CHICAGO --
The task of selecting 12 players for the U.S. men's basketball team for the 2008 Olympics has Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo feeling like lovesick teenagers at their first dance.
"We fall in love with everyone we see," Krzyzewski said.
Alas, Krzyzewski, the Team USA coach, and Colangelo, the managing director, can take only a dozen to the big dance in Beijing in August.
Whether Hornets guard Chris Paul and center Tyson Chandler are among the chosen few remains to be seen. The players won't know their fate until the team is announced June 30.
Twelve players and three alternates will be picked from a pool of 33 members of the USA Senior National Team program.
With such high-profile athletes in the mix, the selection process should be among the most scrutinized and publicized events of the summer.
Most assume Paul would be a shoo-in for the 12-man roster. He was widely recognized as the top point guard in the NBA this season and, along with Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, is one of the top candidates for league MVP honors.
But NBA performance is just one criterion in a complex selection process, Krzyzewski and Colangelo said.
In the wake of Team USA's debacle at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, USA Basketball officials are placing a greater emphasis on other factors in the selection process, among them maturity, international experience and the ability to play a role within a team concept.
"We're not a selection of all-stars," Krzyzewski said. "They have to have the ego of what's good for the team."
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I've thought about this on a few occasions and while I know it's an honor playing for your country, I'm kind of hoping these guys don't play this summer. Last summer when CP had that foot surgery I thought it was a blessing in disguise (I think he even said so himself) that gave him a chance to rest his body because before that summer he had been playing a lot of basketball for years straight. I think by not playing it gave him time to rest, heal, and work on his game more and it appears to have done wonders for him this 07-08 season. And now that they're going to the playoffs, that will mean even more basketball. And they will be playing pre-season games in Europe this fall. They're young but they'll have run out of gas before All-Star break. Not every player is a freak of nature like Lebron.
Youth could work against Paul, Chandler for Olympics
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