Beijing Olympic Games

Report: Kidd named to U.S. Olympic team

DALLAS (Ticker) - Dallas Mavericks’ point guard Jason Kidd will be named to the United States Olympic Basketball team for this summer’s Beijing Games, according to a published report Wednesday.

The Dallas Morning News is reporting Kidd, 35, received a call earlier this week to let him know he would be part of the 12-man roster. Managing director of USA Basketball Jerry Colangelo declined to comment on the team until coach Mike Krzyzewski announces the entire roster during a conference call on Monday.

“Jason is a great candidate to be one of the 12 because he is a leader, he is the ultimate distributor at the point guard position, and he has great relationships with many of the guys who will be on this team,” Colangelo told the Morning News. “If you had a ledger sheet and put down the plusses and minuses, it’s pretty overwhelming on the plus side.”

Kidd, who owns a 38-0 record in international competition, averaged 10.8 points and 10.1 assists in 80 games between the Mavericks and New Jersey Nets during the 2007-08 NBA season.

The U.S. basketball team is looking to rebound in Beijing after earning a bronze medal during the 2004 Olympics.

Barbosa will not play in Olympic qualifier

By PA SportsTicker

Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa, the most coveted member of the Brazil’s national basketball team, said Tuesday that he will not participate in this year’s fight for an Olympic spot.

Barbosa is one of three Brazilian NBA stars who will not represent their country in this year’s competition for the final three spots at the Beijing Olympics.

The Pre-Olympic tournament will be held in Athens, Greece, from July 14-20.

Barbosa has been suffering tendinitis in his right knee - a diagnosis that came from the Suns’ team doctor.

Phoenix’s medical department has stated that Barbosa needs “total distance from any physical activity.”

The former Sixth Man of the Year laments his absence but said he will be with his countrymen in spirit.

“For sure, I will be rooting for Brazil to win a spot in the Olympics,” he said.

In Barbosa’s absence, Brazilian coach Moncho Monsalve has invited guard Fluvio to play in the Pre-Olympic Games.

Fluvio was the leader in assists in the Supercopa of Sao Paulo. The 26-year-old had his first practice with the rest of the Brazilian squad on Tuesday morning.

The other players who make up the Brazilian Pre-Olympic team are Marcelinho Huertas, Duda Machado, Alex, Marcelinho Machado, Jonathan Tavernari, Marcus Vinicius, Ricardo Probst, Baby, JP Batista, Murilo and Tiago Splitter.

Garbajosa leaves Raptors, free for Olympics

MADRID (Reuters) - Jorge Garbajosa has rescinded his contract with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, freeing him to join up with the Spain squad for the Beijing Olympics.

The Raptors had said they would not allow Garbajosa to go to the Olympics as they were locked in a legal dispute with the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) over an earlier injury to the forward.

“We have all signed an agreement—the club, the federation, the insurance company and me. It was the best for all parties,” Garbajosa was quoted as saying in the Spanish media on Wednesday.

“This opens the door for me to be able to play at the Olympic Games.”

In March, the Raptors sued the FEB for the non-payment of a $1 million insurance policy taken out on Garbajosa before he helped Spain to the silver medal position at last September’s European championship.

Garbajosa, who also won gold with Spain at the 2006 world championship, broke his left ankle during a Raptors game in March last year.

The Raptors believed he was prematurely rushed back into action for the European championship with Spain. He played just seven games on his return last season, before undergoing surgery again on the left leg in December.

“Jorge has completely recovered from his injury and this is the best news for us,” FEB President Jose Luis Saez said.

Garbajosa has been included in Aito Garcia Reneses’s provisional 15-man squad that start their preparations on July 1.

(Writing by Mark Elkington; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Basketball-Garbajosa leaves Raptors, free for Olympics

MADRID, June 18 (Reuters) - Jorge Garbajosa has rescinded his contract with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, freeing him to join up with the Spain squad for the Beijing Olympics.

The Raptors had said they would not allow Garbajosa to go to the Olympics as they were locked in a legal dispute with the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) over an earlier injury to the forward.

“We have all signed an agreement—the club, the federation, the insurance company and me. It was the best for all parties,” Garbajosa was quoted as saying in the Spanish media on Wednesday.

“This opens the door for me to be able to play at the Olympic Games.”

In March, the Raptors sued the FEB for the non-payment of a $1 million insurance policy taken out on Garbajosa before he helped Spain to the silver medal position at last September’s European championship.

Garbajosa, who also won gold with Spain at the 2006 world championship, broke his left ankle during a Raptors game in March last year.

The Raptors believed he was prematurely rushed back into action for the European championship with Spain. He played just seven games on his return last season, before undergoing surgery again on the left leg in December.

“Jorge has completely recovered from his injury and this is the best news for us,” FEB President Jose Luis Saez said.

Garbajosa has been included in Aito Garcia Reneses’s provisional 15-man squad that start their preparations on July 1. (Writing by Mark Elkington; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Billups pulls out of Olympic mix

By LARRY LAGE, AP Sports Writer

DETROIT (AP)—Chauncey Billups pulled himself out of consideration for a spot on the USA Basketball team in the Beijing Games, a person in the NBA told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to speak publicly for Billups.

Billups, an All-Star point guard for the Detroit Pistons, might’ve had a hard time making the team anyway with guards such as Jason Kidd, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Deron Williams available for the roster.

Last year, Billups played for the U.S. team that was led by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony during an unbeaten run in an Olympic qualifying tournament.

Messages seeking comment were left with Billups and his agent, Andy Miller, on Tuesday night.

U.S. Olympic team coach Mike Krzyzewski said the roster will be announced Monday during a news conference in Chicago.

Earlier this month, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said the squad would be selected without a tryout. More than 30 players are in the national team program, but officials have said the candidates have been whittled down to about 14.

The deadline to submit the roster is July 1.

The U.S. team will go to Las Vegas to train and play an exhibition against Canada before opening the Beijing Games against the host Chinese on Aug. 10.

Billups missed two-plus games with a strained right hamstring during the second round of the playoffs, but recovered well enough to help Detroit advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the sixth straight year.

He averaged 27.5 points, six assists and 1.5 turnovers over the final two games against the Boston Celtics, who eliminated Detroit in Game 6.

Billups developed into one of the NBA’s top point guards with the Pistons after bouncing around the NBA.

The former Colorado star was drafted No. 3 overall in 1997 by Boston and was traded to Toronto during his rookie season. He also landed in Denver, Orlando and Minnesota within his first four seasons in the league.

Billups signed with Detroit as a free agent in 2002, when it started an active streak of advancing to the conference finals, and was the MVP of the NBA finals when the franchise won a title in 2004.

He re-signed with the Pistons last summer, getting $46 million guaranteed over four seasons with the team holding a $14 million option for the fifth year.

Billups has averaged nearly 15 points and 5.5 assists over his career.

U.S. to announce men’s team for Beijing on Monday

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - The United States will announce its men’s basketball team for the Beijing Olympics in Chicago on Monday, head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

“This is really the toughest decision that U.S. Basketball has had to make since the introduction of the pro players (into the Olympics in 1992),” Krzyzewski, the Duke University coach, said at a news conference in Durham, North Carolina on Tuesday.

A 12-man roster will be chosen from a pool of 33 players.

“We have more people qualified for those 12 spots than we can take, so that’s what makes it tough,” Krzyzewski said.

NBA All-Stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are expected to headline the team which will open Olympic play against host China on August 10.

(Writing by Gene Cherry; editing by Justin Palmer)

(For more stories visit our multimedia website “Road to Beijing” at http://www.reuters.com/news/sports/2008olympics; and see our blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)

China’s Yao to return to court in July: report

BEIJING (Reuters) - Yao Ming, China’s most popular sportsman, will make his return from foot surgery to play for his country against Iran in next month’s Stankovic Cup, local media has reported.

The 7ft 6in (2.29-metre) Houston Rockets center had his NBA season cut short by a fractured foot in February and faced a race to be fit to lead China’s challenge for basketball gold at the August 8-24 Beijing Olympics.

“Yao Ming will definitely play the match and this will be his first match after returning from injury,” the organizer of the Stankovic Cup told Sohu.com.

As well as China and Asian champions Iran, the Stankovic Cup will also feature European champions Russia and African champions Angola. It will take place in Hangzhou, China, from July 17-20.

Yao’s agent said the 27-year-old had been given the all-clear by Rockets medical staff to return to China on June 24 but could not confirm whether he would definitely be fit for the Stankovic Cup.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Martin Petty)

(For more stories visit our multimedia website “Road to Beijing” at http://www.reuters.com/news/sports/2008olympics; and see our blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)