By Eduardo Rojas / e.rojas@latinospost.com (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Jul 18, 2012 03:50 PM EDT

Team USA remains as the reigning Olympic champ after having won the gold medal in Beijing back in 2008. Now, in just over ten days, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the team will start testing their talents as they attempt to prove once again who's basketball king.

The 18th Basketball Olympic Tournament will be initiating on the July 28 in London and Team USA's first match will take place a day later, against Tony Parker and his French teammates.

France has some NBA players of its own including Boris Diaw of the Spurs, Nicolas Batum of the Trail Blazers, Ronny Turiaf of the Heat, and the aforementioned Tony Parker.

How will they fare against Team USA? The Bleacher Report states that a shortcoming the Frenchmen possess is the lack of depth. Team USA on the other hand has plenty of that which is why they should not have much trouble defeating them.

The basketball tournament is organized in two groups with each consisting of six countries. Each country competes against each of the other and only the best four of each group proceed to the knock-out stage.

Pool A consists of Argentina, France, Lithuania, Nigeria, Tunisia and the USA.

Pool B consists of Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Russia and Spain.

While USA should have not much problem defeating most of the countries in its pool, teams that have enough potential to give it a scare include Argentina and Lithuania, teams that will face the U.S. according to the following schedule:

Team USA's Game Schedule

USA vs. France (July 29, 9:30 a.m. EST)

USA vs. Tunisia (July 31, 5:15 p.m. EST)

USA vs. Nigeria (August 2, 5:15 p.m. EST)

USA vs. Lithuania (August 4, 9:30 a.m. EST)

USA vs. Argentina (August 6, 5:15 p.m. EST)

2012 Men's Olympic Basketball Competition Schedule

Preliminary Round Pools

Pool A

W-L

Pool B

W-L

Argentina

 

Australia

 

France

 

Brazil

 

Lithuania

 

China

 

Nigeria

 

Great Britain

 

Tunisia

 

Russia

 

USA

 

Spain

 

Preliminary Round

Olympic Park, Basketball Arena

Sunday, July 29

9:00 a.m.

Nigeria - Tunisia

11:15 a.m.

Brazil - Australia

2:30 p.m.

USA - France

4:45 p.m.

Spain - China

8:00 p.m.

Russia - Great Britain

10:15 p.m.

Argentina - Lithuania

Tuesday, July 31

9:00 a.m.

China - Russia

11:15 a.m.

Australia - Spain

2:30 p.m.

Lithuania - Nigeria

4:45 p.m.

Great Britain - Brazil

8:00 p.m.

France - Argentina

10:15 p.m.

Tunisia - USA

Thursday, August 2

9:00 a.m.

France - Lithuania

11:15 a.m.

Australia - China

2:30 p.m.

Argentina - Tunisia

4:45 p.m.

Brazil - Russia

8:00 p.m.

Spain - Great Britain

10:15 p.m.

USA - Nigeria

Saturday, August 4

9:00 a.m.

Tunisia - France

11:15 a.m.

Russia - Spain

2:30 p.m.

Lithuania - USA

4:45 p.m.

China - Brazil

8:00 p.m.

Great Britain - Australia

10:15 p.m.

Nigeria - Argentina

Monday, August 6

9:00 a.m.

Australia - Russia

11:15 a.m.

Tunisia - Lithuania

2:30 p.m.

France - Nigeria

4:45 p.m.

Great Britain - China

8:00 p.m.

Spain - Brazil

10:15 p.m.

Argentina - USA

Quarterfinals

North Greenwich Arena

Wednesday, August 8

2:00 p.m.

Session 1 (2 Games)

8:00 p.m.

Session 2 (2 Games)

Semifinals

North Greenwich Arena

Friday, August 10

5:00 p.m.

Semifinal #1

9:00 p.m.

Semifinal #2

Finals

North Greenwich Arena

Sunday, August 12

11:00 a.m.

Bronze Medal Game

3:00 p.m.

Gold Medal Game

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

NBC will provide TV coverage.