WHEN: Sept. 16-Oct. 1.

 MEDALS: Men's and women's team competition.

 OUTLOOK: The United States easily won the men's competition the last two Olympics with NBA players and should do the same in Sydney. The Americans have captured the gold medal in every Olympics they have competed except for 1972 and 1988 when the Soviet Union won. Croatia, Lithuania and Yugoslavia all feature NBA players, too.

 For the first time, the U.S. women's team will truly be a team. Eleven of its 12 members played on the national team selected in May 1995, and the group spent the last eight months touring the world, compiling a 51-0 record. Russia, Brazil and China figure to be the best of the rest.