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USA Basketball Select Team announced

Ten top young NBA players were named today by USA Basketball to the 2008 USA Basketball Men’s Select Team that has been chosen to help prepare the 2008 USA Senior National Team for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, scheduled to take place Aug. 10-24 in Beijing, China.

The ten players named to the USA Basketball Select Team include: LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City NBA); Jeff Green (Oklahoma City NBA); Luther Head (Houston Rockets); Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); Kevin Martin (Sacramento Kings); O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) and Rodney Stuckey (Detroit Pistons).

Additionally, USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team managing Director Jerry Colangelo announced that two rising stars from the 2008 NBA Summer League will be selected to join the 2008 USA Select Team. The 2008 NBA Summer League is taking place July 11-20 in Las Vegas.

As was the case in last summer, Oklahoma City head coach P.J. Carlesimo, who served as an assistant with the 1992 U.S. Olympic “Dream Team” and who has been a head or assistant coach of six other USA Basketball teams, will serve as head coach of the USA Select Team and assisting Carlesimo for a second straight summer is Toronto Raptors assistant coach Jay Triano.

“We also brought into the senior team’s training camp last summer a select team of young NBA superstars and it proved to be valuable preparation for our Senior Team. Again in 2008 the Select Team features some of the league’s most promising young and upcoming players – including Kevin Durant who is a member of our Senior National Team and was the 2008 NBA Rookie of the Year. We’re looking for this select group to really compete and help prepare our senior team for Beijing,” said Colangelo.

“I’ll also repeat something I said last year. Some of these players have represented USA Basketball in the past and there are others who will. This is an opportunity for them to get into the USA Basketball pipeline. We expect many of these players to be part of the next generation that make up the USA Basketball Senior National program.”

“P.J. Carlesimo will again coach the USA Select Team and Jay Triano will assist. They are a great fit as P.J. has a lot of USA Basketball experience and Jay is a former coach of the Canadian national team and currently an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptor,” added Colangelo.

The select squad will begin training July 20 in Las Vegas and is expected to train and scrimmage against the USA Senior National Team from July 21-24.

The Americans will cap the Las Vegas portion of its training on July 25 (5 p.m. Las Vegas local time) with the 2008 State Farm USA Basketball Challenge where the USA will meet the Canadian National Team at Thomas & Mack Center.

After playing four games between July 31- Aug. 5 that are part of the USA Basketball International Challenge in Macao and Shanghai, China, the United States will arrive in Beijing, Aug. 6.

Preliminary round play of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games takes place Aug. 10-18.

Greece wins Olympic qualifier

The AP reports: Greece had an easy time before a home crowd Monday and was joined by winners Croatia, New Zealand and Slovenia in a 12-nation basketball tournament that serves as a qualifier for the Beijing Olympics. Greece routed Lebanon 119-62; Croatia defeated Cameroon 93-79; New Zealand downed Cape Verde 77-50; and Slovenia beat South Korea 88-76. The other countries bidding for the three remaining Olympic berths are: Brazil, Canada, Germany and Puerto Rico. The Athens tournament ends Sunday. Nine nations have already qualified for next month’s Beijing Games: Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and the United States.

Rodney White goes to Israel

Euroleague.net reports: Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv added another new face in preparation for the upcoming season with the signing of forward Rodney White for two seasons. White (206, 28) will thicken the front line of Euroleague runner-up that already includes Marcus Fizer, Esteban Batista, Lior Eliyahu and Yaniv Green.

Raptors sign Nathan Jawai

The Toronto Raptors announced Friday they have signed forward-center Nathan Jawai to a two-year contract. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed. The club acquired the draft rights to Jawai from the Indiana Pacers. He was the 41st overall selection in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Jawai (pronounced JA-why) was the unanimous 2008 Rookie of the Year in Australia’s National Basketball League. He averaged 17.7 points and 9.6 rebounds in 30 games for the Cairns Taipans. He ranked third in the NBL in rebounding, fifth in field goal percentage (.575) and ninth in blocked shots (1.0). He also captured MVP honors of the 2008 NBL All-Star Game after registering 24 points and 12 rebounds.

Jawai, 6-foot-10, 280 pounds, scored 20 or more points 12 times and posted 13 double-doubles for Cairns. He had a career-best 28 points on 13-for-16 shooting and pulled down 15 rebounds at Townsville. He grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds and added 22 points at Sydney. Jawai also recorded a 25-point/16-rebound effort against Singapore.

Jawai attended Midland Junior College in Midland, Texas in 2006-07. He appeared in 13 games, averaging 11.4 points, 5.8 rebound and 1.0 blocks, before returning home to Australia.

He is the first indigenous (Aboriginal) player from Australia to be drafted by an NBA team.

Jawai will participate for the Raptors’ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League (July 11-19).

Jose Calderon staying with Raptors

The Toronto Sun (Ryan Wolstat) reports: Not many doubts remained after the Raptors traded T.J. Ford to the Indiana Pacers last week, but Jose Calderon confirmed the expected yesterday, when he inferred on his website that he will be the Raptors’ starter at point guard for years to come. “Early this morning, through my agents, I reached a preliminary agreement with the Toronto Raptors,” Calderon wrote… Contractual details will be officially released July 9th, but the expected terms are around five years at $7.5-8.5 million US a season.

Tony Parker is cover athlete for NBA Live 09

Electronic Arts announced today that San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker will be the cover athlete and spokesman for NBA LIVE 09. In his seven NBA seasons, the 26 year old is a two-time NBA All-Star, has three NBA championships and was named the 2007 NBA Finals MVP. Parker will be the first European born global cover athlete of NBA LIVE. Off the court, Parker is an avid gamer and won an NBA LIVE 08 tournament against fellow NBA stars at the EA SPORTS All-Star Challenge last February in New Orleans.

“I have a long history with EA SPORTS. I’ve been on the cover in France for five years straight and I’ve been playing NBA LIVE for as long as I’ve played basketball,” said Parker. “It’s a real honor for me as a European player to now be represented on the worldwide cover.”

Parker is joined by some of the NBA’s biggest international stars on packaging around the world, including the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol (Spain), Toronto Raptors’ Andrea Bargnani (Italy) and Chicago Bulls’ Luol Deng (UK).

Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer probably making Olympics roster

The Salt Lake Tribune (Ross Siler) reports: The official announcement won’t come until Monday, but USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo all but confirmed Friday that the Jazz’s Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams will be making the trip to Beijing as members of the Olympic team. “They are two highly thought-of candidates to be on the team,” Colangelo said in a phone interview with The Tribune. “We’ve said that all along, but we’re not pre-announcing anything.” Colangelo confirmed that he would be keeping three point guards on the U.S. roster – expected to be Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Williams – and said he was still in the process of notifying players who were going to be on the 12-man team.

Ersan Ilyasova working out at Bucks facility

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Tom Enlund) writes: “Ersan Ilyasova has been working out at the Bucks practice facility but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he fits into the team’s plans for next season… The 6-foot-9 forward was a Bucks’ second-round draft in 2005 and played in 66 games in 2005-’06, averaging 6.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Last season, he played for the AXA FC Barcelona team in the Spanish League and averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 18 minutes in 22 games. Ilyasova still owns a home in Mequon so he is back in town and, since the Bucks still own his rights, he has been working out at the team’s training facility. But since he has the opportunity to make more money in Spain, he will probably be headed back there next season.”

Denham Brown a no-show for Team Canada

The Toronto Sun (Ryan Wolstat) reports: Don’t expect to see Denham Brown playing basketball for Canada anytime soon. The former West Hill and Bathurst Heights standout was a shocking no-show as Canada began its preparations for Olympic qualifying in Greece next month with a workout at the Air Canada Centre. Head coach Leo Rautins was surprised Brown did not tell the team beforehand that he wouldn’t be there. “I don’t know where he is,” Rautins said. “We live in an era where I don’t think it’s that hard to communicate.”

International talent is overrated

The Sporting News (Mike DeCourcy) writes: “You know how many international players appeared for the Boston Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals? Zero. They’re supposed to shoot it better in Europe, but only three of the NBA’s top 20 long-distance marksmen were international products. In the past five years, NBA teams have drafted 29 internationally trained players in the first round. Those players combined to produce nine seasons of double-figure scoring for their teams — out of a possible 93 opportunities. Teams might build a better track record drafting from the Rutgers intramural league. “I know the failure rate is high because the failure rate is high for anyone you take in the first round,” Fraschilla says. “You can’t draft on demographics. They’ve got to be judged individually.”