Posts tagged JasonKidd at FanHouse

Jason Kidd may have already given away his gold medal, but that doesn't mean he's coming home from Beijing empty-handed.

After taking care of business on the basketball court, he held a press conference announcing that he signed with Peak, a Chinese company, to endorse their shoes. Kidd previously endorsed Nike, and before anyone suggests his new kicks are inferior, realize that they're probably made in the exact same sweatshop.

Kidd joins a handful players in the NBA endorsing foreign kicks, most notably including several Rockets cashing in on Houston's Yao-inspired popularity in China. Even without knowing how much Kidd's new deal is worth, this looks like a savvy business move.

Kidd still has a ton of name value (especially on the international level after winning two gold medals), but his popularity and marketability among young Americans has waned as the next generation of stud point guards like Chris Paul and Deron Williams (and soon, Derrick Rose) have taken over. But if Damon Jones taught us anything, it's that fans in China are quite as concerned about things as minor as "talent" or "production" or even "playing time."

The way that the players of the USA Basketball team were staring at their freshly earned gold medals after defeating Spain in the epic final game, it appeared that those pieces of hardware would be something they would cherish for the rest of their lives. That's not the case for at least one member of the "Redeem Team" however, as Jason Kidd will be giving his gold medal away to ... the wife of one of the wealthiest casino owners in Las Vegas. The particulars:

Kidd promised Elaine Wynn, wife of casino mogul Steve Wynn, that he would give her his newest Olympic medal if the Americans fulfill the redeem dream.

"It's not a (gambling) marker or anything like that," Kidd told The Arizona Republic. "She's just a great friend and a really great person."

They met last year when Kidd and the USA team stayed at the Wynn while training in Las Vegas.

"Last summer, we stayed at the Wynn for (what seemed like) a lifetime, close to three weeks," Kidd said. "We met at a banquet, we got to talking, and she really understands the game. I told her I'd make a deal with her, that if we won the gold medal, I'd give it to her. She thought I was kidding. But I told her I had one already, and the way they treated us at the Wynn, it was the least I could do."

I have so many questions about this, but let's just discuss one of the most obvious ones, shall we? Kidd has been an NBA star for a long time, and surely owes debts of gratitude to a lot of people. People that he's undoubtedly known for more than a year or so. So what makes Mrs. Wynn so special?

During the remainder of the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will give you 5 Things to watch for in each game.

Can the Team USA transition game be stopped? Through five pool play games, no one came even remotely close to slowing Team USA's fast break. The central challenge, beyond the overwhelming speed and finishing ability of every single player in red, white and blue, is that the Americans get out in transition so freaking often. The pickpocketing ways of Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul make up one avenue. LeBron James has been an interior disruptor, and the team flies off his deflections, steals and blocks. The team runs out on defensive rebounds, with Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh looking for an outlet guard, and those guards (Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant, mainly) getting the ball up the court quickly. Even on the rare opponent make, the Americans push. How do you stop all that? You don't. You try to limit it as much as possible, by protecting the ball and slowing the game to a crawl. But nothing you do will prevent a few breakaway dunks from going down.

Can Australia be effective in the half-court offense? The wonderful Xs and Os of Basketball blog took a detailed look at Australia's versatile half-court offense recently, showing how many different ways the Aussies set up shop. Certainly, it's a better system than Germany or China offered, and it's a slower, more deliberate movement-driven offense than Spain runs. (Spain tends to be a bit free-wheeling and quick; Australia is closer to the old slow Princeton ... though there are serious differences.) The United States hasn't been tested in the half-court, really -- it has blown its opponents up way out at midcourt and built big leads before the foe can get settled. With Patrick Mills running Australia's show, the Boomers should be able to get into their offense early. At that point, it will be up to the Americans to show they can play real halfcourt defense.

During the remainder of the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will give you 5 Things to watch for in each game.

Can the Team USA transition game be stopped? Through five pool play games, no one came even remotely close to slowing Team USA's fast break. The central challenge, beyond the overwhelming speed and finishing ability of every single player in red, white and blue, is that the Americans get out in transition so freaking often. The pickpocketing ways of Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul make up one avenue. LeBron James has been an interior disruptor, and the team flies off his deflections, steals and blocks. The team runs out on defensive rebounds, with Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh looking for an outlet guard, and those guards (Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant, mainly) getting the ball up the court quickly. Even on the rare opponent make, the Americans push. How do you stop all that? You don't. You try to limit it as much as possible, by protecting the ball and slowing the game to a crawl. But nothing you do will prevent a few breakaway dunks from going down.

Can Australia be effective in the half-court offense? The wonderful Xs and Os of Basketball blog took a detailed look at Australia's versatile half-court offense recently, showing how many different ways the Aussies set up shop. Certainly, it's a better system than Germany or China offered, and it's a slower, more deliberate movement-driven offense than Spain runs. (Spain tends to be a bit free-wheeling and quick; Australia is closer to the old slow Princeton ... though there are serious differences.) The United States hasn't been tested in the half-court, really -- it has blown its opponents up way out at midcourt and built big leads before the foe can get settled. With Patrick Mills running Australia's show, the Boomers should be able to get into their offense early. At that point, it will be up to the Americans to show they can play real halfcourt defense.

Throughout the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will prioritize the games of the day for you in Golden Ticket.

Two heavyweight battles on the docket for the fourth day of the men's tournament, plus a couple other intriguing matchups.

GOLD: United States vs Spain, 10:15 a.m. EST The Group B lead (and top seed, I reckon) will be at stake when the Spaniards and Americans face off. However, a loss for either team wouldn't mean a ton. This might be the only team against which Team USA loses two starters' position battle: Jose Calderon could be better than Jason Kidd, and Pau Gasol might be closer to Carmelo Anthony than you'd think. Of course, the United States has better depth and stronger talent at the top, with LeBron and Kobe. Can Spanish camaraderie bridge the gulf and take Spain to a win? We'll see ... well, Eastern and Central time zone fans will see. Folks in the Mountain or Pacific time zones can either watch online at NBCOlympics.com or catch it on a tape delay. Awesome work, NBC!

SILVER: Croatia vs Lithuania, 2:30 a.m. EST The Croats finally dropped a match with a stinker against resurgent Argentina. Lithuania continues to ride high after salting the Argentines on the opening day, and along with only the U.S. and Spain remains undefeated. The guard battle should be excellent, and you'd suspect plenty of made threes here -- Croatia is still at 50% from deep on the tournament. Lithuania's Linas Kleiza has been an uber-efficient scorer and has pulled seven boards a game.

BRONZE: China vs Germany, 8:00 a.m. EST China could use a big win here to slip onto the path toward the medal round. Yao Ming really dominated against Angola (surprise). Chris Kaman and Dirk Nowitzki should impede the big China frontline a bit more. Both teams have questionable backcourt outfits, as we've said and seen and said again after seeing. Despite the 1-2 record, China's been good, hanging with the States for a hot minute and taking Spain to OT. Germany, however, followed its win over the Aussies with two double-digits losses ... and it hasn't met the U.S. yet. I'll guess China in an upset of minor proportions. (Actually, I might take a nap.)

In other action: Greece vs Angola, Russia vs Australia, Iran vs Argentina.

Throughout the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will prioritize the games of the day for you in Golden Ticket.

Two heavyweight battles on the docket for the fourth day of the men's tournament, plus a couple other intriguing matchups.

GOLD: United States vs Spain, 10:15 a.m. EST The Group B lead (and top seed, I reckon) will be at stake when the Spaniards and Americans face off. However, a loss for either team wouldn't mean a ton. This might be the only team against which Team USA loses two starters' position battle: Jose Calderon could be better than Jason Kidd, and Pau Gasol might be closer to Carmelo Anthony than you'd think. Of course, the United States has better depth and stronger talent at the top, with LeBron and Kobe. Can Spanish camaraderie bridge the gulf and take Spain to a win? We'll see ... well, Eastern and Central time zone fans will see. Folks in the Mountain or Pacific time zones can either watch online at NBCOlympics.com or catch it on a tape delay. Awesome work, NBC!

SILVER: Croatia vs Lithuania, 2:30 a.m. EST The Croats finally dropped a match with a stinker against resurgent Argentina. Lithuania continues to ride high after salting the Argentines on the opening day, and along with only the U.S. and Spain remains undefeated. The guard battle should be excellent, and you'd suspect plenty of made threes here -- Croatia is still at 50% from deep on the tournament. Lithuania's Linas Kleiza has been an uber-efficient scorer and has pulled seven boards a game.

BRONZE: China vs Germany, 8:00 a.m. EST China could use a big win here to slip onto the path toward the medal round. Yao Ming really dominated against Angola (surprise). Chris Kaman and Dirk Nowitzki should impede the big China frontline a bit more. Both teams have questionable backcourt outfits, as we've said and seen and said again after seeing. Despite the 1-2 record, China's been good, hanging with the States for a hot minute and taking Spain to OT. Germany, however, followed its win over the Aussies with two double-digits losses ... and it hasn't met the U.S. yet. I'll guess China in an upset of minor proportions. (Actually, I might take a nap.)

In other action: Greece vs Angola, Russia vs Australia, Iran vs Argentina.

Jose Calderon tried to explain Team Spain's controversial slant-eyed pose as a "somewhat loving" gesture of respect. It's a laughably weak explanation, but so far, it's worked ... at least when you consider that the NBA has yet to issue any kind of reprimand or suggestion of possible future punishment.

Can you imagine David Stern quietly accepting that lame excuse had Carmelo Anthony or Kobe Bryant pulled a stunt like that? And yet, despite the fact that four NBA players (veterans Calderon and Pau Gasol, as well as soon-to-be rookies Marc Gasol and Rudy Fernandez) took part in the offending pose, Stern has been suspiciously quiet -- and Jason Kidd can smell the hypocrisy in Secaucus all the way from Beijing. From Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:

"We would've been already thrown out of the Olympics," he told Yahoo! Sports. "At least, we wouldn't have been able to come back to the U.S. ...There would be suspensions." And for his European peers, well, Kidd suggested, "They won't do anything to them. It's a double standard."

The photo shoot may have taken place in Spain for an advertisement that ran in a Spanish newspaper featuring players wearing Spanish uniforms, but as Wojo correctly explains, NBA players "are always on the clock."

I'm not sure the NBA can justify handing out actual suspensions (after a Eurobasket game last summer, Darko Milicic ranted to reporters about wanting to rape the referees' mothers and daughters and escaped with a mere verbal reprimand from the Grizzlies), but at the very least, the NBA needs to make some kind of official statement.

Previously on FanHouse:
Spaniards Meant the Slant-Eyed Photo to Be 'Loving'
Spanish Team Should Be Prepared to Get Called Into Principal's Office

Deadspin found this saucy dispatch from U.S. long-distance star Kara Goucher's Olympic opening ceremony experience:

"[W]e had a two-hour wait until we actually marched in. At this point, athletes started mingling and I met [USA men's basketball players] Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd. I got my picture with all of them. They were all very nice and asked me about running track. One of them actually ended up asking for my number, and chatting me up for a while, and got out his camera to take a picture with me, but that's a story for another time."

That's a story for right now, dangit! Deadspin's A.J. Daulerio surmises Jason Kidd, which is the easy guess. (Show some balls, Balls.) Carlos Boozer, Kobe, 'Melo, LeBron, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul ... these guys are accounted for and it seems unlikely. It is most certainly not Michael Redd. I have no idea (nor do I really care to know, beyond this exercise) if Tayshaun Prince is attached to someone.

My money's on Dwyane Wade. Kara's a definite upgrade on Star Jones, and it would explain why Flash is the only star playing out of his gourd so far. Goucher (married) apparently didn't hook up with the unnamed baller, but Wade seems like the charming sort who'd see a spring in his step just from talking to a pretty lady. All signs points to Dwyane here.

(Ah, who am I kidding? Daulerio's probably right. And Goucher's probably one of 1,450 or so lady Olympians J.K. made a pass at Friday.)

Deadspin found this saucy dispatch from U.S. long-distance star Kara Goucher's Olympic opening ceremony experience:

"[W]e had a two-hour wait until we actually marched in. At this point, athletes started mingling and I met [USA men's basketball players] Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd. I got my picture with all of them. They were all very nice and asked me about running track. One of them actually ended up asking for my number, and chatting me up for a while, and got out his camera to take a picture with me, but that's a story for another time."

That's a story for right now, dangit! Deadspin's A.J. Daulerio surmises Jason Kidd, which is the easy guess. (Show some balls, Balls.) Carlos Boozer, Kobe, 'Melo, LeBron, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul ... these guys are accounted for and it seems unlikely. It is most certainly not Michael Redd. I have no idea (nor do I really care to know, beyond this exercise) if Tayshaun Prince is attached to someone.

My money's on Dwyane Wade. Kara's a definite upgrade on Star Jones, and it would explain why Flash is the only star playing out of his gourd so far. Goucher (married) apparently didn't hook up with the unnamed baller, but Wade seems like the charming sort who'd see a spring in his step just from talking to a pretty lady. All signs points to Dwyane here.

(Ah, who am I kidding? Daulerio's probably right. And Goucher's probably one of 1,450 or so lady Olympians J.K. made a pass at Friday.)

Despite a 2-0 start and an average points margin of +26, it's not hard to find problems with Team USA's performance. As you know, neither Angola nor China are among the top teams in this tournament: China stands #11 in the world, and Angola #14. Iran is the only team worse than the U.S.'s first two opponents.

As such, the Americans should be winning by 26 against these squads. Spain, Lithuania, maybe the Croats or Greeks -- those teams will perform far better, and the United States will need to be at full-throttle to win easily (which would be the goal, you'd think). And Team USA is not playing at full-throttle.

The biggest blemish is the awful three-point shooting performance. The Americans have hit only 12 of 45 long-range attempts ... despite the much shorter distance compared to the NBA and the stated aim of rebuilding the team as a team with, you know, role players. Two visages of that plan -- Michael Redd and Tayshaun Prince -- have fewer minutes than everyone but Carlos Boozer, the third-string center.

This team is not full of good long-range shooters. Kobe, Kidd, LeBron, 'Melo, Wade, Paul -- all shoot no better than 34% on their careers, and this set of bigs rarely shoots that deep. Deron Williams does have a reliable stroke, and is 2-for-5 in the Olympics. But Redd is the only prototypical three-point shooter on this team (39% on his NBA career, taking 5/game last season) ... and he has played less minutes than Jason Kidd, who is like a -17% shooter for his career. (Slight exaggeration.) Redd's a good teammate, and he practically begged to be on the team. It's worth it on a program-building level to respect his commitment, at the least.

Kobe's not as bad a shooter as he has portrayed (more on him later), but it seems the no-brainer solution to Team USA's shooting woes is to let the good shooter play more. And garbage time doesn't count.