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With the two Olympic Basketball Groups now set and determined, which group would you rather be in?  Or as a thread in our Olympic Basketball Forum asks, “which is the Group of Death, A or B?”

The twelve participating national teams were randomly drawn into two separate groups..  Each of the two group will have six teams, with the top four teams from each group advancing into the quarterfinals.   Here is what the groups look like:

Group A: Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Iran, Lithuania, and Russia
Group B: Angola, China, Germany, Greece, Spain, and USA

Group A
In group A, we have the aging gold medalists from the 2004 Athens Olympics, Argentina.  With age, an injury to Manu Ginobili, and the lack of Pepe Sanchez and Walter Hermmann, they’re not as fearsome as they were in 2004 or even 2006, but certainly cannot be overlooked.

Also in Group A are three very solid European teams.  The 2007 Eurobasket surprise champions Russia, led by the do-it-all Andrei Kirilenko and Victor Khryapa.

Even without stars Arvydas Macijauskas and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuania is always a force to be dealt with as they’re battle-tested with Ramunas Siskauskas and Sarunas Jasikevicius.  Then we have the revamped Croatian squad that went unbeaten in the recent Pre-Olympic World Qualifiers, thanks to efficient performances by Marko Tomas.

Rounding out Group A is a competitive Aussie team with David Andersen, Brad Newley and Andrew Bogut, and a not so competitive Iranian team.  All in all, this group is probably the most-rounded of the two groups.

Group B
Group B features two of the favorites of the tournament - the United States (now with preparation and urgency!) and Spain, the 2006 World Champions.  The Spaniards are a disciplined, emotional, talented, and stacked team - a deadly combination.  Not far behind these the USA and Spain, is Greece.  Team Hellas just came off a 4-0 record in the World Qualifying Tourney, defeating their opponents by a sick 32 points a game, including a complete 57-point drubbing of Lebanon. Yikes.

I would place hosts China and the Dirk Nowitzki-led Germans in the same tier.  No two teams need more from their NBA stars than these two teams.  China has the pressure to do well on their homecourt, they have Yao Ming coming off injury, a young and talented 7-0 Yi Jianlian, and Wang Zhizhi coming back to the National Team.  Together they form the new version of the Great Wall.  Germany has really tighetned up their supporting cast, adding a naturalized Chris Kaman and solid outside shooters that will make teams pay for paying too much attention to Nowitzki.

Also in group B, is the perennial African champion Angola.  This team continues to improve year over year as they have the best organization and support of all African teams. Led by Eduardo Mingas, Olimpio Cipriano, and Joaquim Gomes, the Angolans are never an easy squad to defeat.

So which group is tougher?
Well, it all depends on which perspective you are taking. You have five competitive teams in Group A, but you also have Iran in that same group.  Group B has three top-tiered teams, with a three decent teams in Angola, China and Germany, each with an decent chance of upsetting any team.

It really comes down to which likely-scenario is tougher - With Group A, there are five teams with similar chances advancing unto the next round, so four teams out of five, with the sixth team Iran unlikely to make any noise.  However in group B, it’s essentially three teams fighting for one spot because the United States, Spain and Greece are very likely to qualify into the next round.

So with that said, if I were a national team, chances are better to advance in group A scenario.

Links and Resources: Which one is the “group of death”, A or B? (Interbasket Forum), Olympic Basketball Forum & Message Board (Interbasket)