SAN JUAN (2010 FIBA World Championship) – Renaldo Balkman is in the 24-man list of players that Puerto Rico coach Manolo Cintron will select from as the FIBA Americas outfit heads into a long summer that will finish at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

The Denver Nuggets reserve was discovered to have ties to Puerto Rico and is the only newcomer to the preliminary squad from the NBA.

Reports that Miami Heat duo Udonis Haslem and Michael Beasley were potential players have proved to be false.

Puerto Rico coach Manolo Cintron says Balkman is a player who could help the national team this summer as it plays at the Centrobasket Championship (July 5-11, Dominican Republic), Central American and Caribbean Games (24-31 of July, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico) and the FIBA World Championship (August 28 to September 13).

“Renaldo is a versatile player who can defend the positions of one to four,” Cintron said in remarks published by Nuevo Dia.

“He has defensive and tactical value but offensively, I have not seen much. We know that he is an athletic player who could help us in some areas."

The 24-man list also includes the Miami Heat’s starting point guard, Carlos Arroyo, and Dallas Mavericks playmaker Jose Barea.

Puerto Rico hope to be in top form by the time they arrive in Ankara for the FIBA World Championship.

They will take on Greece, Ivory Coast, China, Russia and hosts Turkey in Group C.

Puerto Rico Basketball Federation president Carlos Beltran said: "I am optimistic that the team can be the best six to eight of the tournament."

Puerto Rico’s best position this decade was sixth place at the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis.

Long before Turkey, though, Puerto Rico will play at the Centrobasket Championship.

The length of the domestic league (BSN) play-offs means some players may have little or no break before joining the national side for the preparations ahead of the tournament in Santo Domingo.

The practices for the Centrobasket begin in Guaynabo (June 17-19) at the Mario "Quijote" Morales Coliseum and then move to Mario Jimenez (June 20 to July 1).

The Centrobasket Championship qualifies the top four teams for the 2011 FIBA-Americas Championship and the top three for the 2011 Pan-American Games.

Puerto Rico’s 24-man list: Carlos Arroyo, Larry Ayuso, Jose Juan Barea, Guillermo Diaz, Christian Dalmau, Luis Villafane, Joel Jones, Kevin Hamilton, Mike Rosario, Carmelo Lee, Angel Daniel Vassallo, Angelo Reyes, Renaldo Balkman, Peter John Ramos, Daniel Santiago, Manuel Narvaez, Ricky Sanchez, Filiberto Rivera, Nathan Peavy, Alphonse Dyer, Richard Chaney, Miguel Ali Berdiel, Angel Garcia and Javier Mojica.

Cintron’s assistant coaches are Leonel Arill and Nelson Colon.

FIBA