AUS - Bruton out of Olympic Qualifiers

CANBERRA (National team) - Australia Post Boomers starting point guard C.J. Bruton was released from hospital yesterday after undergoing an operation to remove bone spurs from his foot.

Bruton’s recovery will take eight to ten weeks, making him unavailable for the Boomers’ three test series against New Zealand on August 20, 22 and 24 in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Australia must win that series for the right to play in Beijing in 2008.

“It is disappointing that I’m going to miss the Olympic Qualifying Series but my focus is abut getting ready for Beijing, so looking long term I needed to get this done now,” Bruton said.

“New Zealand will come here ready to play, so hopefully the team can get the job done without me.”

Bruton received treatment for the injury during the National Basketball League (NBL) Grand Final Series between Brisbane and Melbourne in March, but the problem did not go away.

It is a significant loss for the Boomers, who will also be without the services of NBA star Andrew Bogut.

Bruton has played 91 games for Australia, including the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, and the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, where he was co-captain of the Gold Medal winning team.

He has also won three NBL Championships, with the Sydney Kings in 2004 and 2005, and the Brisbane Bullets in 2007.

The Australia Post Boomers will undergo two training camps and tours to China and Europe ahead of the qualifying series against New Zealand in August.

It is expected that Cairns Taipans Stephen Black and Darnell Mee, along with Baylor University’s Aaron Bruce and AIS star Patrick Mills, will now vie for the starting point guard spot.

Basketball Australia