Some tournament this has become, huh? Two days after destroying Spain, LeBron (18 points), Dwight Howard (22 points) and the gang pulverized Germany from the outset, surging to an 18-3 lead and cruising to its fourth easy triumph. For the second game in a row, the Americans put to rest any worries about their perimeter shooting, making 11-of-26 three’s.

The quarterfinals begin Wednesday against Australia, a team that played the Americans close two weeks ago, and that was without star center Andruw Bogut. A USA victory would mean a semifinal match against Argentina or Greece.

Team USA’s awesome four performances in Beijing has prompted to the inevitable – could these guys play with the original Dream Team? (Short answer: Sure!) Dan Wetzel is right that Magic, Larry, Stockton and Laettner weren’t in their prime … but he’s also right that Ewing, the Admiral, Barkley and Mailman would overwhelm Bosh, Dwight Howard and Boozer.