By Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Aug 21, 2007 at 11:51 AM

Bucks guard Michael Redd made the 12-man roster to represent the United States in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, which begins this week.

"I'm blessed to be given this opportunity and I thank God for everything," Redd said in a statement released by the team. "It's an honor to be a part of this prestigious team and I'm looking forward to representing the United States as we try to earn a spot in the Olympics."

Team USA begins play with a game against Venezuela at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Joining Redd on the roster are Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets); Chauncey Billups (Detroit Pistons); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Tyson Chandler (New Orleans Hornets); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers); Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets); Mike Miller (Memphis Grizzlies); Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons); Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks); Amaré Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns); and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz).

Kevin Durant and Nick Collison of Seattle were the final players cut from the six-day training camp in Las Vegas.

Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski is the head coach of the USA Senior Team program. His assistants are Syracuse University coach Jim Boeheim, Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan.

The FIBA Americas Championship, featuring 10 men's national teams, is one of five FIBA Olympic qualifying zone tournaments and will determine the two men's teams from the Americas zone who will earn a qualification spot for the 2008 Olympic Games that are being held Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, China.

Countries competing include 2004 Olympic gold medal champion Argentina, the 2007 Pan America Games champion Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, host United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The USA will open play against Venezuela on Aug. 22 (10 p.m. CDT), followed by games against the U.S. Virgin Islands on Aug. 23 (10 p.m. CDT), Canada on Aug. 25 (2 p.m. CDT) and Brazil on Aug. 26 (5 p.m. CDT).

The FIBA Americas Championship 2007 will be conducted in three phases. The first phase features the 10 teams divided into two groups of five teams each for the first round. The teams will play round robin within their groups over five days, with each team scheduled for one day off during the first round.

After conclusion of the first round and establishing first to fifth places for each group, the top four finishers in each first round group will advance to the second round.

Teams finishing in the fifth position will conclude their participation in the tournament. The top four finishing teams of Group A and Group B will then form a single second round group, carrying with them the results obtained in the first phase.

In the second round, each team will play the four advancing teams from the other first round group. At the conclusion of the second round, the top four placed teams will advance to the third phase, and the bottom four teams will conclude their participation in the tournament.

Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.