Boozer to be Named to Team USA's Roster

I started this post with the intent to congratulate Andrei Kirilenko and his wife Masha on the birth of their second child -- and well, I still do, congrats, Russians -- but something else also caught my little brown-eyed retinas a bit further down the page. From Phil Miller at the Salt Lake Tribune:

Carlos Boozer's summer is now officially spoken for. Boozer has been contacted by Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball's managing director, and has committed to play for the national team in its Olympic qualifying tournament this August in Las Vegas.

"He said, 'We want you there,' and I told him I'd be thrilled to play," said Boozer, who won a bronze medal with the Americans at the Athens Olympics in 2004. USA Basketball has not announced his addition to the team yet, but Boozer said that should come shortly.

To automatically qualify for the Beijing Games, the U.S. must finish first or second in a 10-team tournament made up of Western Hemisphere teams, with the gold-medal game in the Thomas & Mack Center on Sept. 2.

Ah, see, now we're talking, Papa Colangelo.

One of the major problems with last year's bronze-winning squad, besides not having an available Kobe and Billups backcourt, was the inconsistent play Team USA got from their big men. I mean, sure, Bosh had a few solid games, but other than that, Brand, Dwight and Brad Miller all struggled to hit the glass and find any sort of touch around the net. Boozer, a bronze medal winner at the '04 Olympics, should be able to help step in and solidify the team's inside presence immediately.

So, to quickly recap what we know about Team USA's summer roster: Boozer in; Wade probably out, LeBron maybe; and Ron Artest . . . well, no comment.