Germany, Dirk (32 pts) clinch Olympic berth

Germany advances into the Olympics with a win over JJB and Puerto Rico this morning.   That marked the final game in the Athens tournament.  JJB played pretty well for PR with Carlos Arroyo being out, scoring 18 points in 29 minutes.  But he had a horrific time with his 3 ball, going 1-8 beyond the ark.

Here is the official FIBA recap and Boxscore of today's game.

This of course, marks the first time in Dirk's 12 year career in playing with Germany that they have qualified for the Olympics. 

[Note by Toddy, 07/20/08 7:18 PM MDT ] Today's post game video of Dirk

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So Mr. Mark Cuban.  You have $40 Million dollars playing in this year's Olympics (Nowitzki and Kidd)...  Cant imagine you're sleeping too soundly at night right now.

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In random news, NJ picked up Kevin Dooling today in by sending Orlando the $3.3 million dollar trade exception we sent them in the Kidd deal and cash considerations.

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Oklahoma City's team have finally decided on a name for their basketball team... The Oklahoma City Thunder.  Also, as Marie reported earlier, they offered Dallas native CJ Miles a 4 year, $15 million dollar deal.  The Jazz have 7 days to match it. 

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Brandon George from DMN is reporting that its highly unlikely that George will remain with the Mavericks.

George, a free agent, has at least a half dozen other teams interested in signing him. The Mavericks, however, only have two open roster spots left with little money to work with after signing center DeSagana Diop.

The Mavericks have the option of re-signing George for more than a minimum contract, however, because he was on their roster last season for about $2.3 million, but Mavs president Donnie Nelson isn't optimistic that they will get a deal done.

"I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope right now," Nelson said. "We're pretty far apart as far as the numbers go."

HOPE Donnie?  Were we (fans, FO, media, etc.) really holding out in hopes that we would sign George?  Hmmm....  Dont think so. 

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The Summer league team beat Iran's national team yesterday.

Mohammad Nikkhah finished with 16 points, and 1 assist, Hamed Ehadadi led all scorers with 19 points 2 assists and 16 rebounds.  Gerald Green topped the Mavs in scoring with 15, he also had 1 assist.  Aaron miles finished with 12 points, 1 steal, and 6 assists.  Reyshawn Terry finished with 11 points as well.

Boxscore

I am in Salt Lake right now, attended yesterday's game and will attend the rest of the SL games up here for the Mavs.  Watching these guys live is completely different from what I had been watching on TV from the Vegas games.  I will have a summary of what I saw after the SL Revue is over.  I'm trying to get some media access to the team, so far I have been unsuccessful.

Tomorrow the Mavs will play the Spurs tomorrow at 1pm CST.

Also, remember Pops?  Well Marie spotted him in a summer league game... just not in a Mavs uniform for some reason.  And in his first game with the Timberwolves, he put up 11 points in 22 minutes.

CONFUSION surrounded Pops Mensah Bonsu's future today after it emerged the GB forward has not signed with Badalona. Earlier this week, the Spanish club announced that the former Dallas Maverick had signed a one-year deal with the ACB club.

The Mavericks, for whom Pops was meant to be playing in the Vegas summer league this week, were also under the impression that the 6'8" big man was on his way to Spain.

But while the offer from Joventut remains firmly on the table, Mensah-Bonsu is still pursuing his aim of joining an NBA team and was in action with the Minnesota Timberwolves in Vegas yesterday.

Benny Bonsu, Pops' sister and Basketball 24/7 contributor, confirmed: "Pops has not signed anything yet."He has an offer from Spain but has not signed anything and his ambition remains to return to the NBA if at all possible."