The Chinese men's basketball team is set to face the reigning Olympic champions Team USA to open their 2016 Rio Summer Olympics men's basketball campaign on Saturday, August 6 at the Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro.

Rumors abound that China is feeling the pressure of trying to represent their country and perform well in this summer's Games, but head coach Gong Luming is insisting that they "would rather take their Rio Olympic opener against Olympic and world champions USA as a learning experience than pressure", according to Xinhuanet.

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"We regard it as a learning process when we face USA," said Gong Luming following a Chinese team practice session on Thursday. "Now USA has 12 players in Rio. Even they find 12 more, 12 more and 12 more, they still have much for us to learn."

Team Dragon is included in the tough Group A, dubbed as the Games' "Group of Death", as aside from the US team, the group also has 2015 FIBA Oceania champion Australia, 2015 FIBA Americas champion Venezuela, and late Olympic qualifiers France and Serbia, which are also both star-studded squads.

NBC Olympics predicted that Team USA is set to "win this one in a runaway" as head coach Mike Krzyzewski squad has "super athletes at every position" and is considered "he most athletic team in the tournament".

China remains unfazed about their inherent disadvantages, though, even as they are coming off two blowout exhibition matches in the States prior to this tournament.

"We should cherish this opportunity and keep our cool mind," said former NBA player Yi Jianlian, who is currently on his fourth Olympic campaign for the country. "Many of my teammates will embrace their respective Olympic debut, and need to focus on the game in such a tough group."

China's frontcourt is said to be one of the tallest groups in the competitions with four players standing 7-foot and taller.

Center Zhou Qi, who at 20 years old was drafted by the Houston Rockets last June, is 7-foot-2 and 218 pounds, but is comparatively smaller than US center DeMarcus Cousins at 6-foot-11, 270 pounds.

TagsChina sports, China basketball, Rio Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics, china, USA