Aug. 13, 2010 • Tarrytown, N.Y.

Krzyzewski

USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski
On today’s practice:
I think it’s great that the Knicks allowed us to use their facility. I think there is a high degree of energy in having two courts, being in a facility like this. I thought our guys were going to be a little bit tired from last night. It was a long day. We were there early. It was a different day, obviously playing on a stage. But our guys were great today. Kevin Love was out for today, he banged up his calf. We think he’ll be okay for tomorrow.

What are you looking to accomplish in the scrimmage against China?
The very first thing is we play someone else and that we get a better chance to learn about international rules.  We’re playing an international team, there’ll be tendencies that they use, nuances, the officials, it gives us a great chance to adjust.  We’re ready to get going.  Our guys are very, very excited about starting this.

It’s an opportunity to see different combinations and I think also for our guys they’ll see better where we stand in building a team. A big plus for us right now is how Chandler and Odom are playing. It gives us a great one-two punch at the five position, which we were really worried about coming into this because we didn’t know where Tyson would be coming off of being out and then we didn’t know where Lamar would be either having had a long season like that; but both of them have given us some strength there at the five.

Is there any one thing you’re going to be most interested in seeing how the team does?
Just seeing how we rebound.  Especially when we finally choose 12 (players), we could end up being really small. We’re already fairly small, but we have to go in the direction or what we feel will be the best and use team rebounding.

Are you worried about turnovers? There were 27 last night.
Turnovers in a game like last night mean that they’re trying to be unselfish. They’re playing against each other. It’s turnovers against another team and we won’t know that (until we play another team). It’s not as big of a concern for me as rebounding. What they’re trying to do is show they’re unselfish. We didn’t hit threes last night. If you were shooting into the ocean or shooting into a mountain, it’s just a little bit different and those things don’t concern men. I thought we played really hard last night. Now when we scrimmage China tomorrow and play France on Sunday we’ll get a much better look at that.

Had you seen much of Kevin Durant prior to this summer in camp?
I’ve seen Kevin. Remember, he’s been here every summer with our Select Team. I think what Kevin is doing, he’s passing up on shots by trying to be too unselfish. But again, that’s a good place to be right now. That’s a really good place to be.

	Playing against the Select Team for the last time this week, they really helped us out by giving us a good look at what we need to do. ~ Stephen Curry

This is his first time on the USA National Team, is he looking to be a leader?
I don’t know that he’s looking to be a leader. Everyone says Kevin Durant’s the leader. Now he may be our best player, that doesn’t mean he’s our leader. Let him just be our best player. Let Chauncey, Lamar, those guys be leaders. He’s our best player.

Is playing against international competition an important factor in the final decision on the 12-member team?
Yes, it is, because that’s where you get to see how they adjust the next two days to international rules, international teams, officials, we’re going to see something. We’re going to see something about our team and how we want to finally pick our team.

Billups

Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets)
Are you looking forward to going up against some international competition tomorrow and Sunday?
I’m looking forward to playing against other countries. We beat up on one another for long enough, played against the Select Team for long enough, so I’m looking forward to getting some new competition.

How much was the USA Select Team able to help your team prepare for the FIBA World Championship?
I thought they were great all month. They have some really good guys that can play. I was impressed with a lot of them, actually. The guards were really good, Shelvin Mack was really good. Kemba Walker was good. I like Nolan Smith, Scoop Jardine was really good, Chris Wright. Chris Singleton was good, he shot the ball really well. They’ve got some guys who can play. That kid from Duke, Singler, man, he was a shooting machine. They brought in some great talent who really pushed us.

Some good talent coming up the USA Basketball pipeline?
Absolutely. USA Basketball is definitely going to be in good hands.

Curry

Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
On today’s practice and being at the Knicks practice facility:
Playing against the Select Team for the last time this week, they really helped us out by giving us a good look at what we need to do. Then having (Mike) D’Antoni give us a tour around the locker room was good.

And NBA Commissioner David Stern stopped by today?
He did. He was thanking us for representing our country, giving up our time to come out here and play. He’s got a lot going on with the collective bargaining and all that stuff, so it’s nice that he could stop by and show his support.

How do you feel you’ve been meshing with Derrick Rose in the same lineup?
He’s just a dynamic player, creator in the offense. It’s easy for me to just play off of him and get in the open lane and try to get a shot. I think it could be like that with any guy we put out there, any combination. We’re always going to have two small guards out there, so we always have to have that kind of chemistry at all times.

Are you looking forward to playing China tomorrow?
Yeah, playing against a team that doesn’t know what you’re going to do and everybody being on the same side, cheering each other on, playing hard, and starting to get a look at how it’s going to be overseas with the lineups and what kind of coaching scheme Coach K is going to have with everybody on the same side. I’m looking forward to it.

How much was the USA Select Team able to help your team prepare for the FIBA World Championship?
A great deal. They’re all talented guys. They understood the opportunity they had to come out here to compete with us and they took it. They took full advantage of it, played hard and challenged us early. We kind of got the best of them towards the end, but we needed that kind of exposure instead of just practicing against ourselves. Having a talented group of guys come in and play against us really helped.

Do you think this will help them in the upcoming collegiate season?
Oh, no doubt. I never had the opportunity to play against the National Team, so I can only imagine what it’s like to do this. I’m sure they would have only been back at their campus working out with their teams. So to come here and be put into an unfamiliar situation against some of the best in the NBA, it’s definitely going to help them out. It gave them a lot of experience. Even getting in front of some NBA coaches, when the time comes for the draft, the coaches know what they’re going to get out of these players.

Durant

Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Do you think playing all summer will help the chemistry between you, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook?
I think it will. Our chemistry is unbelievable and it can only get better. Coming out here is going to help, but we’re just looking forward to coming out here to help win the gold. That’s all we’re looking forward to. We’ll worry about Oklahoma City after we’re done with this. I think that’s the best thing about those two guys. They know that we’re focused on trying to win it for the USA.

What kind of pressure are you feeling going into the World Championship?
None at all. The worst thing that can happen is that you can lose. My godfather used to tell me is that the worst thing that can happen is that you can lose. Nothing else. It’s basketball. But I feel pretty confident. I feel confident in our team. It’s not the end of the world, that’s how I have to approach it in order to stay calm and collected.

Are you looking forward to going up against international competition this weekend?
Yeah, I am. Getting to play against some other competition is going to be cool. Everybody’s really anxious for that. I think that at the start of the game we may be a little over-anxious. But I think we’ll slow down. Hopefully we’ll have a good game tomorrow and Sunday.

Do you feel that the team’s chemistry is starting to come together?
It’s getting better and better every day. That’s the best part about this, is guys are starting to get it. There’s times when we gotta tell guys ‘you can’t make too many passes.’ We have to sometimes be aggressive. I think that’s a good thing, though.

Did the 2010 USA Select Team help prepare for the FIBA World Championship?
They did, they really did, because they simulated what to expect. Especially the bigs, what the bigs are going to be like overseas. Also the guards, they had quick guards who can shoot it. They helped us out a lot. If we win, they’ll be a part of it.

Westbrook

Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Are you looking forward to going up against some international competition tomorrow and Sunday?
Oh definitely. It’ll be a good opportunity to go up against somebody other than ourselves and the other USA guys, so it’s a great opportunity for us.  

What do you know about China?
I don’t know anything about international competition. This is going to be my first time. It’s going to be a learning experience for me.

How much was the USA Select Team able to help your team prepare for the FIBA World Championship?
A lot. Those guys will be among the best college players in the country next year. They did a great job competing every day and giving us a run for our money.

2010 USA Select Team

USA Select Team head coach Jay Wright (Villanova University)
What do you think the USA Select Team players got out of these two training camps?
You could see that every day they played with these pros, they got more comfortable. And this time, here in New York, they were getting more confident. The only problem is, the National Team was getting better, too. So it didn’t always show in the score, but in the level of the play in each individual guy on the Select Team, you could see was rising. I think every one of them felt like they got better here. It’s a great experience for them.

On coaching against some of them next season:
Yeah, actually those were my parting words for each one of them: don’t play like this against us and kick our butt. (laughs).

JaJuan Johnson (Purdue University)
What was it like going up against the USA National Team for two weeks this summer?
It was a good learning experience. Anytime you get to play with the world’s best players, you’re definitely going to get better. It helps you raise your level of competition. You take away small things you pick up playing against these guys.

Are you going to share your knowledge with your Purdue teammates?
Oh yeah, definitely. I think it gives you something to work towards. You definitely know you still have a lot to work on. Playing against these guys you know what those weaknesses are and you hope that you can get better at it.

Do you hope that you will be able to progress to the USA National Team level in the future?
Oh yeah. I would love to play for our country. My dad’s in the military, so to have the opportunity to represent your country in a positive way is good.