As training camp approaches for the US Men’s Olympic Basketball team, the question still remains - Can this years team restore the prominence of basketball for the United States? On Monday, the United States 12 man team will meet at the Thomas and Mack Center, on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas to begin their four-day training camp.

As the US team has become pretty healthy, with the exception of Dwight Howard’s minor injury, this team appears to be extremely focused and ready to compete. After the four day training camp the United States team will then compete in a pre-season game with Canada at 5pm on July 25, also at the Thomas and Mack Center in Vegas.  

After the pre-season game with Canada, the US team will travel to China - where the Olympics will be played. But before arriving in Beijing, the US team will make other stops along the way. Their first stop will be in Macao, China- where the US team will make two exhibition games. The first - July 31st against Turkey, and the second- August 1st, against Lithuania.  

After those two games in Macao - the team will travel to Shanghai for the USA Basketball International Challenge. On August 3rd, the US will battle Russia, and on August 5th, an exhibition with Australia will take place. The Olympics in Beijing will begin August 8th, and run through August 24th. The first battle for the American team will be August 10th, when they play their first preliminary game. The United States will play five preliminary games (Aug 10th, Aug 12th, Aug 14th, Aug 16th, and Aug 18th), before hopefully reaching the quarterfinals on Aug 20th, the semifinals on Aug 22nd, and then the finals on Aug 24th.  

The United States has been placed in Group B. Group B contains: United States, Angola, China, Spain, and two other qualifiers. Group A consists of: Argentina, Australia, Iran, Luthuania, Iran, and one more qualifier. For the last three spots. 12 teams are currently playing in Greece to decide the final three teams. Greece, Brazil, Lebanon, Germany, New Zealand, Cape Verde, Slovenia, Canada, South Korea, Croatia, Puerto Rico, and Cameroon are the 12 battling. Lebanon, Cape Verde and Cameroon are currently in trouble, starting the qualifying 0-2, so they are sure to be eliminated very soon. Slovenia has begun their run well, starting 2-0, the only team currently with 2 wins. Today, Canada will play South Korea, Croatia will take on Puerto Rico, Germany will battle New Zealand, and Brazil will play Greece. The top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals, which start Friday, and then from there the semifinals will be played Saturday, and the finals on Sunday.

Here is the final 2008 USA Basketball Roster:

Managing Director: Jerry Colangelo

Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski

Assistant Coach: Jim Boeheim

Assistant Coach: Mike D’Antoni

Assistant Coach: Nate McMillan

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