After a ridiculous number of Google searches for "James Posey" over the last couple of weeks and the realization that the Boston Celtics are keeping a low profile this summer, I've shifted my focus to international basketball. The following teams already qualified for Beijing:

Angola - African Champion
Argentina - Americas Runner-Up
Australia - Oceanian Champion
China - Host Country
Iran - Asian Champion
Lithuania - European Runner-Up
Russia - European champion
Spain - World Champion
United States - Americas Champion

Random Aside - Oceanian? What is this 1984?

On to those on the outside looking in...

Starting tomorrow the following countries will play in Greece for the final 3 spots:

Brazil, Canada, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Korea, Lebanon, New Zealand, Puerto Rico,  and Slovenia.

Groups

Group A: Brazil, Greece and Lebanon
Group B: Cape Verde, Germany and New Zealand
Group C: Canada, Korea and Slovenia
Group D: Cameroon, Croatia and Puerto Rico

Preliminary Games

July 14th
Greece vs. Lebanon
New Zealand vs. Cape Verde
Korea vs. Slovenia
Croatia vs. Cameroon

July 15th
Lebanon vs. Brazil
Cape Verde vs. Germany
Slovenia vs. Canada
Cameroon vs. Puerto Rico

July 16th
Brazil vs. Greece
Germany vs. New Zealand
Canada vs. Korea
Puerto Rico vs. Croatia

Intriguing Development

Chris Kaman recently obtained a German passport (his great grandparents were German). That combined with the NBA faxing in the necessary paperwork gave Kaman the opportunity to help Deutschland in its quest to qualify for Beijing. Though he missed Germany's final friendly against Canada, Kaman should be ready to go on Tuesday. And his early impressions were particularly interesting:

"It is all very close. You do everything together, quite unlike in the NBA. I like that! The teammates are cool and very friendly." - Chris Kaman