Even without the likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry, many expected the United States men's basketball team to cruise to a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
However, things haven't gone smoothly for Mike Krzyzewski and Co. lately—and Charles Barkley believes roster construction is the reason why.
Team USA went 5-0 in the preliminary rounds but won its final three games by a combined 16 points, including back-to-back three-point victories to close out group play. Those close calls are hardly the blowout victories the squad has come to expect, with Paul George even saying he thought the team was going to dominate the competition.
Anyone who has watched the games knows Team USA can score. There are plenty of shooters throughout the roster—and therein lies the problem, according to Barkley.
The TNT analyst told Sports360AZ's Brad Cesmat (h/t Cindy Boren of the Washington Post) that he believes the roster configuration is why the team has run into problems:
If you take away DeAndre Jordan, every guy on that team is a ball-dominant guy. You see them playing a lot of one-on-one basketball. That's the thin ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Kyle Newport
Charles Barkley Questions How Team USA Was Built for 2016 Rio Olympics
August 17th, 2016 by Kyle Newport Leave a reply »
Advertisement