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August 7, 2006 • Guangzhou, China
 COACH
KRZYZEWSKI
Opening comment:
The crowd was great and the atmosphere was sensational for
basketball. The Chinese team played with great courage in spite of having
a number of their key players injured. They played with great courage
and our guys played well, but we played against a courageous team tonight.
On the Chinese team:
They played hard the whole game. Our guys played hard the whole
game so it was very good basketball. We?re proud of our performance and
China made us play well.
On the referees:
The performance was as we expected ? which was very good.
On his substitution patterns:
We just choose for the first two games to split our team up so
we could see different combinations. That?s not necessarily how we are
going to do it in the future, but these first two games and maybe even
for tomorrow?s game, we would do the same thing.
On the defense:
We would like to extend our defense, not so much to gamble but
to keep constant pressure so we can utilize our depth. If the team is
doing well against it, then we can always pull back. But for right now,
would like to pick up full court.
(on Chen Jianghua): Does he have good grades? We will recruit him maybe.
No, he was ? I like him. He played against intense pressure but he had
good poise, very good poise. And the experience he had tonight will only
make him a better basketball player ? I like him.
(Is this the first time in your career you didn?t call a timeout in a
game?): No. When I coach at Duke, I have not called a timeout in games
too. When you have very good teams, sometimes you don?t have to call timeouts.
On Shane Battier:
Shane is the ultimate team player who generates an enthusiasm or work
ethic that helps everyone. He?s very selfless but still had a huge impact
on the game. His importance on the game will never be measured by stats.
But you can feel his performance when you watch it. By the way, he?s very
excited to be Yao?s teammate ? very excited.
Who was the MVP tonight:
I think the coach. (laughs) No, I was fooling around. I would not single
out one player. Elton played a great game. Brad Miller. Shane. We played
very hard. This team is not about an individual performance. It?s about
a collective performance so we would never name an MVP.
Do you miss a shooter like Ray Allen?
No. We have good shooters. Ray Allen is a great shooter, but he
did not come on the team. We have Carmelo Anthony, Joe Johnson, Kirk Hinrich,
Gilbert Arenas, Dwyane Wade. We have good shooters. We feel good about
our shooting.
On playing in China:
This is a tremendous opportunity for us to grow as a team and get acclimated
to playing in this time zone. To play in front of this crowd was excellent.
I was happy in that we played very hard every second. And we played unselfishly.
As long as we do those two things, we?ll continue to improve.
 CARMELO
ANTHONYOn playing
with Team USA:
It's a lot of fun. Everybody wants people on the court ? we're cheering
for them, we're fans of each other. We play against each other 82 games
per year so it's fun to be on the same team and compete against other
people.
On the team's chemistry improving:
Our chemistry is getting better and better each day. We pretty
much know where everybody likes the ball on the court or where their spots
are.
On his hot shooting:
I'm feeling it. It's just confidence right now. It's something I've been
working on for a long time and the hard work is finally paying off.
What the team can do better:
Defend the pick and roll a little bit better. Just stay focused
on defense for the whole game.
On what they are doing well:
We've jelled together. The chemistry is great and its only going
to get better.
 ELTON
BRANDOn the Chinese
team:
Like Coach said, the Chinese basketball team really played hard, really
played well. In the first quarter, they really played us tough and we
had to give our best effort to extend the lead even without some of the
key players. We respect all of our opponents and we know we have to give
our best effort. We?re not taking any team lightly.
On the Chinese team:
It was very good to see guys like Wang Zhi Zhi, a good friend of mine
who played with the Clippers before playing with Miami. He?s a good shooter
and a good player so he?s probably going to play next week so the team
has got to look out for him. The young guy (Yi Jianlian), he?s a pretty
solid player. I don?t know what team he is on here or what league he is
in, but he?s going to be a very good player.
On the court being slippery:
You know playing international
game is about adjustments for us so they were playing on the same court
and same ball. There are no excuses. We wanted to play well regardless
if the court was slippery or not. It was ok.
 LE
BRON JAMESOn the first quarter:
We just had to settle down. They
were riding high off the fans. We wore them down the second half. It's
not how you start the game but how you finish.
On Team USA:
We feel like we are one of the better teams, one of the best teams. And
we feel like we get better every day so we want to compete every night.
We're always going to be ready to play. I think guys our bringing a lot
of energy in off the bench. We were producing all over the court and taking
care of business.
On the 2004 Olympics:
We're not thinking about what happened in 2004. It's a different
time, a different team for us, a different coaching staff. We are just
going out and preparing ourselves the best way to win every game.
On being the "hero" tonight:
I don't look at myself as a hero. I just go out there and play
my game and showcase my talent to the fans and take care of business.
On Yi Jianlian:
I like Yi's game. Yi is very impressive. I met him last year when
I came here. I think he is very good. He has a chance to be in the NBA
some day if he keeps working hard on his game. I think Yi was the most
impressive guy.
 ANTAWN
JAMISONOn playing in China:
Everytime I come, I find out something different about the culture.
You know, I'm just amazed at the knowledge that China has as far as basketball.
They know about Dwyane and they know about me when I was with the Warriors
and Dallas. Their knowledge of the game is at an ultimate high and everytime
I come here, I'm always impressed.
On team China:
This team is definitely improving. For them to be as competitive
as they were tonight without Yao or Wang Zhizhi, it says a lot. Just imagine
if you have those two guys on the same team with the guys that were out
there tonight, they can definitely cause some upsets and make a difference.
It was fun. I was impressed with the way they played hard and played good
basketball and they were out there having fun just like we were having
fun.
We've had training camp for two weeks before we played Puerto Rico and
then we had a long flight here and then a day off. This team has been
anxious to get it going.
On playing a role for Team USA:
You just have to be ready. For me, I've been in this situation
before when I was in Dallas as far as being a Sixth Man coming off the
bench, not knowing when you are coming in. We have kind of got a set rotation
now so we know when we are coming in and we know when our minutes are
going to be.
 BRAD
MILLER
On the start of the game:
We have got to get better coming out at the start of the games.
Instead of being down we need to pick it up early and get a lead.
On his hot shooting streak in the second
half:
We have a lot of guys who are going to get hot and it's just a
matter of catching the ball where you feel comfortable. You say some of
those are good shots and some may not. It's doesn't matter who scores
as long as the team scores.
On the Chinese fans:
I've experienced them so I know firsthand how crazy they are, how fanatic
they are.
 DWYANE
WADEOn Team China:
As a team, they played
tough. They played hard. No matter what the score was, they played from
the start of the game to the end. So you are impressed with any team that
does that.
They've got some good players. With
Yao, they'd be a lot better because they'd have a force down low. So,
this is a team that everyone knows is up and coming every year and they
get better and better.
On 1992 Olympic gold medalist Clyde Drexler
being at the game:
Anytime you see a legend like that, it gives you confidence. It's
somebody that you have seen has done it before, giving you his wisdom.
You got out there and try to do it. We want to make history just like
they did.
On Chen Jianghua:
The point guard is pretty good. He ran the team pretty good and
did a good job getting to the basket and a good job of finishing. He's
a tough player and like I said, they're a tough team.
On the substitution patterns:
He's trying right now to get a feel on who plays good with each
other. Different guys have been in at different times. Right now, we are
just trying to get a feel before we get into the medal round.
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