U.S. women's team faces issues as quest for another world title begins

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As the USA women's national basketball team opens training camp today in North Carolina in preparation for next month's world championship, there is a significant list of "don't haves" for the defending two-time champions and three-time Olympic gold medalists:

*A complete roster. Three players were invited to compete for two spots.

*Yolanda Griffith. The team's second-leading rebounder at the 2004 Olympics, playing in the WNBA Finals, withdrew Monday, citing fatigue.

*Lisa Leslie at the start of training camp. The 6-5 center won't arrive for several days as she tends to an undisclosed family emergency.

*Dawn Staley as its quarterback. The point guard since 1996 retired and is now an assistant coach for the team. And the USA doesn't have a backup point guard for Sue Bird.

*Sufficient preparation time. The USA has nine days to train as the tournament begins Sept.12 in Brazil and most of the U.S. players did not participate in all of spring training. One who did, Katie Smith, won't join the team until after the WNBA Finals.

Coach Anne Donovan, whose Seattle Storm fell in the WNBA playoffs a week ago, said the focus will be on defense.

"We've got to defend," Donovan said. "We have to make sure our focus going into this is at both ends of the floor."

Players invited to compete for the roster spots are 6-4 Candace Parker of the University of Tennessee, guard Cappie Pondexter (Phoenix Mercury) and 6-5 Michelle Snow (Houston Comets). If Parker makes the team, she has permission from the university to participate in the tournament.

With the withdrawal of Griffith, Donovan is looking for post help.

"We lose a lot with Yolanda," Donovan said. "We lose experience, we lose maturity, we lose the rebounding and probably No.1, we lose somebody who understood her role to the team and accepted her role. We definitely need bigs."

Regardless of who's added, Sheryl Swoopes and Leslie, the only three-time gold medalists on the team, will be the leaders in Brazil.

"It starts with working hard regardless of how tired we are," Swoopes said. "Once we step on the floor, it's all about USA Basketball. It's important every player understands (today) what it is at stake, what we have to do as individuals and what we have to do as a team to bring home the gold medal. I have to instill that confidence in every player because if we believe in each other, we are going to get the job done."

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