GREECE WINS OLYMPIC BASKETBALL QUALIFIER: Greece had an easy time before a home crowd Monday and was joined by winners Croatia, New Zealand and Slovenia in a 12-nation basketball tournament that serves as a qualifier for the Beijing Olympics.

Greece routed Lebanon 119-62; Croatia defeated Cameroon 93-79; New Zealand downed Cape Verde 77-50; and Slovenia beat South Korea 88-76.

The other countries bidding for the three remaining Olympic berths are: Brazil, Canada, Germany and Puerto Rico. The Athens tournament ends Sunday.

Nine nations have already qualified for next month's Beijing Games: Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and the United States.

On Tuesday, it's Slovenia vs. Canada; Cape Verde vs. Germany; Cameroon vs. Puerto Rico; and Lebanon vs. Brazil.

RUSSELL WRITING BOOK ABOUT AUERBACH: Basketball great Bill Russell is working on a memoir about his friendship with the late Red Auerbach, the Boston Celtics coach for whom Russell starred on a long run of championship teams.

"Red and Me" will be published by HarperCollins in Spring 2009.

"Arnold Jacob Auerbach passed on Oct. 28, 2006 — almost 50 years from when I joined his Boston Celtics," Russell said Monday in a statement. "I felt a tremendous sense of loss, a huge void in my life. There was an empty space in my psyche where a special person had been. I thought about that at Red's funeral. And the fact that there was no logical reason why we ever should've become friends, because we came from such diverse places. I thought about how much I missed his friendship."

Russell, 74, was the center and competitive heart for the great Celtic teams of the 1950s and 1960s, when other players included Bob Cousy, John Havlicek and Sam Jones.

ROSE PLEADS GUILTY TO SPEEDING: The Chicago Bulls No. 1 draft choice Derrick Rose pleaded guilty Monday to driving more than 40 mph over the speed limit on an Illinois highway back in April.

Kane County Associate Judge Robert J. Morrow ordered Rose to pay a $1,000 fine and attend traffic school, according to the county's state attorney's office.

GALLINARI GETS ON TRACK: After a scoreless first half, Danilo Gallinari scored 14 points in a hurry in the second half of his Knicks debut, helping New York beat Cleveland on Monday.

Gallinari, who was selected by the Knicks with the No. 6 pick of the 2008 NBA draft, scored all of his points in just over 7 minutes during the third and fourth quarters. Gallinari finished with 5-for-11 from the field and added six rebounds in New York's 97-94 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at the NBA Summer League.

Gallinari's last two points were on free throws with 5:06 remaining in the final quarter. He was taken out of the game less than one minute later and did not return due to a sore back.

"I was hurting all game," he said.