GER - Nowitzki gets clearance for Germany

BERLIN (National Team) - Dirk Nowitzki has received official clearance from the Dallas Mavericks to play for Germany at EuroBasket 2007.

Nowitzki is set to start training with Dirk Bauermann's German squad on August 14, which means he will take part in seven warm-up games ahead of the tournament in Spain.

The deal between the Mavs and Germany augurs well for next year's Olympics in Beijing as EuroBasket is a qualifying tournament for the Games.

DBB sports director Wolfgang Brenscheidt said on the federation's official website he was delighted at the amount of time Nowitzki would have with his national side.

He said: "That's more than ever before. And of course we're extremely pleased about that and thank the Dallas Mavericks for their co-operation."

The 29-year-old NBA MVP will not, however, be eligible to play for Germany in their next two warm-up contests - against Austria on Friday and against Slovakia on Saturday, both games being played in Vienna.

"We tried everything we could to have him for the games in Austria, but it just didn't work out," Brenscheidt said.

Nowitzki, currently training with his mentor Holger Geschwindner in Germany, was not concerned about his late reunion with his German team-mates, who are at a Mallorca training camp.

"I'll be playing seven preparation games with the team. That's enough for us to get used to one another. I know the players. I've played with some of them for more than 10 years," Nowitzki said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag paper.

And the seven-footer has high expectations for his nation, who go to Spain as the reigning silver medalists.

He said: "We should be able to reach the quarter-finals. After that we can achieve everything. For me, Germany is among the favourites."

Coach Bauermann has already begun forming the side he will take with him for the EuroBasket Group C games in Mallorca against the Czech Republic, Turkey and Lithuania.

"Seven or eight players are set, with their roles as well," Bauermann said. "Everybody else has to prove themselves in the next four games and show in which role they can best help the team."

The team has not faced any major injury concerns during the training camp though Jan Jagla was unable to practice with a ball because of an infection on the insides of his hands, which has since subsided. Julian Sensley, who has an ankle injury, is the only player unable to practice.

Preparation on the Spanish island has gone quite well, according to Bauermann. He added: "The morale, attitude and atmosphere couldn't be any better."

The coach also said he was looking forward to testing his players in the matches against Austria and Slovakia.

"We purposely selected these opponents," he said. "They are excellent teams but are not among the elite in Europe. But the games in Austria will show us where we are performance-wise after a hard training camp - also individually."

Germany also have warm-up matches against China (August 17 in Hamburg and August 19 in Mannheim), world champions and EuroBasket hosts Spain (August 22 in Valencia and August 28 in Palma de Mallorca) and Italy, Portugal and Russia (August 24-26 in Bamberg).

The top two finishing teams - apart from hosts and world champions Spain who have already qualified for the Olympics - will book tickets for Beijing in EuroBasket.

The next four finishing teams will then play in a tournament to determine the three remaining European tickets to China.

FIBA