The U.S. shouldn't have too much trouble with China in its opener on Sunday, and then comes mighty Angola (um, we should win). Then comes Greece and FIBA world champion Spain, both of which could quite possibly beat Dream Team II, if Tuesday was any indication.

Kelly Dwyer at Yahoo Sports:

This team (and I'm looking at you, Carmelo) just turns its head too much. These guys aren't used to watching for back-picks and defending cuts to the front of the hoop. Back-door screens still kill Team USA, and though the men still have the athleticism to recover and sometimes make up for it, Coach K's crew is still getting beat way too much by teams using Team USA's pressure against itself.

ESPN's Chris Sheridan puts it this way:

The truly stunning thing about the Americans' 87-76 victory was that it came against an Australian team that didn't even have its best player, since Andrew Bogut sat out to rest a sprained right ankle. The Boomers, as they're known Down Under, are setting their sights merely on making it into the medal round, with no illusions about where they stand in the worldwide pecking order — somewhere between sixth and eighth, nowhere near the likes of Spain, Argentina and Greece, the three teams who will wake up Wednesday morning with a heightened sense of hope after seeing how the U.S. team struggled in its final pre-Olympic tune-up.

In addition to terrible defense, USA shot only 16 percent from the 3-point line (3-of-18), and outrebounded Australia only 33-27. That's a recipe for disaster, my friends. It's hard to believe that America hasn't won a gold medal in Olympic or World FIBA competition in eight years; and even that 2000 gold medal came after a two-point win over Lithuania in the semis (after Lithuania's Šarūnas Jasikevičius missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game).

Solution? Parents, get your kids out of those freaking stupid AAU leagues and tournaments, and find a good defensive coach who'll teach footwork and defending the back cut.

Behind The Box Score: Where Team USA Needs To Turn Its Head [Yahoo Sports]
Team USA's F;aws Exposed In Ugly Win Over Australia [ESPN]

Wait, what?

There's absolutely no way to confirm the veracity of this "report", so do with it what you will. BlackSportsOnline got word of the story from China's version of The National Enquirer, and here's the badly mangled bit of linguistic magic that the Google Translator spit out.

Hong Kong paparazzi after a special interview for the provision of services NBA superstar female technicians, three female technicians at the beginning of work before, have learned about the identity of the person, such as James, has more than once because of previous service for celebrities, so they do not show Special surprise, it is said that the three VIPs only to the 200 Australian dollars as a tip, it is hardly generous.

"Female technician." Now, there's something an enterprising young person can proudly put on their resume. As for the not so generous tip for services rendered, just think of what those monied Greeks could do for you, LeBron.

Lebron, DWade & Carmello Getting Their Hong Kong Freak On [Black Sports Online]

It really wouldn't have helped the Australians if they had Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Heath Ledger, Luc Longley and Olivia Newton-John in the line-up. Unless Hugh Jackman had his Wolverine powers, then maybe they'd be in business. But those claws would get him in foul trouble.

This could be my imagination, but maybe one of you could help me confirm it. Was this a tape-delayed broadcast that ESPN tried to pass off as live? I could have sworn that I got online and ran across the final score while the ESPN broadcast was still in the third quarter. I know that they have no intention of telling us that Jim Durham and Fran Fraschilla are nowhere near Japan, but the tape delay transgression seems worse. And if that did happen, did they really delay this broadcast because of an MLS game on ESPN2?

Up next for the United States will be Dirk Nowitzki and his merry band of Germans, who beat Nigeria 78-77 yesterday. That one's happening Wednesday at 6:30 a.m., or whenever ESPN gets around to showing it.

WBC : USA v.s Australia [Bench Renaldo]
USA vs AUSTRALIA (Group 66) [FIBA.com]

You could tell within the first two minutes that this game would be completely different from the Puerto Rico game. China just seemed to take the attitude of, "Well, we have Yao and a bunch other guys with similar haircuts, so we should be okay. Hey, let's just all have fun, because this is really all about brotherhood." They seemed content to just show up and take their beating.

Next up for Team USA are the Slovenians, who should actually provide a much tougher test. I'm also guessing that you'll see ESPN find a way to get Stephen A. Smith on a broadcast before Tuesday morning, just so he can say "Rrrrasho. Nesterovic." Other NBA names on the Slovenian roster that you might be familiar with (if you really like the NBA) include Primoz Brezec, Bostjan Nachbar, and Beno Udrih.

USA go 2-0 after blitz of China [CNN International]

Team USA looked a little bit like a one-trick pony last night. When they're forcing steals and getting into transition, they look great. But their halfcourt offense and their halfcourt defense both look pretty shaky. High screen-and-rolls kills them, dribble penetration kills them, and there's almost no flow to the offense when they're forced to slow things down. When they play a team with experienced guards that won't turn the ball over, they're going to have to be a lot better than they were tonight.

Of course, the upside is that the 10-point margin of victory leaves Chris Sheridan plenty of room to continue with the Gloomy Gus routine. To be fair, he's absolutely right about much of what he's written, but he's been about as bright and cheerful about Team USA's chances as a Sylvia Plath novel. At this point, he almost has to be rooting for them to lose, because if they do happen to get on a roll and romp through the tournament, he's going to look like a doofus. But check out #9 from his list of ten reasons that Team USA won't win the gold, from ESPN Insider:

9. The smell factor. This is a little disgusting, but it's true: Some of these teams stink, literally. Players on international teams travel to and from the arenas in their uniforms, and many players forsake showers as a result. I got a really close look at Argentina during the Worlds in Indianapolis, and I do not believe Fabricio Oberto, Luis Scola or Andres Nocioni bathed during the entire tournament. BO may be repulsive, but it also keeps defenders a few extra inches away.

We'll have to get Chris Bosh to confirm it for us, but yeah, Peter John Ramos looks pretty stank.

U.S. shows up late to World party, survives Puerto Rico [ESPN.com]

But before we get too excited about this, I have a feeling that this win falls into the same "That Team We Just Beat Wasn't Very Good" category, right next to the wins over Puerto Rico and China. Lithuania is traditionally one of the better basketball nations, but a few of their key guys are taking the summer off, including Pacers guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, who's been a stud for them in international play. And if Lithuania has any real aspirations of winning the whole thing, they're not going to show us much of their repetoire in an exhibition game.

So that puts the Team USA total at 4-0 in exhibition games, with three of them being romps. I feel as cynical as Skip Bayless saying it, but the only one of those results that means anything to me is the one non-blowout. It's still going to be a while before we're playing good teams, with their best players and gameplans attacking us all-out.

Basketball: U.S. crushes Lithuania, 111-88, in worlds tuneup [International Herald Tribune]

So Kobe adds his name to the list of players who have pulled out of the training camp, including Paul Pierce, Lamar Odom, and J.J. Redick. Pierce is having elbow surgery, Lamar Odom tragically lost his 6-month-old son Jayden, and J.J. Redick's had problems with his back and a breathalyzer.

Kobe has an expressed a desire, to be with Team USA as he rehabs, attending both the training camp and this summer's games, which seems like a much better idea than, say, rehabbing at a hotel in Eagle County, Colorado. He might want to avoid that.

Kobe won't play for USA after knee surgery [ESPN.com news services]