USA Basketball 2012: 5 Must-Watch Story Lines at London Olympics

Another edition of the Summer Olympics is only days away and like in most years, one of the primary focuses of the US team will be how the men's basketball squad performs in London.

Team USA reclaimed the gold in Beijing four years ago behind Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and coach Mike Krzyzewski after losing it back in 2004 in Athens. This year's team, though a bit different looking than in '08, will be looking to defend its title with mostly the same core.

Some obstacles have already been thrown in Team USA's way. Blake Griffin tore his left meniscus during practice a couple weeks ago, weakening the team's interior depth. Wade will not be a part of the gold medal defense thanks to knee surgery of his own. Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose, big parts of the 2008 win, are not on this year's team, again thanks to injuries.

And starting point guard Chris Paul is dealing with a sprained thumb suffered on the first day of training camp at the beginning of the month.

With Team USA set to face Spain, arguably its top competition for gold, in its final tuneup on Tuesday before the games begin, there are a handful of issues, stories and possible challenges to examine.

Here's a look at some of them.

5. Carmelo off the Bench?

In an exhibition against Great Britain last week, Carmelo Anthony was moved out of the starting lineup and to the bench for the first time in his national team career.

He responded with 19 points in Team USA's 40-point win over the Brits, a rather ho-hum outcome.

But could this wind up blowing up in Krzyzewski's face when the games start to count?

It's hard to say. Anthony has never exactly been a bastion of toughness and discipline when he's not happy. For him to succeed, he needs the ball and for everyone else to get out of the way.

Obviously, he's not playing in these games with the likes of Iman Shumpert, Steve Novak and J.R. Smith, players that should adhere to his ball-stopping game. But given the fragility of mind Anthony has shown at times in his career, his role on the team could bear watching.

According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, no one in Team USA's camp seems to care who starts and who doesn't. Stein notes that the only set spots among starters from game to game go to Kobe, LeBron and the team's truest center, Tyson Chandler.

Also, Deron Williams started in place of Paul in that same game against Great Britain and Stein quotes Krzyzewski as saying, "I don't necessarily think there's any permanence to our starting lineup."

Anthony has seen some time at power forward in Team USA's exhibitions so far, an indication of how thin the group is up front. He's always been an excellent rebounder for his size and position, so his playing the 4 shouldn't be much of an issue.

But his role and playing time could be. Stay tuned.

4. Injuries

Once again, there's no Blake Show. No Howard. No Rose. No Wade.

Team USA players have been dropping like flies. Will anyone else go down? And if so, how big a deal will it be.

Paul's thumb sprain doesn't seem to be that much of a hindrance. And if it becomes a problem, Williams can step in seamlessly. Russell Westbrook is also on the roster and in a pinch, LeBron or even Kobe could handle running the point.

Still, this team is thinner than it was four years ago and has already been shredded by the injury bug even before the players gathered for training camp at the beginning of the month.

Is Team USA still the favorite to win the gold? Absolutely. 

But if anyone else in the rotation goes down, the task may get a bit tougher.

3. Perimeter Shooting

We'll get to Team USA's shortcomings in the paint a little later. For now, just know this: the starting center, Tyson Chandler, took zero shots in the exhibition win over Argentina on Sunday and has never averaged more than 11.8 points per game in his 11-year career.

Chandler is on this team because he's arguably the best defensive player in the league. He won the Defensive Player of the Year trophy this past season and is fully capable of anchoring Team USA's defense.

But he can't score. And the team won't even try to get him involved offensively. This means that the Americans will have to spend a good deal of time relying on their perimeter shooting. 

If the shots aren't falling, then what? In the win over Argentina, which was much closer (86-80) than anyone would like, the line from three-point range was 13-of-34.

There are oodles of scorers on this team, from Kobe and LeBron to Kevin Durant and Westbrook, to Carmelo and Williams. Kevin Love is there and he can stroke it from deep. If he can get into any games, so can James Harden. And of course, so can Paul.

But even the best shooters go cold. If that happens to Team USA in a close game, it could be a problem.

2. Who's the Alpha Dog?

There's always a danger, even if it's a small one, of egos clashing on these super teams. Pretty much everyone on Team USA's roster is the man on his own team.

Who's the man on this one?

In 2008, it was Kobe. And he still may be the one to get the ball at the end of the game in this group. 

Still, look who the other options are.

The next two best scorers in the NBA, LeBron and Durant (who is currently the best pure scorer in the league, period) are there. Carmelo, the ultimate "needs the ball" guy, is there. Paul, himself among the best of all current Alphas, is there too.

This probably isn't too big a deal. Everyone bowed to Kobe in 2008 and there's no reason to assume that won't happen again. Historically, he's still the best, most accomplished player on this roster and the rest of the team has to know it. 

One has to assume that since these guys are playing together for just two weeks and doing it for their country, such issues won't crop up.

You never know when it comes to egos this size, though. 

1. The Middle

So there's Chandler. There's Love, though he's more of a 4. There's No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis, though he's only on the team only because of Griffin's injury.

And that's it.

When it comes time to play Brazil (Nene, Anderson Varajeo, Tiago Splitter) or Spain (Pau and Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka), the U.S. will be at a disadvantage in the paint.

They can certainly get around this problem. Team USA is so fast, athletic and talented, so much more so in all these categories than anyone else in the 12-team tournament, that it should be able to counter opponents with more depth and power down low.

Make no mistake, though. Team USA's lack of depth up front is by far its biggest problem and most likely issue that could develop into an Achilles heel. If Chandler gets in foul trouble or gets hurt, things may get ugly.

Size matters. How much it does for Team USA still remains to be seen.