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Not according to David Friedman, writing for the Biz of Basketball. He'll grant you that Michael Redd is knocking down threes, and Team USA is rolling through the competitive field. But he slashes at the underlying sacred cow: that a lack of outside shooting is what's hurt America in international competition. In fact, as Friedman proves, 2006's Team USA was pretty darn good in that department

He feels the problem was a lack of sound defense, which would make Bruce Bowen, not Redd, the answer to the team's prayers:

In order to win gold medals in FIBA events they must do a better job contesting three point shots and they must be more effective in their pick and roll defense ... Team USA was one of the best rebounding teams in the 2006 FIBA World Championships and those numbers would be even better if they improved their defensive field goal percentage; that in turn would lead to more fast break opportunities and more layups, making Team USA's offensive statistics even more impressive.

Friedman admits that Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant have been admirable stoppers, but that's not the same as solid team defense on a regular basis. Personally, I'm thinking Bowen should be there instead of Mike Miller. That way, you'd have some outside shooting and some defense to mete out as necessary.