U.S. hoops will soon trim roster to 12

So much for the training camp competition for the final spots on the Olympic team. The United States will pick its squad without a tryout.

The Americans have changed their plans and will select the 12 players headed to Beijing before they report to Las Vegas later this month. Originally, the team was to have potentially 16 players in camp and cut down to 12 on June 30.

"The staff really is more interested in getting down so that they can get to work in terms of preparation. We have switched our thinking," USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

"Our plan is to go ahead and announce our team sometime before we get to Las Vegas."

Colangelo said the announcement likely would come after the NBA finals end. The Americans are to begin workouts on the UNLV campus June 28.

There are more than 30 players in the national team program, but Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski are down to about their top 14. They will decide on the final two spots, probably at point guard and power forward, in the coming days.

With the team's minicamp expected to last only two days, Krzyzewski told Colangelo there wasn't enough time to make cuts.

"That's basically a plan rather than a tryout of 16 or 15 or whatever the number might have been. We've got a pretty good handle on the 13, 14 names, and it's more about preparation," Colangelo said. "They want to get on with it."

Colangelo will get to work on one decision shortly, flying to Chicago to check on Dwyane Wade, who has been working out after missing the final 21 games this season because of chronic soreness in his surgically repaired left knee. Wade likely will get a spot if he's healthy, but Colangelo wants to get a "real read" on the Heat guard's rehab.

While there, Colangelo also will get a look at Chris Paul, one of the players on the bubble, whom Wade has invited to work out with him. The New Orleans point guard, runner-up to Kobe Bryant in the MVP voting, might have to beat out Chauncey Billups, Deron Williams, and perhaps Wade for a spot.

There could be an opening in the frontcourt, where Amare Stoudemire might have talked himself off the team. The Phoenix Suns star said after his season ended that he needed to see how his body felt before deciding to play, and his indecision seems to have created some doubt in Colangelo's mind.