USA vs. Brazil: Why Brazilians Will Test America's Mettle in Olympic Exhibition

Following an easy victory in their first Olympic exhibition against the Dominican Republic last week, Team USA will get their first and best test before the 2012 Summer Olympics in London when they take on Brazil on Monday night. 

Before we get into the ways the Brazilians will test Team USA in this game, let's rewind the clock to 2010. Team USA was coming off a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and riding high for the first time since 2000. 

Brazil was a talented squad with good NBA talent on the roster, like Leandro Barbosa and Anderson Varejao. Not a lot of people were giving them much of a chance against the mighty Americans, yet they were able to exert their will for most of the game before falling 70-68. 

Everyone knows that a win is the only thing that matters, regardless of how you get there. But it was telling that the Brazilians were not intimidated by the powerful NBA-laden American team and held the lead through the first half. 

Fast forward to today, and the Brazilians have as much confidence as anyone against Team USA in these Olympic exhibitions. They know what they have to do in order to at least keep the game close down to the wire. 

All that teams need is a chance. If you give the underdog that chance, strange things tend to happen. Even if Team USA ends up winning the game—for the record, I think they will—the Brazilians will be the perfect match for them. 

And it is a good thing for Team USA to be tested in this kind of environment. Despite what Kobe Bryant would have you believe, this team needs to face adversity. Part of the reason the Americans struggled for years in international competition was a sense of complacency. 

We got cocky as a country because we dominated the sport for so long. We thought we could send anyone to the Olympics and win. The reason you see LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, et al. on this team now is because of the problems that plagued Team USA between 2001-2006. 

Brazil knows what it takes to keep Team USA on its toes, and it will do exactly that on Monday night in an Olympic tune-up. 

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