Roster decisions loom for Olympic qualifying tourney

Kobe Bryant (left) and Jason Kidd, shown here during a practice game, could form the starting backcourt for Team USA. AP

Team USA FIBA Americas Schedule Preliminary Round Date Opponent Time Aug. 22 Venezuela 11 p.m. Aug. 23 U.S. Virgin Islands 11 p.m. Aug. 25 Canada 3 p.m. Aug. 26 Brazil 9 p.m. *All times Eastern

For Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski, it's both a dream and a headache.

When he looks out on the practice court at Andre Agassi College Prep in Las Vegas on Wednesday, he'll see Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd, Amaré Stoudemire and some of the NBA's other biggest names.

They headline the cast of 15 players who will be practicing for the FIBA Americas tournament, which runs Aug. 22 to Sept. 2 in Las Vegas. At stake are two berths in next summer's Beijing Olympics. The United States is expected to easily snatch one of the two spots in a 10-team field that includes countries from North and South America.

For Krzyzewski, the legendary Duke coach given the mandate to restore U.S. basketball to the world throne, having the chance to work with some of the biggest names in the sport is the fun part. The not-so-fun part will be deciding which players to suit up when the actual competition begins next Wednesday against Venezuela.

With FIBA rosters limited to 12 players, Krzyzewski is going to have to "cut" three players from a group that includes the five above-mentioned superstars as well as Chauncey Billups, Tyson Chandler, Nick Collison, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Mike Miller, Tayshaun Prince, J.J. Redick, Michael Redd and Deron Williams.

"The selection process will be difficult because whomever you do not select still deserves to be on this team," Krzyzewski said Tuesday. "We wouldn't have a guy on the senior national team roster if he didn't deserve to be on the team. However, you can only pick 12."

The situation did get a little easier for Krzyzewski on Wednesday when Raptors forward Chris Bosh pulled out because of a foot injury. Also, Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich and Rockets forward Shane Battier both withdrew for personal reasons Monday, and Trail Blazers center Greg Oden, still recovering from tonsillitis, also is unavailable.

The most likely candidates then to get cut or come down with a mysterious "injury" between now and then are Durant, Redick and one player from among the group of Chandler, Collison, Prince and Miller.

Imagine the looks on the faces of those players when Coach K breaks the news to them.

Not that anybody could really argue with whomever Krzyzewski and his staff choose to keep. While one could make a case that Team USA would be better off using role players like Hinrich and Battier alongside the superstars, it shouldn't matter in this particular tournament. The U.S. team is simply too loaded, especially since top foes Argentina and Brazil each figure to be missing key NBA players (the rest of the field consists of Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, Venezuela and Uruguay).

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