1984 Olympic basketball

Bob Knight built his best teams with a blend of talent and fit. It was never more evident than on the 12-man roster he selected for the 1984 U.S. Olympic team.

Sure, the General cut future Hall of Famers Charles Barkley and John Stockton. But he kept three others, each of whom later made the 1992 Olympic "Dream Team" — Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan and Chris Mullin.

And for a coach who seemingly won everything — 902 games, three national championships, 11 Big Ten titles, Olympic gold and multiple coach of the year awards — it was his early scouting report on Jordan that might go down as his crowning achievement.

"If we're going to pick the three or four best athletes I've ever seen play basketball, he (Jordan) would be one of them. I think he's the best athlete I've ever seen play basketball, bar none," Knight said back then. "In the categories of competitiveness, ability, skill and then athletic ability, he's the best athlete, he's one of the best competitors, he's one of the most skilled players. That to me makes him the best basketball player that I've ever seen play."

Barkley, on the other hand, was an offensive star at Auburn who measured in at 284 pounds. Knight initially asked the 6-foot-6 forward to slim down to 215 and wasn't impressed with Barkley's defense.

"The word `interesting' is a good word to apply to Barkley," Knight said during the selection process. "He's an extremely talented player. He's got to become a much better defensive player. He has to work at sharpening what he does. If he can, he has an excellent chance [to make the team]. If he can't, he's not going to make the team."

He didn't.

Instead, Knight went with an eclectic mix of guys with all-conference and All-American credentials including Jordan's teammate at North Carolina, Sam Perkins. 11 of the 12 players on the team went in the first round of the 1984 or 1985 NBA drafts; nine were top-10 picks.

The names ranged from household, such as Ewing or Jordan, to college stars such as Joe Kleine and Jon Koncak to forgotten ones such as Vern Fleming, Jeff Turner or Leon Wood.

But each possessed some skill Knight appreciated, and the result was one of the most dominating Olympic performances in modern Olympic history albeit during the Soviet Union's boycott of the Los Angeles Games.

The U.S. team outscored opponents 95.4 to 63.3 on average.

Each of the eight wins came by double-digit margins including a 96-65 victory over Spain in the final game

Four players — Jordan (17.1), Mullin (11.6), Ewing (11.0) and Alford (10.3) — scored in double figures.