Calderon Likely Out for Gold Medal Game (Olympic Hoops)

[Donoghus]

Pretty big blow for Spain.  If its serious, it could affect the beginning of his NBA season, also.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/basketball/news/story?id=3550090

BEIJING -- Spanish guard Jose Calderon is expected to miss Sunday's gold-medal game against the United States.

That was the word coming late Saturday night from Toronto Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo, who discussed the matter with members of the Spanish basketball federation.

Calderon

Calderon
A preliminary MRI exam revealed that Calderon has a slight tear of the adductor muscle in his right thigh, an injury that could get worse if he tries to play. The recovery time for such an injury is usually seven-10 days, but a larger tear could sideline Calderon past the start of NBA training camps in late September.

"We're all on the same page on this," Colangelo told ESPN.com, saying Calderon is "definitely out."

Members of the Spanish federation could not immediately be reached for comment, and it is not entirely out of the question that Calderon still could play.

Argentina's Andres Nocioni had been told before Friday's semifinal game against the United States that he should sit out to avoid aggravating a knee injury, but Nocioni disregarded that advice and came off the bench in Argentina's 101-81 loss to Team USA.

If Calderon does not play, Raul Lopez and Ricky Rubio are expected to share point-guard duties for Spain. Calderon had come off the bench in Spain's final four games of the preliminary round, and he sat out the semifinal victory over Lithuania.

Tipoff for Sunday's gold medal game is 2:30 p.m. local time (2:30 a.m. EDT).

[Roy Hobbs]

That's too bad.  I don't think Spain had much of a chance, anyway, but this devastates their chances.

[ederson]

My feelings exactly.... The result is pretty certain but at least it would be a more interesting game. But i`ll watch it anyway...

[BigAlTheFuture]

Like it matters. Spain wouldn't have won with Calderon, anyways. This just mean the US will win by a bigger margin.

[Kwhit10]

It might actually help Spain since Calderon didn't even play that well in their first game.  I won't be up at 2:30am to watch it though.

[cordobes]

Considering they kept the game close playing with an injured backup PG, I think this could have changed the outcome. We'll never know, anyway.

[Bankshot]

Calderon wasn't really playing well before he got injured.