5 Teams That Might Not Get Embarrassed By U.S. in Olympics

Lithuania

Basketball is referred to as “the second religion” of Lithuania and despite its small size, the Eastern European nation produces great players.

This year’s cast is led by 24-year-old Jonas Valanciunas, who is more experienced in international play than most players his age.

Valanciunas appeared in the 2012 Olympics and was part of a team that did not meet expectations, but put on an impressive performance in a loss against the U.S.

More from USA Basketball

• 3 Players who will benefit most from playing for Team USA
• Ranking the 10 biggest threats to Team USA at 2023 FIBA World Cup
• Grant Hill believes the FIBA World Cup won’t be easy for Team USA
• Team USA’s 2023 World Cup Roster: strengths, weaknesses, depth, more
• Commitment from Zach LaVine completes Team USA squad for 2021 Olympics

Lithuania was leading by two points with less than six minutes remaining, but Team USA rallied late to win 99-94.

The 2016 Lithuanian team appears to be even more talented and some of its young players have more experience heading into Rio.

A couple interesting names to watch include Domantas Sabonis and Mindaugus Kuzminskaus, who are both highly touted international prospects heading into the 2016-17 NBA season.

If Lithuania ends up facing the U.S., it would be in the knockout stage, either in the quarterfinal, semifinal, or potentially even the gold medal Game.

Although Lithuania would be a huge underdog, they weren’t expected to make it a close game in 2012 either.

Next: Serbia