Additional Quotes >> USA 83, Canada 54

July 4, 2011 • Riga, Latvia

Paul Hewitt
USA Head Coach
Opening comments on the game:
 I thought Canada played very well at the start, they gave us a lot of problems and then Jahii came in and got our running game going and we got going in transition and got some easy baskets and that opened the game for us.

You mention that your team is playing better as the tournament goes on. Tomorrow you play Lithuania -- a team that beat you a week ago. Can you talk about how your team has evolved?
Like what (Canada’s) coach said, you forget about five days ago and worry about your next game. We just have to play better, we didn’t play well, and they played really well. If we’re going to have a chance against them, we’re going to have to play better and hope they don’t play as well.

Talk about your team’s defensive effort today:
It’s getting better. That’s one thing I’ve noticed as this tournament has gone on, we’ve become a little bit more cohesive defensively. Guys can now take more chances because they know their teammate is going to be there to help them if something doesn’t go right. So, I like the fact that we’re playing together better defensively as the tournament has gone on.

James Bell
This was a little more transition type game, how good was it to get a game like that in?
We said going into the game that one of their flaws was transition defense, so we just tried to exploit it. We got stops and we got out running. But it started with the stop though. We all buckled down on defense, got deflections, got rebounds and we just got out.

You had a good shooting night; you seem to get in a good flow:
My teammates put me in the right positions. They made great passes, and I was just knocking down shots, it was just one of those days.

With Lithuania next, how far do you think the team has come since we had the exhibition game with them a week ago?
We’ve come a long way. We know where we have to be to beat them. We know how we have to play to play with them. We just have to play our game; stay confident and just stay solid; no turnovers; limit their fast break points and just stay in the game.

Jahii Carson
Opening comments:
I thought we played good overall as a team. We’re starting to get team chemistry, get team bonding, just start playing together as a team both offensively and defensively. I think we’re starting to step it up as the games start to increase during the tournament.

You mention that your team is playing better as the tournament goes on. Tomorrow you play Lithuania a team that beat you a week ago. Can you talk about how your team has evolved?
I think we’re starting to bond more off the court, and I think that’s a huge part of being successful for our team. We’re learning each other’s personalities, and I think that helps on the court. We start to learn and know what players like to do, and I think as the tournament moves on knowing your team’s personnel is going to help tremendously.

Talk about getting the transition game going, getting the running game going:
I like to push the basketball and I think putting pressure on the defense catches them off guard and that’s something I like to try to do. And on the defensive end I try to get into the point guard and make him uncomfortable. I think when Coach Hewitt calls my name that’s one thing I liked to try to bring to the floor, put a little spark into the game.

Doug McDermott
The offense tonight looked much smoother:
Definitely;  I feel like we’re getting a lot more comfortable with each other as we go along. Some of these teams have been together a while and we’ve only been together a few weeks here, so it’s been going well.

How important is an up tempo like today’s game and how much fun is it to play?
It’s really fun, just to watch and play with these guys. It’s been great. We got off to kind of a slow start, Canada did a good job early, but then we started feeling it, got on a roll and it felt good.

The defensive effort limited Canada to 30.0 percent shooting; talk about the team’s defense today
We had a good game plan coming in to shut Kevin Pangos down and I thought we did a good job of that; we did probably not as good as we wanted to do on their 7’6" guy, but we still played really well on team defense.

How important is it to have the kind of depth the USA Team?
It’s really important. I think everyone is starting to figure out their roles and figure out what they need to do and bring to the team so we can get wins.

You play Lithuania next, what do you need to do win?
I think we know what we have to do, we’ve got do a really good job on Jonas Valanciunas and try and take them off of the 3-point line because that’s what they do really well - shoot it and play out of the post. We’ve got to prepare for them tonight and hope for the best tomorrow.