London 2012: Countries That Will Give USA Basketball Run for the Gold

With the 2012 Summer Olympics approaching, there is no question that USA men's basketball is the favorite for the gold, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have some big-time competition. 

Of course, the Americans proved in 2004 (and also during the FIBA championships in 2002 and 2006) they can easily be upset when they don't bring their A-game or when they stop playing like a team. So, don't automatically assume they will win gold even if they are heavy favorites. 

Let's take a closer look at the countries that have the best shot at ruining USA's gold hopes. 

Spain

Contender No. 1 for the gold has to be Spain, even though dynamic young point guard Ricky Rubio will be out because of his ACL injury. The Spanish were runners-up in 2008, and they'll be right there again this year.

Not only do they have the brotherly big-man combo of Marc and Pau Gasol, they have a true point guard in Jose Calderon who can distribute the ball and a shooter/playmaker in Rudy Fernandez. With Marc playing the basketball of his life, this Spanish team is suddenly very balanced and has solid NBA players throughout. 

Oh yeah, and Serge Ibaka, defensive mastermind, will be coming off the bench. The Spanish will have the best trio of big men in the entire Games. 

They'll be able to slow games out and grind out wins with interior play if necessary. 

Argentina

The Argentines have a solid team, but there are some few notable holes. 

At point guard is 35-year-old Pablo Prigioni, who has been dominant in the Spanish League, but in the last few years he has taken a step back. 

Also, Argentina has Andres Nocioni as its starting power forward. Nocioni proved to be an average player in the NBA, but he's not as good as the big men he'll be going up against this summer. 

Besides those weaknesses, however, Argentina is a very good squad. It features Luis Scola at center, Manu Ginobili at shooting guard and Carlos Delfino, who is better than people think when healthy, at small forward.

It'll need to pull off some upsets, but there's no question Argentina has some talent throughout the starting lineup. 

France

I love France's squad.

Not only does it have Tony Parker, who is playing the best basketball of his career, running the point, it has up-and-coming player Nicolas Batum to rain down threes and wreak havoc on defense with his length.

Finally, France has the perfect blue-collar center in Joakim Noah. 

After that trio and Boris Diaw, France's squad gets a little thin, but that starting five is special. It's simply a nice blend of leadership, youth, energy, offense and defense. 

France has a good chance at surprising the United States. 

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