The Dream Team, expected to dominate and crush the opposition’s hopes, has been securing victories with margins that are less than indomitable. Take up the last takedown of Team USA against the Boomers in the last exhibition game. The scoreline was 98-92, with a 6-point margin, all thanks to Tyrese Haliburton’s three-pointers down the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Even in the first game against Canada, the second unit of Steve Kerr’s brought some shift in scoring after the first half despite LeBron James being in the starters. The issue did not go unnoticed by the sight of former Denver Nuggets player Kenyon Martin, who addressed this problem.

While appearing on ‘Gil’s Arenas’ last night, the former NBA star seemed upset with LeBron James and Co.’s performance as he said, “92 Dream Team gave nobody hope exhibition game,  ’96 give nobody hope exhibition game, 200o didn’t give nobody hope in exhibition game.” Apparently, he was targeting the current power of the dream team that was not able to exert the same amount of pressure as the team led by Charles Barkley and Shaq in 1996 and by Jason Kidd in 2000. Adding to his frustration, the Nuggets star further stated, “Why give a team any kind of any any thought process that when it’s all for the marbles that we could possibly play with you.”

Let’s get some stats on the scores from those times since Martin has strung the notes of that era. Surprisingly, in the group games themselves, Team USA crushed all teams with a minimum 20-point margin over the other team in the 1996 Olympics. In the gold medal game that America won over Yugoslavia that year, they clinched by a 26-point difference. Even the 2000 Jason Kidd-led roster was ruthless since it secured victory with a minimum 10-point difference over opponent nations in all group matches. Nevertheless, when the nation has gathered the best 12 players from the NBA, why is LeBron James’ team still struggling to make an impact in the warm-up games?

What is the reason behind the underwhelming performance of LeBron James and Co.?

The major concern that popped up for LeBron James and Co. in the second game against the Aussies was the number of turnovers. The team gave 18 turnovers in the last game, just 4 fewer than their total number of assists. Even seasoned players like LeBron James, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis, and Joel Embiid had three turnovers on each of them. It seems like the Warriors‘ coach and currently the Team USA coach, Steve Kerr, has transferred that bugbear to the national team as well. A high-powered offense struggling with passing accuracy may be due to the court’s dimensions.

The second problem that popped up for the team was their configuration of the starter roster. Only Joel Embiid was the one who scored 10 points with positive plus-minus from the first unit of attack from Kerr. Still he got just 16 minutes to play the game. Is the coaching department making a mistake not giving the center enough chance to display his presence off the bench on the court? Well, it’s still in the process so it might be too soon to conclude anything.

What do you think? Can Team USA overcome these challenges? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Before you go, do not forget to check out Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, to open up about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud. Keep checking this space for more such updates.