If the 10 or 12 best basketball players in the United States get together, compete hard, and play to win, there's no international squad in the world that can even hang with them. I firmly believe this.
The United States' problem in recent years has been 1) sending inferior players, and 2) not taking the competition seriously enough. That has changed this year, and I expect to see the U.S. carry its results through to the medal round.
(In terms of the "caught up" question, no, the world hasn't "caught up" to the United States. It has closed the gap quite a bit, as there are a number of legitimate international teams with top-tier NBA talent. However, I think its off-base to think that other teams can put the same talent on the floor as the United States if the U.S. stars decide to show up.)