“We expect to win gold. Nobody comes to the Olympics to lose,” he said.

With a star-studded line-up featuring the likes Lebron James and Kobe Bryant, the US are widely tipped to retain their title at London 2012.

“A lot of us are older and better. Look at Lebron , he's better than he was in 2008. We've added a lot of great, young players too who are in their prime. I think we're better. We're a lot more athletic and quicker than we were,” added the 28-year-old Brooklyn Nets team member.

The US has won all five of their pre-Olympic exhibition games, including an impressive victory over Great Britain in Manchester.

The US will start their Olympic campaign on Sunday, 29 July against France.