Team USA is about as shaky a 5-0 team as there will ever be.
The United States didn't lose a single game in the group stages, but its past three contests have seen the team barely squeak out victories. With the team made up of some of the best NBA players throughout the league, Team USA was expected to cruise to its third staight gold medal.
Thus far, ahead of its quarterfinal contest against Argenitina, it hasn't been that way.
It has been 73 straight wins for Team USA in international play, but the last few haven't come easily. The team decimated China, 119-62, and followed it up with a 113-69 drubbing of Venezuela, to kick off the group stages, but then the struggles began.
Team USA overcame a halftime deficit to topple Australia, 98-88 and barely hung on to defeat Serbia, 94-91. Last Sunday, it was another dicy performance for Team USA in Brazil. The team, comprised of NBA superstars, narrowly defeated France, 100-97, to close out group play with a sterling unblemished record, but speculation about their struggles has risen.
Former NBA star and current NBA analyst Charles Barkley believes a lack of chemistry is to blame for Team USA winning its last three contests by a combined 16 points.
"It's not a good team to put together," Barkley told "The Brad Cesmat Show". "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 also pointed to individuals wanting to do the scoring as another major flaw of the unit.
"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."
The Americans will look to turn around their conceived struggles and selfishness when they battle Argentina in a quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. ET.
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