The United States men’s basketball team is expected to beat every single opponent it plays. It didn’t happen in Athens, though; Team USA lost three games to see its all-time Olympic record fall to 114-5.

That must have been quite the wake-up call. The team that landed in Beijing is taking things much more seriously. Kobe Bryant is there; so is coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is working with Mike D’Antoni to make sure Team USA plays a style that is more effective against international competition.

This approach has the United States once again favored quite heavily at 1-5 to win the gold medal. The defending winners from Argentina are the third favorites at 12-1; it looks like the toughest competition will come from Spain at 5-1. Pau Gasol, Jose Calderon and company won’t be pushovers – but Team USA looks too good, too deep and too committed to mess this one up.