Analyzing Group B: Team USA's Path to the Olympics

When the United States qualified for the Olympics by steamrolling through the FIBA Americas tournament, spirits were high and many believed that the Dream Team had returned. Despite realizing that the lower-level competition from the likes of Mexico, the United States Virgin Islands, and Panama was just that--lower level--every talking head in the country jumped the gun and claimed that the golden age of United States basketball dominance had returned.



Then, the groups for the Olympic Games were announced and the United States landed in Group B and all of the positive speculation seemed somewhat premature.

First, let's introduce the teams: The United States of America, Spain, Angola, Greece, Germany, China.

Why is this the more competitive of the two groups in the Olympics? We'll state our case and then let you decide...

You know Team USA; let us introduce you to the competition:



Spain
FIBA Ranking: #3

The Spanish National Team consists of the following players: Jose Manuel Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro, Rudy Fernandez, Jorge Garbajosa, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, and Raul Lopez. That is a remarkable eight players who have played, are currently playing, or will play on an NBA roster. This team is extremely fundamental, deadly from inside and outside and has both the experience and talent to challenge Team USA. The last time these two teams met, it took a perfect performance by the United to defeat the Spaniards. Will Team USA have the focus to repeat? Don't be deceived by the third ranking, Team Spain is the clear cut favorite, if there is a favorite, to beat Team USA.



Greece
FIBA Ranking: #6

Right before Team USA swept the FIBA Americas Tournament, they claimed Bronze at the FIBA World Championships. We bet that you can guess who they lost to... Greece's National Team features a less star-studded, but even more disciplined roster than that of the Spanish. Behind a backcourt led by Vassilis Spanoulis, Dimitris Diamantidis, and the legendary Theodoros Papaloukas lies one of the stronger frontcourts including Antonis Fotsis, Andreas Glyniadakis, and former Baby Shaq-candidate Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Don't expect anything flashy out of this team, but they will make some noise in Beijing and no team in Group A or B can afford to sleep on Panagiotis Giannakis's team.



Germany
FIBA Ranking: #9

There are only two reasons why the German National Team can be considered a threat to the United States: Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman. Nowitzki is one of the most unstoppable basketball players in the history of FIBA and can score against just about anybody from anywhere; his NBA MVP award shows that he's capable of outplaying Carmelo Anthony, Tayshaun Prince, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, or whoever gets the misfortune of having to guard him. Chris Kaman only adds to a stacked frontcourt. Kaman is certainly not on Nowitzki's level, but frontcourt depth is clearly Team USA's weakness and Germany has one of the deeper frontcourts in Beijing. Germany has very few consistent perimeter scorers to match up with the many elite backcourts in Group B, but they will not go down quietly, especially since achieving an Olympic bid during a miraculous run in the qualifying tournament in Greece.



China
FIBA Ranking: #11

China is a very weak team compared to the rest of the Group, Angola included until further notice, but that does not mean anything with the likes of NBA caliber players Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Wang ZhiZhi, and Sun Yue, as well as NBA prospects Chen Jianghua who is a favorite of Coach K, Mo Ke, and Zhang Songtao. There is not much of a backcourt to speak of as there are very few true-facilitators on the floor at any given time, but the Chinese frontcourt looks very good. Just like the one-two punch of Nowitzki and Kaman, Jianlian plays away from the basket while Yao anchors the paint, which can make things difficult for a team potentially lacking in post-depth and defense. China likely won't make much noise this year, but this is a talented team not to be taken lightly.



Angola
FIBA Ranking: #14

Angola, the FIBA Africa champion, has the potential to be a Cinderella team if the cards fall in the right way. This team beat a very strong Serbian B-Team, a less-strong, but not insignificant Russian B-Team, and the Chinese National Team. There aren't many stars on this team, but this is a tough and determined group of players eager to steal a game from the basketball elites in this conference. For teams like the United States and Spain, who have lacked focus in the past against weaker teams, Angola is a threat because of their continuous energy. This Angola team, after all, has already beaten the Chinese National Team and while they shouldn't pose much of a threat to the Americans, this is a continental champion and a tough team looking to make a name for itself on the national stage.

So, if you did not believe that United States will be experiencing anything but a cakewalk during the Olympics, this article will hopefully inspire you to reconsider. While Team USA is very good, has the best roster in the world, and certainly worthy of the top world ranking, they are not invincible. There are six worthy competitors in Group B that makes it, in this blog's opinion, the tougher of the two groups. The United States has to take the form of the Dream Teams of the past if they want to find an easy way out. If not, these games will be quite entertaining and far more interesting than every paid basketball pundit previously assumed.