All the United States needs for a spot in the 2008 Olympics is a semifinal victory.

Those have been hard to come by lately.

A win over Puerto Rico gives the Americans a spot in Beijing. But they bring a two-game losing streak in semifinal games into Saturday's matchup at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Forget winning the big one. The guys in red, white and blue haven't even been able to get there. But LeBron James, a part of both recent losses, thinks the slump is over.

"I think we're ready," James said. "It's a brand new team and we have a brand new mind-set. We know how important Saturday is, so we're going to go out with the same intensity we had the first seven or eight games and keep it going."

With their dominant play through the first two rounds, the Americans have heard some comparisons to the Dream Team, considered the basketball squad ever, that ran through the Olympic qualifier and the Barcelona Games in 1992.

But the recent U.S. semifinal struggles call to mind the years immediately before that team was formed. The Americans lost the game before the finals in both the 1988 Olympics and 1990 world championships -- a team led by current U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The teams that handed the Americans those recent losses were no slouches. Argentina followed its victory over the United States in the 2004 Olympics by winning the gold medal, and the Greek team that shredded the U.S. defense last year in the world championships, while lesser known in the States, was the reigning European champion.

Puerto Rico, which was minutes away from being eliminated in the first round, isn't at that level. But the Americans have seen how difficult the Puerto Ricans can be when they are on, so promise not to overlook them.

"We can't sleep on Puerto Rico," Carmelo Anthony said. "Puerto Rico's been playing good through the tournament, we got to respect them."

Led by Orlando Magic guard Carlos Arroyo and 3-point threat Larry Ayuso, the Puerto Ricans can give teams fits with their perimeter attack. Puerto Rico handed the U.S. its worst loss ever with a 92-73 victory in the opener at Athens, and shot better than 50 percent while losing by only 11 last year in the world championships.

Arroyo scored more than 20 points in both of those games.

"They are very confident and use their strengths well," Krzyzewski said. "They can all hit 3-point shots and they spread you and cause you to have a lot of switching situations. Arroyo has been one of the best guards in international basketball for the past six, seven years and Ayuso is as good a 3-point shooter as there is internationally."

But the Americans shut them down Tuesday night while rolling to a 117-78 victory. The United States held the Puerto Ricans without a field goal for 6 1/2 minutes to open the second quarter. Puerto Rico missed its first eight attempts of the period.

"We have to play great defense like we did in the second quarter against them when we were able to get the big lead," Krzyzewski said. "Defense is the key Saturday."

Arroyo fouled out of that game in the third quarter with 12 points -- half his total from the Athens upset. Ayuso led Puerto Rico with 13.

Puerto Rico won its other three second-round games and has clinched a spot in next summer's Olympic qualifying tournament that will determine the last three berths in Beijing. But the Puerto Ricans aren't giving up hope than can lock up a spot long before that with another shocker.

"It's still possible so we have to keep our focus," Arroyo said. "We can't show up with the defeat mentality. It's in our hands. We have a very talented team and we have to play like we're capable of doing it."

A victory sends the United States into the championship game Sunday against either Argentina or Brazil, but that game is ultimately meaningless. So if the Americans want to make one last statement in a game that matters, Saturday is the time to do it.

"This is the challenge for this team to show that we are not just about winning, but playing the right way and that we are going to come out and take care of business," Jason Kidd said. "We understand how big this game is on Saturday because that puts us into qualifying for the Olympics and that's what we came here to do."