Eric Musselman - International Coaching

International Coaching

In July 2009, Musselman reportedly turned down an offer to coach Spartak St. Petersburg in Russia. On May 19, 2010, Musselman was named head coach of the Dominican Republic national basketball team.

At the 2010 Men’s Centro Basketball Championship in July 2010, FIBA Americas' top regional tournament, Musselman guided the Dominican Republic team to the Gold Medal game, losing to Puerto Rico, 89-80, the team's only loss of the tournament (5-1). By finishing second at the Centro Basketball Championship, the Dominican Republic qualifies for the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship, a qualifying tournament for the FIBA World Championships and the Olympic Games.

In August 2010, Musselman coached the U.S. 2011 team to the gold medal at the Adidas Global Experience in Chicago. The 2011 team is composed of the top high school seniors in the U.S. The tournament featured the world's top 18-and-under players from five regions of the world: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Musselman was the head coach of Team China at the 2009 Adidas Nations camp/tournament in Beijing, China.

In May 2011, the FIBA World Championship website reported that Musselman had interviewed for the head coaching position of the Puerto Rico men's national basketball team. Earlier that month, he was mentioned as a candidate for the Venezuela national basketball team. On June 15, 2011, Musselman was named head coach of the Venezuela national basketball team.

Under Musselman, Venezuela qualified for the 2012 World Pre-Olympic Qualifier by going 4-4 at the FIBA Americas 2011 Pre-Olympic Qualifier in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Venezuela was the top-scoring team in the tournament, averaging 94.8 points per game, 9 points more than the second highest-scoring team. Venezuela went 8-5 in international exhibition games ("friendlies") leading up to the tournament.

Musselman guided Venezuela to a runner-up (silver) finish at the 2012 FIBA Men's South American Championship, posting a 3-2 record. With the second-place finish, Venezuela advanced to the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship, qualifier to the 2014 FIBA World Championship. The team went 1-1 in the 2012 FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament, defeating the Nigeria national team, the team that ultimately advanced to the 2012 Summer Olympics. Venezuela was also 3-1 in friendly games and won the 2012 Super 4 in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela.

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