With most teams, if you want to discern any potential weak spots, you look at their recent losses. You see if anything in particular caused the team trouble, and whether it's a pattern.
But this is not the case with the U.S. women's basketball team. There is very little data to analyze in regard to the Americans losing. In fact, you could almost say there was no relevant data at all, because they've lost only one game in two decades, and that was 10 years ago.
The thing that does make that semifinal loss to Russia in the 2006 World Championship somewhat relevant, though, is that four players on that squad -- Seimone Augustus, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi -- are still on the national team. For what it's worth, that tournament also was held in Brazil.
"For those that were on that team, that's a driving force," Bird said of that 2006 loss. "That's in the back of our heads, whether we admit it or not. It's there."
That tells you about their fierce competitiveness, and how much USA Basketball means to them. For Bird, Catchings and Taurasi, this is their fourth Olympics. It's the third for Augustus.
The United States will be going for its sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal in women's hoops, but Taurasi said it's not as if she and her teammates have already started polishing that new piece of hardware in their minds. They realize they have to earn it.
"You know that these teams have some of the best players in the world," Taurasi said of the rest of the Olympic field. "And when you make mistakes, they hurt you. For us, it's always making sure we focus on who's in our locker room."
The U.S. team includes five former WNBA MVPs (Taurasi, Catchings, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Elena Delle Donne), last year's WNBA Finals MVP (Sylvia Fowles), and this year's front-runner for WNBA rookie of the year (Breanna Stewart).
And it's got a coaching staff led by an 11-time NCAA champion who has already guided the United States to one Olympic and two world championship golds (Geno Auriemma). Among his assistants are a three-time Olympic gold medalist as a player (Dawn Staley), and a coach who has been part of five WNBA title teams (Cheryl Reeve, as an assistant at Detroit and as head coach at Minnesota).
The U.S. contingent in women's basketball has a collection of Hall of Fame talent -- both on the floor and on the sidelines -- that is so vast that the competition in Rio de Janeiro might appear to be a mere formality as to who wins the gold.
But that is the last thing that Auriemma is thinking. He's had a great deal of practice at this concept of preparing just as earnestly if you are heavily favored to win as if you are a hungry challenger striving to pull an upset.
That mentality has been paramount to UConn's success, and it fits in perfectly with the national team, which happens to have five former Huskies. Although it does prompt Auriemma to jokingly question his willingness to spend so long in the pressure-cooker.
"I don't know why I keep putting myself in these situations," he said, smiling after the U.S. team's recent stretch of four exhibition games with practices in between. "It's not bad enough that we've got to win every game at UConn."
The answer, of course, is that this is exactly what he thrives on: seeking perfection even when the stakes are the highest. And part of that is being able to identify weaknesses that a lot of people either won't see or will dismiss as insignificant.
So what are the challenges that the U.S. team could face? There's the obvious one that's frequently cited: the lack of preparation time. The multimonth tour the U.S. team took in 1995-96 to be as ready as possible for the Atlanta Games started this on-going gold rush, but there's been nothing like that since for preparation.
Thus, the Americans are very used to, as Taurasi puts it, cramming like crazy for their biggest tests. They rely on the WNBA and their overseas play to have them sharp individually, and their experience and commitment to USA Basketball to help them play well collectively.
Still, there are some potential obstacles. Again, this is speaking relatively. Because the Americans are good at everything and great at most things.
On offense, this team seems as potentially powerful as any the Americans have fielded. Four of the U.S. players have led the WNBA in scoring average for a season; Taurasi has done that five times and Angel McCoughtry twice. That doesn't include Charles, who is currently leading the league in scoring at 21.4 points per game.
But there might be some concern about defense. Auriemma addressed that after a 104-89 victory against Australia in an exhibition Sunday in New York.
"I don't think our perimeter defense was that great; I thought we gave up a lot of 3s," he said of the Aussies' 10 of 24 accuracy from behind the arc. "We haven't spent a lot of time on it, but I think we'll be a lot better as the games progress in Rio."
The age/experience factor in regard to Bird, Taurasi and Lindsay Whalen in the backcourt is a huge advantage as far as running the offense, but it puts a little more emphasis on the U.S. post players being able to cover ground defensively.
It also highlights the importance of the team's two primary rim protectors, Fowles and fellow center Brittney Griner, to be aggressive and effective as the last line of defense.
"This is something I've been focusing on ever since I've been with USA Basketball," said Fowles, who is on her third Olympic team. "I'm just looking to go out there and disrupt things as much as I can defensively."
"I don't think our perimeter defense was that great ... We haven't spent a lot of time on it, but I think we'll be a lot better as the games progress in Rio." USA Basketball coach Geno Auriemma
Griner, who in her fourth WNBA season has 390 career blocked shots, is playing in her first Olympics. She's been a starter at Phoenix, as she was collegiately at Baylor, but she doesn't mind at all being a reserve for the U.S. team.
"I can come in with fresh legs and a lot of energy," she said. "I like that."
Having the 6-foot-6 Fowles and the 6-8 Griner might be especially important in a potential matchup with Australia. Aussie center Elizabeth Cambage is 6-8, and she had 22 points and eight rebounds Sunday.
Auriemma said he told Fowles, Griner and Charles before that game to try to stop Cambage at the foul line and not let her get deep into the paint.
"And they all looked at me like, 'Yeah, why don't you go try it,'" he said. "I mean, as hard as they tried, there's just nothing you can do against somebody like Cambage. We tried to make it difficult on her."
Australia is the second-ranked team in the world behind the United States, and is the top squad in Group A. The Americans are the ranked No. 1, of course, and lead Group B.
After Senegal, the United States faces Spain, Serbia, Canada and China in group play. The Americans soundly beat Canada 83-43 last Friday in an exhibition in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The U.S. team met Spain, which is currently ranked No. 3, in the 2014 world championship final, winning 77-64. In the London Olympics in 2012, the Americans beat France in the gold-medal game 86-50. The French are currently ranked No. 4 in the world.
Auriemma, in the comic-hyperbole way he has of putting things, suggested there was a parade in Paris for the French just getting to the Olympic final four years ago. While he said the response to the U.S. team winning gold was essentially, "Oh, that's nice."
"These women have accomplished so much," Auriemma said. "Maybe because they've won so much, they probably don't get the respect they truly deserve for how dominant they have been."
And it's not as if no other country is trying. Women's basketball worldwide has steadily improved. Russia, the last team to beat the Americans, didn't qualify for the Rio Olympics.
"You try to tell everybody that winning a gold medal isn't easy," Auriemma said. "I know what all the pitfalls are. We were down at half against Australia in London [in the semifinals]. So I know what's out there.
"But it's like the old saying, 'Don't tell me how rough the water is, just bring the boat back to shore.' It's kind of where we are."