Additional Quotes >> USA 81, Brazil 78

June 30, 2010 • San Antonio, Texas

Additional Quotes >> USA 81, Brazil 78

June 30, 2010 • San Antonio, Texas

Capel

Jeff Capel, 2010 USA U18 National Team head coach
(University of Oklahoma)
On the game overall:
Talk about the effort of your team, in the first game they were really tested
Yes, you know what we scrimmaged Brazil last Thursday, and after each quarter we reset the score and after the first quarter they were up almost 26-16.  We ended up winning the scrimmage by about ten or eleven points.  It’s a team we have a lot of respect for.   I think perhaps they have the best pro prospect in the tournament, Lucas.

 I was really proud of our guys with how we dealt with adversity. It’s the first time we have experienced it here and it knocked us back a little bit early.  I thought we did a good job of getting off to a good start in the second half.  Give them credit, that Brazil team they have been together and fought and they made plays.  At one point, we were down eight and we could have put our heads down but these guys hung together. They showed some toughness, they showed some grit and we started to get some stops on the defensive end and some guys made some great plays offensively.  Quincy hit a huge shot, he has shooter’s amnesia because the time before he took the shot and it was an air-ball. He has a lot of confidence in himself and really stepped up and made a huge shot for us.

How do you feel winning the gold medal?
I’m happy for our players, they have been through a lot in the last three weeks, and I am actually glad we won it in this manner.  Don’t get me wrong, we would have loved another huge win.  It would have been a little bit easier and we could have relaxed more.  I’m glad that these guys went through this, because this was like a college game.  For the guys entering college, and for guys going into their senior years, this can be a reference point.  Here they had success with it, so I’m glad we fought through some adversity.  I’m glad we did it together, the guys stuck together and fought together. That’s how you can see how proud they are.

What did you say to them when you were down?
I just told them we were okay and there were certain things we had to do. I felt Lucas came in and changed the game.  I thought one of the things that happened was we got off to such a big lead I think, our guys thought that this would be a little bit easier.  Just like the last games, then Brazil threw a full court press on us, and we did not adjust to it. It knocked us back a little bit.  They played zone and it did not allow us to get into our offense.  We talked about getting back to defending and holding them to one shot and blocking out, which would allow us to get out into transition and get some easy baskets. 

Hewitt

Paul Hewitt, 2010 UDA U18 National Team assistant coach
(Georgia Tech)
Reaction to first half?  What did you say in the locker room?
I thought Jeff did a good job just keeping them settled.  We knew we had to do a better job against that ¾ court press, which we did.  Got out of the gate well in the second half.

What kind of reaction were you getting from the guys?
They were a little stunned.  You know we jump up 15-2 and when we scrimmaged them earlier in the week, they were up on us then 26-16. And we came back and won by 14 or 15.  And I think, maybe in the back of their mind, a 15 -2 lead, they thought it was going to be easy.  Brazil is a very good team, very well coached.

What does it mean to these kids to have the opportunity to stand on the podium wearing USA?
I think the looks on their faces said it all.  Some of the guys in the lock room were talking about how special, how memorable this experience is going to be.  Quite frankly, for a lot of them, they never worked this hard before.  And to work at a higher level than they’re used to working and to have some success because of it, it’s going to make it a lasting memory for them.

And how about for you?
It’s fun.  It’s fun to work with coaches like Jeff and Reggie and trade ideas and just talk.  It’s a great way to keep you thinking about the game of basketball in the offseason and to work with young players is very rewarding.  Of course, when you get the win, when you get the gold medal, that makes it a lot of fun.

What’s the future of USA Basketball look like?
I think the future of USA Basketball looks great.  I think people like Jim Tooley, Sean Ford and of course Jerry Colangelo and those guys; they’re doing a great job of making it special again to represent the USA on the basketball court.  There was a time it was a “take it or leave it” type proposition.  Now kids are jumping at this opportunity and rightfully so.

Witherspoon

Reggie Witherspoon, 2010 UDA U18 National Team assistant coach
(University at Buffalo)
On winning the gold medal after nearly three weeks of hard work:
I am really happy for the kids. I know that for the most part, it’s as hard as they’ve ever worked at in basketball. It’s something that they love. You’d like to have won it in grand fashion, like we won the other games, but the fact that they had to overcome some adversity probably makes it sweeter. Everything didn’t go well, but they overcame the adversity of the training camp. It’s really good to see them win the gold medal. I think they have a greater appreciation of how it works now.

Blue

Vander Blue
(James Madison Memorial H.S. / Madison, Wis.)
What was the key in the game for you?
Defense.  We knew they were going to be aggressive and physical so we wanted to come out and play good D and we knew if we played good D we’d win the game. 

Did their press surprise you?
We’ve never seen it before.  It was something that caught us off guard, but once we applied ourselves and got comfortable and didn’t panic we really took advantage of it because we had some match ups that really was in our favor.  We took advantage of those.

After playing together for only 3 weeks, what allowed you to come together and turn it around?
The two-a-days, all the hard work we’ve been doing, we’re like brothers.  We only met each other three weeks ago, but you can’t tell us nothing we don’t know about each other.  We stayed in hotels (together) and that really showed in that 4th quarter when we all stuck together.

And I have to give a good complement to the crowd.  They helped us as well screaming “USA”.  It made us want to fight a little bit more.

How did it feel standing on the podium representing the USA?
It felt good.  I want to get this feeling again.  I’m so happy right now.   There’s nothing that compares to this.

What does that gold medal mean to you?
It means everything right now.  As a kid coming from Madison, making a team like this, being in the position that we were I just feel so good right now.  A lot of people don’t have around my neck and I’m going to cherish this for a long while.

Cooney

Trevor Cooney
(Sanford H.S. / Wilmington, Del.)
Does it feel like all your hard work has paid off?
Without a doubt, oh yeah. For it to end like this with all the hard work that we put in is just big.

Does it feel even more special after the way you won it?
Yes, without a doubt. When Q (Quincy Miller) hit that shot and with it coming down to the end like that, it’s just great.

How does it feel to win a gold medal for your country?
It’s just an honor to be on the team. But to then be on a list with the other gold medalists, it’s unbelievable.

Gaddy

Abdul Gaddy
(Washington / Tacoma, Wash.)
How does it feel to win a gold medal for your country?
It’s great. This is what we’ve been working for. I’m glad that we accomplished it. This is a big accomplishment for us.

On the USA’s overall team effort against Brazil:
It’s all about handling adversity. We hadn’t had to face adversity the whole time because we’ve been blowing everybody out. But today it hit us and we handled it well and came out with the win and the gold medal. That’s what it’s all about.

Did it feel even more special since the game was so close and the crowd was cheering U-S-A the whole time?
It was awesome. It was real special. To hear that, you’re playing for your country, and to know that when everything was on the line, we came out with the win. That’s a great feeling.

Hairston

Josh Hairston
(Montrose Christian School, Md. / Fredericksburg, Va.)
How does it feel to have won the tournament? What are your feelings?
It’s very exciting to win a gold medal and represent our country. I’m very proud of my teammates.  They stuck through it to the end, it’s a blessing.

What was overall experience here at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship?
It was fun; San Antonio was good to us for like three weeks.  They housed us and gave us whatever we needed.  I really love San Antonio.  Hopefully, we will come back.

Walk me through the 4th quarter.
A little bit of everything, I was on the bench to root my teammates on.  They were out there on the court so I didn’t have a problem sitting on the bench.  Cheering them on, staying positive, a little nervous we went down, everything they threw went in.  I was a little scared.  They pulled it off.

Irving

Kyrie Irving
(St. Patrick’s H.S. / Elizabeth, N.J.)
On winning the gold medal in a close game:
The feeling is a lot sweeter, especially coming back from an eight point deficit or however much it was. Especially with these guys, we have been together almost three weeks now.  It just feels great.  I cannot even put it into words.

What is going through your mind when Quincy takes that shot?
It was kind of funny actually, when he made that shot and they called time out.  He had promised me that he would make the next one.  I was really happy for him.

I was not really that nervous, we have been through a lot over the last three weeks. Those practices, those two-a-days were all worth it, we have a lot of great players on the team. Getting down eight or whatever it was; the crowd was getting nervous but we were not nervous. That is what wins championships.

On playing for the USA:
I had the opportunity to play for Australia or the USA and playing for the U.S. is like nothing else. Everybody is behind you.  When you play in the States, everybody comes out.  You saw the crowd out there today just to see us play. We had the crowd behind us and it is just great.  I’m just ready to get back home and see my family.

The championship game, we had a lot of games where I did not play that much and I did not need to play that much.  That is difficult for me, because I am a competitor.   I do not like to come out of the game and what Coach Capel was doing was kind of an adjustment for me.  It makes you really value those minutes that you are on the court.  Like when I got two fouls in the first quarter, and I did not get to play until the third quarter.  That was a learning experience. You cannot get mad at the coaches; it is just a learning lesson.  That was just adversity that I needed to face.

Miller

Quincy Miller
(Quality Education Academy / Winston-Salem, N.C.)
How does it feel to win a gold medal for your country?
It feels great. There’s no other feeling like that.

How much will this experience help you next year?
It’s helping me so much right now. My game went to a whole other level, it’s just crazy. It was great playing with these types of players and getting this type of coaching.

On his final shot:
Well, coach just told me to shoot it, my last one was an air ball. Coach told me to shoot it, so I shot it. I had faith in myself and I made it.

On the crowd:
It was great. It helped us a lot. It helped changed the momentum. It was a good game, it felt good.

Mitchell

Tony Mitchell
(L.G. Pinkston H.S. / Dallas, Texas)
On his overall tournament experience:
It was a great experience, playing against these other countries and meeting new people.

How does it feel to have won the gold?
It feels great, an amazing feeling.  Feels great to win gold for our country.

Walk me through the game, the competitiveness?
We should have blown them out, but a win is a win, it was a sloppy win.  It was a sloppy victory because we turned over the ball, we were not shooting well, out of sync the whole game.

What’s the mentality for your team?
Keep on winning tournaments.

Nash

LeBryan Nash
(Lincoln H.S. / Dallas, Texas)
On the experience of the overall tournament:
Real good, and to play with these guys is awesome.

How does it feel to have won the gold medal?
To see all my teammates excited is a beautiful sight.

Richmond

Jereme Richmond
(Waukegan H.S. / Waukegan, Ill.)
You looked like a calming factor during the game for your teammates. Can you comment on that?
I just didn’t want my guys to get frustrated. Basketball is a game of runs and Brazil made a couple of runs tonight. I was just telling my guys that if we withstand the runs, we’ll be okay.

What’s it like to have a gold medal hanging around your neck?
There’s nothing like it. Especially me, I didn’t get a chance to win the high school championship. I haven’t won any other championships. So for me to represent the USA with this group of guys and to win the gold medal is something really special for me.

Are you looking forward to coming back to play for USA Basketball again in the future?
I am. If I’m invited I’ll definitely be back to work hard for these guys again. I’ll try to bring the gold medal back twice.

How much will this help you next year?
Tremendously. Coach Capel, coach Hewitt and coach Witherspoon, they put us through a lot of things. That’s the perfect transition from high school to college. I appreciate their efforts with that.

Rivers

Austin Rivers
(Winter Park H.S. / Winter Park, Fla.)
On winning the gold medal against Brazil:
It’s an honor, man, it was a nerve wracking game. Brazil is a great team, so they came after us and we went back and forth but we got it in the end.  It is just an honor to have a gold medal on my chest.

It was awesome, probably the best experience of my life playing basketball.  Playing with the best players with USA Basketball; it’s the best experience I have ever had playing basketball.  The fans are great down here in San Antonio, and tonight was one of the most fun games of my life.

What defined your experience here at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship?
Tonight. Our comeback in the last minute, two minutes of the game. The passion everyone had in their face.  It wasn’t about “can I get the shot” or “me, me, me” it was “we”.   Everyone was so excited to be up, giving high fives.  When Quincy hit the shot, or when I hit the long shot or when Kyrie hit the jump shot, no matter who was hitting the shots everyone was giving each other high fives.  That was probably the best part of the tournament, seeing everybody just join together and fight through all the stuff we went through tonight.

The reason they were beating us is they were slowing our game down.  You know we are freaks athletically so what they tried to do is slow us down.  So our mind set at half time was to box out, get stops and RUN so we could blow the game open like we did against everybody else.

You can’t ever adjust your game; you just have to adjust the way you score.

We were all just proud really; it was not so much a sense of relief.  We were all so proud we had one; we had two-a-days for twelve days straight and had twenty practices in ten days.  Just doing all that work and practicing so much and finally getting the “W” felt really good.

The crowd was what got us back in the game, it is what got us determined and back in the game.

Williams

Amir Williams
(Detroit Country Day / Detroit, Mich.)
What was your overall experience of tournament?
It was great; it was great to win a gold medal. And take to this back to my high school is great.

How does it feel to have won a gold medal?
Not everyone can say they won a gold medal so I can add it to my trophy table.

Young

Pat Young
(Providence School / Jacksonville, Fla.)
Was it good to finish up with a close game?
Yeah, it was, because Jake (Prusetti) and I were talking earlier and were like ‘if we win the gold and it’s a blow-out, how are we going to cheer? Or will it be like, yay, we won?’ I think that was the perfect ending to this thing, where we end the first half down a point. That was the first time we’ve had any adversity through this whole thing.

We came back and we won! We stayed together and we did it.

How does it feel to win a gold medal for your country?
It feels good! We were up here for two and a half weeks and it’s all been worth it. I can remember this for the rest of my life. It’s a great memory. I want to come back next year and win another gold medal.