USA Basketball 2012: Game vs. Spain is Toughest Yet on Road to London Olympics

Pau Gasol (C) is surrounded by team mates after a training session of the Spanish basketball team ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games, at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona July 23, 2012. (Photo : REUTERS/GustauNacarino)

While the 2012 London Olympics are set to begin on July 27, its basketball tournament, officially called the 18th Basketball Olympic Tournament, begins on the 28th for women and on the 29th for men.

Team USA (men's) will try to repeat earning the gold like it did back in Beijing's 2008 and the current roster will have a pre-Olympic opportunity to measure just how ready they are for the games as they face the mighty Spanish team.

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Kobe, LeBron James and Co. will have a taste of what the red fury tastes like especially as Spain is packed with NBA players such as Pau Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, Jose Calderon and Rudy Fernandez.

It was Spain that gave the USA a run for its money in 2008 and four years later the team still remains as the most capable to upset the U.S. team's Olympic dream.

Spain beats USA in two important fronts which are height - Pau Gasol vs Tyson Chandler - and in team chemistry. Team Spain's roster has been playing together for several years now and they've played alongside each other more than Team USA, which has 6 new players in its roster. This gives the Iberians, the advantage of playing team basketball while USA should depend more on athleticism, young talent and speed.

The U.S. will most likely rotate its line up pretty frequently as it'll try to bolster the front-end of the court with James and Anthony while Chandler spends his minutes on the bench.

It'll be Team USA's toughest game yet in the series of exhibition games it has played so far leading to the Olympics.

On Sunday, the won over Argentina 86-80 in what was a very competitive competition. Spain on the other hand, arguably has the ability to do more than Argentina.

Live Online Streaming:

Live treaming of the Game will be provided by ESPN 3. Watch by clicking here.

TV Schedule:

Initial tip-off at 4:30 p.m. ET and it will be played in Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain.

2012 Men's Olympic Basketball Competition Schedule

 All times listed are local. (Source: USABasketball.com)