Additional Quotes >> USA 107, Argentina 72

June 19, 2012 • Sao Sebastiáo do Paraiso, Brazil

Billy Donovan, USA head coach
Your team had an impressive second half. What were overall thoughts about tonight's victory?
I thought in the second quarter we got a little bit three happy there; we were up 10 or 12 points and I thought we took some quick, ill-advised threes. I thought the second half we really played well. We got the ball inside, I think our first five or six possession we scored on and we got stops and the lead went from 15 to 20 pretty quickly, then we extended it to 30. Our defense was a lot better in the second half and we shared the ball. I thought in the second half we did a really good job of establishing our post people, getting the ball inside and we physically were able to wear them down.

You said rebounding would be a key and the team did a pretty good job there.
I think coming out of the game against Brazil where we outrebounded them by one or two but we gave up 20 offensive rebounds and our guys had a better awareness against an Argentina team that was pretty physical. So we responded. The one thing that’s been great with these guys is I think when we show them something they have to get better at or we’ve got to correct they’ve been pretty good at responding at those things.

The team is now one win away from realizing the gold medal. Has the team improved game by game like you expected?
I think we have gotten better. I think the biggest thing is we’re familiar. If we play Brazil we just played them yesterday. If we play Canada when we first got here we had an exhibition game against them, so there’s a level of familiarity. What I have told the guys is whatever has happened up to this point in time against any team we’ve played really doesn’t mean anything. So if you’re playing tomorrow for a gold medal, regardless if it is Brazil or Canada, you can expect it’s going to be a hard fought game because you know what, they’re going to be playing for the same thing we’re playing for.

Jerami Grant (DeMatha Catholic/Bowie, Md.)
You had a solid all-around game tonight, how did you feel out there tonight?
I just felt like we had to play hard in order to win. It was win or go home so we came out there, we played strong, and we got the win.

The game plan was to try and keep them off the 3-point line, and the team seemed to do a good job of that?
Definitely, we closed out hard, closed out long to make them put the ball on the floor, to make them shoot off the dribble and I think we did a good job of that.

How has this whole experience been for you?
Oh it’s been a good experience. It’s definitely different playing with the best payers. Everybody here is the best player or one of the best players on their team so coming here is definitely different. We’re sharing the ball a lot more and just getting done as a team.

You’re now one victory away from realizing a gold medal. What’s it going to take tomorrow to earn the win?
We’re going to have to play the hardest we’ve played since we’ve been here, definitely. I feel like we will come out and play hard. Everybody here is dedicated to winning the gold medal and I feel like we can do it.

Julius Randle(Prestonwood Christian Academy/ McKinney, Texas)
You had a nice second half, what was different than the first half?
Coach Donovan told me if they play off me to just to shoot the jump shot so I started shooting jump shot and made a couple, which made it harder for them to guard me.

This game seemed like it was a faster pace than the other games.
Yeah, we’re starting to get adjusted to it and whether they score or not we’re trying to push the ball and trying to play up-tempo on defense. Both things were pretty good in the second half tonight.

Does that play into the USA’s depth?
Definitely, that plays into our depth because we have so many guys we can interchange. So if somebody gets tired another can come in and do the dame job. Having 12 players that are able to d the same things and play the same style is great for us.

You’re now one victory away from realizing a gold medal. What’s it going to take tomorrow?
Just realizing all the hard work that we put in so far and realizing its one more game and we have to finish it off. We’ve been practicing hard for two or three weeks and now its time to finish it off and do what we came here for.

Rasheed Sulaimon (Strake Jesuit College Prep/Houston, Texas)
What were your impressions of today’s game?
IToday we had a tough opponent in Argentina. The coaches came up with a great plan and I think we followed it to the best of our abilities and the score showed. We r really played together as a team and I think that’s one of the main reasons we came out on top.

What was the game plan tonight?
Just keep them off the 3-point line they’re very good shooters. A lot of there threes come off of penetration so we had to shut down penetration and guard the three and I think we did that. We got their best player No. 15, Deck, out of the game really early, he had two fouls like in the first two minutes sand I think that really kind of rattled them. Once we got their best player out of the game we just took advantage of it.

You’re now one victory away from realizing a gold medal. What’s it going to take tomorrow?
It’s going to take another day of preparation, another day of hard work. I think if we come out and play like we did today, with a lot of emotion and a lot of pride for our country, I think we have the talent, we have the personnel to do it.

How’s this experience been for you so far?
It’s been amazing, I’ve never been outside of the country, first time outside of the country, it’s just amazing what basketball can do and it’s a blessing to have this opportunity to come to Brazil and represent our country and now to have the opportunity to play for a gold medal.