The U.S. most recently beat Argentina 119-86 in the final game of pool play. In that game, Team USA led just 60-59 at halftime before putting together an incredible third quarter as they pulled away for the blowout win.

Argentina is still fully capable of beating the U.S. though. Argentina got past Brazil 82-77 in the quarterfinal behind 17 points from Luis Scola and 16 from Manu Ginobili and Carlos Delfino.

Those three players will have to be big again against the U.S. if Argentina has plans to upset Team USA. Ginobili led Argentina with 16 points the last time they played the U.S. with 14 of those points coming in the first half.

Scola played just 18 minutes vs. the U.S. in that game and had 11 points. Delfino had 13 and was 2-of-7 shooting from three while Andres Nocioni had 12 and made 2-of-4 threes.

Argentina went 10-for-26 from three in that game and will have to do better today. The U.S. led by Kevin Durant’s eight threes, hit 20-of-39 in that game.

The case can be made that Argentina wouldn’t have benefitted from beating Team USA on that day and, as international teams often think, would rather save themselves to try and beat the U.S. in the game that matters today.

We can expect a spirited effort from Argentina in this one as they should play more of a complete game, unless the U.S. goes into that unbeatable mode they’ve shown a few times in these Olympics.

The game should be a chippy one as well. Argentina always seems to get under the skin of the U.S. and did again in the last game in particular when Facundo Campazzo gave Carmelo Anthony a little tap below the belt on his way down after shooting a three to end the third quarter.

Pablo Prigioni, Argentina’s starting point guard, did not play in the last game vs. Team USA either and will surely make a big difference for them today. Prigioni was instrumental in Argentina’s win over Brazil leading the team with six assists.

Durant emerged as the unfair player to contend with for Argentina in the last game scoring 28 points and making eight threes. We have seen multiple players step up in that role for the U.S. in these Olympics, whether it’s Durant, Anthony, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, who made six threes in Team USA’s quarterfinal win over Australia.

Team USA’s reliance on the 3-point shot is one of the things that could lead to their downfall in this tournament. They are attempting 35.7 threes per game and making .449 percent of them but if they fall to a realistic percentage under 40, they could be vulnerable to being upset.

The U.S.’s continued struggling interior defense could also be an issue today, especially dealing with Scola who is averaging 19.7 points per game in the Olympics to lead Argentina. Team USA has been better lately with their defensive intensity and LeBron and Durant have been decent containing other teams’ bigs but Scola will again be a big challenge today.

The U.S. will be favored today and rightfully so. They have shown throughout these Olympics that despite some of their flaws, they are talented enough to beat anyone at any time. Their familiarity with Argentina should benefit the U.S. too as the element of surprise in a 40-minute game can sometimes be a big factor contributing to an upset.

The other semifinal game today will be between Russia and Spain at noon EST.

Leandro Barbosa made a 3-pointer with 1:46 remaining to cut Argentina’s lead to just three. Brazil had nothing else left in the tank though as Argentina made their free throws down the stretch and a few desperation threes did not fall.

Barbosa scored 22 points for Brazil and made four 3-pointers. Point guard Marcelinho Huertas came out firing for Brazil as well notching 22 points to go with four assists.

Luis Scola continued his strong play for Argentina leading them with 17 points. Carlos Delfino was on the mark with his jumper making three 3-pointers and totaling 16 points.

The game was controlled by the point guards and while Huertas finished with more points, Argentina’s Pablo Prigioni played big minutes for Argentina and led them with six assists. Prigioni did not play in Argentina’s last game when they lost to Team USA.

The game was close in almost every facet but where Brazil came up short was in taking advantage of their size. Nene had seven points and 12 rebounds, Tiago Splitter had just six points and Anderson Varejao four.

Brazil also shot only 50 percent from the free throw line and was outrebounded by Argentina.

Argentina advances to the semifinal round and will await the winner of the United States and Australia quarterfinal matchup today.

Team USA is heavily favored to win and if they do, will play Argentina for the third time in the past few weeks. The U.S. beat Argentina by six in an exhibition game before the Olympics then ran away in their last game of pool play vs. Argentina.

The winner of Argentina-Brazil will go on to play the winner of USA-Australia in the semifinal round on Friday.

Brazil is the 2-seed from Pool B and Argentina the 3-seed from Pool A in this matchup. Brazil lost to Russia in pool play then beat Spain in the final game of pool play in a game that no one wanted to win.

Argentina was upset by France early in pool play and then lost their final game of pool play vs. the U.S.

Each of these two South American teams has a large cast of NBA talent on their rosters. Argentina is led by Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino and Brazil Nene, Anderson Varejao and Leandro Barbosa.

Argentina has had more success in international play in the past, winning the gold medal in the 2004 Olympics and beating the United States in the process. Brazil is yet to have that kind of success but this may be their year as they are as talented as ever.

Both teams play a similar style reliant on the pick-and-roll game to get most of their offense. Brazil’s point guard Marcelinho Huertas is a magician in the pick-and-roll and combined with Brazil’s size advantage should have a nice game today.

Brazil will have trouble matching up with Ginobili and Argentina is the better outside shooting team, which they will need to rely on to win this one.

Scola has been a monster in the Olympics so far averaging 20.2 points per game to lead Argentina and he will need to be big vs. Brazil. Brazil has the bodies to contend with Scola but he is good enough to get them in some foul trouble and still have a big game.

If Argentina can get hot from deep it will open up the lane some where they can hurt Brazil with their great interior passing and Scola’s ability to finish with crafty shots in the paint.

Brazil would also like to shoot well from three and Barbosa is the most likely man to do it. He is shooting just .348 percent from three so far in the Olympics but is capable of a much better night at any time.

This game will be as good as any we’ve seen in the Olympics so far. It’s a rivalry with two teams who are playing pretty good basketball right now.

The edge in experience may go to Argentina but Brazil is more than capable of winning this one and it should go down to the wire.

The United States looked great in their first three games then were brought back down to reality after that. Their 83-point win over Nigeria may have made them relax a little too much and it showed in a lack of defensive intensity vs. Lithuania and in the first half vs. Argentina.

The U.S. would beat Argentina in their last game of pool play after leading 60-59 at half time. They came out in the second half a different team on defense, much more active with a lot of energy and blew out Argentina in the third quarter, 42-17.

Team USA’s last two games served as a wakeup call for them and we should see the more focused team that dominated Argentina in the second half going forward in the medal round.

Australia is led by San Antonio Spurs point guard Patty Mills who averaged 20.2 points per game in pool play. He has been a kind of one man show for Australia though and took a lot of shots to get those points.

Mills hit one of the biggest shots in Australian basketball history in their last game, drilling a buzzer-beating 3-pointer vs. Russia to give Australia the upset 82-80 win.

Beyond Mills, Australia will have a very tough time matching up with the U.S. They are without Andrew Bogut who suffered an injury last year in the NBA. They feature no other familiar NBA names on the roster.

Kevin Durant led Team USA in scoring in pool play averaging 18.6 points per game to go with 5.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He shot .606 percent from downtown as well including going 8-of-10 vs. Argentina.

Carmelo Anthony was second on the team averaging 17.4 points per game and shot .600 percent from three. Anthony was highlighted of course by his U.S. Olympic record 37-point performance vs. Nigeria.

LeBron James essentially coasted in Team USA’s first three games before turning it on in the last two. LeBron came alive late vs. Lithuania, scoring nine of Team USA’s final 12 points to finish with 20. LeBron then scored 18 vs. Argentina and had a huge third quarter.

The likes of Durant, Anthony and LeBron will be impossible for Australia to match up with. Team USA should do a very good job containing Mills as well with Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook.

Australia has surprised somewhat in the Olympics so far so don’t expect them to roll over and die. They will fight hard against the U.S. but it’s hard to imagine it mattering much at all.

If the U.S. wins, they will play the winner of Argentina and Brazil who play before them at 3:00 p.m. EST.

No one wanted to win that game despite what the players had to say.

“No. Never,” Spain point guard Jose Calderon told ESPN.com when asked if Spain wanted to lose. “This is not our team, this is not the way we play, this is not the way. We’ve been together since I don’t know how many years, and we always play to win. Always.”

By the time the game was ready to start, it was known exactly who each team would play if they won or lost. The winner would move on as the 2-seed to a bracket that included Team USA as the 1-seed and Argentina as the 3-seed. The loser went to the side with Russia as the 1-seed and France as the 2-seed.

It’s not hard to see which bracket was more desirable to be in.

Before the game began it was announced that Brazil’s starting center Nene would sit out the game with plantar fasciitis. In a must-win game, Nene never would have missed a game vs. Spain especially because Brazil would need all the help they could get on the frontline.

Spain responded to Nene’s absence by playing their big guns few minutes. Pau Gasol played 24 minutes and Marc Gasol played 25. The brothers combined to score 45 points on 16-of-21 shooting.

Spain led 66-57 after three quarters but then was outscored 31-16 in the fourth to ultimately lose 88-82.

Rudy Fernandez only played 15 minutes and missed his only shot attempt. Jose Calderon played just 14 minutes while Serge Ibaka, who hadn’t been playing much all Olympics, logged 21 minutes and scored 14 points with six rebounds and three blocks.

Leandro Barbosa would lead Brazil with 23 points before sitting during the final minutes.

The game was clearly trying to be lost and by both teams. That’s not exactly what Olympic competition is all about right? Maybe it is.

The goal is to win a gold medal. Losing this game has put Spain in a better position to do so. It’s no guarantee or anything but there’s no question that Russia/France is weaker competition than USA/Argentina.

The problem, if there is one, is with the system or the amount of competition out there. There is a clear-cut difference in talent between Argentina and France despite France beating Argentina in pool play. Spain would never choose to play Argentina instead of France if they could, not to mention try and avoid the U.S. at all costs.

There is no real incentive to acquire a higher seed either because there’s no homecourt advantage. This will of course never be the case in the Olympics and this is really what we get with pool play.

Pool play is fair because it fairly seeds teams but since it is not a straight up elimination tournament, tanking will sometimes be beneficial. The only way to stop this would be to change the system.

Until then, Spain played it smart and Brazil will be left shaking their heads in the coming days as they try and get past Argentina and the U.S. to make it to a gold medal game.

The United States as expected went 5-0 in their pool and will move into the medal round as the favorites to bring home gold. They were extremely impressive in some games then stumbled more recently.

The surprise of pool play was Spain losing two games and finishing as the 3-seed from Pool B. They pretty much threw their final game vs. Brazil though so as to avoid Team USA until a potential gold medal game.

Here is the schedule of the medal round:

Quarterfinals – Wednesday, Aug. 8

B1 Russia (4-1) vs. A4 Lithuania (2-3) – 9:00 a.m. EST

Russia was the surprise team of the Olympics starting out 4-0 and beating Brazil and Spain in the process. Led by Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved they earned the top seed in their pool despite losing to Australia on a last-second buzzer-beater by Patty Mills. Lithuania was a little bit of a disappointment but did play Team USA very close. This game should be a close one but Russia has earned the right to be favored and picked to win.

A2 France (4-1) vs. B3 Spain (3-2) – 11:15 a.m. EST

After losing their first game of pool play vs. Team USA, France won their next four to earn the 2-seed from the pool, including a big upset win over Argentina in the process. France is led by some NBA talent, most notably Tony Parker, and should give Spain a good game here. Spain is the favorite in this matchup despite being the lower seed. They wanted to lose their final game vs. Brazil to get this seed and it was smart because now they avoid Team USA and Argentina. Spain is much more balanced and will have a huge advantage inside with the Gasol brothers which should be too much for France to handle. But expect a big game from Parker who will be tough for Spain to stop with their guards.

B2 Brazil (4-1) vs. A3 Argentina (3-2) – 3:00 p.m. EST

Brazil didn’t want to lose as bad as Spain did and now draws Argentina and possibly the U.S. if they win here. Brazil has a little more size than Argentina and a great backcourt in Marcelinho Huertas and Leandro Barbosa. Argentina will have the best player on the floor and maybe the second best in Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola. Argentina has been less consistent than usual in these Olympics but expect them to turn it on a little more now that we’re in the medal round. The edge goes to Argentina here in a close one.

A1 USA (5-0) vs. B4 Australia (3-2) – 5:15 p.m. EST

Team USA should have no trouble disposing of Australia here, who is probably the weakest team that advanced to the medal round. They will be a pesky opponent though that won’t back down led by their point guard Mills. They haven’t showed enough in pool play to be taken seriously against the U.S. Team USA has been lax of late but finally got their act together in the second half of their last game vs. Argentina. They really turned up the defense and looked like the gold medal favorites they should be. The tough tests will resume for Team USA after they beat Australia.

Semifinals – Friday, Aug. 10

Winner of France/Spain vs. Winner of Russia/Lithuania – 12:00 p.m. EST
Winner of Brazil/Argentina vs. Winner of USA/Australia – 4:00 p.m. EST

Finals – Sunday, Aug. 12

Bronze Medal Game – 3:00 a.m. EST
Gold Medal Game – 10:00 a.m. EST

It was very clear no one really wanted to win this game. The loser would avoid the United States and Argentina until a potential gold medal game.

Spain led 66-57 after three quarters and then was outscored 31-16 in the fourth. Pau Gasol played just 24 minutes and had 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Marc Gasol played 25 minutes and had 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

Rudy Fernandez only played 15 minutes and missed his only shot of the game and Jose Calderon played only 14 minutes.

On Brazil’s side, Nene did not play but the rest of their NBA players played close to normal minutes.

Leandro Barbosa led Brazil with 23 points in the game and went 2-of-2 from three. Brazil was 8-for-17 on threes in the game and Spain struggled again going just 4-for-13 from beyond the arc.

Serge Ibaka came off the bench for Spain and played 21 minutes, scoring 14 points to go with six rebounds and three blocks.

The matchups for the medal round are basically set now unless Argentina blows out Team USA by 35-plus points. Spain will be the 3-seed playing France in the quarterfinal. Brazil will be the 2-seed and play Argentina on the other side of the bracket.

Team USA will play 4-seed Australia and 1-seed Russia will play Lithuania.

Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

Who wants to lose more?

Spain and Brazil will play today at 3 p.m. EST and neither team will be better off winning the game.

The winner of the game will come out of Pool B as the 2-seed in the same bracket where Team USA will likely be the 1-seed and Argentina the 3-seed. The loser will get to be in the bracket where Russia and France are the top seeds.

This game will be very interesting and don’t be surprised if players like Pau Gasol or Leandro Barbosa aren’t playing as many minutes as they could.

Spain and Brazil are both 3-1 in pool play so far with both losing close games to Russia. Spain and Brazil are two of the biggest threats to the United States in these Olympics and would both love to not see the mighty U.S. until a potential gold medal game.

A big reason why these teams matchup so well with Team USA is that they both have NBA size. Spain featured the Gasol brothers as well as Serge Ibaka and Felipe Reyes. Brazil has Nene, Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter in their corner.

The point guard position is a strength for both Spain and Brazil as well. Spain starts Jose Calderon and brings Juan Carlos Navarro off the bench. Brazil has maybe the best point guard not in the NBA in Marcelinho Huertas who is averaging 11.0 points and 6.2 assists per game in the Olympics.

This matchup is a very close one that is only hard to predict today because both teams could very well be trying to lose. If they both were trying to win however, Spain has to have the slight edge but it is real close.

Pau Gasol is averaging 19.5 points per game so far in the Olympics and looks very comfortable in his clear alpha dog role with Spain. Rudy Fernandez has played pretty well too averaging 10.8 points per game and Spain is just a little more balanced and experienced than Brazil.

Barbosa is leading Brazil averaging 13.0 points per game while Splitter is averaging 12.0. They don’t have quite the same outside shooting ability that Spain does which could very well be the difference in this matchup.

It’s kind of hard to say what to expect with this game later today. The Olympics are all about competition but we might not see that exactly today with this game. Ultimately every team wants to win a gold medal and if losing first betters those chances than there really shouldn’t be anything wrong with that.

Patty Milles made this buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift Australia past Russia 82-80 in the final game of pool play. Mills finished with just 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting but may have hit the biggest shot in Australian basketball history.

Australia will finish pool play with a 3-2 record which will be good enough to advance to the medal round as the 4-seed and likely play the United States in their next game.

Despite the loss Russia will come out of Pool B as the 1-seed since they have beaten both Spain and Brazil, the only teams with a chance to finish pool play with the same record as them.

Andrei Kirilenko scored 13 points for Russia and Alexey Shved also had 13. Russia was the surprise of Olympic basketball so far after beating Spain but now may look like a team that has some weakness.

If Team USA beats Argentina today then Russia will be the 1-seed and avoid seeing the U.S. until a potential gold medal game. France will become the 2-seed on their side and the loser of Spain-Brazil will be the 3-seed. Lithuania will be the 4-seed.

It will be interesting to watch later today in the game between Spain and Brazil which team wants to lose more. The loser will avoid Team USA until the gold medal game and will also avoid Argentina as well.

The scouting report for Team USA is that they are not a very big team that likes to shoot a lot of 3-pointers. There are teams out there that can make life difficult for Team USA and maybe even pull off the unlikely upset.

Here is a look at the five teams with the best shot of doing so:

5. France (3-1)

Team USA easily beat France 98-71 in their opening game of the Olympics. There’s probably not five teams that have a chance to beat Team USA either. Since that opening game loss to the U.S., France has not lost and they should end up with the two seed in their pool. That means they can avoid Team USA until a potential gold medal game where anything could happen. France still has plenty of NBA talent and a point guard in Tony Parker who could have a monster game vs. Team USA in a rematch. But it is still very unlikely France could pull off the upset, or even see the United States again.

4. Brazil (2-2)

Brazil played the U.S. as tough as anyone before the Olympics started in an exhibition. They have great size in Nene, Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter and a fantastic point guard in Marcelinho Huertas. In a one game situation, Brazil definitely has the tools to pull off the upset vs. the U.S. Brazil and Spain will play their final game of pool play to determine the two seed of their pool. Whoever gets the two will possibly play Team USA in the semifinal of the medal round otherwise they would avoid them until the gold medal game if they get the three seed.

3. Russia (4-0)

Russia has been the surprise of the Olympics so far although they were definitely underrated coming in. They are undefeated and have wrapped up Pool B after upsetting Spain in their last game. Andrei Kirilenko is playing some of the best basketball of his career and Russia has a cast of guys with enough European flow to their game to possibly surprise the U.S. in an upset. Russia will also not see Team USA until a potential gold medal game where both teams would more than likely have to be undefeated at that point. Russia is fairly weak in their backcourt which would make it very hard for them to beat the U.S.

2. Argentina (3-1)

Argentina was upset by France in pool play and will play its final game of pool play vs. the United States on Monday. Team USA beat Argentina by six in an exhibition game before the Olympics but Argentina definitely showed that beating the U.S. is possible. Team USA’s defense has looked fairly weak of late and players like Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola could really slice it up. Argentina isn’t the biggest team though so Team USA won’t have the toughest time matching up with them even when they go small. Argentina is not scared at all of the U.S. and will likely have to see them in the semifinal of the medal round if they get there.

1. Spain (3-1)

Spain made a big stumble losing to Russia and losing their pool. Now they will have to see Team USA in the semifinal of the medal round unless they throw the Brazil game (which might happen). Spain has and still is the biggest threat to Team USA despite being upset by Russia. No international team has the balance and size upfront that Spain has. They also have very experienced guards and good enough shooting to pull off a big time 3-point shooting night which is very necessary to upset Team USA. Spain-USA will be the marquee matchup of the Olympics if we get to see it and if there will ever be a time for Team USA to lose, it will come vs. Spain.

Russia proved today that they need to be taken seriously, beating the favorite Spanish team 77-74 and putting themselves in perfect position to finish pool play undefeated.

Trailing by two with 18 seconds left, Spain went to Pau Gasol who was fouled with five seconds left and had a chance to tie the game. Gasol missed the first free throw then made the second and that was all she wrote.

Vitaly Fridzon scored 24 points off the bench for Russia to lead them. Kirilenko scored just eight points to go with eight rebounds.

Pau Gasol led Spain with 20 points and five rebounds. Marc Gasol and Rudy Fernandez were the only two other Spanish players in double figures with 10 apiece.

Spain led 28-11 after the first quarter but struggled from three in the game going just 3-for-15 as Russia chipped away at their lead eventually coming all the way back.

The Russians were coming off a dramatic victory a few days ago in which they upset Brazil 75-74 on a last-second 3-pointer.

Russia will look to finish pool play undefeated playing Australia in two days. Russia has wrapped up the top seed in Pool B which means they will avoid the United States until a potential gold medal game.

Spain will play Brazil in their final game of pool play. Spain and Brazil both have just one loss so far in pool play and the winner of that game will finish as the second seed in Pool B.

There is a chance that both Spain and Brazil would prefer to lose that game so that they can avoid Team USA until a potential gold medal game. Brazil could throw their game later today against China and then also lose to Spain to in two days to secure the three seed.

Here is a look at the games from yesterday:

Russia 73, China 54

The Russians have been impressive so far and are now 2-0 in pool play. Andrei Kirirlenko was a monster in their first game and good again against China scoring 16 points to go with nine rebounds. Alexey Shved had another good game as well with 14 points and six assists. Yi Jianlian who scored 30 points against Spain on Sunday was held to just 16 against Russia. Russia is looking like they might be the biggest threat to Spain in Pool B.

Spain 82, Australia 70

The final score was closer than the game actually was as Spain led by 21 after three quarters. Spain played without their captain Juan Carlos Navarro who has a case of plantar fasciitis but it did not matter. Pau Gasol led the way with 20 points and Rudy Fernandez scored 17 points and made four threes. Serge Ibaka scored eight points off the bench in 17 minutes. Patty Mills had 11 points for Australia but again struggled from the field going 5-for-16. Spain is a little banged up but it still looks like they should win every game in pool play.

Nigeria 53, Lithuania 72

Nigeria got what probably will be their only win of the Olympics against Tunisia on Sunday. They really struggled against Lithuania shooting 24.2 percent from the field and making just 1-of-16 threes. Lithuania was led by Darius Songaila off the bench with 12 points and Linas Kleiza who scored 11 points. The Lithuanians were disappointing on Sunday when they lost to Argentina by so much but could still make some noise in this tournament as they are capable of beating anyone except maybe the U.S.

Brazil 67, Great Britain 62

The host country gave a great effort in this one led by Luol Deng who played the entire game and scored 12 points to go with seven assists and eight rebounds. It wasn’t enough though as the Brazilians got a great game from Tiago Splitter who scored 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Marcelinho Huertas played well again for Brazil scoring 13 points to go with eight assists. Great Britain stayed in this game largely due to Brazil struggling from three making just 3-of-22 treys. Brazil and Russia should battle it out for the No. 2 spot in Pool B behind Spain.

Argentina 64, France 71

Argentina looked amazing in their opening game against Lithuania while France was blown out by the U.S. in theirs. France pulled off the upset in this one though led by Tony Parker who had 17 points and five assists. Nando De Colo and Mickael Gelabale both came up big for France as each made three 3-pointers. Manu Ginobili led Argentina with 26 points and Luis Scola had 16. Carlos Delfino who was so great from beyond the arc against Lithuania went very cold vs. France going 0-for-5 on threes and 1-for-8 from the field overall. Argentina still has a chance for the No. 2 seed in Pool A if Lithuania can take down France or if the Argentines upset the U.S.

United States 110, Tunisia 63

This was quite the cakewalk for the U.S. Tunisia is the only team in the field without an NBA player and it showed although they hung around early. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski played the U.S. bench a lot of minutes in this one and they played very well. Kevin Durant scored 13 points to go with 10 rebounds and five assists. Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love led the U.S. with 16 points apiece. The U.S. will not be challenged in their next game either as they will play Nigeria. Tunisia likely will not win a game in these Olympics.

The United States are the favorite in their pool and in the entire Olympics to win the gold. Spain is the favorite in the other pool to come out as the top seed.

There were a few teams who looked good and could pose a threat to the United States later on.

“A lot of teams,” James Harden told USABasketball.com when asked if any team was a threat to the U.S. “France was dangerous, Spain, every team. We can’t take our foot off the gas. Against each and every team we have to go out there and compete and play hard every time we step on the floor.”

Kevin Durant spoke about how close Team USA is to the finished product.

“We’re close,” Durant said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but that’s the beauty of it all. We’re all coming together in such a short time. We’re having fun playing. Guys don’t worry about points, rebounds, assists; we just want to play to win.”

Here are the results from the first day of games:

Tunisia 56, Nigeria 60

The two African teams would match up in the first game of the Olympics. They aren’t two of the better teams either while neither is expected to advance beyond pool play. The Nigerians got the best of Tunisia though winning a close one. Ike Diogu had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Nigeria and Al-Farouq Aminu had 15 points and nine rebounds. Tunisia turned the ball over 19 times in the game and will play USA in their next game where they can expect to be blown out.

Australia 71, Brazil 75

Australia proved they will be a tough team with this showing nearly knocking off Brazil who is one of the better teams in the tournament. Patty Mills scored 20 points on 9-of-24 shooting for Australia but was outdueled by Brazil’s point guard, Marcelinho Huertas who had 15 points and 10 assists. Leandro Barbosa led the Brazilians with 16 points while Anderson Varejao had 12 points and seven rebounds. Brazil passes a tough test here and is still considered the team with the best chance to upset Spain in Pool B.

France 71, United States 98

Team USA got off to a slow start but had no trouble dominating France in this one. Kevin Durant led the U.S. with 22 points and nine rebounds. LeBron James had nine points and eight assists. Tony Parker was easily contained and had just 10 points in the game. Team USA did what they were supposed to. There are a few teams with a chance to beat them in this tournament but France isn’t one of them. France is still looking to advance to the medal round with high hopes of finishing as the 2-seed from Pool A.

China 81, Spain 97

The Chinese gave Spain a scare in this one led by their lone NBA product, Yi Jianlian, who scored 30 points and had 12 rebounds. Spain is not the greatest defensive team but was on point with their offense. Pau Gasol led the way with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Serge Ibaka came off the bench to add 17 points and three blocks. Once Spain got their act together, they started looking like the favorite in Pool B. China may have a chance to make some noise in pool play if Yi continues to play at this level.

Great Britain 75, Russia 95

Russia is one of the more underrated teams in the Olympics this year and was impressive in this game. Andrei Kirilenko led the way with 35 points on 14-for-17 shooting while Alexey Shved added 16 points and 13 assists. The host country is basically a one man show in Luol Deng who scored 26 points on 8-of-27 shooting though.

Lithuania 79, Argentina 102

Argentina may have been the most impressive team of Day 1. They dominated a very good Lithuanian team and looked like real threats to the United States. Carlos Delfino got things going with a barrage of threes in the first half and finished with 20 points and six threes in the game. Manu Ginobili had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Luis Scola led the team with 32 points. Lithuania is a young teal still with a chance to go far in these Olympics. They were led by Linas Kleiza who had 20 points. Jonas Valanciunas played just 13 minutes and had six points and five rebounds.

Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

The 2012 London Olympics are upon us with the opening ceremonies going on today. Olympic basketball will start Sunday, July 29.

The United States are coming in as the favorites to win the gold but the competition keeps getting tougher for them every four years. Team USA won gold back in the 2008 Beijing Olympics but did not in 2004 in Athens when Argentina won.

Team USA is full of NBA stars just like in 2008 but this time around they have a noticeable weakness that has the potential to be exploited by other countries. Team USA is small with only three true big men in Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love and Anthony Davis.

This has forced LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony to essentially play a lot of minutes at power forward and even center. Mismatches are a two-way street but given the way these international games are played, the U.S. could be in some trouble with this roster.

Twelve teams make it to the Olympics and they are split into two pools of six. Then each team in each pool plays each other once with the top four from each pool advancing to play in an 8-team, single-elimination tournament.

Team USA is in Pool A along with Argentina, Lithuania, France, Nigeria and Tunisia. Pool B consists of Spain, Brazil, Russia, Australia, China and Great Britain.

Pool Play

In pool play, expect the United States to pretty much dominate. France, Argentina and Lithuania all are considered to have a chance to possibly upset the U.S. but it is unlikely to happen before the medal round. Team USA should cruise winning every game in their pool and come out the 1-seed.

France, Argentina and Lithuania all have a legitimate shot at becoming the 2-seed. There is even a chance they could all finish with a 3-2 record in pool play to make things very interesting. France and Argentina are getting the most attention while Lithuania may have the better team of the three.

I think Lithuania emerges as the 2-seed in this pool followed by Argentina as the 3-seed and then France as the 4-seed.

Nigeria and Tunisia will battle it out for the irrelevant 5- and 6-seeds while neither should be able to beat any of the top four teams in this group. I predict Tunisia doesn’t win a game.

Spain is considered the heavy favorite to make it to the gold medal game against the United States. They should come out of this pool as the 1-seed but Brazil and Russia have an outside chance to finish ahead of them.

Ultimately Spain should come out as the 1-seed although there is some pressure to win every game in the pool and they definitely don’t want to finish as the 2-seed and be forced to play the United States before the gold medal game.

Brazil and Russia should be battling for the 2-seed or actually, the 3-seed. No one wants to get the 2-seed in this pool because then they would have to play the U.S. before the gold medal game. If Spain emerges as the definite 1-seed early in pool play, expect to see some interesting game plans from Russia and Brazil in an attempt to avoid Team USA.

I think that Brazil will finish as the 2-seed though as the final game of pool play will be between them and Spain. The winner of that game will determine who wins the pool as I think both will be undefeated up until that point.

Russia should get the 3-seed followed by Australia who I think narrowly edges out China for the 4-seed. Great Britain may not win a game except possibly against China.

Quarterfinals

Team USA should easily handle Australia and move on to the semifinal. They will play the winner of Brazil and Argentina which should be a very close game. I give Brazil the edge here but it really could go either way.

Spain should have no problem with France in their quarterfinal but it may be closer than people think. Lithuania and Russia should make for a very good game but I think Lithuania pulls it out.

Semifinal

Team USA was played very closely by Brazil in their exhibition game and I think this game will be possibly the closest one they play all Olympics. Brazil didn’t play any zone against the U.S. in that exhibition and still had a chance to win the game. They are much bigger too and have a great point guard in Marcelinho Huertas who gave the U.S. fits in the exhibition. It will be a close one but I’m not picking against the U.S. here.

Spain and Lithuania should be a good game too but Spain should definitely win. They are such a balanced team and may even win this game and have a 7-0 record in the Olympics after it. There will be a lot of talk about Spain having a real good chance of upsetting the U.S. after this point.

Gold Medal Game

It will come down to the two teams we all wanted to see play: USA vs. Spain. In their exhibition earlier this week Team USA won by 22 but Spain did not show all of their cards. Marc Gasol didn’t play at all and Pau Gasol and some of their other better players didn’t log heavy minutes.

This game will be as close as any in the Olympics and I truly believe it could go either way. Maybe what happens up to this point in the Olympics will change that feeling for me but from what I’ve seen from Team USA and Spain so far make me think this is a very even matchup.

I’m picking Team USA because of one man: Kevin Durant. For everything that is wrong with this Team USA roster, Durant fixes it by being the most unfair player in the tournament. It will be easy for him to rise to the challenge with the great talent around him especially aided by LeBron James.

The 2008 gold medal game was remembered as one of the best international basketball games ever played and I think the 2012 gold medal game will end up being right there with it. It will be another reminder that the world is catching up to the U.S. in hoops but that we are still the best because we have the very best, Durant and LeBron.

Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

The London Olympics are now upon us. The opening ceremonies will be held tomorrow July 27 and the basketball begins Sunday, July 29.

USA Basketball is the favorite to win gold but not as overwhelmingly as you would first think. Teams like Spain, Brazil and Argentina are fully capable of upsetting the mighty U.S.

Team USA is in Pool A which we previewed yesterday. Pool B is led by Spain who is the team everyone expects to meet the United States in a gold medal game. Here is a preview of all of the teams in Pool B:

Spain

Spain has emerged as the most likely team to upset the United States in the Olympics. They are led by Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol as well as Serge Ibaka, Jose Calderon, Rudy Fernandez and Juan Carlos Navarro. They will be without Ricky Rubio which will hurt but they are still fully capable of pulling off an upset. Spain has a lot of experience and size that will be tough for any team to deal with including the U.S.

While Spain is the favorite in this pool, they are not a shoo-in to beat every team. To ensure a meeting with the United States in the gold medal game, Spain will have to finish first in the pool.

Brazil

Brazil is maybe the team with the second-best chance to upset the U.S. at the Olympics. They played Team USA very close in an exhibition losing 80-69 and exploiting USA’s lack of size. They are comprised of NBA talents Anderson Varejao, Nene and Tiago Splitter down low as well as Leandro Barbosa on the wing. Perhaps their best weapon is point guard Marcelinho Huertas who is a Brazilian version of Steve Nash and looked the part against Team USA.

Brazil has an outside shot of winning the pool but is more likely to get a two or three seed. When Brazil and Spain play it should be one of the best games in pool play.

Russia

Russia is led by Andrei Kirilenko who is reportedly playing the best basketball of his career right now, fresh off a championship game appearance with CSKA Moscow in the Euroleague. The Russians are more talented than usual and also feature familiar NBA names in Timofey Mozgov, Viktor Khryapa and Alexey Shved. Their weakness is the guard position though and it will be an adventure for them to handle the pressure a team like the United States will put on them.

Russia should be very competitive with everyone in their pool though and even has some potential to knock off Spain. Kirilenko can take over a game in many ways at times and will have to do so for Russia to advance far in the medal round.

China

China is ranked 10th in the world surprisingly ahead of Brazil and Russia. They are led by Yi Jianlian and Chinese legend Wang Zhizhi. China has certainly improved over the years and Yi is a very talented player but they aren’t really threatening to win a medal in these Olympics.

Expect an unimpressive showing from China. This pool is pretty stacked and they seem the most likely team to disappoint.

Australia

Australia will be without the one player that could have put them into medal contention in Andrew Bogut. They too are also an improving nation with hoops though and will put a decent roster on the floor led by Spurs point guard Patty Mills. They are less international good and more not quite NBA good and that will be a problem. The more experienced countries in this pool should finish ahead of them.

Great Britain

Great Britain is the host country and that’s the only reason they will be playing. Don’t expect much from them despite the fact that they are led by NBA All-Star Luol Deng. They may have the chance to pull off a hometown upset over China or Australia but we shouldn’t expect to see very much good basketball from them.

Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

USA Basketball won its second exhibition game in preparation for the Olympics against Brazil Monday night 80-69.

An 11-point win is fine but it wasn’t a pretty performance by the United States as Brazil revealed some of Team USA’s weaknesses, especially early on as they led 27-17 after the first quarter.

Brazil is a much bigger team than Team USA, sporting three bigs with NBA experience in Anderson Varejao, Nene and Tiago Splitter who helped outrebound the U.S. 38-30 in the game

The United States still won because they turned up the defensive intensity and forced 23 turnovers in the game. After trailing by 10 after one quarter, they allowed just five points in the second and led 37-32 at halftime.

“Our defense was great in the last three quarters, we just weren’t making all of our shots,” Kevin Durant said after the game. “We know we’re going to have some games where we start off slow, but we just have to keep up our defense and be more responsive. We had open shots off of the pick and rolls, we just have to work on making them.”

Offense was a struggle for the U.S. too as they shot just 40.8 percent in the game and went 6-for-24 from beyond the arc. Team USA made up for those numbers with some good hustle work with 12 offensive rebounds and shot 11 more free throws than Brazil.

Brazil didn’t even show their entire hand in this game as so many international teams do leading up to the Olympics. They didn’t play zone at all in the game when that is clearly the most effective way to play defense against the U.S.

LeBron James scored 30 points and far too often found himself single-covered by a Brazil big and took him off the dribble. This wouldn’t have happened in the Olympics.

The lack of size will be a big issue for the U.S. They’re not just going to easily stroll past teams with LeBron and Durant at the four and five no matter how cool those lineups seem. International basketball is too different and not being physical in the paint is something you can rarely afford to be.

It’s still early but head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his affinity for playing a ton of different types of lineups could cost the U.S. as well. Maybe he’s just trying things out now but he has a history of playing questionable lineups with Team USA.

“It’s great,” Russell Westbrook, who scored four points vs. Brazil, said of Team USA’s versatility. “That’s why they put this group of guys together. There are talented guys on this team that are capable of doing a lot of different things. On any given night one guy could score 30 or a lot of guys could score 10 or 12.”

The United States needs to lock down a rotation before the Olympics start though. It’s great that they are deep and have 12 players that can contribute but in a 40-minute game that can be too much and a more concise rotation would be better.

We saw Coach K kind of do this against Brazil playing nine players most of the minutes with Kevin Love and James Harden barely playing and Anthony Davis not at all.

“We have just been sticking with it,” Harden said. “Obviously, our shots didn’t fall in this particular game but fortunately we still able to win. We held them to five points in the second quarter which was good. Our chemistry continues to build with every game we play together.”

Fortunately for the United States they drew the easier group in London. Spain and Brazil, the two teams with the most size, will not play the U.S. until a potential Gold Medal game.

“Right now we’re just trying to focus on us and getting better,” Durant said. “When we start in London, then we will start focusing on how to beat those teams. We know it’s going to be tough but right now we just have to focus on us.”

Until then, the U.S. will continue with its preparation for the Olympics playing their third exhibition against Great Britain July 19 at 7:10 p.m. EST on ESPN2.

Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James led the United States with 30 points in an 80-69 victory over Brazil in the team’s second exhibition game in preparation for the London Olympics. The game was played in Washington, D.C. with President Obama and his family in attendance.

Team USA was tested much more against Brazil than they were in their first exhibition against the Dominican Republic. The Brazilians were big inside led by Nene, Anderson Varejao and Tiabo Splitter while the United States still played our small lineups.

LeBron took over after the United States got out to a slow start and trailed after the first quarter. He was too much to handle off the dribble most often guarded but the Brazilian bigs.

Kevin Durant who scored 24 points and made five 3-pointers against the Dominican Republic scored just 11 points against Brazil and once again came off the bench.

Brazil was an expected tough test for Team USA but they won’t see them in their group play in the Olympics. Brazil is in Pool B along with Spain, Russia, China, Australia and Great Britain. The toughest teams in the United States’ pool are Argentina and France.

Team USA will play their third exhibition game July 19 vs. Great Britain. The game will be played in England and will be at 7:10 p.m. EST airing on ESPN2.

Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

The USA Men’s Olympic Basketball team will play its second exhibition game tonight vs. Brazil. The game will be played in Washington, D.C. at the Verizon Center at 8 p.m. EST and will be on ESPN2.

Team USA won its first exhibition game last Thursday when they beat the Dominican Republic 113-59.

Kevin Durant led the U.S. with 24 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in that game and made his first five 3-pointers. Andre Iguodala was also hot from deep making four treys of his own and scoring 18 points.

Russell Westbrook had six points and five rebounds and James Harden scored eight points.

The Dominican Republic was very close to qualifying for the Olympics but lost to Nigeria in the final Olympic Qualifying game in Venezuela last week. NBA players Al Horford and Francisco Garcia played for the Dominican Republic but were no match at all for the U.S.

Brazil will be a tougher matchup for Team USA and is ranked 13th in the world by FIBA. Brazil has a few NBA players on its roster including Nene, Tiago Splitter, Anderson Varejao and Leandro Barbosa.

The United States is without question more talented than Brazil but Brazil could pose a few tough matchups especially with their big men.

Team USA does not have a big roster and will be relying on its versatile wings and backcourt pressure to beat teams. Team USA played a lot of lineups with LeBron James and Durant playing the four and five which will put them at a disadvantage against a team like Brazil where Nene and Splitter can score efficiently out of the low post.

The United States’ ability to pressure ball handlers may also be lessened going up against an NBA-experienced point in Barbosa.

The game changes under FIBA rules and the United States looks less like a collection of NBA players in the process. In their first exhibition match, they fired 33 3-pointers and made 13 of them, thanks to Durant and Iguodala. Team USA doesn’t have a lot of great 3-point shooters however especially considering some of the lineups head coach Mike Krzyzewski plays involving average outside shooters like LeBron and Chris Paul.

The name of the game for Team USA will always be their defense in the backcourt, scoring on the break and moving the ball well on offense. They looked expectedly rusty against the Dominican Republic often over-passing in a game they knew they’d easily win. They also didn’t do the best job of team rebounding, something Coach K has emphasized with this team and something that will be very important against bigger teams like Brazil.

Team USA needs to find a more defined role for all of their players if they are going to hit their potential and win a Gold Medal in London.

Brazil is a perfect test before the Olympics to get the United States into shape. The game should be much closer than the game against the Dominican Republic which should force Team USA to play their appropriate best lineups.

Brazil has always played the United States tough in international basketball and is coming off an impressive 91-75 win over Argentina who is ranked 3rd in the world right now.

Team USA should still win tonight but we can expect ugly basketball in the process.