RIO DE JANEIRO– Sue Bird is 35-years old now. The former UConn All America point guard and WNBA Seattle Storm star may not be the most talented player on this dominant Team USA, but he is Geno Auriemma’s most important player.

Bird is the engine that runs this machine.

She doesn’t have to score to dominate in these Olympic games. Bird didn’t score a point Friday against Canada. But she contributed nine assists including an alley oop to a cutting Brenna Stewart for the unbeaten 4-0 Americans, who didn’t score 100 points for the first time in these summer games, but still embarrassed the only other unbeaten team in their pool, 81-51, at the Youth Arena in Deodora, on the north side of this city.

“I think we played really hard today on defense,” Bird said. “I think people fall in love with points at times, but it’s our defense that’s been the most consistent. Tonight was a good example of that. It wasn’t that we couldn’t score, we weren’t scoring at the rate that you saw the first three games. It was our defense that was there for us to rely on. And it’s not easy. Especially against a team like Canada. They make you work. We worked hard.”

Team USA clamped down on the Canadians, limiting them to just one field goal in the second quarter when they took a 35-22 lead. No Canadian player scored in double figures.

Sue Bird out front on the USA Women’s Basketball Team offense

“I think what’s most impressive is that you have a group of women who, every single one of us is the best, the second best, the third best player on their team in the WNBA,” Bird said. “Every single one of us have been all-stars, some of us have been MVPs, the best players on their teams in the world, over here and over there, and yet we were probably playing harder than any team in the tournament right now. I think that says a lot about us as individuals and us as a group. Because that’s what that was, that was effort. It’s not necessarily … part of it is chemistry, but it’s not necessarily a chemistry thing, it was an effort thing.”

Team USA has a history of strong point guards, dating back to 1976 Olympian Nancy Lieberman, five-time Olympian Theresa Edwards, who won four gold medals in 1988, 1996, 2000 and 2004; two-time Olympian Susie McConnell in 1988 and 1992 and Dawn Staley, who both knew how to run a team. Staley, who had an exceptional handle, is a Hall of Fame inductee who was a three time Olympian who played for three gold medal in 1996, 2002 and 2004.

The 5-8 Bird is a literal descendant. She is unique in the fact there is not another point guard in the world like her and Geno Auriemma, her Hall of Fame college coach, knows how to use her high IQ and ability to run a team.

And when she decides to retire from international competition, whoever replaces her, could be in trouble because there is no heir apparent.

USA Basketball may try to groom Odyssey Sims from the Select team for the role, but 5-8 Sims more of an athlete than a true point guard; slender 5-6 Moriah Jefferson, a UConn All America who was the starting point guard on the 2015 Pan Am team; 5-8 Tiffany Mitchell of South Carolina, Jewel Lloyd of Notre Dame and the Seattle Storm for the job. There is always a chance 5-8 Lindsay Allen, who will be a senior at Notre Dame, could also emerge four years from now. Sims, Loyd and Mitchell were all members of the WNBA Select team that pushed Team USA during an 88-84 exhibition loss. But there are no guarantees the way there is with Bird, who basketball experiment describes as a “genius playing basketball.”

“She could have been a great female business leader like Marisa Meyers of  Yahoo,” said Mike Flynn, who has a better understanding of the woman’s international game than anyone in America other than Auriemma.

Bird, who also played 10 seasons in Russia, has been a star from a young age. She was the New York State Player of the Year at Christ the King High School in the Astoria section of New York City, won four consecutive national titles at UConn and was selected the winner of the Wade Trophy and the Naismith Award at undefeated UConn in 2002. She finished her UConn career ranking first in three point field goal percent and free throw percentage, second in assists and steals and three time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top point guard in the country while leading Auriemma’s college team to a four-year record of 136-9.

Bird was selected by Seattle with the first pick in the WNBA draft and has been a seven-time WNBA All Star. She is one of nine women to win an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA championship and a WNBA title, winning two with the Storm. .

The brilliance of her career has been punctuated by four Olympic appearances– three gold medals to date– and four World Championships. Bird was named to the U.S. 2004 gold medal winning Olympic roster in Athens, then invited back to the national team for the World Championships in San Paulo, Brazil. With the retirement of Leslie Leslie and Dawn Staley and injuries to Sheryl Swoopes, Bird, along with Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi, stepped into leading roles on the national team. The USA won eight of the nine games they played, but fell to Russia, 75-68 in the medal round and wound up with a bronze medal. Over the nine games, Bird made 50 percent of her three point shots and lead Team USA with 41 assists in a transition year.

Bird was a starter on the 2008 team and led the team in steals with 14, then came back again in 2012 when the United States won again, playing for Auriemma, who has taken this team to another level.

That was obvious in 2010 when he coached Bird on a star studded team that participated in the FIBA World championships held in the Czech Republic during September and October. Many of the team members were playing in the WNBA just prior to the event and the team had only day of practice before leaving. Even so, the team won its first game over Greece by 26 points and continued to dominate the first five games of the tournament. In the gold medal game, Team USA had only a five point lead over Czech Republic, but never let the Czechs get closer. Bird averaged 5.6 points per game and led the team in assists with 26.

Bird and Auriemma has always been close. Aurriemma regularly rode Bird in practice telling her she was responsible for everything that happened on the court, even if it was a UConn teammate who made a bad pass or the wrong cut. Bird said Aurriema’s constantly prodding forced her to concentrate more on running a team, anticipating situations and thinking on the fly and controlling the flow of the game.

“You know he can’t be miked for games,” she said the team was introduced in New York City. “She swears too much.”

Bird wondered if UConn was the right place for her when Auriemma offered her a scholarship after CTK won a state title. When she discussed her concerns with her, Auriemma told her: “Follow your heart.”

“Actually, it was the best advice he could’ve given me,” she insisted. “UConn is different. He doesn’t beg anyone to come. Saying that made me ask myself if I was the kind of person who could accept the challenge.”

Bird has always done that.