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Bryant, James, Wade To Lead Team USA

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The Associated Press

Published: June 24, 2008

CHICAGO - MVP Kobe Bryant has a shot at another big prize after falling short of the NBA championship, and he'll have plenty of help along the way.

LeBron James is there. Dwyane Wade, too.

They will lead a U.S. Olympic basketball team that was announced Monday and hopes to capture the gold medal in Beijing in August after a third-place showing in Athens four years ago.

The team already has "re-established itself" on an international level, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said during a news conference.

The next step is to bring home the gold, and the U.S. will send a deep, versatile team to China. Carmelo Anthony and Jason Kidd also were among the 12 players chosen from a pool of 33. They were joined by Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Michael Redd and Deron Williams.

The team was selected without a tryout. It will have a minicamp this week in Las Vegas and meet there July 20-25 to train and play an exhibition against Canada before heading overseas. The Americans open Olympic play against China on Aug. 10.

Although the Americans captured the gold at the Sydney Games in 2000, they no longer dominate international play as they once did. The talent gap has narrowed and many top players have chosen to not play for the national team in recent years.

Now, the U.S. team appears loaded. Then again, the Americans went 5-3 in Athens and lost for the first time since NBA players started competing in 1992 even though they had James, Anthony, Wade and Tim Duncan. That group got routed by Puerto Rico before losing to Lithuania and Argentina.

Solo Among 18 Named To Women's Soccer Team

CHICAGO - Goalkeeper Hope Solo was among 18 players picked for the U.S. Olympic women's soccer roster, nine months after she was kicked off the team at the World Cup.

Briana Scurry, who took over from Solo for last year's World Cup semifinal loss to Brazil, was left off the roster by Coach Pia Sundhage, who replaced Greg Ryan following the World Cup debacle.

Solo was the starter for most of 2007, but Ryan surprisingly replaced her with Scurry for the semifinal, which the Americans lost 4-0. Solo criticized Ryan, saying she would have made the saves, and was dropped from the team.

Sundhage, who has led the team to an 18-0 record, said the events of last year's didn't play into her decision. Nicole Barnhart, who also was on the Peace Cup roster, will be Solo's Olympic backup.

Half the roster was part of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Defenders Christie Rampone and Kate Markgraf, the co-captains, will be in their third Olympics. Also returning from the 2004 team are defender Heather Mitts; midfielders Shannon Boxx, Angela Hucles, Heather O'Reilly, Lindsay Tarpley and Aly Wagner; and forward Abby Wambach.

SOFTBALL: At Ashland, Ohio, Monica Abbott pitched a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts, Crystl Bustos and Stacey Nuveman hit three-run homers and the U.S. Olympic team tuned up for Beijing with a 20-0 win against a Mid-American Conference All-Star team.

The Americans, who will be seeking a fourth straight gold medal in China, improved to 49-1 on their "Bound 4 Beijing" tour and delighted a standing-room-only crowd of 4,126 fans.

GATLIN CASE: Banned sprinter Justin Gatlin must go to Switzerland if he wants to compete in Beijing.

The International Olympic Committee said Gatlin, whose four-year doping ban recently was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is not eligible to compete in the Beijing Olympics regardless of any ruling by a federal court judge in Pensacola.

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