Additional Quotes >> USA 94, Romania 73

Aug. 21, 2011 • Shenzhen, China

Matt Painter, USA head coach
On tonight's game:
I thought our guys did a good job of bouncing back. I thought that first group really got things going and did a good job defensively. Draymond Green really got us into a rythym with those two threes, and I thought he played well. I think that was important for us to come out and get off to a good start.

On the USA's defense:
There obviously are going to be some ups and downs throughout the course of the game. You'd like to be more consistent than we were, but I thought for the most part we had pretty good energy. I'd like to see us hit the glass a little bit better and do a better job with loose balls. I think eventually that is going to catch up to you if you're not able to do a better job on the glass and run down some of those long rebounds and loose balls.

On the USA's offense:
When we share the ball, we are a pretty good offensive team. When we take contested shots or we force, that's when we struggle. So, I think the good stretches that you see from this team are when are unselfish. I think when you see us struggle at times, it's because we are shooting the ball too quick or we are not taking rythym shots. We need to a better job of going inside outside and making sure our interior guys get touches.

On playing for fifth place tomorrow:
I think tomorrow's game is more about us than our opponent. Germany is obvioulsy a good team, so we know we are going to have our hands full. The focus for us has to be about our mindset coming out and defending and rebounding the basketball. Then on the offensive end, just being unselfish and making the extra pass.

Tim Abromaitis (Notre Dame)
On tonight's game:
We came out really well defensively. I think it was four of five minutes before they scored at all, and I think that really set the tone for the game. We put them behind right away and held on from there.

On the USA's scoring:
We got a lot of easy transition buckets, a lot of fast breaks. They played a lot of zone, which we hadn't seen, but we have practiced against it, and we were ready for it. I think that helped us get a lot of easy shots.

On playing for fifth place tomorrow:
We just want to keep winning as many games as possible. Obviously, we are not going to be able to accomplish our goal of winning a gold medal, but at the same time we are still representing our country and representing USA Basketball. We want to do that as well as we can.

Draymond Green (Michigan State)
On tonight's game:
We could have either went one of two ways, we could have come out like we weren't the United States and we didn't have pride in our country and just played like trash, or we could come out and play with a lot of energy. We wanted to bounce back, and no matter what, we are still playing for something, and that's the way we came out, with intensity. And we defended, that was the main goal. We really keyed in on the defensive end, and that led to a lot of quick offense. We had a few breakdowns in there, but overall I thought we stayed focused. I think the most important thing was when we had a couple of turnovers in a row, we came down and made sure we got a good shot. And we just kept defending and kept defending, and that was key for us.

On the USA's offense:
I think one of the good things about this team is that everybody can score, and we look to share the ball. It doesn't matter who has the most points. I led us in scoring tonight, but it was the first time all tournament. It doesn't matter who scores, and that's the sign of a good team. The crazy part about it is a lot of guys out here are trying to get assists. We argue over assists. We don't argue over points, and that's a good thing.

On playing for fifth place tomorrow:
We can tie for the best record in the tournament, and that's the goal now. We fell short yesterday, so we have to finish the best that we can and that's to fight for fifth place. It's going to be a tough game. We know Germany is going to be tough. We just have to come out and play USA Basketball.

Greg Mangano (Yale)
On tonight's game:
We responded great after a loss. You could fold and say that there is nothing to play for, but there is. We can still tie for the best record in the tournament, and that means something to us. It also means something to win our last two games.

On the USA's offense:
We are so quick in the backcourt that good defense like we were playing, getting steals and deflections, leads to good offense for us and we get even better shots, especially when we get out in transition. I think our offense started on the defensive end tonight.

On the USA's defense:
I think that was probably the best four quarters that we have put together defensively. In the first half, we came out and defended from the get-go, and I think that was the key. We were up 12-0, and that really set the tone for the rest of the game.

Ray McCallum (Detroit Mercy)
On tonight's game:
I think last night's loss was still in our heads, and we wanted to come out and play better than we did last night. We knew the way we played yesterday wasn't our game, and we wanted to show that we can still play. We kept our heads up and played together. We've got one more game, and it's been a real fun trip. I think this group of guys is real close, and we are enjoying our last few games together.

On the USA's offense:
We were pressuring the ball, and a lot of guys were getting transition buckets and dunks. We just had fun tonight.

On playing for fifth place tomorrow:
We still have the opportunity to play for fifth place, and last night we all just got together and stayed close. We know we are going to come short of our goal, but we want to finish it out strong and keep winning. We can still tie for the best record in the tournament, so that's something we can hang our hat on and just try to finish out 7-1.

On the USA's defense:
We didn't get in any foul trouble tonight. Everyone played good minutes, and we were all talking. Overall, it was a good game.