“If he sees something from one of the players…he’s like a little bit of a member of the coaching staff. If he sees something and he feels something, he’ll say maybe we need to try that.”

“We’ll look at it and many times we’ll do it. He has a great understanding of the game.”

“We want to do this for our country, but we also want to do it for us.”

Kidd has taken three shots the entire tournament, but his job is not to shoot obviously. It’s to get the first team jump started. Jason has never lost a game in international competition. If I’m not mistaken, he was on the select team that “sparred” against the original Dream Team so he knows what is up. Two things that can’t be questioned about Kidd are his leadership as well as his passing ability…with either hand and on the run. He’s one of the best point guards of all time so I would want him on the team just to soak up his knowledge, experience and wisdom. What he ads to DWill and CP3 is immeasurable and I’m sure they’ll reference this time later on down the road when honoring Jason.

Anyone notice how he hasn’t really made them pay for not guarding him with his passing, because it’s hard to find advantages when you’re passing into a 4-on-5?

Anyone notice how Paul and Williams have been way, way better than Kidd?

So how, exactly, is Kidd helping this team?

Do I think Team USA is going to lose? No.

Do I think it’s possible it could lose? Hell, yes.

Am I the only one? Hell, no.

Bronze medals are not sufficient in this sport. Neither are silver medals. It’s not so much that I care whether they win or lose, but the US has an extreme competitive advantage in that any listing of the top 100 players in the world will be dominated by US-born players.

When a US team plays internationally, the problem is rarely the players. The problem is the design, preparation, culture (not the player’s culture - the team culture) and coaching of the team. On talent, the US is leaps and bounds ahead. People may be writing to hedge their bets so they don’t look foolish, but the bottom line is that 2nd and 3rd isn’t good enough.

This team is not catching it from the press. And even if they were - So what. They’re a-political millionaires without a care in the world. What could be better?

Jason Kidd and J.R. Rider in the same backcourt? WHAT!