Minneapolis/St. Paul Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love today was named as one of 20 finalists for the 2012 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team by USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo. The official 12-man U.S. Olympic team roster will be announced later this year.

Love was a member of the 2010 USA World Championship squad that went 9-0 and captured gold in Istanbul, Turkey. Named the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 2010-11 season, Love is currently averaging 25.0 points and 14.2 rebounds. He leads the NBA this season with 12 double-doubles.

Also named as a finalist for the 2012 USA team were: LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers); Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks); Chauncey Billups (Los Angeles Clippers); Chris Bosh (Miami Heat); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (New Orleans Hornets); Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); LeBron James (Miami Heat); Lamar Odom (Dallas Mavericks); Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat); Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder); and Deron Williams (New Jersey Nets).

The 2012 USA coaching staff is led by Duke Universitys Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, and serving as USA assistant coaches are Syracuse Universitys Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, New York Knicks head coach Mike DAntoni, and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan.

TELECONFERENCE ADVISORY: USA Basketball will conduct a media teleconference today (Jan. 16) at 11:30 p.m. (CST) featuring USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo and USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski to discuss the finalists selected for the 2012 U.S. Olympic mens basketball team. To participate in the media teleconference call 719-325-4786 and give the passcode 4779087.

The USA Basketball Mens National Team program has come a long way as the elite list of players who are now part of our program shows. The selected finalists are a very, very talented group; the depth of the talent is extraordinary. said Colangelo, who has served as the managing director of the USA Mens National Team since 2005.

I feel like we have an outstanding blend of talents from the 2008 Olympic and 2010 World Championship teams that won gold. Reducing to the official roster limit of 12 players will be an even tougher decision, but well evaluate how guys play during the 2011-12 NBA season and as weve done with our teams in the past, well attempt to select the very best team we can.

Jerry has built an extremely deep and talented USA National Team roster of 35 players and I want to thank each player for their incredible commitment to being part of USA Basketball. Reducing to 20 players was unbelievably difficult, stated Krzyzewski, who has coached USA National Teams to a sterling 48-1 record since 2006.

Aside from the obvious special basketball talents that all of these players possess, what struck me most about the finalists was their commitment to USA Basketball and the international basketball experience they have compiled. Among our 20 finalists, we have two players who possess 55 or more games of international experience, two with 40 or more international games under their belts and eight others who have played between 23 and 38 international games thats a lot of experience, which is going to be extremely valuable."

The USAs complete training schedule will be released at a later date.

2012 London Olympic Games

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games will be held July 27-Aug. 12 in London, England. Twelve teams will compete in the 2012 Olympic mens basketball competition. Nations currently qualified for the Olympic competition include Great Britain, the host country; the United States, which earned its berth by virtue of claiming the gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship; Africa zone champ Tunisia; Americas zone champion Argentina and runner-up Brazil; Asia zone winner China; European zone gold medalist Spain and silver medalist France; and Oceania zone champion Australia.

The remaining three Olympic qualifying spots will be determined through the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament that will be held July 2-8, 2012, in Caracas, Venezuela. The Olympic qualifier will feature 12 nations from each of the five 2011 FIBA zone qualifying tournaments including: Angola and Nigeria from FIBA Africa; the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela from FIBA Americas (bronze medalist through fifth-place finishers); Jordan and South Korea from FIBA Asia (silver and bronze medalists); Russia, F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Lithuania and Greece from FIBA Europe (bronze medalists through sixth place finishers); and New Zealand from FIBA Oceania.

Preliminary play at the 12 Olympics will be held July 29-Aug. 6, with quarterfinals play scheduled for Aug. 8, semifinals on Aug. 10 and the finals is slated for Aug. 12.

The U.S. men have collected a medal in all 16 Olympics in which they have competed, including 13 golds, one silver and two bronze. The Americans own an impressive 122-5 overall win-loss record (.961 winning percentage) in Olympic action, and since NBA players began representing the United States in 1992, the USA is 37-3 in the five Olympics they have participated in, capturing four gold medals and one bronze medal.

USA Basketball

Based in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for men's and women's basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the United States by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA teams that compete in FIBA sponsored international basketball competitions, as well as for some national competitions.

Since 2008, USA Basketball mens and womens teams have compiled a sterling 134-6 win-loss record in FIBA or FIBA Americas competitions. USA teams are the current mens and womens champions of the Olympics and the FIBA World Championships; FIBA womens U19 world champions; the mens and womens title holders for the FIBA U17 World Championships; and the mens and womens U18 and U16 FIBA Americas champions. USA Basketball currently ranks No. 1 in all five of FIBA's world ranking categories, including combined, men's, women's, boys and girls.

For further information about USA Basketball, go to the official Web site of USA Basketball at www.usabasketball.com and connect with us on facebook.com/usabasketball, twitter.com/usabasketball and www.youtube.com/therealusabasketball.

2012 USA Basketball Mens Olympic Team Finalists

NAME POS HGT WGT DOB CURRENT TEAM / COLLEGE or HIGH SCHOOL

LaMarcus Aldridge F/C 6-11 240 7/19/85 Portland Trail Blazers/University of Texas

Carmelo Anthony F 6-8 230 5/29/84 New York Knicks/Syracuse University

Chauncey Billups G 6-3 202 9/25/76 Los Angeles Clippers/University of Colorado

Chris Bosh F 6-10 230 3/24/84 Miami Heat/Georgia Tech

Kobe Bryant G 6-6 205 8/23/78 Los Angeles Lakers/Lower Merion H.S. (PA)

Tyson Chandler C 7-1 235 10/02/82 New York Knicks/Dominguez H.S. (CA)

Kevin Durant G 6-9 230 9/29/88 Oklahoma City Thunder/University of Texas

Rudy Gay F 6-8 230 8/17/86 Memphis Grizzlies/University of Connecticut

Eric Gordon G 6-3 222 12/25/88 New Orleans Hornets/Indiana University

Blake Griffin F 6-10 251 3/16/89 Los Angeles Clippers/Univ. of Oklahoma

Dwight Howard F/C 6-11 265 12/08/85 Orlando Magic/SW Atlanta Christian Acad.

Andre Iguodala G/F 6-6 207 1/28/84 Philadelphia 76ers/University of Arizona

LeBron James F 6-8 250 12/30/84 Miami Heat/St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S. (OH)

Kevin Love F 6-10 260 9/07/88 Minnesota Timberwolves/UCLA

Lamar Odom F 6-10 230 11/06/79 Dallas Mavericks/University of Rhode Island

Chris Paul G 6-0 175 5/06/85 Los Angeles Clippers/Wake Forest

Derrick Rose G 6-3 190 10/04/88 Chicago Bulls/University of Memphis

Dwyane Wade G 6-4 220 1/17/82 Miami Heat/Marquette University

Russell Westbrook G 6-3 187 11/12/88 Oklahoma City Thunder/UCLA

Deron Williams G 6-3 207 7/26/84 New Jersey Nets/University of Illinois

Managing Director: Jerry Colangelo

Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University

Assistant Coach: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse University

Assistant Coach: Mike D'Antoni, New York Knicks

Assistant Coach: Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers

For further information contact Craig Miller, Caroline Williams or Jenny Maag at USA Basketball (719) 590-4800.

*This release is also available on USA Basketball's World Wide Web homepage - http://www.usabasketball.com.

Timberwolves Contact information:

Mike Cristaldi, Minnesota Timberwolves, (612) 673-8405, cristaldi@timberwolves.com

Aaron Seehusen, Minnesota Timberwolves, (612) 673-1602, seehusen@timberwolves.com

Dan Bell, Minnesota Timberwolves, (612) 673-1603, bell@timberwolves.com

###