USA Men Get Back To Work In Barcelona

Argentina To Pose Test For USA Men Monday In Barcelona

The USA Men´s National Basketball Team arrived Friday in Barcelona for additional training and a pair of exhibition games, but before hitting the practice court the squad took a team photo in front of the Magic Mountain of Montjuïc, with the National Museum of Catalan Art (MNAC) in the background.

On Saturday, the USA returned to the court and went through a spirited practice.

Next up for the USA, a game Monday (3:30 p.m. EDT) in Barcelona against South American rival Argentina.

The July 22 exhibition contest featuring the USA and Argentina national teams will be the first exhibition game between the two world hoop powers since NBA players were permitted to participate in international competitions.

Since NBA players became eligible to participate in FIBA competitions, the USA has compiled an 11-2 win-loss record versus Argentina national teams in official FIBA competitions.

The USA and Argentina national teams last met in an official FIBA/FIBA Americas competition in the 2008 Olympics when the Americans knocked off Argentina 101-81 in a semifinal clash. The first of Argentina’s two victories over the USA National Team came in the 2002 World Championship (87-80) and was the first loss suffered by a USA national team comprised of NBA players, and ended the program’s 58 game win streak. Argentina also posted an 89-81 win over the U.S. in the semifinals of the 2004 Olympics.

Argentina earned its qualifying berth for the 2012 Olympics by capturing the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship. The South Americans finished in fifth place finish at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, collected bronze at the 2008 Olympics, finished fourth in the 2006 World Championship and won gold in the 2004 Olympics.

Mike Krzyzewski (USA and Duke University head coach)
What are your thoughts about Monday's opponent Argentina?
Argentina is as experienced as any international team and have two of the greatest international players in (Manu) Ginobli and (Luis) Scola; they’re remarkable players and they know each other well. (Pablo) Prigioni has been their point guard for years; Delfino now is healthy; and along with (Andres) Nocioni – the five of them have just played so many games for Argentina and represented them unbelievably well. They are as competitive as any international team can be.

What do you think will be the keys in the game with Argentina?
One is to try to just contain Ginobili and Scola so they don’t have great games. They’re always going to be good but you don’t want them to have that 35 point game which they’re both capable of doing and have done; For us to come with the defensive intensity that we’ve shown thus far. If we let up a little then people are going to take advantage of us. Hopefully we’re focused for these two games here. I know everyone is anxious to get to London so you’ve got be carful. I remember last Olympics when we made our last stop I didn’t thin we played real well against Australia and Russia because the guys were already wanting to be in Beijing, so I hope that’s not the case for these two game.

How important is it to continue the team’s development through these last few practices and exhibition games?
It’s critical right now to change a little bit of the tempo and get it more toward London. In other words, for the first three games we prepared on the day of the game. Now we’re going to start preparing for our opponent the day before, analyze it and then day of the game, make any changes we might want to make and try and get into that rhythm because that’s the way the Olympics is going to be, you have one day between each game so that one of the reasons we came to Spain, to do these two games like that and also against two if the best opponents.

Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
Thoughts on Pau being selected to be his country’s flag bearer at the Olympics?
I think it’s a tremendous honor for Pau. Pau is really proud of his country, proud of where he comes from and I think it’s a tremendous honor for him and I’m really proud of him for it.

Is it tough to play against your Lakers teammate Pau Gasol?
Pau’s like my brother so it’s always tough for me to compete against Pau. One of us has to win and it’s just like the big brother when he plays the little brother. You can’t let the little brother win.

What do you think about the city of Barcelona:?
I love it here. I’ve been here with my family on vacation twice. I came back with the Lakers once and here we are again. It’s a beautiful, beautiful city; it’s a beautiful place. I certainly enjoy coming out here. This is where it began in terms of basketball becoming a global sport. This was the global stage for the Dream Team where everything kind of took off.

Is Spain going to be a tough opponent for the USA?
No question. They have an incredible team, they have a lot of talent, they have a lot of chemistry and they have something that we don’t have which is size. It’s going to be a very tough matchup for us.

How do you approach the exhibition games?
We’re going to compete and play hard. There are going to be a lot of people here that are going to come watch us play and we have to give them a show so we have to go out there and compete and play hard and do what we do and see what happens.

Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks)
How do you approach the game with Argentina?
It’s important. These next two games are very important for us. We’ve been working hard and we’re a team that’s trying to come together. I think it will give us a great feel of where we are right now.

Does Argentina’s number of NBA players help you to be more familiar with them going in?
Not really. It does a little bit but they are such different players when they get to their own teams that you kind of throw that stuff out the window. They’re definitely the same player but a lot more efficient and creative on their own teams.

What are the keys to beating Argentina?
I think pressure. That’s going to be the key throughout the Olympics for us … just putting pressure on teams and not allowing teams to feel comfortable in running their plays.

Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Thoughts on the comparisons of this team to the Dream Team of ’92?
Every team that’s been playing in the Olympics is going to be compared to the Dream Team; we know that. That team did what they did; that’s over. We respect them. We’re glad they laid that blueprint out but it’s our time now. We just got to focus on us. We can’t focus on what they did because it’s a totally different era. So, we’ll see what happens. We really want to follow what they did and try to win a gold.

Is Spain the best team besides the United States?
Yeah, you could say that. I haven’t seen all the teams yet. Spain is tough just with the names they have. We’ll see.

How has the process of building this team gone?
It’s gone well. We have a group of guys that get things quickly. They want to pass the ball – sometimes we over pass. Guys just want to sacrifice and that’s the best part about being in this group.

Was last game an example of that when there seemed to be an assist on every basket?
Yeah, we had 39 assists. That’s the fun part about it when everybody’s getting the ball moving and passing the ball. Finding open shots. It’s beautiful. We need that for the rest of the time we’re out here.

Has Coach K brought up 92 at all or share his thoughts?
No. He brings up ’08 more than ’92. It’s more relevant. He was there for ’92 but he was the head coach for ’08. We really can’t duplicate exactly what that team did. We just put our own spin on it. Every team from now on is going to be compared to that Olympic team no matter if it’s this year or 20 years from now. Every team is going to be compared to that ’92 team.

LeBron James (Miami Heat)
What’s your feeling going into London?
I feel the team needs to continue to get better but bring Gold once again. A lot of people don’t think we can do it. Challenging our size and saying we don’t have enough on our team. But we do and we look forward to the challenge.

Is there a different motivation this time?
Oh, I’m motivated. I’m very motivated. I’m looking forward to the games on the way.

What are your impressions of the city?
It’s great. Reminds me of Miami a lot. The beaches and the food and the people. I think it’s a great city.

What do you think about London games? Do you expect the same outcome as Beijing?
I hope so. We want to play well and we want to get better.

What do you think about the other teams – Argentina and Spain – that you are playing here?
We accept every challenge and we’re looking forward to playing two of the best teams?

Is it exciting to be getting close to London especially with the step up In competition here in Spain?
It’s exciting to get an opportunity to get better and use these games to make it straight forward into the London games and we are looking forward to it.

Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)
What’s your thoughts on playing Argentina and Spain?
They’re both very good, very good. Spain is actually who we played in the gold medal game in the last Olympics. We know that every time they step out on the court, they’re going to bring their ‘A’ game. Their probably the other team other than us … they have almost as many NBA guys on their team as we do.

Do you remember the Dream Team from ’92?
Yes I do remember that. I was 7 years old. I just remember seeing them and different things like that but I don’t remember many of the games.

Deron Williams (Brooklyn Nets)
How do you approach this game vs. Argentina?
It’s just another warm up game for us. We want to come out and play our game … same game plan. I think we’re a little more focused now. We’re kind of locking in a little bit more now that it’s closer to the Olympics. We’re going to try and prepare today in practice like we would in the Olympics – you have the offday and then you have a game. We’re going to go through their stuff and prepare more on what they’re going to do, go over their plays and how we’re going to guard them. It’s going to be a tough matchup for us.

What’s the key to beating Argentina?
Limiting Ginobili and Scola first …. They have a lot of other guys that are capable of having big nights, Delfino, Nocioni.

What’s the key to beating Argentina?
Limiting Ginobili and Scola first …. They have a lot of other guys that are capable of having big nights, Delfino, Nocioni.

What are the areas of most improvement the team needs to make at this point?
I think jumping out on teams early would be the key. I think you saw with Brazil is we got down early which we can’t do and gave up 27 points in the first quarter and then Great Britain, we kind of let them hang around too long.

Is it easier to play Argentina because you are familiar with most of their players from the NBA?
I think it is. Like you said, we know a lot of their players and their tendencies. It’s tougher games. These next two games are going to be as tough a warmup games as you can play.