Additional Quotes >> USA 118, Costa Rica 46

June 23, 2011 • Cancun, Mexico

Don Showalter, USA head coach
On today’s game:
Watching Costa Rica in their first two games I knew that talent-wise, we’re superior. But, we want to get the point across to our kids that we’re preparing for the next two games. We didn’t press except for the first couple of minutes of the game. We worked a lot on our defense and I think our kids responded really well. We still played hard and did the things we wanted to do to play better.

How hard is it to keep the team focused in a lopsided contest like this one?
One of the things you want to do, one of the points of emphasis for us is to set goals. We have kids set their own goals, whether it’s to not let them get an offensive rebound or have one of the kids say ‘I’m going to get four offensive rebounds this quarter.’ Those are the kinds of things you do in a game like this to kind of keep their interest and keep them focused and improve.

Were you happy to see Conner Frankamp get off the schneid and shoot well?
Yeah, it was really good to see that. He gained a little confidence. This is a kind of game where some of the kids who haven’t played a lot can get some good confidence. That’s important, because down the road in the medal round,  without Stanley (Johnson) available, we’re going to have to call on people who haven’t played much.

What does it say about the character of Costa Rica, which never gave up?
They did a nice job. One of the things I thought was good for them was that they really came out in the third quarter and had some goals set that they wanted to achieve. I think our kids understand that the other teams, anytime they play the U.S., is going to be a big deal. I think Costa Rica wanted to make it a big deal and they did the best they could. (Milton) Jimenez took off and had 28 points out of their 46. I think it was a thrill for him to be able to do that against us.

Collier

Dom Collier
(Denver East H.S. / Denver, Colo.)
On being 3-0 and heading into the medal round:
It feels really good. It’s really good to be 3-0. We all played well tonight and we’ll carry that tomorrow into the semifinal and hopefully make it to the championship Saturday.

How difficult is it to maintain your level of play when you’re up big like you guys were at halftime?
You just have to play hard every possession and try not to think about the score. You try not to think about the fact you’re blowing a team out, you just have to keep playing hard.

On the USA’s depth:
The bench really helps a lot, because the people who come off the bench have more legs, obviously. They come off the bench with energy. Our second five is as good as our first five and we wear them down.

On Conner Frankamp’s shooting:
Conner, man, I didn’t know he was going to dunk that last one (laughs).

Frankamp

Conner Frankamp
(Wichita North H.S. / Wichita, Kan.)
On getting out of his shooting slump:
I just felt a little more confident tonight once I got in more. I was off the first two games. I’m finally glad to get my shot back, get it going again.

Do you think this will help build your confidence heading into the medal round?
Yes, I think this will help me out a lot.

How difficult is it to maintain your level of play when you’re up big like you guys were at halftime?
It’s not too hard for me. I always try to keep my game up and play hard every possession. Sometimes it does get hard when you’re up so much, but I try to keep it up as much as I can.

Were you working on anything out there?
Nothing really in particular. Just trying to keep them from getting any offensive rebounds and making no turnovers.

On the USA’s depth:
When the first five comes out the next five comes in and we’re almost just as good as the first five. We wear down all the teams by doing that. Everybody getting in is really good.

What does it say about the character of Costa Rica, which never gave up?
I think it’s really impressive that they did that. They always played hard the whole possession. They played hard to the end. They worked hard and did everything they could.

Gordon

Aaron Gordon
(Archbishop Mitty H.S. / San Jose, Calif.)
On his play:
They weren’t the greatest team, so I think I need to take what I did in this game and use it as a lead-in to our semifinal game tomorrow night and help my team by getting the same stats.

Did you realize you were that close to a quadruple-double?
I wasn’t even thinking about any of my stat lines, not rebounding, shot blocking, scoring, I wasn’t thinking about any of it. I was just trying to help my team win.

After you got up by so many points, were you all working on anything as a team?
We just worked on not getting into bad habits. We tried to keep our level of intensity up. We wanted to try not to make sloppy passes, not make dumb turnovers. Basically we were just trying to keep that level of intensity up.

On the team’s chemistry:
We have great chemistry. It’s almost like a family. Maybe we’re not there yet, but after these next two games it’s going to be a complete family. We’re going to know and respect each other all the time until we come back next year to play in the (FIBA U17) World Championship. It’s almost like a high school team, we’ve been together for that long.

What does it say about the character of Costa Rica, which never gave up?
Every team in this tournament has a good heart. Everyone wants to play. Everyone has pride for their country and I know that no matter how long a game goes or how out of reach it gets, they’re going to keep playing.

Jackson

Justin Jackson
(Home School Christian Youth Association / Houston, Texas)
How does it feel to have three wins behind you heading into the semifinal tomorrow?
It feels good, but we still have to get ready for the next game, the semis. It’s one of the most important games to get to the championship. So, we still have to move onto that one. It was a good win today, but we have to look toward the next one.

How difficult is it to maintain your level of play when you’re up big like you guys were at halftime?
Coach said it best, we have to respect them. We have to play them like it’s a championship game against one of the best teams. Obviously it’s hard, but we strive to think of them as one of the best teams so that we still come out and play hard.

On the USA’s chemistry:
We’re starting to click more. I think everybody’s starting to buy into the bigger picture, which is to win the gold medal. We’re starting to come together and we’re looking pretty good.

On Conner Frankamp and Aaron Gordan’s performances:
They both work really hard. Conner, it was his time. Conner came in and did what coach asked him to do. Aaron always works hard. Both of them did what coach wanted them to do, which was to come in and play hard.

Nunn

Kendrick Nunn
(Simeon H.S. / Chicago, Ill.)
How difficult is it to maintain your level of play when you’re up big like you guys were at halftime?
It’s real difficult to stay focused and play them like they’re any other team.

What does it say about the character of Costa Rica, which never gave up?
Usually another team (in that situation) would lose confidence. But, they just came out in the third quarter and played hard.

On the team’s chemistry:
We’re playing with better. We’re getting to know each other better on the court and off the court and that’s helping us get good chemistry.

On heading into the medal round undefeated:
It feels good to know that we’re expected to win. We’re just going to keep playing tough and hopefully win the gold medal.