ESPN NBA

Pretty much from the beginning of this Olympic ride, I have been hardcore in the camp of those who believe the U.S. would require top effort, and perhaps a dash of luck, to win gold.

I had no real doubts about the players on Team USA's roster.

Having seen the results every major international tournament since 2002, however, I had a deep-seated feeling that the rest of the world was extremely competent. And in single-elimination settings, with closely matched teams, no one gets to waltz to any titles. Instead, it's more like the NCAA tournament, where there are a handful of contenders, and there's no real way to predict how things will shake out.

Along those lines, I spent all kinds of time getting to know about the Spanish team, a top contender to knock off Team USA. I have also waxed poetic about how this team does itself a disservice by thinking of itself as a new version of 1992's Dream Team.

Have you been watching, though? After five games of pool play, the U.S. has delivered constant and extraordinary effort. It has been largely selfless and a joy to watch.

Even against strong competition like Greece and Spain, it has not looked difficult.

It could still all be different in the medal round. Any basketball team can lose any game. Yet, I find myself switching camps entirely, from "the U.S. better be careful" to "how is anyone going to beat this team?"

One of the biggest factors I have noticed is almost the exact opposite of what everyone was saying before the tournament.

The U.S. is big. Really big.

No, they don't have more enormous players than other teams. In fact, much was made of the fact that plenty of teams have more and bigger 7-footers.

But among the elite wing players who handle the ball so much in the kind of up-tempo game the U.S. has been forcing, the Americans are not only fast, but also quite a bit bigger and stronger.

Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James have the ball a ton of the time, and their weights are listed as 205, 216, and 250 respectively.

The Spanish team has three biggish players who can play on the wing, Berni Rodriguez (6-5, 220), Alex Mumbru (6-7, 220) and Carlos Jimenez (6-9, 225). But with a lot of zone, substitutions, and fast-breaking, the USA's powerful wings also find themselves being checked by 185-pound Rudy Fernandez, 170-pound Juan Carlos Navarro, or 180-pound Ricky Rubio.

When you see a 180-pound guy trying to keep LeBron James from the hoop, things start to look a little unfair in favor of the United States.

It's a problem that just about every team will have against Team USA, which has a ton (or close) of highly talented muscle on the perimeter. At every level of play, the bigger, stronger, and faster athletes tend to have the advantage.

Having seen the astonishing efficacy of these wing players at both ends of the floor, it is easy to imagine that opposing teams might have a new concern in building their rosters. Against this Team USA roster, you might be able to sneak an undersized guard or two onto the floor, but a steady diet of 180-pound perimeter players guarding shooting guards and small forwards seems like a recipe to be overwhelmed.

How opponents address that in the medal round remains to be seen. But after many years of U.S. head scratching, trying to figure out how to tailor the American team to suit the international game, now that equation seems be shifting. The big question now: What will international teams do to adjust to Team USA?

(Photo by Jesse Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images)