Charles Barkley may have a point.
Appearing on The Brad Cesmat Show Monday, Barkley was asked about Team USA basketball's recent struggles. The U.S. beat Australia by 10 and then only beat Serbia and France by three points each.
Barkley pointed to the construction of the roster as to why Team USA hasn't been more dominant.
“It's not a good team to put together,” Barkley told “The Brad Cesmat Show” on Monday. “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.”
Barkley is right that this Team USA squad doesn't include some of the great playmakers we've seen in the last two Olympics. There is no Chris Paul, LeBron James or Jason Kidd.
This year, we're seeing just how valuable someone who creates for others for a living can be.
“You take a guy like Kyle Lowry, who is a hell of a player, he wants to score,” Barkley said. “Kyrie (Irving) wants to score. Kevin (Durant) wants to score. DeMar (DeRozan) wants to score. So, I think they have been really stagnant offensively.”
Team USA still has the most talent in the tournament and is favored to win it. But if they do it, it's going to take dominating defense and hard work on the glass. In the half-court, the United States is closer to the competition.
The next test for the U.S. is today vs. Argentina at 5:45 p.m. EST in the quarterfinals.
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