Olympic Basketball 2012 Schedule: Why US Team's Path to Gold Is No Cakewalk

The U.S. Olympic basketball team is unquestionably the greatest team in the tournament. The team is on its own playing field and is the Usain Bolt of the basketball world.

The U.S. team finished pool play as the only undefeated team in the tournament, and it made its dominance clear with its historic thrashing of Nigeria.

While the probability of the U.S. team winning the gold is almost as certain as the sun rising in the morning, the path to victory will not be not smooth. Two teams have a slim chance at causing discomfort and maybe even upsetting Team USA.

After the U.S. cruises past Australia in the quarterfinals, the first challenge will be Team Brazil.

Brazil finished 4-1 in the group stage, with its only loss a one-point defeat at the hands of Russia. Key wins for Brazil include a 71-64 victory over Argentina and an 88-82 victory over Spain.

Brazil is led by Leandro Barbosa, who has consistently led the team in scoring, and his 23 points against Spain displayed his ability to take over a game. Brazil also features notable NBA players Anderson Varejao and Nene Hilario, two big men that provide energy and scoring to the Brazil squad.

Brazil’s danger to the U.S. comes not just from its main NBA contingent in the trio of Barbosa, Varejao and Hilario, but also from a young NBA player in Tiago Splitter and a relatively unknown guard in Marcelinho Huertas.

Both have the potential to take over a game, as Splitter demonstrated with his 21 points against Great Britain, and as Huertas showcased with his 15 points and 10 assists against Australia.

But while Brazil features a strong NBA unit, it will be no match for the star power of Team USA. The biggest challenge for the U.S. would be in the gold-medal game against Russia.

Russia has its own difficulties, as it has to go through Lithuania and either France or Spain in order to arrive at the gold-medal game. Despite the rough schedule, though, Russia should be the team to emerge, and it will provide the fight the U.S. will have yet to see.

Team Russia finished 4-1 in group play, but its close wins over Brazil and Spain show that this is the team to beat outside the Americans.

Russia was consistently led by two new members of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, forward Andrei Kirilenko and guard Alexey Shved.

Kirilenko has returned to the dominant form that he once had with the Utah Jazz. He put up a monstrous 35 points against Great Britain and shot well over 50 percent in group play.

Shved had key games against Great Britain and Brazil, as he scored 16 points with 13 assists against Great Britain and 17 points with six assists against Brazil.

Outside of these two, Russia is also a great shot-blocking team and has good size all around.

The U.S. Olympic basketball team has not been tested to the level Brazil and Russia will test it, but gold is the only color Team USA will bring him when it is all said and done.