The 2012 Olympic Games are almost here which means several San Antonio Spurs player will be representing their respective country in London — Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Patty Mills, Tiago Splitter and Manu Ginobili.
And as the Olympic games near, the schedule for the basketball tournament has been released and Team France with Parker and Diaw, will open the games up against Team USA on July 29. Also, Team Argentina with Ginobili will play Team USA to close the preliminary-round play on Aug. 6.
With Team USA being hit with injuries to key players such as Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Derrick Rose and Chauncey Billups, the US could be vulnerable and not as formidable as they were originally thought of heading into the Olympics. This could bode well for France or Argentina to sneak into medal play.
However, seeing how Parker, Splitter, Ginobili and Diaw are playing well into the NBA playoffs, one has to be concerned about their health heading into next season especially if they are playing in June for an NBA title. They will have to complete Olympic play, and then join the Spurs for the 2012-13 training camp.
If head coach Gregg Popovich had to be mindful of monitoring player’s minutes this season, there is no doubt he will have to do it again with players coming off the London games.
