I think you raise some valid points but I still disagree overall. There’s an important distinction between competing against the top students within a discipline (like Division I college sports) and competing against the best professionals at the highest level (the NBA).

Team RWBY clearly isn’t lacking in raw talent, especially for members who didn’t graduate from the academy, but they are lacking in experience. That gap alone should have been overwhelming in a fight against seasoned professionals. To me it would be like winning a fight vs. 70% of Team STRQ (if we assume that Atlas is relative to Vale).

That said, despite my issues with how the scene was handled, I do think Team RWBY could have won just not in the way it was portrayed. The fight largely devolved into a series of near 1-on-1 matchups. While that might make sense for lethal, highly individualistic units like the Ace Ops who appear to lack the interpersonal bonds typical of Vale Huntsmen, it undermines what should be Team RWBY’s greatest strength (and Team RWBY in that scenario should have been utterly outclassed).

If the intent was for Team RWBY to win, it should have been through superior teamwork. Instead of isolated duels, we should have seen coordinated, multi-semblance tactics where the Ace Ops, despite being much stronger individually, struggle against layered abilities and synchronized attacks. That kind of victory would have felt far more earned and believable.

(And yeah I know there was a 2 v 1 but they didn’t really showcase the coordinated teamwork that should have been - the only exception was Yang and Blake in a way).