Brazil vs. Great Britain: Full Preview and Analysis

Host-country Great Britain will see their men's basketball team take to the court once more as they face off against the Brazilian national team. The Brits will be looking to put on a better performance and erase the memory of a mistake-filled first game against the Russians.

The Brazilian national team picked up a victory in its first game but will also look to erase some bad play despite the victory. Looking at the level of talent the Brazilians possess, one would've expected a larger margin of victory against an undermanned Australian team.

The Great Britain team will no doubt continue to play hard in an effort to impress their hometown crowd, but it will be a tall order against a Brazilian team that on paper seems to have too much firepower for the men of the Union Jack.

The Back Court

Great Britain boasts an athletic young guard in Andrew Lawrence and an experienced veteran in Nate Reinking. At the two-guard, both Mike Lenzly and Kyle Johnson have experienced international play, with Lenzly partaking in EuroBasket 2009 and Johnson competing in EuroBasket 2011.

Brazil will counter with Marcelinho Huertas and Larry Taylor as the men running the point. Leandro Barboza will be the team's main man at shooting guard with Alex Garcia also picking up solid minutes in the opening game.

Heurtas didn't have a great shooting night against Australia but managed 15 points. Taylor only went 1-for-3 in limited minutes. Reinking didn't shoot the ball well for Great Britain either and Lawrence saw very limited minutes as a backup.

The biggest advantage in the backcourt has to go to the Brazilians. Barboza, despite his age, is still better than any of the players the UK will put on the court at shooting guard. We may see some signs of the old "Brazilian Blur" if Barboza has his way with the guards of Great Britain.

Out on the Wings

Luol Deng is the most prominent player on Great Britain's team and will no doubt be heavily depended upon in their contest with Brazil. Andrew Sullivan is listed as the team's backup SF but was ineffective in 14 minutes of play against the Russians.

Neither Marcus Vieira or Marcelo Machado were able to do much against the Australians. Vieira didn't attempt a shot while Machado went 2-for-10. With Brazil likely looking to move a number of guards into the SF position, there's no single player who will carry a large responsibility on the wing.

This is the one position that Great Britain will have over the Brazilians. Deng is a good player who can routinely score 20-plus points on any given night if he has the opportunity. The only concern the Brits will have is they rely too heavily on Deng, and it's clear the wrist injury is bothering his shot.

Deng should be able to put up good numbers against a Brazilian team that focuses more on offense than defense, regardless of the pain he may be playing through.

Power Forwards

Joel Freeland and Pops Mensah-Bonsu will be leading the way for Great Britain in the front court. Both men have NBA experience and Mensah-Bonsu put up very good numbers, scoring 22 points along with nine rebounds. Freeland also added solid numbers posting a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

As good as Freeland and Mensah-Bonsu were in the first game, don't expect them to have similar numbers against a very tough Brazilian front court tandem. Although Anderson Varejao plays most of his time in the NBA at center, he will likely pick up minutes at power forward. Tiago Splitter will also likely pick up a great deal of minutes at power forward as well as at the center position.

Varejao shot the ball very well against the Australians, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven boards. Splitter added seven points combined with seven rebounds but only went 2-for-10 from the field.

Both of the Brits' best forwards are solid players, but I don't expect to see a similar stat sheet against the bigger Brazilian team. If Varejao and Splitter can stay out of foul trouble they should be able to lock down the forward position.

Center

Without a prominent true center, Great Britain will rotate a number of power forwards into the middle. Daniel Clark, Joel Freeland, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, and Robert Archibald will all likely see time at center against the Brazilians. Eric Boateng will see a few minutes off the bench as well.

The Brazilians will also see a rotating set of players at center despite featuring a very good NBA-caliber player in Nene. Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter will also see time at center. Varejao and Nene have proven to be dependable scorers, and Splitter can provide solid contributions with points along with rebounds.

This is where the Brazilians will enjoy their greatest advantage. They will have the size advantage and should have no problems scoring from the low block. Nene and Varejao aren't going to light up the scoreboards, but shouldn't have any problems getting both points and rebounds against the big men of Great Britain.

Overall Team Preview

On paper this appears to be a major mismatch, as Brazil excels in areas that Great Britain falters. Brazil is noted for their offensive firepower and size inside, while Great Britain showed a total lack of defense against the Russians and is obviously small inside compared to many of the teams competing in the Olympics.

Also, it should be noted that only one bench player scored for Great Britain in their contest against Russia. If Luol Deng can't provide the scoring Great Britain needs, the team will be in big trouble.

Brazil, in contrast, is a bit more balanced on offense with Leandro Barboza, Anderson Varejao, and Marcelinho Huertas all scoring in double figures.

Great Britain will need to come out and be physical in the low post in order to prevent the Brazilians from asserting their size dominance early. They also can't afford to shoot such a low percentage from three-point land as they did in their first game.

The Brazilians should take the victory, but they proved against the Australians that they can underperform at times. However, unless the Brazilians spend all night partying or come out completely flat, look for the Brits to come out on the losing end once more.