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Olympic odds: Howard OK, Chandler not for Team USA
By Jordan WaltersWagerWeb.com Contributing Writer
| Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook |
The U.S. men’s Olympic team opened a four-day training camp on Monday, and starting center Dwight Howard was on the court for the Americans.
Recovered from a stress fracture to the sternum, Howard said he's ready for Beijing. He seemed a bit winded after his first 5-on-5 workout since the NBA playoffs, when the Orlando Magic star got hurt against the Detroit Pistons.
"I feel real good out there," Howard said after the closed workout. "I didn't have any problems. I'm looking to get in better shape. I'm just ready to go."
Howard, was held out of the squad's only workout last month as a precaution. He was expected to be ready to go this week, but his presence still came as a relief to a team whose 12-man roster isn't deep in big men.
"Dwight looked really good," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I asked him afterwards if he experienced any pain. He said no, no hesitation. Obviously, his wind, even though he's been running, it's different when you're playing defense like that."
Along with Howard, their lone true center, the Americans have 6-foot-10 Chris Bosh and 6-9 Carlos Boozer, who both are power forwards.
The Americans’ top big man alternate, Tyson Chandler, may have an injury that keeps him off the team. After Team USA officials learned that Howard had suffered his injury, they decided to invite Chandler to travel with the team to Asia for a series of pre-Olympic exhibition games.
But Chandler has an inflamed big left toe and likely won’t be available.
"We just found out about it a couple days ago, so what we're going to do is look at the pool of [alternates] and let a couple people know that if something happens, you are probably going to be the guy -- but we haven't decided yet who those guys are going to be," Krzyzewski said.
The alternates behind Chandler, are Shawn Marion, Mike Miller, Kevin Durant, Chauncey Billups and Joe Johnson. None of those guys are post players.
Krzyzewski hinted that Durant, who is practicing against Team USA this week as part of the U.S. Select Team, could supplant Chandler as the No. 1 alternate.
"What we could do is have Durant be a perimeter player, and LeBron be a big. The way we're playing, LeBron is a big," Krzyzewski said.
After practicing July 21-24, the Americans will play the Canadian national team on July 25 in Las Vegas. They will play four games in Macao and Shanghai before arriving in Beijing.
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