OLYMPIC BASKETBALL Okafor has eyes on gold

The selection committee added five players to give the team 12.
By DESMOND CONNER
THE HARTFORD COURANT
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Emeka Okafor had just finished his second grueling workout of the day. It was mid-afternoon Thursday, and he sounded wiped out.
"Whew," Okafor said. "Just fine-tuning, fine-tuning, getting my mind right, getting my body right for what's ahead."
In the midst of his first workout, he took time out to talk to national media about his place on the U.S. Olympic team, which goes to Athens next month. The selection committee officially named the final five members to the 12-member team, which will start training camp in Jacksonville, Fla., July 26.
Okafor, the 6-foot-10, 252-pound center who led UConn to the national title in April and was first-round pick (No. 2 overall) of the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, is eyeing a chance to win a gold medal before he plays an NBA game.
"That's one of the reasons I jumped at this opportunity," Okafor said. "It's a rare one and one that doesn't come by too often."
Four players added
USA basketball also officially added four exciting young players to the roster Thursday: Dwyane Wade (Miami), Carmelo Anthony (Denver) Carlos Boozer (Cleveland) and Lamar Odom (Miami).
Also on the team are San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, Cleveland's LeBron James, New Jersey's Richard Jefferson, New York's Stephon Marbury and Phoenix's Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire.
Okafor is excited about the opportunity to learn from Duncan. In his preparation for the NBA and now the Olympics, Okafor is being drilled in California by Connecticut native Jerry DeGregorio for about five hours a day. He goes through a morning workout that includes a strength and conditioning session, and a basketball-only session makes up the second workout.
"We're working on low post moves, low post moves facing the basket, and we're working on his midrange jump shot," said DeGregorio, a former player development director for the L.A. Clippers. "We're working on a lot of things and let me tell you, he's got a work ethic like I've never seen. The guy is like a sponge with everything."
Okafor said he wouldn't call this the most rigorous workout regimen of his life, "but it's up there."
Okafor wants to make an impression. He doesn't know how much he'll play, but the team did need big people.
Opportunity
In the end, it was an opportunity Charlotte coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said Okafor had to take.
"At first he had concerns that he didn't want me to get hurt," Okafor said. "But this was a mutual decision. He said, 'Look, Emeka, this is a great opportunity for you to get your feet wet for the NBA. It can be very beneficial to you.' He really didn't have any qualms about it."
Completing the USA roster wasn't easy for USA Basketball, which had to find replacements after Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady withdrew. Only Duncan, the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 2002 and 2003, and 2001 MVP Iverson remain from the original nine players selected.
"I'm excited we finally have a team," U.S. coach Larry Brown, who led the Detroit Pistons to last season's NBA title, said on a conference call. "I look at it as a great opportunity for the other people."
Especially Okafor.
"I got excited when they put him on the team because maybe it's the carrot for some kids to stay in school, realizing that you can stay in school three or four years and have an opportunity to play on the Olympic team," Brown said.