Coach K on Team USA: Eight-man rotation for World Cup likely

Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said Tuesday that his rotation for the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup will likely consist of eight players, with four

Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said Tuesday that his rotation for the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup will likely consist of eight players, with four receiving little playing time.

On Tuesday, the pool of players vying for a spot on the 12-man World Cup roster was whittled down to 16 finalists:

Selected USA World Cup Team finalists were DeMarcus Cousins(Sacramento Kings); Curry; Davis;DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors); Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons); Durant; Kenneth Faried(Denver Nuggets); Harden; Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz); Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers); Kyle Korver (Atlanta Hawks); Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers); Chandler Parsons (Dallas Mavericks); Plumlee; Rose; and Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors).

Pacers forward Paul Georgesuffered a broken leg last Friday, while Wizards guards John Wall and Bradley Beal and Hawks forward Paul Millsap were cut.

More: Examining Team USA's cuts of John Wall, Bradley Beal and Paul Millsap

"We’re excited about where the team is headed. Really all 16 guys have a chance to make to the team, which usually does not happen in a training camp, and it shows that all of the guys thus far have done an excellent job. Then it’s just a matter of finding what chemistry that we can develop with the entire group and I don’t think we’ll know that until we play some exhibition games. The 16 guys give us a chance to look at a way of playing in a number of different ways and we just have to figure out what those ways are and then the 12 who will fit best,” Krzyzewski said in a news release.

The World Cup begins on Aug. 30 in Spain and runs through Sept. 14. Team USA's first game is Aug. 30 against Finland. The other members of the United States' group are Turkey, the Dominican Republic, New Zealand and Ukraine.

Coach K says he will eventually have a rotation likely of eight players with four that won't play much for USA during the World Cup.

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 5, 2014

- Chris Johnson