Team USA might be head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, but the gap is slowly getting smaller.

Other countries are starting to make significant strides, despite having only a few NBA players, by proving to the rest of the world how team play makes a difference.

In his recent article for Bleacher Report, Dan Favale cited the other medal contenders outside of Team USA, Serbia, and Australia. Some of these teams have flown under the radar, and you might not expect to see them on this list.

Lithuania 

NBA Players on the roster: Jonas Valanciunas, Domantas Sabonis

Currently holding a perfect 3-0 record, Lithuania has beat the home country Brazil, Nigeria, and Argentina. They still need to play Croatia and Spain, but should be guaranteed a spot in the knockout round. The Lithuanian team has come together and worked hard so far with Valanciunas averaging 7.3 points and Sabonis with 8.3 points per game.

Croatia 

NBA Players on the roster: Bojan Bogdanovic, Mario Hezonja, Dario Saric

Currently with a 2-1 slate, Croatia has beaten Brazil, and Spain, but have lost to Argentina, who also shares the same record. They play Nigeria and Lithuania in the next two games. Bojan Bogdanovic is leading the team in scoring with 24.7 points, followed by Dario Saric who has averaged 13 points. Meanwhile, Mario Hezonja has averaged nine points.

Argentina:

NBA Players on the roster: Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Patricio Garino

Argentina‘s record is 2-1, defeating Nigeria and the Croatia. They play Brazil and Spain in the next two games. Manu Ginobili has averaged 15.7 points, Luis Scola is at 17.7 points, and Patricio Garino scores 6.7 points per night.

There are a couple of teams that haven't lost hope, and still have a small chance to make it to the knock-out round.

Spain:

NBA Players on the roster: Pau Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Nikola Mirotic, Jose Calderon, Alex Abrines, Guillermo Hernangómez, Sergio Rodriguez

Currently holding a record of 1-2, they still play Lithuania and Argentina, and if they can win both of those games, they can make it into the next round. Spain is in a transition period, where they're giving more minutes to their younger players. But it's notable that Pau Gasol is still leading the charge with an average of 18.3 points per game.

Brazil:

NBA Players on the roster: Leandro Barbosa, Nene, Marcelo Huertas, Raul Neto, Cristiano Felicio

Like Spain, the Brazilian team sits with a 1-2 slate, and their medal hopes still alive. They play Argentina and Nigeria next and those are both winnable games. Leandro Barbosa has averaged 13.7 points for the home team so far.

So even with Australia and the U.S. looking like medal favorites, many teams are still competing to be mentioned in the same way as those two countries.