Australian Olympic basketball team announced

(BEIJING, July 13) -- Andrew Bogut of Melbourne, who recently signed a $76 million, five-year NBA contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, will attend the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as part of the Australian delegation. Bogut will team up with Chris Anstey, David Andersen and Matthew Nielsen to compete for Olympic gold.

Anstey, who was part of the fourth-placing Australian team in Sydney in 2000, believes that Australia may give everyone a run for their money.

"We really have a talented group of guys going over and if we can push through the first round we have the ability to surprise everyone with our results," he said. "We're right up there with the European teams at the moment."

Brian Goorjian, head coach of Team Australia, indicated that blending Bogut, Nielsen and Andersen with other players after their participation on other league teams is a big experiment for him,

Besides the NBA stars, Patrick Mills and Joe Ingles also need to give their all; they are among six players making their Olympic debut in Beijing.

Australia is scheduled to face America's "Dream Team" on August 5, for a last-minute preparatory match before the Games.

Australia's men's basketball team:

David Andersen / Forward/Center

Chris Anstey / Center

David Barlow / Guard/Forward

Andrew Bogut / Center

CJ Bruton / Guard

Joe Ingles / Guard

Patrick Mills / Guard

Brad Newley / Guard

Matthew Nielsen / Forward

Shawn Redhage / Forward

Glen Saville / Guard/Forward

Mark Worthington / Forward