Team USA basketball hasn’t lost a game since 2006. With Warriors’ stars Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green a part of the roster, Team USA won their third straight gold medal at the Rio Olympics.

In the wake of their dominance, USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo isn’t reveling in the victory so much as lamenting the underwhelming competition.

“We just need to see these other countries get their acts together and be more competitive,” said Colangelo.

Within the context of Team USA’s gold medal run, it’s an odd thing for Colangelo to say. There were a handful of games that Team USA only won by a few points.

Yes they went undefeated, but Team Serbia was a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer away from sending the game into overtime during their Group A meeting.

Team USA is clearly the best team in the world, but for Colangelo to chastise the international basketball community like this when Team USA easily could have lost two or three games this tournament sounds harsh.

After Team USA’s 96-66 win in the gold medal game against Team Serbia, Colangelo said that an official walked up to him after the game and suggested that Team USA only play 4 players next time.

Colangelo answered with, “No, maybe the other teams better get their act together and compete.

While it’s easy to be prisoner of the moment and view that final game as an indication of Team USA’s incredible superiority, the fact remains that they had 3 games this tournament finish with a point deficit of 6 or less.

There were quite a few times that stagnant offense made this USA squad look vulnerable to an upset.

However, it’s also important to note in the grander scheme of things that numerous players turned down an opportunity to play for this team. This was essentially a team consisting of alternate options.

But the reality is that Team USA is going to have to settle for who accepts an invitation to play for them, and can’t always rely on the ultimate superstars to volunteer their time.

Maybe their games wouldn’t have been as close if all of their first choices had accepted a spot on the team, but that’s purely hypothetical.

While nobody is arguing that they aren’t the best team in the world, the gap between them and everybody else might not be as big as Colangelo is implying with these comments, especially if superstars continue declining spots on the team.