The qualifying tournament for the 2008 Olympics starts today in Las Vegas. There are two groups of five teams each:

Group A
Panama
Puerto Rico
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico

Group B
USA
Venezuela
Brazil
Virgin Islands
Canada

I think the format is that the top 4 teams from each group qualify for single elimination, and then the two teams that reach the finals are the ones who qualify for the Olympics.

The USA games will mostly be on ESPN Classic or ESPN2. Tonight's game is against Venezuela at 11 PM Eastern time; ESPN's own site can't seem to make up its mind about which channel it'll be on, so I guess it won't be totally clear until game time. Chat will be open for anyone who wants to stop by.

Thanks D4E!

It looks like I got the tournament format slightly wrong. According to this link, after the first phase of group play, the top four teams in each group will play another round-robin where they face each of the top four teams from the other group. Once that's finished, the top 4 teams in the overall standings will advance to the semi-finals.

I just hope LeBrone don't go crazy and start driving and dunking on Chauncey and Tayshaun when the three of them are on the court playing tonight.

ok that was funny.... lol thanks for the laugh

Good stuff!

Lebran does not get any calls in that format. Its tough for him.

I think Lebrun will have a great tourney...

Lebrin will not se the ball much with Kobe and Carmella as teamates!

LeBryn is an overhyped media darling.