PIPPEN'S PLAYING IN PAIN : DEFECTING CUBANS AWAIT WELCOME MAT.

Byline: Associated Press 

He has a bad back, his knees ache and his ankle is the worst of all. The Chicago Bulls even asked him to sit out the Olympics.

``I haven't been at 100 percent in so long that I don't know where I'm at right now,'' Scottie Pippen said Tuesday on the U.S. Olympic team's second day of practice in Chicago. ``I wouldn't say I was under a lot of pressure, but I was asked to sit out.''

Pippen and coach Lenny Wilkens have already discussed the array of injuries, and Pippen might see less playing time than anyone else on the team.

``At this point in time, I can't say how many minutes Scottie will get, but certainly he hasn't backed off in practice,'' Wilkens said. ``I asked him how he feels and he said pretty good.

``We'll watch him very carefully and I'll be mindful of it, but certainly right now he's playing as hard as anybody.''

Pippen, who had both knees iced the moment he sat down after practice Tuesday, denied that he was playing on the Dream Team to fulfill commitments to sponsors. The Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday that Pippen will earn up to $7.2 million in endorsement money - more than three times the $2.25 million salary the Bulls pay him.

``Not at all, that has nothing to do with it,'' he said. ``I felt that I wanted to be a part of it and I don't feel I'm so physically banged up that I can't compete.

``I mean, I finished the season with my ankle bothering me for the last four months, and I continued to play heavy minutes. So I don't see where it's going to affect me to be a part of this basketball team.''

Surgery has been rumored as a possible option for Pippen. The severity of his injuries could conceivably force him to miss the beginning of the 1996-97 season.

``I've heard that rumor, but I'm not the one that started it,'' he said. ``If I didn't say it, then I don't think there should be any kind of speculation out there circulating around.''

Pippen isn't the only Dream Teamer who was banged up when the playoffs ended.

John Stockton had a hyperextended elbow and a twinge in his hamstring, but he said a month of rest has left him completely fit to play.

``Just wear and tear, bumps and bruises. Rest took care of it,'' said Stockton, who refused during the playoffs to admit that anything was wrong.

Gary Payton, the newest member of the team, played all six games of the NBA Finals with a pressure wrap on one of his calf muscles, but he, too, said he has fully recovered.

``It took a long time to work out because I played on it so much, but I had two weeks where I just sat, let it heal and rested - it did me a lot of good and now it's fine,'' Payton said.

On the court Tuesday, the level of play picked up from Monday's first day of practice. Wilkens divided the team into two practice squads and watched an All-Star game of his own making. The scrimmage was closed to the media, but many of the players said they played away from their normal positions.

``I played the one, two and three spots, Penny Hardaway played at two and three, a lot of guys moved around to positions they're not used to,'' Reggie Miller said.

``From yesterday to today was like night and day,'' Karl Malone said. ``Yesterday a lot of guys were shooting bricks. Now they're going right in.''

Defectors wait: From an immigration processing center in the middle of the desert, two members of Cuba's Olympic boxing team waited to hear whether they would be accepted into the United States or returned to their communist homeland.

``These guys have been fighting since they've been 9 years old,'' said Al Rogers, a spokesman for the law firm representing the men. ``They're holding up OK.''

Ramon Garbey and Joel Casamayor slipped away last week during free time while the 12-member Cuban team was training in Guadalajara, Mexico. They expect to hear soon about the first phase of their application for U.S. political asylum, immigration officials said. The men are being held in their own cell in the El Centro processing center, about 115 miles east of San Diego.

A decision was expected either today or after the Independence Day holiday, said immigration attorney Frank Ronzio.

During Monday's interview with immigration officials, the two were asked to reconstruct their treatment in Cuba and at the Olympic training camp in Guadalajara, said Rogers, who attended the proceeding.

Rogers said the men reported being punished for years for refusing to sign a document that pledged their loyalty to President Fidel Castro's communist regime.

Some good news in loss: Team USA might have come out a winner in its latest loss to Cuba, in Knoxville, Tenn.

Cuba pounded three Team USA relievers for six runs in the eighth inning to erase a 2-1 deficit for a 7-2 victory, the team's third win in four games against the Americans.

The teams conclude their five-game set Thursday in Norfolk, Va.

The good news for Team USA was the performance of starter Seth Greisinger. The former University of Virginia star pitched seven strong innings, giving up five hits and one run. He walked nobody and struck out six.

Greisinger faced just one above the minimum through five innings, with the help of three double plays started by shortstop Augie Ojeda. Team USA manager Skip Bertman said before the game that the No. 1 starter's position was up for grabs between Greisinger and Kris Benson.

Team USA took a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth on Travis Lee's solo home run. But the Team USA relievers couldn't hold on.

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Photo

Photo: Karl Malone, part of the U.S. Dream Team, takes a ph one-call and cold-drink break after pre-Olympics practice.

Associated Press