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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 9:04 a.m., Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Olympics: US men's hoops team will be named Monday

By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer

DURHAM, N.C. — Calling it "the toughest decision" facing USA Basketball since it began using professional players, U.S. Olympic team coach Mike Krzyzewski said the 12-man roster for this summer's Beijing Games will be released Monday.

Krzyzewski, Duke's Hall of Fame coach, said the roster will be announced during a news conference in Chicago.

"The pool of players that we have have all made commitments and have given time and effort," Krzyzewski said today during his annual summer news conference in Durham. "Really we have more people qualified for those 12 spots than we can take, so that's what makes it tough. There will be people we've coached, either last summer or the summer before, who will not be on this team."

Earlier this month, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said the U.S. would pick its squad without a tryout. There are more than 30 players in the national team program, but he said officials are down to about 14 names.

The Americans are scheduled to begin workouts in Las Vegas on June 28. Originally, the team planned to have about 16 players in camp before trimming the roster to 12 on June 30.

The deadline to submit the roster is July 1. The U.S. team will return to Las Vegas to train in mid-July and play an exhibition against Canada before opening the Beijing Games against the host Chinese on Aug. 10.