U.S. Men 23, Turkey 17 >> Additional Quotes

Eric Flannery, U.S. Men's Head Coach
St. Edward High School, Ohio

Was it your strategy to go inside?
Well it was definitely our strategy to begin pounding the ball inside as much as we could. … It’s just such a different game that we’re not accustomed to. Just the fact that our guys got the win against a very good basketball team and did it with this style of play, without being extremely familiar with it, I was very satisfied.

What do you think the team still needs to work on?
I really think the biggest thing is just how fast the game is played and how quickly it can change. At one point we had a six or seven point lead and in a minute it got down to one, that’s how fast it can change. You have to do a really good job of keeping your focus for the entire game. Even though it’s only a 10-minute game, it’s very easy to lose your focus with one bad possession or a bad shot. There’s no sulking in this game. It’s a good learning experience to show them that you can’t pout, you have to compete the whole time or you’re in trouble. You have to keep that focus for the entire game.

I’m very proud of our guys and how they’ve adjusted to everything else around us, with the travel. They’ve adjusted to the game extremely fast. I think, believe it or not, coming in we were more knowledgeable than anybody with the rules of the game and the style of play, and I’m very proud of that. That said, the style is very fast, and you can improve on a lot of things. But with the style of the game, we got it down for the most part.

Sterling Gibbs
Seton Hall Prep H.S./Scotch Plains, N.J.

How did the first game compare to what you trained for?
It was a lot different. We had a couple scrimmages, but nothing like this, in front of all the fans. It was definitely different, but as long as we got the win.

What was working for the team today?
We had our inside game going. Our jumps shots weren’t falling – playing on the court for the first time kind of took our legs out of us. But we were able to just throw it inside to our bigs and they scored.

Did you have a sizeable height advantage?
Yeah we had a decent height advantage. It wasn’t that big, though, they were pretty big. Kyle didn’t even play as much today, it was pretty much Angelo, me and Brandan.

What do you see in the team that you like and what do you need to improve on?
We liked our post game, the way we were able to go inside and convert. We played pretty good defense, but we gotta talk more, and just the little stuff, like converting on free throws.

Brandan Kearney
Detroit Southeastern H.S./Detroit, Mich.

How do you think the first game went?
I thought it went pretty well. We definitely did very well on defense, all of us agreed on that. But if we start executing better on the offensive end, that’ll help us a lot more.

Was the plan to get the ball inside?
Yes it was. That’s been the plan since training camp, to get the ball inside, because we thought we’d probably be bigger and stronger than most of the teams here, so that’s the first thing we wanted to do, play inside-out.

Was the game any different than what you prepared for in training?
It was a little bit faster, but as the game went on, the speed kind of calmed down and we got ahold of things.

What do you still need to improve on?
When we first come out, as soon as the game starts, playing hard from the start and getting in our opponents face and attacking them on the offensive end.