US hoops hope to dream again

(BEIJING, July 22) -- After a disappointing bronze finish in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the United States is looking to Beijing for a chance to return to the "Dream Team" era of US international basketball dominance.

The US training camp opened on July 21, but the players seemed comfortable together and eager to go to Beijing strong. Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James will serve as the backbone for this mostly veteran team, alongside fellow NBA stars Anthony Carmelo, Howard Dwight and Jason Kidd.

As opposed to the last Olympics, when a mostly new US basketball team had only three weeks to gel, this team has met over the past three summers and kept a fairly consistent roster as well as coaching staff.

The US team was together for 42 days in 2006, including the World Championships where they placed third. Last year the US players had only 24 days together, including the FIBA Americas Qualifying Tournament.

This year they have a planned 20 days of practice and play before they begin Olympics competition on August 10 in the Wukesong Indoor Stadium.

The United States was assigned to group B and will compete against Spain (2006 World Champion), Greece, Germany, China (host nation) and Angola (2007 FIBA Africa Champion).