Additional Quotes >> USA 84, Poland 47

July 9, 2011 • Riga, Latvia

Hewitt

Paul Hewitt, USA head coach
Your comments about the game:
I’m very pleased for our guys. They came out and played with great intensity from the beginning and did a very good job defensively. I thought we turned the ball over a little too much in the first half, but in the second half I thought our focus and concentration was very good.

What did you say to the team to help get them past yesterdays loss and to play like they did today?
Not much. It was a difficult game for us and I thought our guys competed very hard and tried very hard. I’ve watched the game twice now and it (the loss to Russia) wasn’t for a lack of effort, we just didn’t make some threes yesterday. It’s tough to overcome a deficit of 36 to nothing from the 3-point line, but our guys gave an effort so as long as the effort was there we knew we would come out and play well and they have. These guys have been great the entire trip and they continue to impress with how hard they play and how much they want to represent the U.S.

Appling

Keith Appling
(Michigan State / Detroit, Mich.)
Talk about the USA team effort today:
It shows we’re a bunch of guys that are not ever going to quit. We understand what we could have accomplished but we tried not dwell on the past and focused on the future.

What have you learned from this tournament?
You’ve got to be willing to compete at all times, there’s a lot of great players out here from a lot of different countries, so you’ve got to be ready to compete and stay focused and poised at all times.

What have you learned about international basketball, has this changed your opinion of international basketball?
Oh yeah, it changed my opinion a lot. I didn’t think any other country was as good as America when it comes to basketball but there’s a lot of other countries that have a lot of very talented players.

Leonard

Meyers Leonard
(Illinois / Robinson, Ill.)
Was it difficult to get up for this game today?
For me it wasn’t really hard to get ready for the game because I’m just trying to get better and I thought yesterday I got in a groove and I’m trying to keep it going obviously for these last few games and I thought I played pretty well again today. As far as the other guys, they were ready to go too. It’s hard coming off a loss knowing you can’t get the gold medal, but I’m just happy with the way everyone played, we competed and we played really hard and we’re keeping a good reputation for ourselves.

You were real active today, rebounding, blocking shot, getting up and down the court, talk a about that, do you feel you’re starting to hit your groove?
That’s how it’s always been. It’s been tough for me in the first parts of the tournament. I thought I did well in the tryouts but once we got to the tournament I was starting to get a little less minutes; I was starting to get down on myself a little. But I’ve kind of got my confidence back, got my groove back, started getting into my style, getting up and down and be a high energy guy and I think that’s all coach wanted from me – to bring a lot of energy and I wasn’t doing that at the beginning but I am now. I’m just finding my groove and playing my hardest.

What have you learned from this international experience and has it changed your perception of international basketball?
They’re very physical, I didn’t know that. I did know they’re very skilled but I didn’t know they’re this skilled. They all know how to play together, they pass well, they really know how to work as a unit and they never stop playing hard that’s for sure. I’m just going to go back to my team at back Illinois and try to share all of this experience with them and hopefully have a good year next year.

Marshall

Khyle Marshall
(Butler / Davie, Fla.)
How hard was it to get ready to play this game after yesterday’s loss?
Everybody is still bummed about what happened yesterday so during warm ups I think all of us were still mad about how we shouldn’t be in this game, we should be fighting for the gold medal right now. But at the end of the day we’re in this game so it’s something we have to put behind us and just focus on this game.

What does it say about this team’s pride and competitiveness to play like it did today?
It shows that if we just play together and play defense great things can happen. As a result, we won by 30 plus points and that just showed this team could be really good if we just all play together, play defense, play together as one team.

How much pride have you taken in represent the United States?
At the end of the day I cannot be more proud, I’m representing my country and fighting for a medal. I’m representing my whole country and playing against the top competition in the world. I couldn’t be more proud.

McDermott

Doug McDermott
(Creighton / Ames, Iowa)
Your comments about the game:
I thought we set a tone early, especially defensively. We held them to a low shooting percentage the whole game and we did a really good job in the second half of not letting them get to the offensive boards after they had eight in the first half. I think we did a really good job of sharing the ball and shared a lot of fun today as a group.

In the U.S. you don’t have these consolation type of games, how do you get up for it because you’re not used to it?
Yeah, I’m not used to it at all. I think just for the love of the game that all of us have, we all wanted to play a game and represent our country and put on the USA jersey a couple of last times. It’s just an honor to be here and its unfortunate we lost yesterday but we know we can’t complain, we just have to move forward and try and get a win tomorrow too.

Talk about hitting the three that opened the second half and how it felt to make one?
Yeah it felt good to hit one there and get me going; it definitely boosted my confidence and I think I hit another one right after that so just to get our team going in the second half and off to an 8-0 run just felt good. It was a good win for us.