Injury Forces Heat's Chris Bosh Out of Olympics

The ever-growing list of USA Basketball's walking wounded just added another member, as the Miami Heat's Chris Bosh announced that he will be unable to play in this summer's Olympics because of his strained abdominal muscle.

"I am extremely disappointed to say that due to injury, I cannot represent my country in the 2012 Olympics in London.  The abdominal injury that I suffered in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals is not fully healed. After the Finals, I met with my doctors to determine the best course of action, with the full intent to play in the Olympics. From those meetings, I was advised that rest and additional rehab of my abdominal injury will be necessary in order to avoid the development of a chronic injury," said Bosh.

"Having enjoyed the honor of representing my country in the 2008 Olympics, when we won the gold medal, I wanted to be part of that experience again.  However, I must follow my doctors' advice and properly take care of this injury. My thoughts will be with our guys in London in August and I am confident that Coach K and the USA Basketball staff will bring home the gold again to the USA."

In the 2008 Olympics, Bosh averaged 9.1 points and 6.1 rebounds, while shooting 77.4 percent from the field to help the USA finish 8-0 and win the gold medal. Bosh was coach K's most trusted big, as he, rather than Dwight Howard, often finished games for Team USA at the 5.

"I got a call this morning from Chris who said the doctor recommended that he not go forward because they were concerned about him re-aggravating the abdominal strain and it could turn out be a chronic situation so he wouldn't be able to play," said chairman Jerry Colangelo. "He'll be missed, but we have to move on.  We've taken four bullets with the injuries to Rose, (Dwight) Howard, (Dwyane) Wade and now (Chris) Bosh and it will now be a testimony to the infrastructure we put in with the national team roster. I feel very confident about our roster going forward."

The loss of Bosh will be problematic for a team already facing size issues. The current 16 finalists for the roster include only five bigs -- Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Lamar Odom, Tyson Chandler, and the inexperienced Anthony Davis.

In other words, Team USA cannot afford any more losses up front, or else things might get difficult when they face some of the taller teams, such as Spain. Compounding this issue is the fact that the Olympics will finally do away with the trapezoid lane. As such, opponents may choose to emphasize more of a post attack with their big men.

In the last two major international tournaments, Team USA has elected to build rosters filled with versatile perimeter players. That lack of size allowed them to switch on D, and to go out and cover the "stretch 4's" of international basketball. However, given the new rules, a few more bigs might come in handy.

By Staff of The Daily Sports Herald and news services