Another finger bites the dust
Just when you thought the worst was over for Team USA after losing Amar’e Stoudemire, David Lee, Brook Lopez, and Robin Lopez for various reasons, the team has been hit by another injury. On the first day of training camp in New York, Danny Granger dislocated a finger on his right hand after making contact with the underside of the rim while playing defense. As it turns out, he had dislocated a bone but put it back into place after it had happened. Granger spent the remainder of practice with his hand wrapped in ice. This injury is quite similar to how Lee injured his finger on the first day of minicamp.
This is the second time that Granger has been injured this summer. During the Las Vegas minicamp, he sat out some time with a knee injury but eventually played well enough to survive the first round of cuts on the team. Gerald Wallace, Tyreke Evans, JaVale McGee, and O.J. Mayo did not make the current 15 man roster. However, McGee was brought back to practice with Team USA when Brook Lopez was forced to excuse himself from the team as he is battling mononucleosis.
If Granger cannot participate due to his finger it will likely mean that he will not make it through the second round of cuts when Coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff must trim the current roster down to 12 for the FIBA World Championships. The final roster must be submitted to FIBA by 26 August.
Before the World Championships begin, Team USA will play several exhibition games. The first is a ‘Blue vs. White’ scrimmage at Madison Square Garden on 12 August. They will play again in MSG on 15 August against France, who have injury problems of their own with Rodrigue Beaubois having broken his foot. From there the team will play its remaining three exhibition games in Europe. Two will be played in Madrid: 21 August vs. Lithuania and 22 August against Spain. From there Team USA travels to Greece to play the Greek national team in Athens on 25 August. The FIBA World Championships begin on 28 August.
