The U.S. men’s basketball team will be the heavy favorite in the Olympics, but what countries may pose some problems for the Americans in London?
5. Russia » The only NBA player on the roster is Timofey Mozgov, who is best known (often being used as a verb) for getting dunked on by Blake Griffin. Russia also has versatile forward Andrei Kirilenko, who spent 10 seasons with the Utah Jazz before going back to Russia to play.
4. Brazil » With Nene, Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter, Brazil has a talented frontcourt. But a lot of pressure will be put on guard Leandro Barbosa. While the Brazilian bigs may pose problems for the Americans on the boards and in the post, they lack athleticism on the wing.
3. France » Point guard Tony Parker will have to be sensational for France even to think about defeating the U.S. He has some help with Ronny Turiaf, Boris Diaw and Kevin Seraphin down low and Nicolas Batum as his backcourt running mate. But Parker must be the primary scorer while also being a facilitator.
2. Argentina » This may be the last stand for Argentina’s core group of Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni. They defeated the U.S. and went on to win gold in the 2004 games and defeated Lithuania for the bronze in 2008. Like France, Argentina will rely heavily on a Spurs guard, Ginobili.
1. Spain » In Beijing, the Americans held off Spain for a 118-107 win for the gold medal. The Spaniards have size with the Gasol brothers, athleticism with Serge Ibaka and Rudy Fernandez and a solid backcourt with Juan Carlos Navarro and Jose Calderon.
– Jeffrey Tomik
