Kidd at the Olympics

[rabbitproof]

Let's show some love for our other Maverick going to Beijing.

To start, I saw all sorts of disrespect being leveled at our legendary graybeard point's way on various sports forums after the exhibition game even though they served Canada like pancakes. Kidd was getting heat for being a part of the starting five, despite the man's FLAWLESS VICTORY record in international play, just because there's a couple young upstart heavyweight points who also rumble with the best in in the West on the squad.

Well, there is a video on his site that's pretty cool, biased no doubt, but the video shows why Jason's important to our gold medal aspirations, is starting and makes me proud to have a Dallas Maverick on the USA squad. It has D-Will carrying his bags and some other nice lines on our old floor general from the 2008 USA team..

http://www.jasonkidd.com/

To Jason at the Games.... JKidd FTG!

[ty]

Kidd shots.

[erdubya]

Did anybody see "The Pass" the other night vs. Canada?

Man, it was the most spectacular play I've seen from Kidd in a minute!

Kidd chases down a rebound near the left corner... then in one motion, grabs it with his right hand, looks up and flings it all the way down court to hit a streaking Carmello Anthony in stride (on the money!)... Then without putting the ball on the floor, Carmello immediately hits Chris Bosh with a no-look over-the-shoulder pass for the 2 hand dunk!

The whole play was amazing but the best part of it was how Kidd got it started.

[ShaggyDirk]

"he will not be able to see, Cotton"

[Dirkenstien]

Originally Posted by cotton

Did anybody see "The Pass" the other night vs. Canada?

Man, it was the most spectacular play I've seen from Kidd in a minute!

Kidd chases down a rebound near the left corner... then in one motion, grabs it with his right hand, looks up and flings it all the way down court to hit a streaking Carmello Anthony in stride (on the money!)... Then without putting the ball on the floor, Carmello immediately hits Chris Bosh with a no-look over-the-shoulder pass for the 2 hand dunk!

The whole play was amazing but the best part of it was how Kidd got it started.

Yeah that play was amazing. I couldn't believe how quickly Kidd got the rebound, looked down court and threw the perfect pass to Carmelo in stride. It was very impressive, because Carmelo had a man on him too...it's not like he was wide open down court.

[alby]

Originally Posted by Dirkenstien

Yeah that play was amazing. I couldn't believe how quickly Kidd got the rebound, looked down court and threw the perfect pass to Carmelo in stride. It was very impressive, because Carmelo had a man on him too...it's not like he was wide open down court.

It's Jason Kidd.

[sike]

Originally Posted by alby

It's Jason Kidd.

nuff said

[sike]

What are the dates and times for any upcoming USA hoop games? And are they on NBC?

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by sike

What are the dates and times for any upcoming USA hoop games? And are they on NBC?

All times CST:


08/09/08 (9:15 am) - China
08/11/08 (7:00 am) - Angola
08/13/08 (7:00 am) - Greece
08/15/08 (9:15 am) - Spain
08/17/08 (7:00 am) - Germany

08/20/08 - Quarterfinals
08/22/08 - Semifinals
08/24/08 - Finals


I pretty sure they're all on NBC, but I haven't found any links that confirm my assumption...

[sike]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Underdog again.

[Flacolaco]

Supposedly NBC is going to be streaming a lot of the olympics online. I wonder if that will extend to the basketball games.

[dirno2000]

Originally Posted by sike

What are the dates and times for any upcoming USA hoop games? And are they on NBC?

They have four warm up game before the Olympics start. All four will be on ESPN. You can find the schedule here:

http://www.usabasketball.com/news.ph..._msnt_training

[sike]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to dirno2000 again.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by dirno2000

They have four warm up game before the Olympics start. All four will be on ESPN. You can find the schedule here:

http://www.usabasketball.com/news.ph..._msnt_training

Okay, so that link has the same times as what I posted, but PM instead of AM (which makes more sense...)

Just wondering when it was last updated though - they don't include Greece & Germany's names as competitors yet...

[horse900703]

Good Luck Jkidd and U.S Basketball!!!!!

[sike]

Originally Posted by horse900703

Good Luck Jkidd and U.S Basketball!!!!!

yay!!!

[jthig32]

Dunno how many on here are FIOS customers, but they've added several HD channels recently that are supposed to carry all Olympic content. There's nothing official yet, but the general concensus is that two of the channels are going to carry nothing but soccer and basketball during the Olympics.

Just something to look out for.

[u2sarajevo]

*waits for sike to give jthig reputation, but since unable to do so because he needs to spread it he reports the board information that he needs to spread his reputation in this thread*

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Dunno how many on here are FIOS customers, but they've added several HD channels recently that are supposed to carry all Olympic content. There's nothing official yet, but the general concensus is that two of the channels are going to carry nothing but soccer and basketball during the Olympics.

Just something to look out for.

Reaaalllly....I hadn't noticed anything on my guide last night.

Is this something you read, or did you actually see it?

oh never mind...I got you.

Btw, FIOS customers, apparently they're up to 100 HD channels in New York on fios now. I think we're supposed to get ours in October.

[DirkFTW]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Dunno how many on here are FIOS customers, but they've added several HD channels recently that are supposed to carry all Olympic content. There's nothing official yet, but the general concensus is that two of the channels are going to carry nothing but soccer and basketball during the Olympics.

Just something to look out for.

Ah, the two best round balls games! I need to get my slingbox working so I can leach off my dad's Fios.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by DirkFTW

Ah, the two best round balls games!

Um, that's NOT what she said!

[alby]

*sike, if you need to spread rep before giving it out to others, I'm here for you*

[BGMaverick9]

So if I can only get to watch one game, it's definitely Germany...I'll wake up for that one!

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Reaaalllly....I hadn't noticed anything on my guide last night.

Is this something you read, or did you actually see it?

oh never mind...I got you.

Btw, FIOS customers, apparently they're up to 100 HD channels in New York on fios now. I think we're supposed to get ours in October.

I believe it's CNBC HD, USA HD, and the two supposed Olympic HD channels that should be on your guide somewhere, but not showing any content right now.

Link

I thought the big HD rollout for Fios was in September, not sure.

[mqywaaah]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

So if I can only get to watch one game, it's definitely Germany...I'll wake up for that one!

What? No USA?

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by mqywaaah

What? No USA?

I think he meant the USA vs Germany game...

[mqywaaah]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I think he meant the USA vs Germany game...

Gotcha

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by jthig32

I believe it's CNBC HD, USA HD, and the two supposed Olympic HD channels that should be on your guide somewhere, but not showing any content right now.

Link

I thought the big HD rollout for Fios was in September, not sure.

Ah well there you go. I stop at 846 (Discovery...shark week in HD = fun) and don't look beyond it because I don't pay for the HBO's and Showtimes.

I'll take a look down there later tonight. (That's what she said)

[BGMaverick9]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I think he meant the USA vs Germany game...

exactly

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Ah well there you go. I stop at 846 (Discovery...shark week in HD = fun) and don't look beyond it because I don't pay for the HBO's and Showtimes.

I'll take a look down there later tonight. (That's what she said)

Just checked my guide. 896 and 897 are there, and now the guide says "24/7 live coverage of Olympic basketball and soccer starting Aug 8th".

Pretty cool.

[proballer]

I hope for the Mavs Kidd won't be knackered at the end of the Olympics games. Dallas will need him next season, more than ever!

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Just checked my guide. 896 and 897 are there, and now the guide says "24/7 live coverage of Olympic basketball and soccer starting Aug 8th".

Pretty cool.

Yeah I'm actually getting regular CNBC and USA programming in HD right now.

[tsar]

What to make of the change at the point?
ESPN.com

"SHANGHAI, China -- Jason Kidd sat and watched the final 20 minutes of Team USA's friendly competition against Russia from the bench Sunday, his warm-ups never coming off.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski, when asked why he benched Kidd, was in the middle of answering during his postgame interview when Kobe Bryant gave a two-word explanation: "He's old."

Krzyzewski said Kidd will be back in the starting lineup Tuesday night when the Americans play their final pre-Olympic exhibition game against Australia, but what will happen beyond that point is fair game for open speculation.

With Chris Paul and Deron Williams looking especially effective against Russia's zone defense, what we saw in Team USA's 89-68 victory over the reigning European champions could be an indication of what we'll see in the next couple of weeks.

J-Kidd could be done, or at least on his way to being marginalized. That's not the way he saw it, though.

"Coach wanted to get those guys more time. He wanted to see something different, get those guys into some situations," Kidd said. "I've seen everything, so I'm fine with it. I can use the rest. There's nothing to read into it."

Except there is.

Until Sunday, Paul and Williams usually had been paired as the second unit's backcourt, with Williams playing shooting guard and Paul running the point. But Paul was the starter when the second 20 minutes began, and Williams was the most effective player on the court after the Russian team made a nice little run to cut a 20-point deficit in half, throwing the closest thing to a scare into the Americans as they've seen in their four games together thus far. "

I didn't paste the rest of the article because it begins to talk about other things. I thought this was kind of interesting though. Well.... interesting and depressing. Discuss.

[AxdemxO]

Just like Kidd said nothing to read into it. and I bet Kobe was joking, but at the same time I bet he wishes he was playing on the same team with the old guy

[ghazi]

Not sure if there is anything to make of this since all of these have been exhibition games in which the U.S. has won comfortably. I do feel that Kidd starting is due to seniority rather than skill level, since I don't think anyone can deny at this stage in Kidd's career he is an inferior point guard to Paul and Williams. At the same time, I don't think Jason Kidd is "done" just yet, maybe in 2 years. No matter how the minutes are distributed, it will be irrelevant. Either way, The U.S. will win a silver medal losing to Iran in the finals.

[jthig32]

Obviously there's something to it. Kidd being the starting PG is symbolic, and nothing more.

When the U.S. plays real teams that give them any kind of challenge, Kidd will barely the see the floor. Paul and Williams are significantly better players. Just the way it is.

[bcrav4]

So now we need to bench Kidd whenever we play against any point guards with quickness or a team playing zone D this season? Great!

[SMC0007]

Yeah, if we had Paul or Williams off the bench.

[Kidd Karma]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olymp...-29-kidd_N.htm

By Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS - What makes point guard Jason Kidd so unique is a bit mystical, or musical, depending on your bent.

"I can't explain it to you," forward LeBron James says. "I don't know what Jason does, I don't know how he does it. If I could explain it to you, I'd be like a prophet or something."

"He sees things," guard Dwyane Wade says of Kidd's sixth sense. "When you're on the court and you see him do something, you think he had to see that like three minutes ago."

Last month at a practice in Las Vegas, U.S. Olympic men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski compared Kidd to a jazz pianist who makes the rhythm section around him better, who plays at some obscure club at 3 a.m. without caring if anyone's there to listen. "It's his mind, his instincts, the feel and the daring," Krzyzewski says.

It may surprise some NBA fans that Kidd, at 35 the oldest member of the 12-man Olympic team, is the starting point guard ahead of Chris Paul, 23, and Deron Williams, 24. But being the best isn't necessarily about stats, quickness, age or outside perception. What makes Kidd so important to success in Beijing is "crazy, deeper stuff," Krzyzewski says.

"Being the best means that you have the ability to have the biggest impact in the creation of an environment to win, and Jason has that," Krzyzewski says. "With the experience of that many years in the NBA and internationally, coupled with the passion to continue to do it, teamed up with talent around him, I don't think anyone on our team has a better equation. Obviously Kobe (Bryant) and LeBron (James) are better players, but that entire impact, he's as important a guy as we can have."

Kidd, who is entering his 15th NBA season, was traded from the New Jersey Nets to the Dallas Mavericks last February. He's played on USA Basketball teams since 1993 and is shooting for his second gold medal after winning one in 2000.

High basketball IQ

Inside Kidd's shaved dome, there must be algorithms of passing angles and variables of equations burned into his synapses. "His mind is his best talent," Krzyzewski says. "And his ability to instinctively react to situations on the court is at the highest level, as high as anyone who has ever played the game."

Krzyzewski compares Kidd's basketball IQ to Magic Johnson's, who was Kidd's idol growing up in California.

Kidd defines instinct as "being able to be creative in a spilt second." When an opponent takes a shot and Kidd's team gets the rebound, he already has analyzed the situation and processed how to move the ball up the court the fastest way possible.

"When somebody shoots, I take a picture of where everyone is out on the court and then go from there with my whole thought process," Kidd says. "There's maybe 100 things I'm going through, a checklist that all happens in two seconds. First is to get the ball, second is, where is the defender? Where are my teammates? Is my teammate tired? If I throw it too far will he quit on me? What type of pass is called for? Is it a bounce pass? Is it a chest pass? If all that isn't there, then what play are we going to run?

"That (answer) comes where you're probing and trying to find something and that's where your creativity and daring come in because maybe you're going to do something that most people would never think about doing. It becomes a chess match, not with the opponent but with yourself because you're trying to figure out what's the right thing to do in that split second."

Playing with Kidd has been an adjustment, in a good way, for the U.S. stars. "We don't play with point guards like him," Wade says. "I've never played with point guards like him."

When Kidd started practicing with the group, there were plenty of turnovers because his teammates hadn't caught up to their point guard's vision. "He just sees the game differently," Bryant says. "He grew up being a passer, understanding the angles. He makes very quick reads, very quick decisions. It's a different role for me and makes the game easier. Some of the shots you get you tend to be uncomfortable with because they're so damn easy. You're used to having guys on your arm all the time. With Jason, you get wide-open looks. He puts the ball right on the money."

During shooting drills last summer, Kidd turned to Carmelo Anthony and asked, "Where do you want the ball?"

Anthony, not quite sure what Kidd meant, gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

When players realize that Kidd (6-4, 212 pounds) can deliver the ball to their sweet spot, Krzyzewski says their reaction is: "You mean, I'm going to have room service and you're going to cut my meat too? You're going to give it to me in a certain position?"

So where does Anthony want the ball? "Wherever he gives it to me," Anthony says.

The team leader

Though the "crazy, deeper stuff" defines Kidd's game, so too does this: 44-0, his record competing at the senior international level. At the 2000 Olympics, he helped the USA win gold. Four years later, he missed the 2004 Games because of an injury to his left knee and the U.S. stumbled to a bronze.

[mqywaaah]

Excellent read!