LAS VEGAS — Maybe in the city where gamblers dream of hitting it big, USA Basketball can find somebody to play center in the London Olympics.
Having dealt with one injury blow after another the past six months, Team USA opens its six-day, pre-Olympic men’s basketball training camp at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center on Friday with fresh questions about its frontcourt depth. That will naturally rekindle unhappy memories of the undersized team eight years ago that became the only American men’s basketball team in the last 24 years that failed to win gold.
It was that disappointing bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Games that led to the renovation of USA Basketball under managing director Jerry Colangelo (now chairman of the board) and legendary college coach Mike Krzyzewski, who now are faced with a dwindling pool of players with which to chase gold in London.
Make no mistake, the Americans are still the gold-medal favorite.
Any team stocked with superstars such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant will wear that target.
But the seemingly endless series of injuries that has removed player after player from the roster of potential Olympians has left Colangelo and Krzyzewski with a considerable challenge.
Only 13 players remain from the original pool of finalists that included 20 players, and one of the two that USA Basketball officials later added to the group — shot-blocking Anthony Davis, the No. 1 pick of the NBA Draft — is uncertain with an ankle injury suffered in a workout with the New Orleans Hornets last weekend.
Guard Derrick Rose? Blew out knee ligaments.
Fellow guard Dwyane Wade? Needs his own knee surgery.
Forward LaMarcus Aldridge had to pull out after hip surgery, forward Chris Bosh is still recovering from an abdominal strain that limited him in the NBA playoffs, and center Dwight Howard had surgery on his back. Forward Lamar Odom pulled out on Monday, to focus on the next NBA season after being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Throw in (or out, really) guard Chauncey Billups, who tore his Achilles tendon, and center Andrew Bynum, who bypassed an Olympic opportunity to undergo treatment on his injured knees, and the Americans might not have quite the kind of firepower that they have had in the past — especially in the post.
Only four players in the pool of finalists are 6-foot-10 or taller, including presumptive starting center Tyson Chandler, power forwards Kevin Love and Blake Griffin, and Davis.
Something similar was a problem back in Athens, when the Americans had little depth behind 7-footer Tim Duncan and were exposed when he fouled out in a semifinal loss to Argentina that snapped a streak of three straight gold medals.
The Americans also had won 13 of the previous 14 Olympic tournaments in which they had competed.
Colangelo has said that nine players already have locked up spots on the 12-man team that will be announced at a press conference Saturday at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel and casino. Six others are battling for the final three spots, including Griffin, Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gay, James Harden, Eric Gordon and Davis, presuming he reports to training camp.
Colangelo said the 6-10 Davis remains under consideration for the team, and a source indicated to The Salt Lake Tribune that USA Basketball might feel comfortable including him on the final roster with the hope that he can recover from his sprained left ankle in time for the Americans’ first game against France on July 29.
Davis probably would play a minor reserve role if he makes the team, anyway.
Several players on the bubble were expected to work out for USA Basketball officials on Thursday, before the official start of the training camp. With Davis hurting, Harden is expected to join Griffin in the session.
Odom also was scheduled to be part of the workout, before he pulled out.
Officials at USA Basketball are confident in the current group of finalists, and believe that players such as James and Carmelo Anthony are dynamic enough to play greater frontcourt roles than usual. Colangelo noted to Fox Sports, for example, that forward Rudy Gay played center at times when the U.S. won the world championships in 2010.
“We have people who are versatile,” Colangelo said.
By Saturday, the basketball world will learn exactly who all of those people are.
Follow Michael C. Lewis on Twitter at @MCLTribune
TEAM USA
Fifteen players remain in the pool of prospective Olympians on the U.S. men’s basketball team. The team will name 12 of them to its
final roster on Saturday. The pool consists of:
Guards – Kobe Bryant, Eric Gordon*, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, James Harden*
Forwards – Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay*, Blake Griffin*, Andre Iguodala*, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Anthony Davis*
Centers – Tyson Chandler
* Fighting for the final three spots on the roster.
