There has been a lot of talk between the 1992Â Dream Team and this year's US Men's Basketball Olympic squad about who's the best. The United States has a long history of basketball domination dating back to 1936 when they won their first gold medal. They went on to win 63 straight games in Olympic play until the Soviets beat them in the controversial 1972 gold medal game. The US started another streak that lasted until 1988Â when it was once again thwarted by the Soviets. Since then, Team USA has fielded the NBA's best to compete against the world's best. The switch proved to be working until the 2004 Athens Olympics. Capturing the bronze left a bad taste in their mouth and caused the Americans to change strategies once again. The 2008 "Redeem Team" brought back memories of Barcelona and established America as the world's basketball superpower once again.
This year's squad is trying to do the same and so far have been doing a damn good job. But are they better than the '92 team? Better than the '84 team? Here's our ranking of each of the 17 US basketball teams in Olympic history.
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