Two more games the previous couple of days. One more and the U18 USA squad gets to take home the Gold.

The USA squad faced Brazil and Argentina. Argentina was dispatched 107-72. Brazil, though, gave the USA team their toughest and closest game of the tournament as the USA squad won by only 19 points.

It is the Brazilians who the US team will face one more time for the gold. Since the tournament is being held in Brazil, there is that home team factor for the crowd. Still, the USA team is and should be favored to finish this tournament on top of the podium.

But, who cares about the entire USA team. How’s James Robinson doing?

In a word, “Okay.”

He’s not hurting the USA squad. And there is no way I’d characterize the experience as anything less than a huge positive for Robinson and ultimately Pitt. At the same time, I’d be hard-pressed to claim that this team would fall without him.

Against Brazil he played only 13 minutes. Argentina had him at 17. For the four games of the U18 Tournament he has averaged 15.75 minute, which puts him near the middle (7th) on the squad in minutes played. Most of his minutes, though, have come late in the halves — especially the second half when the game is well out of reach.

For the series (PDF) he has 16 points, 12 assists, 1 turnover, 5 steals and 10 rebounds (all defensive). His shooting has not been overwhelming. He’s 5-13 overall and 1-4 on threes. At the free-throw line he has gone 5-8. Again, since he is out there late, he is there to take care of the ball. To control the game. So that is a factor in the low scoring. While Assist-Turnover ratio can be an overrated/easily skewed stat — especially on a squad that is shooting over 50% — the fact that Robinson is at a wild 12:1 while no other member of the squad tops 2.2:1 does stand out.

Obviously Robinson is not a scoring point guard. He is a facilitator. He takes excellent care of the ball and makes plays for his teammates. He has shown to be fundamentally sound. His defense definitely needs work, though, as he struggles to keep penetrating guards in front of him — something that was exploited by Mexico where he fouled out in 16 minutes.

The Gold Medal game is at 5 pm tonight.