London 2012 Basketball: Most Important Players in Men's Olympic Playoff

International basketball opens the door for players who are traditionally team oriented to put their teams on their backs.

The 2012 London Summer Olympics basketball playoff has begun. If anyone other than Team USA plans on winning the gold medal, its star must carry his club across the finish line. That’s why no one from the U.S. is on this list—if LeBron James or Kobe Bryant has an off night, Chris Paul or Kevin Durant are more than capable of picking up the slack.

That luxury simply doesn’t exist for other squads. Here are the most important players left in the Olympics who must rise to the occasion or their squads will be eliminated.

5. Patty Mills

Patty Mills is Aussie basketball.

The San Antonio Spurs’ other international floor general phenom averaged 20.2 points per game in the group stage. That isn’t just strong enough to be Australia’s leading scorer—that’s the second-highest average in the entire Olympic Games.

Now, the Australians got a tough break in that they’ll be matching up against Team USA in the quarterfinals. But if they do shock the world, you better believe Mills had the shooting night of his life.

4. Manu Ginobili

Believe it or not, Manu Ginobili isn’t Argentina’s leading scorer. That honor belongs to Luis Scola. But let’s get real, Scola isn’t closing a must-win basketball game for the Argentines—that’s Ginobili’s job.

Ginobili isn’t just one of the most clutch players in the Olympics, but in the NBA. In London, he’s averaging 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

For Argentina to upset the Americans in the semifinals again, Ginobili must explode like he did in 2004 when he scored 29 points.

3. Tony Parker

The only statistical category Tony Parker leads France is in turnovers, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s their most-valuable player. Nicolas Batum is a talented scorer, but the French aren’t medaling without Parker sparking the offense.

He’s one of only a couple international players that are capable of winning a head-to-head matchup against the U.S. When the San Antonio Spurs played Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers this past postseason, Parker averaged 17.3 points and 7.8 assists per game. He also averaged 21.5 points and 6.3 assists per game against Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

2. Pau Gasol

Everyone refers to Spain’s strength as the “Gasol brothers,” but in reality, the club will medal on the back of Pau Gasol alone.

Pau averaged 20.6 points and 6.0 boards through five games in London. Not only is he the Spaniard’s leading scorer and rebounder, but he’s the leading scorer in the entire Olympics.

It’s extremely rare to start two seven-footers in international basketball. Pau at the 4 gives the Spanish a unique edge that they’ll have to take advantage of to shock Team USA.

1. Andrei Kirilenko

Not Spain, not Brazil, but Russia sat on top of Group B at the end of the preliminary round. Who’s the surprise team of the tournament’s MVP? AK-47.

Andrei Kirilenko didn’t play in the NBA last season, but by the way he’s lighting up London, you couldn’t tell. He’s averaging 18.3 points and 7.3 boards a game. And you know he does quite well doing the whole defense thing.

The talent around him is still a question mark, but Kirilenko’s individual play on both ends of the court looks strong enough to scare the U.S.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels