Australian basketballers face rebuilt US team in Beijing

Tonight in Shanghai, the Boomers will play the US in their final Games warm-up.

For the Australians, it is a chance to measure themselves against the overwhelming gold medal favourite, a team they have a good chance of meeting straight after the group stage.

Apart from Andrew Bogut, Chris Andersen and Matthew Nielsen, the bulk of the team are drawn from the ranks of the troubled NBL. Yet only last week they took Olympic champion Argentina to the wire in a pre-Games tournament.

But the key question come Games time is whether the US superstars can wrest back the Olympic title they lost so miserably in Athens.

The pressure on this latest version of the "Dream Team" is intense.

Since defeat in the semi-finals in 2004, the US has measured every minute in a countdown to revenge.

Stung by the Athens result and claims of poor off-court behaviour, US basketball chiefs have changed their approach, attempting to get the players to buy into a team ethos built during the past three years by coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Where once the elite of the NBA felt they could simply turn up to succeed, it's now all about the group. Not for nothing has this been nicknamed the "Redeem Team" by some.

But controversy continues to follow the team, with star LeBron James criticised recently for saying he guaranteed the US would win gold.

"We should be guaranteeing us winning. That's the only way we can look at it," he said.

"That's not me being overconfident, or saying anything against our opponents. Our goal is to guarantee the gold medal. That's how everybody should look at it."

For the Boomers, after pushing Argentina all the way last week, there is a satisfaction that, on their day, they can mix it with the best.

That belief will be tested tonight, as will the seriousness of their opponents' commitment to their own quest.