But, as we've witnessed over the last six years, with the level of basketball that the world is now playing, talent is not enough to make it to the top of the medal stand.

In order to win gold in this new basketball world, you must take those talented individuals and make a team out of them, a team that plays together. And with the limited time that the U.S. has to prepare, Coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff can only do so much to bring this team together. Coaches can keep the players motivated and get them to buy in to a team-first philosophy, but that doesn't mean that they'll be a cohesive unit on the floor.

On the floor, they need a point guard, a facilitator, to meld their talents into a squad where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And the U.S. team has three point guards who do just that. Last year, Jason Kidd was called on to help harmonize this team. This year, he may not be needed all that much.

"I think the strength of our team is at point," Krzyzewski said on Saturday, when his team arrived in Shanghai for the third and final stage of its Olympic training. "That position is terrific for us."

It hasn't been so terrific in the past.

FALLING SHORT

In 2002, the U.S. Team had Andre Miller, a solid floor general, and Baron Davis, as its point guards. Of course, they had other issues, like a not-so talented frontline and a sense of complacency. They finished sixth, going 6-3, at the World Championships in Indianapolis.

In 2004, with Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury as its starting backcourt, the U.S. was seriously lacking a facilitator, and seriously lacking any team chemistry whatsoever. With a 5-3 record, they finished third at the Athens Olympics.

And in 2006, the U.S. had Chris Paul and Kirk Hinrich running the show. Both can distribute the ball, but neither had any international experience at the senior level. Paul, easily the more talented of the two, was just 21 and was undersized. The U.S. played well at the World Championships in Japan, but not well enough, falling to Greece in the semifinals and going home with bronze again.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

This year, Krzyzewski and Managing Director Jerry Colangelo had a better point guard situation before they even starting training camp. Thanks to their three-year commitment program, they had four point guards with international experience to choose from: Paul, Kidd, Chauncey Billups and Deron Williams.

Each had their strengths and it would have been a difficult decision to decide which one wouldn't be selected.

"We had four outstanding point guards to make the decision on," Colangelo said Sunday.

But the difficult decision became simple when Billups bowed out because of family issues. Fully intending to bring three point guards to Beijing, Colangelo named Kidd, Paul and Williams to his 12-man squad.

SETTING THE PACE

Kidd, he of the 38-0 record in international competition, is the veteran presence, the eyes-in-the-back-of-his-head distributor and essentially, the ultimate role player. With three of the NBA's four leading scorers in the starting lineup with him, he's got the complementary skill set needed to run the show.

"Jason's in there to get us off and going, set the pace and set the tempo," Colangelo said.

After the struggles of '04 and '06, Kidd asked to return to the National Team, last wearing red, white and blue in 2003. Colangelo, knowing Kidd could turn his group into a team, was happy to have him. And as evidenced by the team's 10-0 record with a 39.5 points per game margin of victory at the FIBA Americas Tournament, it was a good acquisition.

APPLES AND ORANGES

Behind Kidd are the two best young point guards in the NBA. And you could arguably take the "young" part of that statement out. More important, both Paul and Williams are much more equipped to run this team than they were the last time they played for the U.S. squad.

Paul is obviously two years older than he was at the World Championships in Japan, but there's more to his progression as a player than that. Two years ago, he had just won the Rookie of the Year award, but fell short of the playoffs. This time around, he just finished second for MVP, leading his team to the second best record in the Western Conference and to the seventh game of the Conference Semifinals.

He's more experienced. He's more mature. He's bigger. He's stronger. And in a game where confidence can mean everything, Paul's confidence "has skyrocketed," as Colangelo puts it.

Colangelo goes even further. "Comparing Chris Paul two years ago and now is apples and oranges," he said Sunday.

In the U.S. Team's four exhibition games so far, Paul is averaging 8.3 points and 5.5 assists in 23.3 minutes per game, with a terrific assist-turnover ratio of 3.14. He's also shooting .667 from the field, including 4-of-7 from downtown.

GETTING IN THE GAPS

If they had just Kidd and Paul, the U.S. team would be pretty set at the point. But Williams has probably been the most effective of the trio so far. With Lithuania and Russia playing a lot of zone, Williams has found the seams to either get to the basket himself, or draw defenders and kick it out to a wide open shooter.

He and Michael Redd, a zone-buster in a different way, have developed a little chemistry in that respect. Williams draw and kicks. Redd, shooting 12-for-21 from beyond the arc, knocks 'em down.

"That's what he's in there for, to penetrate," Redd said after Williams picked up nine assists (and zero turnovers) against Russia on Sunday. "He's one of our great penetrators, and he's done a great job in these games of getting into the gaps and finding guys."

Both Redd and Williams were with this team last year. And the shooter recognizes the progression that the penetrator has made since then.

"He's matured," Redd said. "He's always been talented. His game has gotten better, but I think the maturity factor has kicked in even more this year."

The maturity factor has Williams leading the team with 6.3 assists per game and an assist-turnover ratio of 3.57, while shooting .617 from the field. And that comes while he's playing some minutes off the ball. Krzyzewski has played Paul and Williams together for some stretches, and the youthful backcourt has been quite effective.

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

And as a result of the play of Paul and Williams, or maybe to keep his veteran's legs fresh, Krzyzewski has played Kidd just an average of 12.3 minutes per game in the four exhibitions, and not at all in the second half against Russia on Sunday.

"I'm fresh," Kidd said after Sunday's game. "I don't mind that. It gives these guys more time to get international experience and also be in different situations, so that's good."

And the U.S. Team hasn't lost a step without Kidd. Some would certainly argue that Paul or Williams deserve to start, but that's not likely to happen, barring injury. Kidd is still one of this team's leaders and he still has value on the floor. And his presence probably makes it easier on the two young guys, in that they don't feel the need to shoulder the burden of running the team by themselves.

"I think it's easier for everybody with Jason here," Krzyzewski said Saturday, "because he's the ultimate player and he shares his knowledge well. And I think every guy on the team appreciates it, none more than Chris and Deron."

For now, Paul and Williams will make their impact off the bench. But down the line, they'll be running the show.

"They're not only point guards of the present," Colangelo says, "but point guards of the future USA team."

John Schuhmann will be covering USA Basketball through the Beijing Olympics. Send him a question or comment.