Houston Rockets center Yao Ming will spearhead the Chinese men's team to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, according to officials of the Chinese Basketball Association in Dallas, Texas.

　　The officials said on Sunday the team has 12 players, including Menk Bateer of the San Antonio Spurs. As expected there was no place in the line-up for Wang Zhizhi, who was the first Chinese to play in the NBA.

　　The team is: Yao, Menk, Liu Wei, Zhu Fangyu, Du Feng, Guo Shiqiang, Yi Jianlian, Li Nan, Chen Ke, Zhang Jingsong, Mo Ke, and Zhang Yunsong.

　　The 15-player Chinese selection team ended its training camp in Dallas, Texas.

　　The team played three matches against the Dallas Mavericks summer league team, winning the first match thanks to Yao's double-double but lost the following two as Yao sat out due to injury.

　　The Chinese team will also play a four-nation tournament back in Beijing later in July to wrap up its preparation for the Olympics.

　　On Sunday, Devin Harris scored 18 points and had six assists to lead the Mavericks team to a 92-63 victory over the Chinese.

　　Harris, the Mavericks' first round draft pick, shot 6-of-10 from the field. Pavel Podkolzin finished with eight points and seven rebounds. He was held scoreless on Saturday.

　　Chen Ke led the Chinese with 16 points, all scored in the first half. He shot 4-of-5 from the field and hit five free throws. The rest of the team shot only 2-of-20 in the first half.

　　(Reuters/AP)