First Lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama attend the U.S.-Brazil exhibition game at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. (REUTERS)

The U.S. men’s basketball team looked a little bit out of sync in its Olympic tuneup Monday night against Brazil in Washington, D.C., and with good reason.

The Brazilians certainly had a hand in forcing Team USA out of its comfort zone, but the more likely excuse was the added pressure of having to perform in front of the 44th President of the United States.

President Barack Obama, as well as First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, were among the sellout crowd at the Verizon Center to watch Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and the rest of the American squad that will represent the United States in the 2012 Summer Games in London.

When the president walked over to his courtside seat prior to tipoff, all eyes in the arena were fixated on the jumbotron. Durant, who grew up in the D.C. area, couldn’t help notice the presence of the leader of the free world in the arena, as did teammates Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler, Chris Paul, LeBron, Kobe, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, James Harden, Andre Iguodala, Carmelo Anthony, and Anthony Davis.

“You have dreams about being in the NBA. You have dreams about making the game-winning shot at the buzzer. You never have dreams about having the president actually watching you play, because you don’t think it’s possible,” LeBron told The Associated Press.

“It’s definitely humbling, to see him here, the first lady and their kids here to watch us play. Really, it’s amazing.”

The added distraction may have contributed to the team’s slow start, as Brazil jumped to a 27-17 lead in the first quarter. The Americans erased any upset bids in the second quarter when they turned it up defensively and held Brazil to just five points in the second quarter. The U.S. took a 32-32 lead into halftime.

“Between Nene, Varejao, and Barbosa, they have a good team. It took a while for our guys to kind of get in a rhythm,” Obama told ESPN’s Mark Jones. “We’re so much deeper that you get a sense they’ll wear them down. I don’t think it’ll be close in the second half.”

Well, Obama’s second-half prediction didn’t quite happen as the Brazilians kept the game close and didn’t allow the Americans to run them out of the gym. The U.S. eventually pulled out an 80-69 victory thanks to LeBron’s game-high 30 points (including 14 in the fourth quarter). It was a far more difficult challenge than the 113-59 blowout win against the Dominican Republic in Las Vegas on July 12.

Despite the disjointed performance against Brazil, President Obama is confident LeBron and Co. will right the ship once the Olympics start on July 27.

“Coach K is one of the greatest coaches of all time. He knows how to bring folks together and think like a team. And obviously the talent that we have at this point is unbelievable. There’s no reason we shouldn’t bring home the gold,” Obama said.

“One thing I’m happy about is how hard everybody is playing,” Obama continued. “You really get a sense on how proud they are to represent the United States, and I think they’ll conduct themselves really well in London.”

As for the 1992 Olympic team vs. 2012 Olympic team debate, add President Obama to the list of people who disagree with Kobe’s recent boast that this year’s USA team could beat the Dream Team, led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Charles Barkley.

“I was around in ’92. I was a Bulls fan so I gotta go with the original Dream Team,” Obama said. “And I suspect that Michael [Jordan] and Sir Charles [Barkley] would point out that they were never down at any point of their games.”

Obama added, “You know, Kobe’s a competitor, so you expect him to do a little trash talking whenever the opportunity arises.”

The best part about the whole throw-down was the reaction of the Cavaliers’ forward, who looks like the Brazilian Carrot Top.

D-Wade not ony posterized him but he did it with such force that it knocked Varejao into the padded basket support. Check it out:

Sorry, Cavs fans. You’re all going to have to wait a little bit longer to taste the champagne because this Cavaliers team, the way it is currently constructed, is not good enough to win in June.

Here are four reasons why the Cavaliers won’t win an NBA title:

1) MIKE BROWN CAN’T COACH OFFENSE
The Cavaliers head coach came from the Gregg Popovich school of defense, but that seems to be the only thing he took with him to Cleveland. Brown can preach and teach defense, but he is an awful offensive coach. His set plays are so basic you might think the Cavs are running an offense from the 1960s. LeBron James is the most explosive, athletic and dynamic offensive player in the league but yet Brown has not been able to get him enough easy shots to help ease the gigantic burden placed on James’ shoulders to win games by himself. All too often, James is at the top of the circle running Brown’s 1-4 set. TNT”s Charles Barkley has said, in more than one occasion, that LeBron needs to play in a system that will take advantage of his speed and athleticism. Going one-on-three 80% of the time can be a bit taxing. Night after night, LeBron has had to work extremely hard for his baskets, and Brown has not done a thing to help his superstar. This kind of vanilla offense may work during the regular season, but it’s not going to get it done in the postseason. Brown’s latest concoction is this ridiculous experiment that has centers Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the court at the same time. This makes the Cavs extremely slow on offense and defense, and it curtails James’ urge to push the ball and create fastbreak opportunities. As long as Mike Brown is the coach, the Cavaliers are not a championship team.

Coach Mike Brown and point guard Mo Williams don't seem to have that championship quality.

2) MO WILLIAMS IS NOT A STAR
To win an NBA title, you have to have a great 1-2 punch. I’ve always believed that if you give LeBron James an All-Star player to play with, the Cavaliers will be a powerhouse. I think it’s safe to say that the Cavaliers should keep looking for that All-Star player because it is certainly not Mo Williams. The much-celebrated offseason acquisition in 2008 has been somewhat of a disappointment. Sure he made the All-Star team last season, but that was only because LeBron begged the league to select him. Williams is not a clutch player, and it clearly showed during the playoffs. Though he finished with decent statistics, when it mattered most, Williams was MIA. He was outplayed by Rafer Alston in the series against Orlando and his decision-making got progressively worse as the games got close. The biggest play he made during the 2008-09 playoffs was his inbounds pass to James that resulted him LeBron’s game-winning shot in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. If Mo Williams wants to be the Scottie Pippen and be the No. 2 guy behind LeBron, he has to step it up big time. He has a career average of 17 PPG, but those numbers were built on against inferior opponents. Williams has to realize he’s no longer in Milwaukee where games don’t matter. He’s playing with The King in Cleveland. If Williams wants to be considered an All-Star, he needs to play like one.

3) TOO MANY OF THE SAME SLOW PIECES
The addition of Shaq made the Cavs bigger up front but it didn’t fix the Cavaliers’ vulnerability against quicker and more athletic big men. Matter of fact, Cleveland became more rigid and are now even more susceptible to quicker and more athletic frontcourts. At this stage of his career, O’Neal is a liability on defense and struggles against the pick-and-roll offense. The same can be said about Ilgauskas. Big Z got exposed big time in last year’s conference finals when the bigger and quicker Dwight Howard ran circles around him. The third part of Cleveland’s three-headed frontcourt problem is Anderson Varejao. Now, Varejao is a unique player who brings boundless energy to the court. However, he’s very limited offensively and lacks a consistent jump shot to space the court when he plays with Big Z or Shaq. In an ideal situation, Varejao is a backup at best. He’s great when he plays just 20 minutes, but when you stretch him to 30 minutes his effectiveness is compromised. He is much more effective in spurts where he can change the tempo with his hustle and can frustrate opponents with his nonstop action. When the Cavs got Shaq, they should have signed a big man who can shoot.

4) LEBRON’S LONG-TERM COMMITMENT
It would help the franchise if LeBron just said “Yes” to a contract extension and put all the rumors to bed. But his continued posturing and constant hints about playing elsewhere doesn’t exactly put the Cavaliers management, coaches, players and fans at ease. LeBron holds all the cards and he’s playing them like he has all the chips on the table – which he does. I find it amusing that he’s even considering playing in New York. The Knicks are a mess. Why would LeBron sign with a team that is about to unload half of its roster just to accommodate him? The allure of playing in Madison Square Garden and being in the center of the media storm can’t be that attractive when you’re playing for a lottery team. If LeBron James is serious about making Cleveland a champion, he needs to commit to the franchise long term.

Kevin McHale talked about Cleveland’s early-season woes during TNT’s postgame show on Thursday and hopefully Cavaliers coach Mike Brown was listening. McHale said the Cavaliers’ biggest problem on offense is spacing.

McHale pointed out that power forward Anderson Varejao does not have the shooting range to stretch a defense, and because of this the Cavaliers are having a hard time stretching the defense and their first two opponents – Boston and Toronto – basically packed the paint. Both teams were daring Varejao to beat them from the outside and Varejao did not make enough shots to force the Celtics and Raptors to adjust their defense.

Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao has not meshed well with center Shaquille O'Neal after two games.

McHale explained that Varejao is not a pick-and-pop player. He’s more a pick-and-roll guy, and when he dives to the basket he ends up clogging the lane with Shaq.

Throughout his career, O’Neal has played with forwards who can make an 18-footer: Horace Grant, Robert Horry and Udonis Haslem. When O’Neal was in Phoenix, he ran into the same issues with Amare Stoudemire. Stoudemire prefers to roll the basket instead of popping out to the top of the circle, creating a logjam in the 3-second area.

In their two losses, the Cavaliers shot just 37% and have yet to score more than 92 points. For O’Neal to be effective in their offense, the Cavs need a 4-man who can consistently make jump shots.

The quick solution would be to have LeBron James play power forward, have Anthony Parker and Mo Williams in the backcourt and insert Jamario Moon at small forward. Or, when Delonte West returns, coach Mike Brown can play West and Williams in the backcourt, move Parker to small forward and have LeBron at power forward.

The bottom line is, Varejao and Shaq can’t be on the court at the same time.

Guard Delonte West and forward Anderson Varejao play key roles in the Cavaliers' highly effective defensive scheme. (GETTY IMAGES)

Defense wins championships. At least that’s the prevailing thought among athletes in any sport. In basketball, stopping the opposition from scoring is ultimately the difference between winning and losing in April, May and June.

To win an NBA championship, you need that lockdown defender that can take away the opposition’s best option. It is equivalent to a shutdown cornerback in the NFL. A lot of times, great defenders are left to cover a prolific scorer all by himself, and a double team was not an option. Bruce Bowen played this role perfectly. Bowen, a member of championship teams in San Antonio, did not completely stop a great scorer, but he was able to at least make it difficult and uncomfortable to score the basketball.

Shane Battier of the Houston Rockets is cut from the same cloth. Like Bowen, Battier is not asked to score a lot of points for the Rockets because his job is mainly to shadow the opponent’s top gun.

Guys like Battier and Bowen, as well as Ron Artest, Tayshaun Prince and Devin Harris, initially made their marks on the defensive end of the court and have carved up a solid reputation around the league. But what about those players who don’t get the same notoriety but are just as good on defense – or even better.

OneManFastbreak.net uncovers the most underrated defenders in the NBA. Unlike the more celebrated first-team All-NBA defenders such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard, who claim the majority of the votes because of their reputation and inflated statistics, these following players go unnoticed because they don’t usually make the spectacular steal or block. They’re always assigned to the other team’s primary threat on offense and play straight-up defense the entire time they’re on the court.

DELONTE WEST, Cleveland Cavaliers – One word to describe this undersized guard: Tough. His celebrated teammate, LeBron James, gets a lot of the credit for Cleveland’s defense but, with all due respect to King James and his much-improved defense, West is the guy Coach Mike Brown calls on to defend the scorers.

KIRK HINRICH, Chicago Bulls – Hinrich makes up for his lack of foot speed and athleticism with grit and a lot of grabbing. He is the master of clinging to someone’s jersey (sometimes pulling it) and getting under a player’s skin. Just ask Dwyane Wade. We like to call it the Hinrich Manuever.

KENYON MARTIN, Denver Nuggets – Despite all the knee surgeries, K-Mart still creates matchup problems for low-post scorers. He put a blanket on David West in the first round and, even though Dirk Nowitzki posted great numbers in the second round, K-Mart made Dirk work for every point.

ANDERSON VAREJAO, Cleveland Cavaliers – He may not be the best on-ball defender, but his value to the Cavaliers cannot be measured with rebounds, blocks and steals. The man they call “Andy” takes a lot of charges, and irritates a lot of opponents with his boundless energy and his Sideshow Bob haircut.

KENDRICK PERKINS, Boston Celtics – Kevin Garnett gets most of the ink and the pub, but this burly 280-pound force in the low block is tough to uproot and plays with great force. He rebounds, blocks shots and defends the pick-and-roll better than most than half the centers in the league.

RUSSELL WESTBROOK, Oklahoma City Thunder  – The former Pac-10 defensive player of the year made an easy transition from college to pro. He has extremely long arms for a guard and his quick feet allows him to beat an offensive player to a spot. Give him another year and he should make the All-Defense team.

PAUL PIERCE, Boston Celtics – Pierce is mostly known for his offense. The truth is, at this stage of his career, his defense might be better than his offense. During the Celtics’ great playoff in 2008, Pierce guarded Joe Johnson, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. And more often than not, Pierce won his one-one-one battles.

TREVOR ARIZA, L.A. Lakers – The former UCLA Bruin is the real reason for the Lakers’ upgrade on defense. Kobe Bryant only plays defense against the elite guys. When you are a nobody, Kobe will leave you open. Ariza, on the other hand, plays defense 24/7. His length allows him to get a lot of deflections and steals.

UDONIS HASLEM, Miami Heat – Despite being undersized and overmatched more often than not, Haslem – who is generously listed at 6-8 – wins a lot of his one-on-one battles mostly with heart and determination. The Heat co-caption embodies everything Pat Riley likes in a player.

CHUCK HAYES, Houston Rockets – Another undersized frontcourt player who plays with great leverage. Former Houston Coach Jeff Van Gundy calls Hayes a great low-post defender despite his lack of size (he is listed at 6-6). He has a very strong lower body, which keeps bigger centers from backing him down.