Mike Krzyzewski plans to cut Team USA roster to 12 by Saturday

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he plans to cut the Team USA roster to 12 by Saturday following USA Basketball's 105-62 defeat of the Dominican Republic at Madison Square Garden.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski plans to cut the Team USA roster from 16 to 12 by Saturday.

USA Basketball routs Dominican Republic in Derrick Rose's absence

The U.S. defeated the Dominican Republic 105-62 in an exhibition game Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The team leaves for the FIBA World Championships in Spain on Saturday and plays in one more exhibition game against Slovenia before the opening round begins. The cuts won't come before Friday.

In a postgame press conference on Wednesday, Krzyzewski said the coaching staff has been going through various possible combinations for each game to figure out the best roster to use for the world tournament: 

"We'll get down (to 12). We'll do something before we leave the country. I don't know what that means, to get down to 12. We'll get down to a lower number. We have to do that. Each game, we sit down as a staff with Jerry and put names on the board and combinations and figure things out. Every day it's a little bit different. It'll be different tonight with the performances that we've had." 

Derrick Rose was a last-minute scratch on Wednesday in order to rest his knees, so the U.S. went with a lineup of Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kenneth Faried and Anthony Davis.

Team USA opens group play in Bilbao on Aug. 30 with a game against Finland. 

WIRE: Rose sits out practice before Team USA faces the Dominican Republic

- Marc Weinreich