SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. team of NBA players will open against Brazil in the Olympics qualifying tournament here next month and could face nemesis Argentina in the second round.
The United States is grouped with Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands. Argentina, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Uruguay are in a second group. Argentina beat the United States at last summer's world championships in Indianapolis, finishing second while the Americans placed sixth.
Play begins Aug. 20, with the bronze- and gold-medal games Aug. 31. Three teams advance to the Athens Olympics in 2004.
CYCLING: Armstrong a critic
Lance Armstrong will face Jan Ullrich in the Aug. 17 Championship of Zurich World Cup race, three weeks after criticizing his rival's tactics in the Tour de France. "He didn't always choose the right time or place to attack," Armstrong said. "If I kept finishing second all the time, I wouldn't come back. I'd go and find another race to win." Ullrich finished second to Armstrong for a fifth time in six Tour de France attempts. "It will be tougher for Lance to repeat the exploit in 2004," Ullrich said.
WORLD TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS: Germany's Stefan Nimke, an Olympic silver medalist in 2000, upset an elite field to win the men's 1,000-meter time trial in 1 minute, 01.225 seconds at Stuttgart, Germany. Christian Stahl, the only American, recorded a personal best of 1:04.810 in finishing 19th of 22.
TENNIS: Roddick struggles
No. 2 seed Andy Roddick survived a scare from Bob Bryan before breaking to end the 7-6 (5), 6-4 match and advance to the third round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington. Bryan had won his first ATP-level singles match of the season just two weeks ago.
ACURA CLASSIC: Jennifer Capriati retired with a strained chest muscle while trailing 4-1 during her second-round match against Elena Likhovtseva at Carlsbad, Calif. Capriati said the injury probably occurred because she has been overcompensating for a tight right shoulder since Wimbledon. Unseeded Mary Pierce continued her impressive play with a 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 11 Conchita Martinez.
MERCEDES-BENZ CUP: Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt overwhelmed Cecil Mamiit in the first set, then rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win 6-0, 7-5 and advance to the second round in Los Angeles.
ET CETERA
GYMNASTICS: Spaniard Gervasio Deferr was stripped of his silver medal from last year's world championships because he failed a drug test six weeks earlier. Bulgarian Jordan Jovtchev gets the silver and American Paul Hamm moves up to bronze. Romania's Marian Dragulescu won the gold.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: Russia beat the United States 25-19, 21-25, 25-21, 25-17 in Matera, Italy, moving closer to a second straight World Grand Prix title. Top-ranked Russia is 3-0 and the United States 1-2 in the round-robin tournament.
SOCCER: The United States remained ninth in the FIFA rankings, and Mexico moved up six places to fifth after winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup. ... San Jose's Katia scored on a header in the 63rd minute as the Cyberrays beat the host Carolina Courage 2-1 in WUSA play.
OBITUARY: John Crittenden, a sports writer for more than four decades in South Florida and a recipient of several awards, died Wednesday at 69 at Baptist Hospital in Miami. Family members said he had been in a coma about two weeks after abdominal surgery. He spent the last nine years of his career covering horse racing for the Palm Beach Post. His last story was July 8.
