He hasn't made it public yet, but Nielsen, who plies his trade in Lithuania, plans to retire from international competition after the Beijing Games. Despite what everyone is saying, he also plans on taking home an Olympic medal.

"How perfect would that be? To beat the Dream Team, then go into the medal rounds," Nielsen said of playing at his last Games. "I just want to enjoy this last one, and see what happens. Of course, I don't want it to end tomorrow. We came here to get a medal and we still plan to.

"It's a massive game because of the team we are coming up against, but it's also a quarter-final in the Olympic Games, and we want to get to the medal rounds, and the only way to do that is to beat the USA.

"If I'm going to tell you the truth, of course, it's not ideal to play them now and I'd be silly to say it is. It would be much better not to be meeting them until we get to the medal rounds, but the fact is it is here now and if we want to pull off the big one, we have to do it now and we're ready to do that.

"I believe the form we have right now, we're at the peak of what we can give. When do you want to play them? At your peak, and that's where we are. We're right where we need to be and this is our time."

If the Boomers win this game it would join the legendary underdog victories of Australian sporting folklore, up there with Steven Bradbury, the America's Cup, or the defeat of 40-1-on favourite Ajax in the 1930s.

For Australia, it is that big a deal. For the US, the Boomers are just another speed bump on the way to the gold medal.

"Underdog status, that's exactly where Australians belong, it's the best way to be," Nielsen said. "We've got a crack at one of the biggest upsets in Australian sporting history, and what a stage to do it on.

"We realise what's in front of us, and we all know what is there to be had. In my career, there hasn't been a game as big as this. You're playing to go into the medal rounds and against the best team in the world. What we have to do is take their athleticism out of the game. If we let them run up and down, then it's all over and it will be a circus show.

"It would be silly to say we're going to stop Kobe [Bryant] more than LeBron [James], they have so many weapons and it's more about taking away their style of play and making it work the way we want it to."

Nielsen said that, having played and pushed the US in a practice match in Shanghai before the Games, they will not be starstruck by the NBA talent.

Coach Brian Goorjian, who has won five national titles and won more games than any other Australian sporting coach, pulled up shy of saying this is the biggest game in which he has coached.

"It's the Olympics, it's the USA, it's further than I've ever been as a coach at the Olympics … it's the big stage, but I can't be looking at those things," Goorjian said. "I have to try to keep away from the emotion of it. The big thing is making sure the guys think it can happen, and while I know it's easy to say that and talk it up, I honestly believe they do think that way.

"I'm really proud of the way they have played so far, but the reality is we are going to have to play as well as any team I've ever coached to win this one. The US have been making good teams, very good teams, look very ordinary."

Having run the US to just 11 points in Shanghai, Nielsen and Goorjian know the surprise factor won't come into tonight's game. The US will have seen the Australians beat Russia and Lithuania, and now know what to expect from the Boomers.

"Australia always plays a completely different style of game than we played [against Germany, which they won by 49 points]," Bryant said. "They run a continuity offence and they are very proficient at it and they run hard cuts and set hard picks. They are real smart, so it will be a different ball game.

"I expect them to play hard and tough, they won't back down and will come ready to play."