The U.S. Men's National Team wrapped up training camp in Las Vegas on Saturday night with a intra-squad scrimmage. The next step for the national team will be a training camp in mid-August in New York before heading to Turkey to play in the World Championships, which begin on Aug. 28.
JaVale McGee did his best to make a case for an invite to the next round of training for the World Championships. He scored seven points, blocked a shot and pulled in three rebounds in nine minutes of play, though he also committed three turnovers. Here's what Chris Sheridan had to say about McGee's performance:
JaVale McGee had a dominant 90-second stretch when he first checked in, making three straight buckets and blocking a shot, but did relatively nothing the rest of the night, finishing with seven points.
Despite an up-and-down showing, it appears McGee will get a shot to make his case for an invite to the World Championships in New York, according to FanHouse's Chris Tommasson:
There figure to be about 15 players invited to the New York camp, but Team USA officials said cuts won't come until at least several days after Saturday's public scrimmage. Colangelo expects centers Tyson Chandler, Brook Lopez and JaVale McGee all to get invitations to that camp as officials take their time in evaluating one of the team's key needs, shot-blocking.
McGee outplayed Lopez (who only scored two points and had one rebound in 16 minutes of play) in Saturday's scrimmage, though it's worth noting Lopez is still getting back to full strength after dealing with mononucleosis. Obviously, if Lopez isn't back to full strength, it helps McGee's chances of making the final squad, but he's in a good position regardless of Lopez's condition.
Team USA is really hurting at the center position this year, with most of the team's top players either skipping out or out due to injuries, so there's a chance McGee could make the USA roster even if he doesn't outplay Brook Lopez in the coming weeks.