Olympic Basketball Results 2012: 5 Things to Be Learned from Preliminary Round

If nothing else, the group play in London was very telling. The contenders were separated from the pretenders, and the Chinese proved that they have widely ignored the sport of basketball for the sake of winning...well, just about everything else. 

Drama wasn't absent from the preliminary round, either. For Team USA, a record-shattering performance against the Nigerians was followed by a fourth-quarter scare against Lithuania. 

We watched Carmelo score 37 points in 14 minutes. 

The exciting qualifying round has set the stage for multiple intriguing quarterfinal matchups. But before we look ahead to the future, let's recap what just happened.

China Took a Step Back in Basketball

China has dominated in the medal count so far, but luckily for them, you only get one medal in the basketball competition.

China went 0-5 in group play and lost each game by no fewer than 16 points (minus-126 differential overall).

I guess when you go from Yao Ming to Yi Jianlian as your flag-bearer, you really have nowhere to go but down.

Carmelo Anthony and Co. Know How to Score

Team USA's 156-73 demolition of Nigeria did a little more than break a few Olympic records: It confirmed that when the threes are falling, Team USA is just about unbeatable.

You normally don't even see so much scoring in an All-Star game, where playing defense is almost a faux pas.

Carmelo Anthony led the way for the Americans last Thursday with an Olympic record 37 points in just 14 minutes of play. That means if he continued his pace for the length of an NBA game (eight minutes longer), he would have scored 127 points.

The team set Olympic records for most points (156), field goals (59), three-pointers (26), highest field-goal percentage (71) and largest point differential (83). 

I wonder what would happen if they played at the local gym...

Brazilians Can Play More Than Just Football

The South American country favored to win gold in men's soccer may also be the likeliest candidate to dethrone Team USA in basketball. 

It is certainly a stretch to suggest any nation will outplay the star-studded American roster for 40 minutes; however, if anyone is going to pull off the upset, they are going to need to play some defense. 

Brazil was the best defensive team across the board in the preliminary round, surrendering just under 70 points per contest. Spain had the most success against the stifling defense, but still dropped the game 88-82.

The Brazilians finished with the second-largest point differential through five games, and with four valuable NBA role players on the roster, we've seen bigger upsets. 

A Lot Can Change in 20 Years

Team USA's current roster is not comparable to the 1992 "Dream Team."

Proponents of the modern team will contest that the athletes today are physically and athletically superior thanks to increased training and conditioning. The traditionalists will argue that the 1992 squad was the greatest compilation of basketball talent ever assembled, including 11 Hall of Famers. 

It comes down to team chemistry and consistency, and anyone who has followed Team USA through group play can tell you that they are far from consistent.

Unless you own NBA Street, you will never know which U.S. team would win in this mouth-watering matchup.

It's America's Gold to Lose

After five games that were seemingly a preseason for the Americans, not much has changed in terms of expectations for the men's basketball team. 

The thrashing of the Nigerians and the scare against the Lithuanians taught us two things: When they are on, no one can beat them, but when their jumpers aren't falling, they are beatable.

Spain, Russia and Brazil might be the biggest threats to American perfection and Kobe's third gold. 

Still, an upset would be almost unthinkable.