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A weakened U.S. basketball team believes its still the strongest one in the Olympics.LeBron James, Stephen Curry and enough stars to fill an All-NBA team passed on playing, leaving the Americans with a roster that falls short against the Dream Team comparisons they always face.But the U.S. doesnt need to beat the Dream Team, or to be one. It just has to be the best in Brazil.I respect the guys that declined the opportunity, but I think we still have a great team here, a lot of talent, center DeMarcus Cousins said. We still have the same goal in mind, winning the gold medal.The Americans remain favored to do that, which would give them three in a row. Some things to watch as they try:THE U.S. ROSTERWhile theyre not the Dream Team, the U.S. squad in Rio is still an impressive group of players. The team includes: Golden States Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green; New Yorks Carmelo Anthony; Clevelands Kyrie Irving; Torontos Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan; Indianas Paul George; Dallas Harrison Barnes; Chicagos Jimmy Butler; Sacramentos DeMarcus Cousins and the Clippers DeAndre Jordan.THE FORMATTwo six-team groups. Each team faces the others in its pool, and the top four teams in each advance to the quarterfinals.Group A features the U.S., Serbia, France, China, Australia, and Venezuela.Group B is Spain, Lithuania, Brazil, Argentina, Croatia and Nigeria.WHICH GROUP IS TOUGHER?Group A is more top-heavy, with the U.S., Serbia and France finishing 1-2-3 in the Basketball World Cup two years ago. But Group B appears to be deeper, with Spain (No. 2), Lithuania (3), Argentina (4), Brazil (9) and Croatia (12) all among the top dozen ranked teams in the world.GRAB A SEAT, THIS WILL BE A WHILEThe Olympic basketball tournament runs nearly the entire length of the Games, making the first round of the NBA playoffs seem speedy. Competition begins Aug. 6, the day after the opening ceremony, and the medal games are Aug. 21, the day of the closing ceremony.ROLLING INTO RIOThe U.S. has won 63 straight games, 45 in FIBA competitions and 18 in exhibition play.CAPTAIN AMERICACarmelo Anthony will become the first U.S. mens player to appear in four Olympics, and become the most decorated mens basketball Olympian ever if the U.S. wins a medal. He has a bronze from 2004 and golds in Beijing and London.THIRD TIME THE CHARM?Spain sure hopes this is the year it can break through, after pushing the U.S. deep into the final minutes of the last two gold-medal games. The Americans emerged with a 118-107 victory in 2008 and held on to win 107-100 in London. The Spanish bring back veterans such as Pau Gasol, Jose Calderon and Juan Carlos Navarro for a final shot.GOODBYE, GOLDEN GENERATIONThis certainly seems like the end for Argentinas greats, who won gold in 2004, bronze in 2008 and narrowly missed another medal when they finished fourth in 2012. Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni are back, with Scola chosen as Argentinas flag bearer.BEST FIRST-ROUND DAYGroup B has some intriguing games on Aug. 13. Spain meets Lithuania in a rematch of the 2015 EuroBasket championship game, and Brazil and Argentina renew a fierce rivalry thats seen one knock the other out of the last three major international tournaments. Argentina eliminated Brazil in the 2010 world championship and 2012 Olympics, while the Brazilians -- coached by Ruben Magnano, who led Argentina to its 2004 gold -- ended the Argentinians stay in the 2014 Basketball World Cup. Croatia and Nigeria meet in the nightcap.MEN IN THE MIDDLESpain is keeping Marc Gasol on its roster for now and Australia is doing the same with Andrew Bogut, hoping their centers can return from injuries during the NBA season. France has added Utahs Rudy Gobert to its Rio roster after his recovery from injuries kept him out of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament it won in early July.---Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BriancmahoneyCustom Nike Minnesota Twins Jerseys .Y. -- Jayna Hefford scored the winning goal Friday as Canada survived a scare with a 4-3 win over Sweden at the Four Nations womens hockey tournament. Custom Nike Atlanta Braves Jerseys . From filmmaker Nanette Burstein (On the Ropes), The Price of Gold revisits the saga that rocked the figure skating world ahead of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Winter Games: the assault on Nancy Kerrigan, and the plot that led its way back to her rival Tonya Harding. https://www.customjerseysnikebaseball.com/custom-nike-chicago-white-sox-jerseys/ .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. Custom Nike Oakland Athletics Jerseys . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. Custom Nike Toronto Blue Jays Jerseys . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1.UCLA?coach Jim Mora was issued a public reprimand by the Pac-12 after he referred to the officiating as criminal in a postgame radio interview following the Bruins win against Arizona?on Saturday.Mora received a 15-yard penalty for disputing a non-call by the officials late in the first quarter and, after the game, was told by UCLA sideline reporter Wayne Cook, That [penalty] was a crazy call. We still cant figure it out.Youre talking about when they had a lineman 8 yards downfield blocking the linebacker and they threw the ball? Mora said. Yeah, I guess maybe I dont know football very well. I dont know.Arizona was initially penalized for an ineligible receiver downfield, but the call was changed, according to a statement from the conference.The flag was picked up when it was determined that the Arizona quarterback was out of the pocket and legally threw the ball away out of bounds, the statement said. Per the CCA Officiating Manual, If the passer is legally throwing the ball away and it lands near or beyond the sideline, do not penalize the offense for having ineligible players downfield.The conference said it received confirmation from the NCAA that the play was ruled correctly.Mora also made a reference to the end of the Cal-Utah?game, in which Utah was mistakenly charged its secoond timeout with 14 seconds left.dddddddddddd. The Utes had first-and-goal from the 2-yard line at the time with one timeout left, as opposed to two; coach Kyle Whittingham said it changed his play-calling.Utah ran it unsuccessfully on first down, called a timeout, threw an incompletion on second down, and the Utes were stuffed on a run play to end the game in a 28-23 loss.Kyle Whittingham is a heck of a football coach and a very smart man, and I saw the words come out of his mouth as he looked at the official: This ones on you, Mora said. So, Im going to press for answers. I think that our players deserve answers. They invest way too much in this game to not have answers. To not have it done the right way. Its criminal.This is the second time Mora has complained publicly about the conferences officiating this season. After the Bruins overtime loss to Texas A&M, he accused a Pac-12 official of tapping center Scott Quessenberry near the end of the game, thus inadvertently triggering the teams silent snap count and leading to a premature snap in the final minute of regulation. Replay of the sequence, however, did not indicate any wrongdoing by the official. ' ' '