Jerry Colangelo May Expand Team USA Finalists After Injuries


While the devastating, season-ending injuries to Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard will keep both out of the remainder of the Playoffs, they’ll also do the same for this summer’s Olympics. And though USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo has previously said he won’t be adding players to the pool of guys eligible to make the team, after the unfortunate influx of recent injuries, it appears there may be a new spot or two open, SI.com reports: “Derrick Rose’s season-ending knee injury on Saturday could turn out to be good news for one person: his replacement for Team USA’s pool of finalists for this summer’s Olympics in London. Just three days after saying the roster of Olympic team finalists would not be expanded after the recent rash of injuries to key players, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo told SI.com that he is reconsidering his stance after the Bulls point guard tore his ACL in Game 1 of their series against the Sixers. ‘What I said [previously] was that we didn’t plan to do any additions, but we had to continue to monitor the injury situation,’ Colangelo said. ‘Obviously this is a big loss. [Point guard] seems to be, at this point, still a pretty strong position. But at this stage, quite honestly, I think all bets are off.’ While Rose didn’t play in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, he was a member of the Select team and later played a key role on the U.S. team that won a gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Five of the 20 original Olympic team finalists chosen in January have since been scratched off Colangelo’s list, with Rose preceded by Magic center Dwight Howard (back surgery), Clippers point guard Chauncey Billups (torn Achilles), Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (hip surgery) and Mavericks small forward Lamar Odom (personal issues; no longer active with the team).”