CP3 to Beijing? Stay tuned
USA Basketball planned to announce the last three members of the Olympic women’s basketball team by July 1.
That day came and went with no announcement. Caroline Williams, spokesperson for USA Basketball, told me in an email yesterday that the selection committee had to reschedule its final meeting. Apparently, there were some scheduling conflicts with some of the members.
So, the final announcement is now expected to be made Thursday.
Who will make the team?
The first nine members have already been announced. USA Basketball did that back in May, choosing veterans Lisa Leslie, Katie Smith, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Tina Thompson along with Olympic newbies Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, Candace Parker and Cappie Pondexter.
Reports have swirled in recent days that Lindsay Whalen, Tamike Catchings and DeLisha Milton-Jones will be the final players named to the 12-member squad.
That would mean no Paris in Beijing.
Oklahoma center Courtney Paris still has a chance of making the Olympic team since the squad only has two true centers right now. Leslie and Fowles are talented, athletic bigs who can score and defend. Thompson isn’t a true center, but she can play the position.
If Team USA doesn’t add another center, it might find itself a bit thin at that position.
Whether Paris will make the Olympic team this time around, she will definitely be a strong contender for the 2012 squad. At that point, she will be three years into her pro career, and it’s easy to foresee her continuing to improve and expand her game. If that happens, it will be almost impossible for USA Basketball to leave her off the squad in four years.
Then, Paris would be in London.
But stay tuned on Thursday. We’ll have details as they become available on newsok.com, then we’ll have full coverage in Friday’s pages of The Oklahoman.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment