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These four teams have what it takes to take Olympic gold from U.S. men's basketball

dan wolken, usa today
·3 min read

TOKYO — With the U.S. men’s basketball team looking vulnerable entering the Olympics, here are four teams that could knock off the defending gold medalists.

Australia

For well over a decade, the Australian development program has fueled college basketball programs and increased its presence in the NBA. Even without Ben Simmons, who is skipping the Olympics to focus on his NBA offseason work, the “Boomers” squad in Tokyo includes six NBA players led by San Antonio Spurs veteran guard Patty Mills and Joe Ingles, who is coming off a career year with the Utah Jazz. The Australians lost the bronze medal game by a point to Spain in 2016 and got edged out by France for third in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, so they’ve been knocking on the door of a big breakthrough. Their 91-83 exhibition win over Team USA on July 12 adds credence to the notion that Australia is a legitimate medal contender.

Spain

The Spanish team has a storied history in international basketball, capturing the silver medal in 2008 and 2012 and the bronze in 2016, but this is likely the last Olympics for several members of the current generation. Remarkably, Pau Gasol is back for one more run at age 41 while his younger brother Marc (36) is projected to start at center. Rudy Fernandez, who’s had a couple NBA stints, remains a huge part of the team at age 36. Point guard Ricky Rubio has been awesome in FIBA play over the years, including a 20-point effort in Spain’s 95-75 win over Argentina in the World Cup final a couple years ago. Though Spain may not be quite as good as it once was, this team still has a good chance to medal.

France

Team USA will get a stiff test right out of the gate in group play when it faces the French team on Sunday. During its series of exhibition games in Las Vegas prior to the Olympics, the Americans showed some vulnerability inside, which could be trouble against NBA defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert. Evan Fournier averaged 19.8 points for the French team during its third-place run at the 2019 World Cup and guard Nando De Colo has been one of the top players in Europe for the past several years. From top to bottom, France could very well be the second-most talented team in this field.

Slovenia

There’s only one reason why Slovenia could do some damage in this event, and his name is Luka Doncic. Even for a team as deep as the Americans, facing Doncic in a 40-minute, single-elimination scenario is one of the scarier propositions in this tournament. Slovenia has no Olympic history in basketball, but it earned its way here by knocking off traditional powerhouse Lithuania in the qualifying tournament last month behind Doncic’s 31-point, 13-assist, 11-rebound effort. Slovenia doesn’t have anyone else most American fans will recognize, but don’t discount the possibility of Doncic doing something special if they can advance out of group play.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2021 Olympics: 4 teams that can take gold from U.S. men's basketball