Team USA's star power has been riddled down with the injury of Paul George, Durant's withdrawal, as well as star players including LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love not participating - but even then, USA still reign as the clear-cut favorites to win it all for the second straight time.

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LeBron, Melo, Durant and George are all unavailable to attend, so who the heck is going to be playing small forward? Rudy Gay comes to mind.

Despite Rudy Gay not practicing or playing exhibition games through training camp with Team USA, he still has the most probable chance to get the starting role at the questionable small forward position.

Gay averaged a very impressive 20 points per game last season with the Sacramento Kings and was also a key contributor coming off the bench in the 2010 FIBA event. He's going to be battling with the all-around talented Gordon Hayward and 3-point shooting specialist Kyle Korver.

The fact that Derrick Rose is returning to action after only playing 10 games over the course of two years due to injuries, is a good enough reason alone to watch Team USA Basketball.

Rose has been impressing coaches and fans with his impressive athleticism and explosiveness during USA training camp looking like his old self - something very surprising considering he had just to endure two season-ending injuries to both knees.

Rose will be the clear favorite to get the starting role at point guard, especially if he continues to stay healthy, but will also be battling with top-tier guards including Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving.

A key reason why Team USA dominates international competition is their frontcourt's unique athleticism and ability to run the floor quickly. However, USA will be missing the presence of frontcourt top-tier talent including DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and even Tyson Chandler.

Big-men Andre Drummond, Anthony Davis and Kenneth Faried might not have any troubles matching up against most international talent, but they're absolutely going to need to step up when playing Spain - a team with frontcourt players including Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka.

Team USA might be the favorites to win the FIBA World Cup again, but I'm not so sure USA is going to be as dominate this time around. The uncertainties revolving around Team USA make it that much more interesting - at the very least you can count on the event to be much more competitive. 

With FIBA World Cup approaching right around the corner, here's Team USA's Full Schedule of the event: 

(Photo : USAB.com)

TagsFIBA World Cup, Team USA, Rudy Gay, Lebron James, derrick rose, Spain