I can see your point of view. The rest of the world is catching up to the US.
Every team that the USA is up against is full of NBA players. We just take as many NBA superstars that want to play and throw them on one team and expect results.
Other teams from around the world have players who have played together for many years on the same team, and know the int'l style of basketball much better.
If we really want to compete with the world at the highest level, we need to send our best TEAM, not collection of players.
And unfortunately, this 2021 squad has no Steph Curry, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, or even a steely veteran like Chris Paul.
All of that said, it's also just different for USA versus the other countries. USA will always be the heavy favorites, every other team just trying to play catch up. These exhibition games mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. When group play starts and knockout stage, USA can easily get into way higher gears than any other team can. Even these other teams "full of NBA players" are still mainly lower end starters and role players. Slovenia is the only team with a bona fide superstar playing in Luka. Gobert is a good player but has been exposed recently in the playoffs. After Luka and Gobert, the next best player is probably Rubio? or Ingles maybe?
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