Team USA remains as the reigning Olympic champ after having won the gold medal in Beijing back in 2008. Now, in just over ten days, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the team will start testing their talents as they attempt to prove once again who's basketball king.
The 18th Basketball Olympic Tournament will be initiating on the July 28 in London and Team USA's first match will take place a day later, against Tony Parker and his French teammates.
France has some NBA players of its own including Boris Diaw of the Spurs, Nicolas Batum of the Trail Blazers, Ronny Turiaf of the Heat, and the aforementioned Tony Parker.
How will they fare against Team USA? The Bleacher Report states that a shortcoming the Frenchmen possess is the lack of depth. Team USA on the other hand has plenty of that which is why they should not have much trouble defeating them.
The basketball tournament is organized in two groups with each consisting of six countries. Each country competes against each of the other and only the best four of each group proceed to the knock-out stage.
Pool A consists of Argentina, France, Lithuania, Nigeria, Tunisia and the USA.
Pool B consists of Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Russia and Spain.
While USA should have not much problem defeating most of the countries in its pool, teams that have enough potential to give it a scare include Argentina and Lithuania, teams that will face the U.S. according to the following schedule:
Team USA's Game Schedule
USA vs. France (July 29, 9:30 a.m. EST)
USA vs. Tunisia (July 31, 5:15 p.m. EST)
USA vs. Nigeria (August 2, 5:15 p.m. EST)
USA vs. Lithuania (August 4, 9:30 a.m. EST)
USA vs. Argentina (August 6, 5:15 p.m. EST)
2012 Men's Olympic Basketball Competition Schedule
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Preliminary Round Pools |
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Pool A |
W-L |
Pool B |
W-L |
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Argentina |
Australia |
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France |
Brazil |
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Lithuania |
China |
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Nigeria |
Great Britain |
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Tunisia |
Russia |
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USA |
Spain |
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Preliminary Round |
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Olympic Park, Basketball Arena |
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Sunday, July 29 |
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9:00 a.m. |
Nigeria - Tunisia |
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11:15 a.m. |
Brazil - Australia |
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2:30 p.m. |
USA - France |
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4:45 p.m. |
Spain - China |
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8:00 p.m. |
Russia - Great Britain |
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10:15 p.m. |
Argentina - Lithuania |
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Tuesday, July 31 |
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9:00 a.m. |
China - Russia |
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11:15 a.m. |
Australia - Spain |
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2:30 p.m. |
Lithuania - Nigeria |
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4:45 p.m. |
Great Britain - Brazil |
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8:00 p.m. |
France - Argentina |
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10:15 p.m. |
Tunisia - USA |
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Thursday, August 2 |
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9:00 a.m. |
France - Lithuania |
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11:15 a.m. |
Australia - China |
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2:30 p.m. |
Argentina - Tunisia |
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4:45 p.m. |
Brazil - Russia |
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8:00 p.m. |
Spain - Great Britain |
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10:15 p.m. |
USA - Nigeria |
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Saturday, August 4 |
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9:00 a.m. |
Tunisia - France |
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11:15 a.m. |
Russia - Spain |
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2:30 p.m. |
Lithuania - USA |
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4:45 p.m. |
China - Brazil |
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8:00 p.m. |
Great Britain - Australia |
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10:15 p.m. |
Nigeria - Argentina |
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Monday, August 6 |
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9:00 a.m. |
Australia - Russia |
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11:15 a.m. |
Tunisia - Lithuania |
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2:30 p.m. |
France - Nigeria |
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4:45 p.m. |
Great Britain - China |
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8:00 p.m. |
Spain - Brazil |
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10:15 p.m. |
Argentina - USA |
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Quarterfinals |
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North Greenwich Arena |
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Wednesday, August 8 |
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2:00 p.m. |
Session 1 (2 Games) |
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8:00 p.m. |
Session 2 (2 Games) |
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Semifinals |
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North Greenwich Arena |
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Friday, August 10 |
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5:00 p.m. |
Semifinal #1 |
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9:00 p.m. |
Semifinal #2 |
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Finals |
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North Greenwich Arena |
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Sunday, August 12 |
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11:00 a.m. |
Bronze Medal Game |
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3:00 p.m. |
Gold Medal Game |
All times listed are local. (Source: USABasketball.com)
NBC will provide TV coverage.