Olympics Basketball 2012: Updated Power Rankings for Men's Tournament

With only a handful of games left to be played in the preliminary rounds, we now have a pretty good feel for how each team stacks up.

From the bottom-feeders to the medal-contenders, every roster's strengths and weaknesses have been put on full display. Needless to say, there haven't been too many surprises, but it's certainly fair to say some expectations have either been exceeded or unmet.

While Brazil has appeared only slightly better than mediocre, the Russian team has rocketed to the top of Group B.

As for Team USA, its dominance was predictable to be sure, but there have certainly been some surprises along the way.

Knowing what we now do, here's how every team in the tournament ranks. 

12. China

China may be having yet another fine Summer Olympics in terms of the overall medal count, but you can rest assured they won't be collecting another medal in men's hoops.

China has lost and lost big. Despite impressive showings from Yi Jianlian, China has lost all five of its games, and they haven't been close.

The worst of those thumpings was by 39 points to Brazil.

The Chinese have been outmatched in every facet of the game, but their offense has been especially bad. Despite an 81-point showing in an up-tempo contest against Spain, this squad only mustered 54, 61, 59 and 58 points in its next four meetings.

11. Tunisia

Tunisia sits at the bottom of Group A with a woeful 0-5 record, but this team does deserve some credit for keeping a few of its games pretty close.

A 110-63 loss to the United States wasn't one of those games.

However, Tunisia's losses to Nigeria and France came at just four points a piece, and that's actually saying something against the talented French national team. Surely Tunisia was hoping for more than narrow losses to brag about, but they'll have to take what they can get at this point.

10. Nigeria

The Nigerians have just one win to show for their first five games, and that win came against Tunisia. That's not exactly the badge of honor Ike Diogu and company were hoping for.

Nor was the record-setting 83-point loss to the United States.

Suffice it to say, it's been a rough road for this club. They can take some pride in holding France to a six-point win, but Nigeria's defense proved woefully inept in the blowout to Team USA and in its 93-79 loss to Argentina.

9. Great Britain

With its only win coming against China, it's hard to make an argument for Great Britain ranking much higher than this.

That said, they've fought the good fight on more than one occasion. The Brits came within five points of beating Brazil and within just one of upsetting Spain.

Unfortunately, those accomplishments have been offset by blowout defeats at the hands of Australia and Russia. Despite Luol Deng's best efforts, there hasn't been much of a team effort. Deng has been asked to do it all, and needless to say, it hasn't been enough.

8. Brazil

Brazil has been a disappointment by almost any measure, even though its 3-1 record might suggest otherwise. 

Its only truly convincing victory came against China, and it just narrowly edged Australia and Great Britain. The Brazilians are hanging around in the standings just as they've hung around in their games, but it's hard to see this team rising to the occasion.

That's a shame given the NBA talent on this roster. Nene, Leandro Barbosa and Tiago Splitter just haven't lived up to expectations.

7. Lithuania

Lithuania has certainly emerged to be better than advertised. 

In addition to coming within just five points of upsetting the ostensibly unbeatable United States, Lithuania forced a relatively close game with France while blowing out Nigeria and Tunisia. 

The team plays well together and plays hard. It may not have the individual talent that often typifies its opposition, but it's made up for it in other ways.

6. Australia

You could make a pretty strong case that Lithuania should be a spot ahead of Australia based on strength of competition alone. Though the Aussies have an extra win, they didn't have to play the United States, Argentina and France.

Nevertheless, Australia has had to face some stiff competition, and they've held their own to the tune of a 3-2 record.

They can thank the San Antonio Spurs' Patty Mills for that. The electric point guard is averaging over 20 points through five games and proving tough to guard. In addition to two convincing wins against China and Great Britain, these guys pulled off a close game against the impressive Russian team and only lost to Brazil by four.

5. Russia

Russia's 4-1 record speaks for itself, but the fact that two of those wins came against Spain and Brazil is even more impressive.

But for a narrow loss to Australia, the Russians have put together an improbably flawless preliminary campaign. Thanks to the frenetic Andrei Kirilenko and fellow NBA colleagues Timfoey Mozgov and Alexey Shved, Russia has given the presumptive favorites in Group B a run for their money.

Spain and Brazil appeared to be locks to qualify for the quarterfinals, but that's no longer the case.

4. Spain

Sure, Spain lost a close game to Russia.

That doesn't necessarily mean Russia is the better team. After all, that game has been the only blot on Spain's record, and there's just no way to deny the talent on this roster.

Pau and Marc Gasol are the obvious culprits, but the Oklahoma City Thunder's Serge Ibaka and the Toronto Raptors' Jose Calderon have been no less important. The Spanish team has a size advantage over the rest of its competition, and it knows how to pass the ball.

That's a dangerous combination.

3. France

France got off to a bit of a slow start, but this team has continued to improve and has lost just one of its five games—to the United States no less.

These guys haven't been blowing many teams out, but Tony Parker, Nic Batum and Ronny Turiaf have done just enough to win these games. Narrow victories over Tunisia and Nigeria could be viewed as reason for concern.

But, France has proven itself with victories over Argentina and Lithuania. Those don't come easy.

2. Argentina

Outside of a loss to France, Argentina has been blowing teams out on a regular basis.

The talented roster may not be doing so to the same scale as Team USA, but it's left very little doubt about who the better team is against Nigeria, Tunisia and Lithuania. In fact, its 23-point win over the Lithuanians was far more convincing than the United States' narrow win against that same team.

When Manu Ginobili is playing this well, the Argentinians are hard to beat. He's not the only guy you have to worry about, but he can keep this team in games single-handedly.

1. United States

No surprises here.

Team USA is undefeated and has looked unstoppable in all but one game: a five-point victory over Lithuania.

Before that, the United States rolled over Nigeria by 83 points and had a nearly perfect game in the process. The only thing that's been more impressive than a starting lineup boasting Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant is a bench that often seems to outplay them.

Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook have been outstanding and given their opponents no chance to let up or rest. This club appears to be well on pace to take home another gold medal.