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There has been an ongoing conversation for a while about who is the point-guard-of-the-future for the U.S. womens basketball team. But such discussion should never be boiled down to this question: Whos the next Sue Bird?Because that would be drastically unfair to anyone who someday will play point guard for the senior national squad after Bird has moved on to whatever else she will do spectacularly well. Broadcasting, which she already has started? Coaching? Running the WNBA? Maybe shell do all that and more.But there simply isnt going to be a duplicate of Bird on court. So lets genuinely appreciate her while shes still playing.Bird, who is currently competing in her fourth Olympics, will turn 36 in October. But she looks to be in the best shape of her life, and her stats for her 14th WNBA season are as good as theyve been in her career.Bird is very exacting about what she expects in her own performance, and the previous couple of years had not met her standards.I felt like I wasnt myself, and that can be tough, she said. Kind of looking in the mirror and asking yourself, How do you want your career to end? Thats what it really came down to.I figured, Why not just try to control everything you can? Dot every i and cross every t and see where it gets you. I really worked on my nutrition, and on a workout plan that was going to be really beneficial to my body. Im lucky that I have people in Seattle that are going to support me.Meaning that those in the Storm organization understand that Bird doesnt need to partake in a lot of punishing practices at this point in her career. There are other things, like bike riding, that actually do her more good.When you dont have to worry about your body feeling like crap every day, Bird said, when thats a consistent thing -- of feeling good -- it allows you to actually worry about whats in front of you and whats important.There is no way for athletes to beat time, but they can cheat it as much as possible if they take the right approach. Youd expect nothing less from Bird.If Sue was old, and played old, and thought old, and acted old, she wouldnt have made the team, U.S. Olympic coach Geno Auriemma said. But Sue at her age thinks quicker, and moves quicker, and makes more plays for other people than any other guard in the league.Im not privy to all the huddles that are out there. But Im sure when theres a huddle, theres only one person thats talking, and everybodys nodding their head.Bird would appreciate the compliment, but she has never been very comfortable with such things. She is intensely competitive, but more at ease with humorous self-deprecation and deflection of praise to others.You could go through the entire list of people who have played or currently are playing point guard -- male or female, pro or college, we truly mean anybody -- and you wont find one whose very essence is more point guard than Bird.It is in everything she does as a basketball player: from her commitment to setting up teammates on the court, to how she thinks of the collective at all times.You get the feeling Bird could be home alone cooking dinner and shed be wondering if all her teammates were eating something healthy. Shes the one who can hold everyone accountable by holding herself the most accountable.Bird always has been the smartest kid in class who never needs to tell you that, or even have it acknowledged. If the scoreboard reads in favor of her team, thats what matters.This is not to say, though, that Bird doesnt focus on herself, because of course she does. Bird probably couldnt help but hear the chatter from some womens basketball fans that maybe it was time for the national team to move on to a much younger guard corps back before the 2014 world championship.Yet the reality is that Bird and Minnesotas Lindsay Whalen, 34, are still premier point guards in the WNBA and great leaders at that position for the national team.And, as mentioned, the fine-tuning Bird did with her diet and her fitness really did help slam the door shut on why shes still running the show for the Americans. Its obvious in her play.Bird is leading the WNBA in assists at 6.0 per game, and shes averaging 12.5 points while shooting a career-high 44.1 percent from 3-point range. Shes also helping oversee the development of the Storms two No. 1 draft picks of 2015 and 16, Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart, the latter of whom is on the Olympic team with Bird.I love playing with Sue, Stewart said. Just the fact that shes been through so much that she knows everything. Shes a tremendous leader, not only on the basketball court, but off.It is in keeping with how analytically Bird approaches everything that she has put a lot of thought into how to mentor younger players.I have moments where I think to myself, What do I wish I was told at 21 or 22? Bird said. And its nothing groundbreaking. Its just little stuff. Immediately, I told Stewie, Something youre going to need to take care of is your body.Now, you can probably eat McDonalds every day -- Im not saying she does this, but just as an example -- and sleep six hours, and play back-to-back games and be none the wiser. But you might as well start the good habits now. Because Im telling you, in 10 years, youre not going to be able to do that.Bird also knows that even if you do everything right, injuries can still get you. Thats what ended the career of Birds longtime Storm teammate, Lauren Jackson, and for the first time since 1996, the Australians will play in the Olympics without her. She competed for the Opals in the Summer Games in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012.The Storm retired Jacksons number in July, and it was Birds hilarious and heartfelt tribute speech to Jackson?that was the highlight of the ceremony. Bird was moved to tears -- and took everybody in attendance with her -- talking about her empathy for Jackson no longer being physically able to play.Bird is grateful she still can. She thinks back to 2004 when she competed in her first Olympics, soaking up all the advice offered by veterans like Dawn Staley. Now here Bird is a dozen years later, at another Olympics and sounding as if she still gets wiser by the day.At some point, its mind over matter, Bird said of how she faces challenges. My WNBA team is young, so this is something I preach to them.Lets say our flight was delayed the night before, and we end up getting in at 2 in the morning. It then becomes a decision. It really does. Youre either going to allow it to affect you, or youre not.Even within a game, I have moments where I have to remind myself, All right, you need to pick it up or Your energy is low. There is a saying, You fake till you make it for a reason. You just have to push yourself, and its easier said than done.Unless youre Bird. Because -- whether its with the WNBA, overseas or the national team -- she says it and does it with equal aplomb. Wholesale Sneakers Online . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Wholesale Sneakers For Sale .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. http://www.wholesalesneakerscanada.com/ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Authentic Sneaker Wholesale . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. Cheap Sneakers Online Canada . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday.Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths is determined to repay Ronny Deila for helping his career by delivering the Scottish Premiership title. The Hoops require seven points at most to be crowned champions of Scotland for the fifth successive season.Celtic have endured a troubled week following their surprise Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Championship winners Rangers at Hampden last Sunday. And coming so soon after a League Cup semi-final defeat to Ross County in January at the National Stadium. where the Hoops also under-performed, Deila has decided to leave Celtic Park at the end of the campaign.Griffiths, who has scored 37 goals this season and has credited Deila will vastly improving his game, is determined to ensure the Norwegian leaves the club with a third trophy in his two-year reign.After Sundays defeat and then the gaffer coming out with that, it was a shock to everybody but weve still got five games left to give him the perfect send-off, the 25-year-old said.He told us just before we went out to train on Wednesday that he had decided to step down as manager and as a whole, the squad was disappointed. Celtic striiker Leigh Griffiths has scored 37 times this season Hopefully at the end of the season hell look back on his time and he has delivered three trophies in two years.dddddddddddd. He can count that as a success.The European campaigns obviously havent been great and the cup runs havent been great but we got two trophies last year and we are looking to get five in a row.Griffiths took several months to convince Deila he was the man to lead the line after the former Stromsgodset boss arrived in the summer of 2014, but the Scotland international is aware he will have continue to maintain his standards to impress the next boss.After the first four or five months I didnt look back and come pre-season I will have to do it all over again, Griffiths said.First and foremost, we still have to win the next five games to win the league. After that it is up to the club to decide who they bring in and hopefully we hit the ground running in pre-season. Hopefully the new manager coming in, he will see what I have done this season and towards the end of last season and hopefully we can kick on from there. Also See: Celtic video Celtic fixtures Celtic stats Get ￡10 free bet! ' ' '