With the Redeem Team (USA) and world champions Spain within this pack, Group B certainly is the one receiving the most attention at the Olympic basketball tournament.

The supporting actors include Greece, cast in the role of the last team to have beaten Team USA, host nation China, Germany, featuring an NBA MVP (Dirk Nowitzki) and the guy many in the US are calling the traitor (Chris Kaman), and Afrobasket champs Angola, who were thrashed hardest by the original Dream Team.

With each country having already played three games, and with only two more to go in the group phase, now is the perfect time to speculate on how each will do in the upcoming weeks. So here is my rundown of Group B..

Angola: Have proved just how much basketball has evolved in Africa. Their play against the USA was clearly inspiring. They were fired up and they wanted to show the world they can keep up with anyone. Whilst this improvement was obvious, it is also quite clear that Angola has still yet to reach the top level in international basketball.

Their two biggest setbacks have been a lack of height and a lack of international experience. Whilst they are gaining more of the latter with each game, the need for a powerful big man is becoming more and more important. Once again I was impressed by Olimpio Cipriano in the opening game, alas he was missing from the team that played the US due to injury.

Anyway, their current number of wins (0) will probably remain following the last two group meetings. Truth is, a win for Angola at the moment looks highly unlikely.

Germany: The other team I am predicting to end their participation in the group stages. They might have Nowitzki and Kaman, but they lack steady guard play. That’s not to say there is no talent there, but the German guards simply aren't consistent enough to offer the type of support that their NBA big men would need.

Germany have been riding Dirk ever since he put on the national jersey. Kaman actually helps him a whole bunch as Nowitzki can finally concentrate on scoring whilst Kaman will do the dirty work in the low post. Still, they need someone to take care of the ball and they need at least one wing player who can consistently knock down those long shots if they want to advance. Thus far, they have not convinced me that they have the personnel.

China: After having seen their opening game against the USA, I now believe China have become a basketball-crazed nation. In a country with such an enormous population this means that their long-term future in the sport is looking very much golden.

As for today’s Chinese team? Pretty much the same applies here as with the Germans. They have Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, two NBA players to build around. Interestingly, coach Jonas Kazlauskas has devised a gameplan where they put the team first and do not exploit the strengths of their “NBA guys” fully. This has actually showed us that the team has more talents to offer.

Liu Wei, the starting point guard, has shown flashes of being a decent floor general, while Sun Yue has proved that the interest from the Lakers for his services was not just a publicity stunt. I expect China to have huge battles against both Greece and Germany and, with a win against the Germans, they will be the ones advancing to the next round.

Greece: A loss against Spain and the USA coupled with a win against Germany has pretty much guaranteed two things. Firstly, Greece will advance to the next round, and secondly, they will most likely end their run there as they are set to meet one of the better opponents from Group A.

The Greeks do not look as motivated as they did in the World Championships, when they managed to beat the US in the semi-finals. This is still a group that is well coached and has the grasps of the fundamentals of team basketball. Their biggest problem is they can no longer sneak up on people as everyone is looking at them as the last team to beat the USA. Their match against China might turn out to be a special one if the hosts come into the game as motivated as they have been thus far.

Spain: I thought the world champs knew a thing or two about not mailing in a performance after being surprised by Russia at last year’s Eurobasket, yet they managed to sleepwalk through much of their game against China.

Eventually the Gasol family woke up and took care of business in an overtime rout that never should have happened. It is going to be interesting to see how much effort they will show against the US as they might want to leave a few tricks up their sleeves for a future meeting for the gold medal.

I have really been impressed by DKV Juventut’s Ricky Rubio who, at the ripe old age of 18, is showing the type of maturity only seasoned veterans seem to possess. The younger Gasol, Marc, has also played quite well but, considering he is the reigning MVP of the ACB, I cannot call his performance a surprise.

USA: Let’s get something out of the way right now: The US is the best team at the tournament, no ands, ifs or buts. Will they win gold? Now that is a different question. You see, the USA has the best team, but the Redeem Team has not been head and shoulders above the competition. Their defense has been mediocre at best and many times they revert to one-on-one basketball on the offensive end.

It is for these reasons they look like a streetball team rather than an actual unit. This is definitely not the same team that I saw play at the FIBA Americas in Las Vegas last year. That team had true leaders, role players, and unity.

Last year I was raving about how this is the first USA squad since the original Dream Team to show true dominance. Well this year’s version still has that potential, but the game they have shown is far from special. However, I wouldn't bet against Team USA this year - these players still have a chip on their shoulders and I expect them to emerge with their best when the going gets tough.