Kidd Expected To Lead U.S Team

The last time the U.S. basketball team was in this predicament, Jason Kidd bailed out his country by helping it qualify for the Olympics.

That was in 2003, after the Americans had been embarrassed by a sixth-place finish at the world championships the previous year.

Now Kidd, 34, is back to help a U.S. squad that took third at worlds try to secure an Olympic berth. The Americans will need a top-two finish in the FIBA Americas Championship that begins Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The New Jersey Nets point guard, who owns an Olympic gold medal from the 2000 Sydney Games, won't lead the team in scoring or rebounding. By his own admission, he might not even be the top assist guy.

But Kidd's importance to the team can be measured in one statistic -- wins.

As U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski pointed out after Thursday's practice at Valley High School, Kidd has never lost a game while playing for the national team, going 33-0 in four tours.

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source : lvrj.com