug. 25-28, each team will play the other four teams they have not previously played. The top four finishers based on overall records will then advance to the Saturday, Aug. 30 semifinals, and the winners of the semifinals games will meet on Sunday, Aug. 31 in the gold medal game, while the losers of Saturday's semifinals showdowns will square off in the bronze medal game.

USA Basketball has had to qualify for the Olympics through a zone qualifying tournament twice before, 1992 in Portland, Oregon, and 1999 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Americans in 1992 rolled to a 6-0 record, won the gold medal and earned a qualifying berth in the ‘92 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona. In 1999, under the direction of Brown, the American squad won 10 games in 11 days to finish 10-0 and in possession of the gold, while earning one of the two Americas Olympic qualifying berths.