BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS / DAY 11 : It’s Still Pretty Simple : Men’s basketball: Despite wrangling off court, U.S. team routs Puerto Rico, 115-77.

BARCELONA —  Any country out there need a Dream Team?

Disowned by the man who may be the head of the nation’s Olympic committee, entangled in controversy at every turn, running on empty emotionally, the U.S. men’s basketball team squeezed past Puerto Rico, 115-77, Tuesday to reach the semifinals of the Olympic tournament.

This might or might not have come as good news in the posh Victoria hotel, where LeRoy Walker, who probably will become president of the U.S. Olympic Committee in October, is staying.

Walker criticized the basketball players for staying in the posh Ambassador hotel, adding: “I’m not convinced yet we had to have NBA athletes on our team. With all the college players we have in this country, if we choose the right ones, we can still win.

“They should follow the same rules as everyone else. But if they don’t want to and aren’t here next time, I wouldn’t care.”

The NBA athletes were delighted to get the news.

“The US--is it OC?--they haven’t been working well together with us,” Magic Johnson said. “It’s been like a power struggle. We know they’re in a power spot.

“It’s not been a smooth situation here. We all should have a meeting, come together, try to work things out. If he’s going to make comments, why not come talk to us? Then he can understand.

“All he has to do is come out when we leave for the arena and ride with us. . . . We go to play and people line up on both sides of the street. Then we turn onto the Rambla (the city’s famous avenue, a block from the Ambassador), they line up there.

“I went to walk my son this afternoon. I just went to walk him in a stroller. Do you know hundreds of people followed me? Just to walk my son! I mean, it’s wild !

“We’re not trying to be anything different from anybody else. We made the most money of anybody there’s ever been in the Olympics (for the USOC). Jerseys and things like that. . . . Champion can’t make enough jerseys. I’m trying to get some for my store, and they can’t print them fast enough, they say.

“We’re not trying to go against anybody. We’re trying to help. We keep getting--we’re the bad guys.”

Cooperation between the newly wedded NBA and USOC has been problematic since the Games started.

NBA officials complained that USOC denied them access to the team.

NBA officials were angry at USOC publicist Mike Moran for publicly challenging Michael Jordan, who had been quoted as saying he wouldn’t take the medal stand if it meant wearing Reebok gear. For its part, the USOC thought the NBA was throwing its weight around. An NBA official said a USOC official told him: “This is one show the NBA doesn’t run.”

Amid public adoration and bureaucratic wrangling, the U.S. players went out Tuesday to see if they could find their lost spark.

They did, but briefly.

With Johnson back in the starting lineup, they jumped to a 17-0 lead.

Then they outscored Puerto Rico, 98-77, the rest of the night and advanced to a semifinal game Thursday against Lithuania. The 38-point victory margin ties for their lowest with their 119-81 defeat of Puerto Rico in Portland last month before the Games. Still, it was a rough night for Jordan, who made only one of 11 shots and finished with four points.

Of course, on this team there is another voice that will not be stilled.

“I’m a black millionaire,” Charles Barkley said. “I live where I want to live.”