Additional Quotes >> USA 68, Serbia 66

July 7, 2009 - Belgrade, Serbia

USA head coach Bo Ryan, University of Wisconsin
On tonight's game:
A game comes down to what seems like an eternity that last minute, the last 30 seconds, the last nine seconds. But it's all the things that happened before that really are important. In order for us to get accomplished what we want to accomplish, we have to give ourselves a better chance by taking care of the ball and rebounding a little better. They struggled some and we struggled some because both teams were playing so hard against each other. We happened to be two points up, a little more than them, but there are still a lot tougher games ahead.

Did you feel like this team made the adjustments they needed from your first game against Serbia?
How about making the adjustments after the first three minutes when we allowed some of the dribble drives. We weren't quite stopping the ball the way we had talked about because our bigs were so cognizant of their big guy who destroyed us in the last game. Once we got that corrected and we gave a little better help, then we were much better defensively. We gave up four, five lay ups in the first three minutes, which for a coach like me - you don't get four or five lay ups in 40 minutes, let alone the first three. I was struggling a little bit, but the guys adjusted.

How big were Trevor Booker and Talor Battle for you tonight?
With out a doubt, and the players know - you can't fool players, they knew that Trevor Booker's energy and his work ethic tonight made all the difference in the world in that game. Everybody else picked up in a lot of different areas, but Talor and Trevor, really spearheaded a lot of good things that happened for us offensively, and Trevor on the boards and defensively.

What are your thoughts headed into quarterfinals as a No. 1 seed?
When you finish a game like that, it's just like being in the NCAA Tournament for our guys. You have to get ready for the next opponent with one day in between. I think these guys have been through that enough because they all play at solid programs and have tournament experience. I think they will be ready.

We didn't know who the opponent was when we left the locker room. Now that we know it's Bulgaria, then we get ready for Bulgaria.

Talor Battle (Penn State / Albany, N.Y.)
On tonight's game:
It was a great atmosphere. There were so many people there, and we had all of our USA people there. It was really fun, and we are grateful that we came out with a win.

Can you talk a little about your personal performance tonight?
Early in the game, coach talked about coming off the ball screen, and I was really trying to take my time and focus on getting that guy on my hip and then attacking. I got some easy baskets, and after a while, they started chasing and I was able to step back and hit some threes. I was just playing with a lot of confidence.

What's going through your mind when you miss two free throws with seconds on the clock and a one-point lead?
We just thank (Trevor) Booker. He kept tipping it out and gave us extra chances. It's definitely tough to shoot with that kind of crowd, but it's a testament to our team because we had to get a stop to win the game. Defense wins championships, and it showed.

Would you give credit to Serbia tonight as well?
They played great. They fight you. They are really big, and they attack the rim. The missed some around the rim tonight, but that's a testament to our big guys, with their hands up and not committing as many fouls as we did in our first game against them. Good game to them, but we are thankful we came out with the win.

What are your thoughts headed into quarterfinals as a No. 1 seed?
That was the first thing Coach spoke about in the locker room. The most important game is the next game, regardless of who that is. We have to put this one behind us. Once you win a game like this, people are hungry and are going to try and come at you. You are the No. 1 seed, so you have to bring that much more energy to come out on top.

Do you think this team gained some confidence from this win tonight?
Now we know we can really play with them. They beat up on us the first game. I'm sure they are in there chomping at the bit, trying to get back at the championship or where ever we will meet up to play us again.

Trevor Booker (Clemson / Whitmire, S.C.)
On tonight's game:
It was crazy. They had the crowd going. At the end we couldn't make a free throw, but we still came out with a win, so we are happy about that.

Can you talk a little about your personal performance tonight?
It was hard battling their big guy. He's like 7-1, 400 pounds. I just tried to keep a body on him, and that's all you can do. I think I did a pretty good job, and the other post players did too.

Would you give credit to Serbia tonight as well?
Definitely. They came out and played hard. They had a big crowd in a nice, new arena. They played their hardest, we played our hardest and we came out on top. We might end up seeing them again, so we just have to take it one game at a time, and hopefully, we can get to the gold medal game.

What was going through your mind as the USA missed 5 straight free throws and you are getting tip after tip?
I was just hoping we could knock down at least one, and (Corey) Fisher gave us that. That helped us out. They got a timeout and advanced the ball, but we got a stop, and they didn't score.

On Bulgaria:
I don't know anything about them, but the coaches are going to scout, and we will know something by tomorrow's game.

Da'Sean Butler (West Virginia / Newark, N.J.)
On tonight's game:
It feels good. That is the second time we have played them, and they just absolutely killed us the first game. We just wanted to show them that we are a different team.

Did you feel like there was ever a point where the USA tightened up?
The first quarter we kind of did. Guys weren't really as loose as they should have been. They came out aggressive and got an early lead - a small early lead, but still it was an early lead. Down the stretch we took care of the ball and took care of business, and the ball went our way.

Did you make the adjustments you needed to from the first game against Serbia?
We were up at halftime last game. We all remember that. Like Coach Ryan said, you have to learn from your mistakes. Last game, third quarter, they came out and killed us on the glass, and that's when we let the game get away from us. We just wanted to make a point of not letting the game get away from us in the third quarter and not letting them get on the glass as much as they did.

What's going through your mind when you miss two free throws with seconds on the clock and a one-point lead?
Honestly, when Talor (Battle) missed his, and I got the rebound, I thought, 'I have to win the game.' It just didn't work out that way. And then Trevor (Booker) just tapped it out, and I have faith in Corey. Corey knocked down the second free throw at least.

On the last play of the game:
We are a really good defensive team, granted we gave up a lot of points tonight. But we are a really good defensive team when we set our minds to it. We got the last stop when we needed it, so it just went our way today, and we are happy.

Corey Fisher (Villanova / Bronx, N.Y.)
On making 1-of-2 free throws with seconds on the clock:
I missed a couple of shots tonight, and my teammates picked me up. When I went to the line I had a lot of confidence. I missed the first, and I was just planning on making the second, and that's what I did. And we got a stop the next play. Everybody has their night, and tonight wasn't my night - tonight was a team night. We won the game. It was a close game, and I missed a free throw, but you just have to move on to the next play.

Robbie Hummel (Purdue / Valparaiso, Ind.)
On tonight's game:
It was a fun game to play in. The crowd was very into it. Those are the fun ones to win, when you can silence the crowd like that. We know that there is a lot more basketball to be played, and we still have to focus on what is at hand.

How important was the USA's depth tonight?
That was very important, everybody contributed. When you have 12 guys playing at a high level, you can wear teams like that down because they don't have as many. So I think that is big for us if we want to make a deep run in this tournament.

Did you make the adjustments you needed to from the first game against Serbia?
Coach Ryan, Coach Haith and Coach Jeeter did a good job of preparing us to play, and they had a great scouting report. We were able to follow it, and that's how we were able to win.

What are your thoughts headed into quarterfinals as a No. 1 seed?
We are focused on winning a gold medal here, and there can't be a let down. From now on, we have to win. I think we know that, so we will be ok.