BARCELONA (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Argentina do not hold the No. 3 spot in the FIBA Ranking Men by accident.

For more than a decade, the South American giants have reached the podium at major basketball events like FIBA World Championships, Olympic Games and FIBA Americas Championships.

Along the way, they have beaten some very good teams, including three they are going to face again this summer in Group B at the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

They are Greece, Croatia and Puerto Rico.

Senegal and the Philippines are also in Group B.

Argentina's big wins against Greece came in Olympic Quarter-Finals.

On their march to the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games, Argentina knocked off the Greeks, 69-64, and four years later in Beijing they scraped an 80-78 triumph before claiming a bronze medal.

The Argentinians downed Croatia at the China Olympics as well, winning that Preliminary Round game, 77-73.

Argentina survived a tense 2011 FIBA Americas Championship battle with Puerto Rico, 81-79, after a Jose Barea three-ball stayed out at the final buzzer.

Despite failing to qualify last summer for the World Cup, Greece are in the tournament thanks to a wild card and big things are expected in the country. Remember, this is the national team program that famously beat the United States eight years ago in a thrilling Semi-Finals at the FIBA World Championship in Japan, 101-95.

The Greeks are not short of talent, with players on the books of big clubs like Panathinaikos and Olympiacos.

It's unclear who will coach this summer, although a strong candidate is understood to be Fotis Katsikaris, a coach that was a big hit at Spanish top flight side Bilbao.

Here is a look at the teams in Group B.

Argentina (FIBA Ranking Men: No. 3)
As long as Luis Scola is involved, Argentina are going to win basketball games. The 33-year-old power forward carried the national team on his back last summer, averaging almost 19 points and seven rebounds at the FIBA Americas Championship in Venezuela to lead the team into the World Cup. Julio Lamas, the Argentina coach, told FIBA.com at the draw on Monday night that Scola is a certainty to play again this summer, and that stalwarts Pablo Prigioni and Andres Nocioni are confirmed as well. Manu Ginobili wants to play but has yet to make a definite decision. Penarol point guard Facundo Campazzo is now in the core group of players and will figure prominently in Group B. An advantage that Argentina has enjoyed over the years has not only been the continuity of playing staff, but also coaches. Julio Lamas, in his second stint at the helm, will be the head coach of Argentina for a third straight summer.

Greece (FIBA Ranking: No. 5)
Greece continue to have an outstanding backcourt led by 31-year-old Vassilis Spanoulis, and a frontline that includes forward Georgios Printezis and center Ioannis Bourisis. European champions in 2005 and runners-up at the FIBA World Championship in 2006, the national side last reached the podium of a big event in 2009 when capturing bronze at EuroBasket 2009 in Poland. The squad is coming off a couple of difficult summers, however, including 2012 when it failed at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament to reach the London Games. Last season, injuries undermined the Greeks at the EuroBasket, where they came up well short of the Quarter-Finals and thus needed a wild card to enter the World Cup field. If the Greeks make the right decision about their coach, remain healthy and avoid hosts Spain in the Eighth-Finals, they can dream big. Being a wild card is no barrier to success, which Lithuania proved four years ago when they captured bronze at the World Championship in Turkey.

Croatia (FIBA Ranking: No. 16)
Jasmin Repesa's squad began and ended their EuroBasket 2013 campaign with demolitions at the hands of Spain. In between, however, they were very good. The Croatians got hot, winning eight consecutive games before falling to Lithuania in the Semi-Finals, 77-62. Spain then hammered them to deny the Croatians a bronze. Repesa is expected to tinker with his squad. Might veterans Zoran Planinic and Marko Popovic be possible returnees. What will be important is to see center Ante Tomic play as well as he does for Barcelona because at the EuroBasket, he was nowhere near his best and particularly as a scorer. Bojan Bogdanovic pours in the points and players like Dontaye Draper and Damjan Rudez are nice weapons off the bench. The continued emergence of the great, all-round and young talent Dario Saric will be important.

Puerto Rico (FIBA Ranking: No. 17)
Recent FIBA World Championships have not been kind to Puerto Rico, so perhaps the change in name to FIBA Basketball World Cup is going to make a difference. More likely is the change at the top of the helm, with Paco Olmos now coaching the team. The Spaniard was a late replacement for Flor Melendez last summer and he came within an Alex Galindo made three-pointer at the death against Mexico of winning the FIBA Americas Championship. There is definitely quality in the team, and veterans. None are more important than Barea and Carlos Arroyo. Now that Maurice Harkless of the Orlando Magic has decided to play for the country of his maternal grandparents, Olmos has another weapon. Facing Argentina in the first game may not be a bad thing for the Boricuas. The Argentinians are sometimes slow starters, as was the case last summer when they followed up an easy game against Paraguay with a 91-72 home defeat to the Dominican Republic.

Philippines (FIBA Ranking: No. 34)
While it's going to be difficult to have a repeat of last summer when the Philippines rode their home court advantage in Manila to a runners-up finish at the FIBA Asia Championship, there are causes for optimism. One of them is the presence of all-tournament selection Jayson William. Another is high-flying Japeth Aguilar. But what has raised eyebrows of late has been the speculation that Denver Nuggets center Javale McGee or Brooklyn Nets big man Andray Blatche are going to be with the squad. Because their last appearance at a FIBA World Championship was in 1978, when they hosted the event, the Philippines will be strangers for their Group B opponents. The build-up to the competition with friendlies against countries who are not in the Asian zone will be important.

Senegal (FIBA Ranking: No. 41)
Bronze medal winners at AfroBasket 2013 in Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal are making their first appearance at the World Cup since 2006, when they lost all five of their games in Japan. One of those defeats came against Puerto Rico. The Senegalese have an abundance of talent, but need to be able to play hard and concentrate for all 40 minutes. Leading their balanced scoring attack at the AfroBasket was veteran Maleye Ndoye at 10 points per game. If Senegal can spring a surprise in one of their first four games when they go up against Greece, Puerto Rico, Croatia or Argentina, a second win against the Philippines in their last Group B game might be enough to see them advance.

FIBA