Smith and Panama will compete in Group B of the opening round with Argentina (No. 2 in the FIBA World Rankings), Puerto Rico (No. 13), Uruguay (No. 30) and Mexico (No. 34). Group A will consist of the United States (No. 1), Canada (No. 16), Brazil (No. 17), Venezuela (No. 21) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (No. 38). Panama is currently ranked No. 29 in the FIBA World Rankings.

Smith was originally one of 18 players invited to train for Panama after competing for the country in the 2007 Pan American Games. The FIBA Americas Championship will mark the third straight tournament in which Smith has competed for Panama. He competed in the Chile Top 4 Tournament averaging 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 26.3 minutes of action over the three-game event. At the Pan-American Games, Smith played in four games, including one start, and averaged 4.3 points and 1.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 75 percent from the floor. He turned in his best game of the tournament against the U.S. in the fifth-place game, scoring seven points and pulling down two rebounds.

The Panamanians will open the FIBA Americas Championship against Uruguay on Aug. 22 at 3:30 p.m. (ET). The squad will then face Puerto Rico and NBA player Carlos Arroyo of the Orlando Magic on Aug. 23 at 10:30 p.m. (ET). On Aug. 24 at 3:30 p.m. (ET), Panama will face Mexico before closing group competition against Argentina at midnight (ET) on Aug. 26.

Tribe junior Alex Smith (right) was named to the Panamanian roster for the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, Aug. 22-Sept. 2, in Las Vegas, Nev. (photo courtesy of Federación Panameña de Baloncesto (FEPABA)Web site)
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