Auriemma Talks Team USA, FIBA championships

In a familiar summer role, Geno Auriemma is heading up a U.S. national team. This time, Team USA is participating in the FIBA world championships next month, and as preparation, they will play several exhibitions both in the States and abroad before heading to Turkey.

And according to USA Basketball (via SNY.com's Carl Adamec), two of those exhibitions -- Team USA’s Red-White intrasquad game on Sept. 11 and the Sept. 15 get-together with Canada -- will be televised on ESPN2.

This is going to be an excellent kick-off to our training, especially the Red-White game in Delaware,” Auriemma said in a statement. “The USA Basketball women’s national team pool is extremely deep and anyone not playing in the WNBA Finals will be fighting for a spot on the USA world championship team. That is going to make for an incredibly competitive game. You know, most of our players say that USA national team practices are oftentimes more competitive than any game they play and this is going to be a great opportunity for our fans to see just how hard these guys play every single day.

"Plus," the coach continued, "there’s a lot at stake in terms of a roster spot, so even though it’s an intrasquad game, it’s going to be fun to watch. For fans who are unable to get to the east coast for these two games, they will still be able to see the team in action (on ESPN2).

“All of these games -- from the Red-White exhibition in Delaware to the final exhibition in Prague -- are going to help us get ready to defend gold in Istanbul.”

Contact Us