Additional Quotes >> USA Senior Men 87, Australia 76

USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski
General Comments on tonight�s game:
We were not shooting well. And their defense took away a lot of driving areas. They had a well-conceived plan against us. And they got really hot in the second half and they put a lot of game pressure on our guys. I think our guys handled that well. On the free throw line, on the 3-point line, it was not easy for us.

Much has been made of the US team�s lack of success last time. Do you think your team is better prepared now to win the gold medal than four years ago?
No, we are still in the process of getting prepared. We played four games in six days. We gave them off yesterday just because we were trying to pace ourselves. Probably that lack of practice had a little bit of impact on our performance. I don�t think we were as sharp as we have been. The three days we can have practice in Beijing have to be three good practice days in order to get strong. Because we have been playing outstanding basketball and tonight I don�t think we played very well or not up to what we can play.

With the four games you had, would you have thought competing with Australia would be the closest and even had a chance of surprising you in the games?
We just respect all the teams we played. No coach goes into a game thinking they are going to dominate or whatever. You just hope that you win. You do the things necessary at each game you are involved because each game is different. The three teams that we played were in the other pool. I think they are capable of getting in the medal round. We played a great game against Lithuania. But they are an excellent basketball team and that was the best team we�ve played. You know these teams. Australia has a great deal of experience. They are tough-minded and well coached. So they are going to be a tough opponent for any international team on that pool. Playing these three teams really helped us a lot. Again I wished we�d played better tonight. I think Australia has something to do with that. We having four games in six days had something to do with it. We need to get onto the court and practice.

I would like to know if you feel that you are prepared for the Olympics right now after these matches. And also what do you think about the Spanish team?
We haven�t seen the Spanish team. But we know the Spanish team is a great team. We are prepared for the Olympics. You are going to have games that you don�t play as well. And if you can win those games, you don�t shoot very well on the foul line and you don�t get threes and still scoring almost 90 points. That means something good happened in the game. You can elaborate on all the bad things. As a coach, I know that you don�t always play great. The thing we have to do is to figure out how to win and that�s what our team did tonight. I would be much happier if we played great. But I would be much sadder if we lost.

Jason, Deron, Chris, the three point guys only scored five points while CJ Bruton and Patrick Mills of Australia scored 24. How do you think about the point guard position?
I am not a guy that looks at positions. I don�t break down the game that way. Our point guards did a good job. We want to look as a team, not position. So they did a good enough job for us to win the whole game.

What happened to the three-point shooting of the team?
We missed. I thought there were good shots. That�s the beautiful thing about basketball. You can hit and you can miss. We missed but we still won. You cannot hang hat on shooting tonight. You have to hang your hat on defense and making tough plays and when the team counts on you. They have a lot of game pressure on us when Australia hit those consecutive three-point shots. And after a timeout I though our defense made some adjustments and they made some big plays. To me those are really positive things because that can happen in any game.

Coach, can you give us a synopsis on what you told the team after the game?
I told them let�s go to Beijing. We have had a couple of weeks of good practice, good games. This was our worst effort. I wouldn�t say effort, this is our worst performance. But I am glad that we are going to Beijing and we still have three days of practice. Let�s get going. I think that�s the best approach to take.

What do you think of the little point guard (Patrick Mills)?
He had a great game. In the game set we have watched, he wasn�t a driver as much as a shooter. But today he played great. We need to expect that from different people when they play against us. They have nothing to lose, there isn�t the game pressure and a lot of these things because we are the ones expected to play perfect, and win. You have to play fundamental defense. He just beat us.

Today�s game is very intense. Almost on three occasions, players got into severe physical altercation and almost a fight. Also when LeBron and Wade scored, they were very excited, was it because of the pressure? Question for Coach: In the exhibition games, the opponents were all from the other group, for the opponents in your same group such as China, do you have all the right intelligence to be prepared?
We have scouted the other teams in our pool. We have scouted China and the other teams. I think we will be prepared for them. We thought it�s the best way to get prepared by playing against the three teams from another pool, so that we will play each team in our pool for the first time. Let me take part of Dwight�s question. When guys get excited it�s not because of pressure, it�s because they have done something well. When you make a good play, you should be happy. Australia was happy too I don�t know if they had pressure on. They had all those threes. Whatever it is, you have to take the rest. I don�t remember the first part.

Do you plan to play different against Australia when Andrew Bogut returns? How important is he to the team?
He is a great player. We will play the same system whether Bogut is in or not. In their last game against Argentina Bogut didn�t play that much. Andersen had 28 points so we felt that although Bogut is a good player, the team that played great form was the team that played against us tonight.

 

Carmelo Anthony 
What is your take on the game tonight?
It was kind of a slow game tonight. We weren�t as crisp as we have been in previous games. But you do have to be happy with a win.

What do you have to do to play better than the team did tonight?
I think defensively we are playing pretty well. We have to fine tune some things offensively, get everyone on the same page, move the ball better and tighten it up. Once we do that, we�ll be alright.

Anything in particular that Australia did that gave you problems tonight?
Not really. They�re a good team. They wanted to push the ball up the court.

We tried to put pressure on them, but they played well. They were running a lot.

What are your thoughts as you head to Beijing where every game counts?
It starts all over again. We won 4 straight here in Macao and Shanghai and we�re ready. We want to win 8 straight.

Kobe Bryant
Are you happy with the way your team played?
No we are not happy at all with the way we played, I think we could have done much better.. As the tournament progresses we feel like we will be much more prepared to face them.

The other game against Russia you were getting the MVP calls a lot, today the crowd seems to get behind the Australians in the third and fourth quarters, did you feel that?
Yes, I think its great for the game, and it also prepares us for what we are going to face in Beijing. I think the crowd just wants to see great basketball. The Australian team played great basketball and they (the crowd) rallied behind them.

Were there any particular players from Australia that stood out for you?
No they all played pretty well, I wasn�t familiar with any of them until today but they got some players today that are very good players.

How are you dealing with the media pressure here?
I think the important thing is try to elevate the game, when you look at �92, when the dream team first came, how basketball has evolved since then, it's a beautiful game. The more that we can do to raise awareness about it, the better.

When you were preparing for this game, what was the reputation that the Australian team took into the game?
Well they are a physical team, we knew they would go out there and be physical and play hard, but not to do anything dirty. We had a little incident out there but we understand that both teams are just out there playing basketball and trying to win and compete. It�s fun.

That little altercation but then started maybe a little Australia versus USA.
Everybody is accustomed to that, one thing I tell my guys is to try to keep your poise. Don't get rattled by it, understand it is a game it�s nothing personal out here, just stay focused on what you do best, just playing basketball.

How do you think your team needs to do when playing against a much more physical team?.
We are going to play much better defense; I think you have to give some credit to the Australian team, because they executed very well. Before we set out to face them again, it will be a very good test for our defense.

Will your family go to Beijing to watch the game?
Yes.

Will your daughter go to see you at the Games? Does she know that it is the Olympics Games?
Yes, she knows it is the Olympic Games, absolutely.

You guys were talking about defending the three, but then the third quarter, what happened?
Well they knocked down threes. You are going to have teams where they shoot well, they did open opportunities and they made the most out of it.

For us, it�s important to keep our composure when that happens and to try to get down more on defense which we were able to do..

Were you surprised by the Australians tonight?
No one was surprised, we knew they were a great team. They played extremely well; they came out of a great game against Argentina which they should have won. They are a very well coached team, they executed extremely well, and they played hard. So I think it was a great effort by them and I can�t say that I was surprised.

President Bush is going to be at the Games, they said he may be. What does that mean for the team, what does that mean for the run for the gold medal?
Well it shows a great support obviously, it means the entire country is rallying around this kind of road to redemption theme that we have and for our President to come to watch us play the game and try to bring back the gold medal makes it even more significant.

You mentioned that the gold medal means more than the NBA Championship is that correct?
Yes.

You think your teammates feel the same way that the gold medal is more important than the NBA championship?
Yes.

Chris Bosh
On tonight�s game:
I�ve been dreaming about the Olympics, I�ve been playing with Yao, up against him since I�ve been in the league. I know what kind of player he is. I�m just really looking forward to the Olympics, because right now everything is real, we�re trying to win the gold medal, so we need to stay tight and stay focused.

Yao said that if China National Team beats the USA Men�s National Team, he will retire, what do you think of that?
That�s a question for him. I wouldn�t want him to retire and I don�t think he�ll ever retire until he�s ready.

Sometimes you get too caught up with yourself, and your team, and when you start missing shots your defense is let down. Our defense has been pretty solid and most of the time we�re going to have to win games with defense because initially we�re not going to be used to the arenas and the environment as much as the other ones we play in. So our defense has to be consistent, but our shooting may or may not be.

I think we have to give credit to our opponents, to Russia and Australia�two very good teams,. They move the ball very well. Their defensive skills are very good, at certain points we weren�t shooting very well and not flowing with our offense. We got a bit stagnant but our defense was still very good. But you simply can�t take anything away from those teams because they were great.

Well, we just need to play better. I don�t think we played the way USA basketball has been playing for the last three years. But you know on the bright side, we got the win, and now we are going to Beijing to get the real thing going. I think the main thing is that we started to get ready. We have been preparing for three years, and now it�s time to get to work.  Obviously we want to play better. But this team, we have a great group of guys and we want to win and we are going be fine. But obviously this was not a good performance.

 

Today�s game is very intense. Almost on three occasions, players got into severe physical altercation and almost a fight.  

When they try to get into our heads, we just need to keep our cool. Guys try to fight with other players, what they want is to get us to react, but I think the main thing is to keep our cool. We just need to play our game and not to get into fights with other players. We will be good.

 

On tonight�s game:
It was very important that we continue to play well consistently. Dwyane and I have a chip on our shoulders, but we�re trying to go out there and do our best for the team every night. We�re definitely playing at a high level right now.

What happened in the third quarter?
We broke down on defense and let the other team get open looks; they gave us uncontested looks and knocked them down.

We gambled a couple times and let them make some extra passes, one time we had a block, we ran out but they hit it out and got the loose ball then hit a three. It happened again when we thought we had a steal, and they got another three. We can�t have mental breakdowns like those because these teams are tough and really know how to shoot the ball.

As long as we continue to defend�even though tonight in the third quarter we weren�t our best, but we made sure we took care of business in the second quarter. Defensively if we continue to do what we�ve been doing, we can have a bad shooting game and still get the win.

Jason Kidd
On tonight�s game:
We came out slow. We have to work on moving the ball. We kind of let our offense get in the way of our defense, too, at first. You have to give Australia credit. They came out in the second half and made shots, but when we had to get stops and makes, we did that.

The last two games the ball has been sticking a little bit, so we have to get back to looking like the first game where everybody was touching the ball and we were playing like we should. We�re too talented of a team to take tough shots because they�re always going to be someone open. It�s just a matter of us making the extra pass.

What�s the next step as you head to Beijing?
Well, we�ve won four games here and now it�s a matter of winning 8 games in a row. Our first opponent will be China, so we�ll start looking at some tape and prepare for them.

I think we have learned during the last four games about international referees so we have to play to the whistle blowing. And sometimes the whistle doesn�t favor you and you have to respect that, respect the officials.

Michael Redd
When people see the score tomorrow, are they going to have a reason to be concerned? Will they ask whether this team still needs work?
It�s a process. We got the job done tonight; we�ve been facing different situations throughout this whole 5 game exhibition series. We have had to play differently, which is great for us, we needed games like these. We�ll be fine.

Dwyane Wade
You�ve consistently had an edge to your flight, how important is it to your game?
It�s very important. To have someone come off the bench and keep up the pressure.. I�m just doing my job and what my teammates want me doing, what my coach wants me to do, to protect the basket and make plays.