USA Men’s National Team … Ready to Play

July 11, 2012 • Las Vegas, Nev.

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Following six practices, some of which featured scrimmages against the 2012 USA Basketball Select Team, the USA Basketball Men’s National Team members are chomping at the bit to bang up against someone other than each other. The first opponent on the USA’s National team exhibition slate is the Dominican Republic on July 12. The teams will tip-off at 6:00 p.m. (PDT) at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center.

We queried most of the team on a variety of subjects, but mostly about how they’re looking forward to getting out on the court to test themselves against another team.  

Mike Krzyzewski
Is it time for a game to be played?
For our guys it’s past time to get a game under the belt. They are not accustomed to doing too many days without a game. They just spent an entire season with a very condensed schedule. I think we are anxious to play the Dominican Republic and get on more of a schedule where they are playing at least every few days.

On the select team:
The select team has been terrific. Jay Triano and Mike Hopkins have done an excellent job of having them run things that some of the international teams run. They have guards like John Wall, Kyrie Irving and Jrue Holiday that have been good for us. Derrick Favors and DeMarcus Cousins have been really good bigs to play against. And they have some good young wings. It has been good for us.

On the Dominican Republic:
They are athletic. Al Horford is a heck of a player. They just missed qualifying which would have been an amazing thing for the Dominican Republic. They will look at it as a great opportunity to end their time together for this summer because they can’t go on to the Olympics. We’re glad that we are playing somebody who has played a lot.

On the roles of different players:
The younger guys need to bring their performance egos into the new roles that they will have. All these guys want to fit in. Our guys have great attitudes. But as they are fitting in we want them to be the players they were and the roles that they have with their parent (NBA) teams. If we could establish that then we will be a much better team. We have 12 really good guys that over the next couple weeks we have to develop into a team. We are doing the team building process we just need to do it a little bit quicker.

Assistant Coach Jim Boeheim
On training camp:
We have got a lot work in but it has been difficult without the two point guards. But we will catch up. The effort has been there. Tremendous effort. Good chemistry. I think the players really get along well off the court, which helps. We have a lot of good players. But it will be nice to get our point guards back healthy.

On his experience being a part of USA Basketball:
I have had such a great experience with this group starting in ’06. It’s been great. These guys have all been great to work with. The coaching staff is unbelievable. You learn things that help your coaching career when you work in the summer time in this kind of environment.

Jerry Colangelo has been an unbelievable leader though out this whole journey. They really organized this program and got it in the right position. The players have been great. All of my experiences with USA Basketball have been good because it has been done the right way.

On the future of USA Basketball:
I think the future is bright. We’ve got to figure out where we are going and everything but I think either way we have a lot of guys in the pipeline who want to play in the World Championships and the Olympics. That’s a great thing.

Tyson Chandler
On the game tomorrow night:
I’m looking forward to the competition. Absolutely. It’s time for us to start getting ready.

 

Kevin Durant
Are you looking forward to the game against Dominican Republic tomorrow?
We’re looking forward to just competing. Practice is of course a lot different form a game, so we’re just forward to seeing where we are as a team and hopefully we’ll keep getting better.

Yeah we are ready to play. It’s going to be fun. We are just trying to make sure we have everything fine tuned and ready to go. We have been practicing hard and we have been looking forward to playing. We are going to go out there and see where we are as a team.

Do you feel you’re meshing as a team?
Yeah, most of us guys have been through this before, except for Blake and James. But they’re quick learners. They’re smart basketball players. They’re getting it. At the end of the day it’s just basketball. It’s a little different with international play, but it’s still basketball.  It’s something we’ve been playing our whole lives. It’s just a matter of us playing together, getting down our offenses and defense. We’ll be fine.

What do you know about the Dominican Republic team?
I’ve seen them play, I think it was last summer. Al Horford is playing and Francisco (Garcia) is playing. So, we’ve played against these guys in the NBA. But Coach Cal is a great coach. He’s put things together well, so it’s going to be tough. It’s gonna be tough, but we’re looking forward to a good challenge. Our first challenge so far in this long journey, it’s gonna be fun.

On today’s practice
We are still trying to feel things out on the floor. We have put the majority of our offense in and our defense we are working on more now. We are comfortable around each other. The more we play together then we will be fine.

Are you looking forward to playing your first game with these guys tomorrow night?
Yeah, definitely. This is a fun experience, a lot of great guys and obviously a lot of great players. It’s a different dynamic. It’ll be fun to be out there.

Blake Griffin
How have you been able to mesh in with this group?
It’s been great. James and I are the only guys who haven’t played in an international game. We’re trying to learn. We’re trying to pick up things. We’re just trying to help and really trying to find our roles.

 

James Harden
Are you looking forward to playing your first game tomorrow night?
I’m excited. I’m looking forward to playing with these guys. Obviously I play against them in the regular season, but to play on the same team as them, it should make the game a lot easier.  I’m excited. We have had a few days of practice now. We are just excited to play someone else and get it going.

How does your game fit the international style of play?
I think I fit into both – the international and the NBA game. I kind of have that Euro Game. So, I’m excited to play and get a feel for the game. Obviously the ball is different, so I have to get used to the basketball. But I’m just excited to be here in general.

How have you been able to mesh in with this group?
Very easily. All our egos are combining. We’re looking to help each other win. All of us have the same goal and that’s wining the gold medal. It’s easy, we have great point guards, great wings and great big men. All of us can pass the ball, so it should be easy.

Andre Iguodala
On the game tomorrow night:
It’s part of the process of becoming a better team. We’ve got to keep working and develop the team chemistry.

 

LeBron James
On today’s practice
We worked on our habits today trying to get better and that is what it is all about. It’s our fourth day and we are just trying to get better. We are trying to improve each and every day so when we finally get into competition we will be ready to go. We got some more things to put in. Guys are getting better. Guys are trying to get into more of a team aspect right now and we will be fine.

 

Kevin Love
Are you looking forward to playing a game instead of going against each other?
Oh yeah, definitely. We’re just starting to get into a rhythm. We’re going to have Deron (Williams) back today. Coach even said this is Day One for us, because we’ll have him back. We might even get Chris back and we’ll go from there.

Just switching up the competition will be good for us. The select team has done a great job especially yesterday showing us what they have and getting us ready. I think having a change of pace and a change of competition will be good for us.

Playing the Dominican Republic will be a nice change of pace from playing the Select Team all week. They did a great job of getting us ready for the game and hopefully all the way through the Olympics.

How easy was it for all of you to blend together, with some from 2008, some players from 2010 and two newcomers?
It feels great, having a mix of guys who have played for Coach K and know what he wants. Having James and Blake, they’re guys who are able to adapt. So, it’s been a great mix, but we really need to start picking up our level of play. If we do that, we’ll be all right.

Russell Westbrook
Are you looking forward to playing a game instead of going against each other?
Oh yeah. It’s going to be fun. We haven’t had the opportunity to do that since we’ve been here. It should be a good opportunity to get some good work done. We just want to come out and play hard. We’ve been used to playing with each other.

Was it easy for all of you to blend together, with some from 2008, some players from 2010 and two newcomers?
Definitely. It’s a good group of guys. We have something in common, most of us. It’s been a good experience thus far.

On his role on the team:
My job is to come in and try to find whatever will help us win.

On playing in the Olympics with Kevin Durant and James Harden:
It’s great. It’s a good opportunity for us as an organization and it’s great for the city as well.