Olympic Basketball 2012: Breaking Down Group B Contenders

After Team USA's 83-point destruction of Tunisia, it's clear that the Americans are the most dominant team in the 2012 Olympic field. However, the battle for the silver medal is still wide open, and three teams from Group B are in the mix to medal.

With only Argentina presenting a threat to the United States in Group A, the silver- or bronze-winning team is sure to come from Group B, and the games remaining in the pool have been competitive to this point—a trend sure to continue as the knockout stages approach.

Here are how the contenders stack up.

Russia

The Russians have got off to a great start. They currently lead Group B with a 3-0 record and a cumulative plus-40-point differential.

Scores: Russia 95 Great Britain 75, Russia 73 China 54, Russia 75 Brazil 74

Blowouts have been hard to come by in group play—especially in Group B. While most games have been competitive, the Russians have played well in routing both Great Britain and China. The game against Brazil was close, but the Russians showed great resolve in finding a way to win by the narrowest of margins.

Sporting only one player on an NBA roster in 2011, the Russians weren't considered a favorite to medal. But after an impressive start and excellent play from Andrei Kirilenko, who is second among Olympic scorers with 23.3 points per game, things are looking up.

The Russians have yet to play Group B favorite Spain, but they have shown with their play so far that they should be taken seriously by the Spaniards and are a legitimate threat to medal.

Spain

Spain entered the Olympics as a heavy favorite in Group B and the primary threat to Team USA's gold medal chances.

With a wealth of experience in both the NBA and international play, the Spaniards are a dangerous team with size in the post that can create matchup nightmares for anyone. 

Scores: Spain 97 China 81, Spain 82 Australia 70, Spain 79 Great Britain 78

Up to this point the Spain's undefeated record should surprise no one. What is surprising was Spain's close call with the British.

Great Britain used proficient three-point shooting to mount a fourth-quarter comeback that nearly saw the British erase a 13-point deficit to pull off the biggest upset in the tournament thus far. Spain eventually prevailed, but the British success on the perimeter does not bode well for the Spanish—USA has been shooting lights-out from beyond the arc, and other teams will surely look to expose any weakness Spain shows on the outside.

Brazil

Brazil is another squad that has plenty of size on the inside and NBA experience to boot. After giving the Americans some trouble in their Olympic tune-up schedule, they showed they were capable of earning a medal in these games.

Scores: Brazil 75 Australia 71, Brazil 67 Great Britain 62, Brazil 74 Russia 75

After losing to the Russians, the Brazilians now find themselves third in the Group B standings and need to win out to claim momentum going into the knockout rounds. Winning out will be tough. Brazil has had close games throughout and will need a monumental effort to upset Spain.

Brazil will need to work out their offense in what will amount to a tune-up game against the Chinese before they play Spain. They team has played great defense to this point but has struggled to score.