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2006 USA Basketball Women's World Championship Team Press Conference |
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• Listen in on the Press Conference! (MP3 / 43:32) RENEE BROWN Opening Statement As far as the players are concerned, I think you all know who they are: Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes, Katie Smith, Tina Thompson, Diana Taurasi, Tamika Catchings, Sue Bird and DeLisha Milton-Jones. All eight of them, we felt had great international experience. They are a group of players who have worked together very closely, they've won gold medals for us, and to have Lisa and Sheryl return to the squad is very important to us, as well as Katie Smith and DeLisha, because of the wealth of international experience that they have. But also to be able to have Tina, Diana, Tamika and Sue join these particular players, all of them have great international experience. They have a feel for one another's game. But most importantly, they really know how to work together. They've proven that throughout the last six to 10 years in gold medals and championships that we've won. We feel very, very good about these eight. All of us, it was unanimous for these particular eight players. All the Committee members felt really good about the team that we have put togehter. It's a great mix of our veteran players and our young players. With the four remaining spots that are still left open, we are going to continue to watch players throughout the WNBA season and look to name them throughout the WNBA season. Hopefully by late summer we will have those four spots named. CAROL CALLAN Opening Statement I'd also like to thank the media in attendance here and also on the teleconference. Once again, we can't do what we do without you reporting it and we think so far that we've presented ourselves in a pretty positive way and that it's a good story. Those who follow us and follow us internationally know that we've had tremendous success since our inaugural 1996-96 USA Women's Senior National Team program and we're on a pretty good winning streak right now over the past 10 years. We have three straight Olympic gold medals and two straight World Championships to our credit. That's a pretty impressive array of five straight gold medals. Anne, that's not meant to send you into too much anxiety as we move into these World Championships. (laughter) But I think that there are several reasons for that and a few of them are sitting in this room. Our coaching staffs have always been excellent. Van Chancellor in 2002 and 2004, Anne, now moving on after being an assistant coach. But the real reason that we're here today, of course, is the players. The three who are sitting in front of you today and the five who are not in the room are all extremely talented. They have international experience and they have a loyalty and commitment to USA Basketball. I don't think there's any surprise in who these players are. We appreciate that and we like to use them over and over again. We've been fortunate on the women's side to have a culture that permeates this. Not only have they been with us at this Olympic and World Championship level over and over again, but they go way back to their collegiate days and their junior days, which some of them probably can hardly remember anymore, they're getting to that point in their career. You might say that, even with Anne and Dawn sitting here today, they simply immersed themselves. Both Anne and Dawn have been on our Executive Committee, they've been on selection committees, they've been players and are now coaches. So the loyalty that we have from our players is extremely important to us. The second piece that is also important to us is the level of preparation. We spent three segments of training in the spring to develop not only the players we have as part of our core, but also a larger pool that Renee referred to, that we'll be picking the remaining roster spots from. And what we try to do is develop players internationally by competing against quality competition overseas. We were able to do that in the spring. We will also be able to do that before we head to the World Championship. I'll just give you a brief summary of what we'll be doing. We will gather again with this team at the end of August following the second round of the WNBA Playoffs. The players and coaches who will be finished at that time will join us then. The players and coaches who will be involved in the Finals will obviously continue to play with their WNBA teams until they are finished. The details of that training camp and what we will be doing are still being worked out and we hope to finalize that soon and make an annoucement as to exactly what we will be doing. Following that we will be heading to the World Championship in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We will be going down there. There are four pools of four teams, so a total of 16 teams in the World Championship. We are in a pool so that we will get busy right away with China, Nigeria and Russia. The last two World Championships we have had to beat Russia in the gold medal game and we will get them early in pool play. The top three teams from our pool will then cross over against the top three from Cuba, the Czech Republic, France and Chinese Taipei, known in the Western World as Taiwan. The gold medal game is on September 23. Of course the gold medal is very important to us for several reasons. Number one, it means we are the world champions. Number two, it does keep our streak alive and it's also very significant because it qualifies us for the Olympics. Thank you. CAROLINE WILLIAMS Next up is our head coach Anne Donovan, who as Carol touched on has been involved in USA Basketball for a number of years, since I believe she was 15 years old. I'm not going to call her out on what year that was, but she has been a player, a committee member and has now progressed as a coach. She has been a part of three gold-medal winning Olympic teams as either a player or a coach, and she's also been a part of three gold-medal winning World Championship teams, again as a player and coach. ANNE DONOVAN Opening Statement How are we going to get this done? We are going to get this done with great people. The players I'll talk about in a minute, but you get it done with great coaches who are committed, who are hungry, who are not afraid to work and who are prepared. And lastly, and most important, I want to enjoy the process, I want to have fun doing it. Mike Thibault with the Connecticut Sun, who you guys are very familiar with, has done a great job so far. He came through the six weeks of training with me. Dawn Staley was able to come through the last segment of training. You guys are very familiar with Dawn as a player ,very familiar with her success as a coach at Temple, but what she brings to this team. It's ... I can't tell you what she brings to this team. I will say I've tried to rent Dawn out and have her follow Sue around for every day so Sue can pick her brain and learn from her. Because that's how valuable she is as a player and to me on the coaching staff. And then with Gail Goestenkors at Duke, we have a great staff. We're going to do our best to continue to do our best through the pressure to win the gold in Sao Paulo. We had six weeks of training where we had a bunch of players, I don't know the exact number of players who came through, but we were able to take three different teams to Europe twice and then to Australia for the third trip and the thing I think I'm most proud of is that these three (Bird, Swoopes, Thompson) committed to that training period. Off-season is the time when players make their money. They go overseas and they're committed to whatever team they play for, or they stay home and take care of important little ones. But it's valuable time, the off-season. Whether it's earning a living or catching up on life and all of these players committed to playing this spring and gave us time. That was important in our preparation. What we found when we lost to Australia in that last game was that their training process, their six weeks together, was critical in their belief in each other in the system that they were able to play. When they played us in that last game in Australia, they had their system down, even without some of the best players on their national team. (Kristi) Harrower wasn't with them, (Suzy) Batkovic wasn't with them, they were missing some big players but they still had been playing together for six weeks and that preparation paid off for them. So it's important for different players to come through just to get a flavor of my style and what we want to do so we can put it together quickly following the WNBA season. We have a challenge and these players know what that challenge is. These eight core players named to this team, they're very aware of what that challenge is. We're not just going to pick up a medal, we're going to fight tooth and nail for that medal. We're coming home with the gold, but it's not going to be easy. The commitment that these eight players have made as our core players, they understand it. Nobody has to talk to them about it. For me, it's great. We're going out with people who know what we're up against and know how hard we're going to have to work to get it done. I'm really proud, firstly because of Sue, I get to work with this young lady year-round. Sue has really emerged in the national team program. She's paid her dues, she's learned from some of the greatest point guards in the game and that I think she's ready to step and ready to help us with more minutes at the next level. The Houston connection. What can you say about Tina and Sheryl and their commitment to make this game better. Not just internationally, but in the WNBA. Everything they've done translates to success. Whether their winning championships in the WNBA or winning gold medals. That commitment and that success is what we pass down to younger players like Sue and Catchings and Diana. It's important, the longevity of our players and the commitment that they have for the program, sends a message to everybody else about what preparation's about, and pride in what we accomplish. I give the eight core players credit for sticking with it, for being dedicated to the program and for seeing the big picture. Because when you join the national team you sacrifice some of yourself. You're no longer the superstar, you're no longer the one that's the top scorer, the one in the spotlight. Our mission when we represent the USA is that everybody who goes over there gets the gold medal. It doesn't matter what the stat sheet says, the only thing that matter is the final score. Who's getting it done is irrelevant and these players buy into that. We saw Lisa Leslie, you all got to see her here in Seattle recently. She's ready to go, she's on top of her game. Her commitment to the national team program has been strong. Diana Taurasi, I'm going to get to see her after tonight. So right out of the gate we're getting familiar with five of the eight national team players. Then DeLisha Milton joined us for a stretch in Europe. She left her team in Europe to come train with us and right away stepped up, made an impact and is completely healed from her knee (injury). She did great things for us in that one trip to Europe, she carried us. Carried us offensively when other players struggled to step up. Tamika Catchings was not able to train with us, but you all know what kind of energy she brings. She's a high-energy player who is versatile. She can play on the post, play on the perimeter, and she won't miss a beat. She's been in the national team program so she knows what it takes. Lastly, of the eight core players, is Katie Smith who committed to all three segments in the spring. She's a player who came off of an injury. She wasn't healthy in Athens, hasn't really been back to her old self until now. So these eight players are going to go to Sao Paulo, with the addition of four more, but we're going after it. I can't tell you how much I'm really proud to be here. I'm proud to be a part of this team. We have some great, great women who are looking to carry on the success that we've already started. WILLIAMS SUE BIRD Opening Statement WILLIAMS TINA THOMPSON Opening Statement I've been a part of each Olympics with USA Basketball, even when I wasn't there because I just think that it's the ultimate level in any sport not just basketball. When I was a child, my family, we all sat in front of the TV and watched anything from rowing to volleyball and now basketball. For me it's been great. I've played in All-Star Games and alongside internationally all the players I'll be playing with and it's always been an unbelievable experience. The thing I'm most proud of with being a part of USA Basketball is the mentality and the person of the people I'm competing with. It is a commitment, an intense one. But you know that going into this experience you're expected to perform at the highest level and give nothing but the best. It takes a certain kind of person to make that commitment, knowing that it's all or nothing. Knowing that every time you step out on the court you're going to get the best from everyone you play against, you're going to have to bring your best. So I'm excited to go to the World Championships and hopefully the (2008) Olympics, but also to play with the players I'm playing with because I have a lot of respect for them. I know that once you step in between those lines they're going to give the same effort and the same commitment to us being the best team that I'm going to give myself. WILLIAMS SHERYL SWOOPES Opening Statement Getting the opportunity to play with some of the best players in the world, as Tina said, there's just so much respect you have for every player. As Anne said, once we come together it's not about who's the leading scorer, who's the leading rebounder, egos have to be checked at the door. That's the big thing about playing with these players, every single player understands that it's not about ‘we' or ‘I' or the individual, it's about the team. Our number one goal is to go to Brazil and not come home with anything less than a gold medal. I'm so honored to still be around. I remember back when we first started this whole thing, training and playing for Tara VanDerveer, I said that when that year was over with I was done with USA Basketball because it was so competitive and hard. Tara really brought the best out of each and every one of us. But I feel very fortunate that I have the opportunity to represent my country at the World Championship. It never gets old, it never gets boring. There's always something I can feel that I can contribute to this team and contribute to my country. I'm so honored to get the opportunity to play for Anne as a head coach, playing with Tina and Sue and all the other players who are on the national team. It's going to be a challenge, we all understand that it's going to be tough. It never gets easier. If anything, it always gets tougher and tougher. Having to play Russia in the first round this year will be tough. I think a lot of people think that because we are the U.S., people have the respect for us, it's not as hard as we talk about. But I think we all understand how important it is and what's at stake here. For me to be going to the World Championship as one of the older players on the team now is something I'm very proud of. Q: Anne,
can you talk about your style of play and how it might change internationally? Q: Sheryl
you mentioned how tough some of the international teams are, do they still
have respect for the Americans. Have you noticed if that's changed when
you step out on the court to face them? Is the competitive edge narrowing? Anybody can come out an not only beat the U.S., but to stay close with us, they feel that's a victory in itself. I do feel that there's a hint of respect from every team we play, but at the same time, we give that respect back to them. I don't really think that intimidation factor is there anymore because every country has gotten better and they have committed to training together, spending a lot of time together, in their own preparations to play the United States. That's something we all understand and every time we step out onto the court we don't overlook any opponent. We want to come out and take it one game at a time and work on our game so that we can continue this streak that we're on. Q: Looking
back to the first time you put on the red, whit e and blue, do you still
get that exhilarating feeling when you play for the USA? Q: What
are you looking at for the final four players? Q: When
you talk about the evolution of women's basketball, you talk about how
the competition has gotten better and better, how the international teams
are becoming more athletic and getting closer. Can you talk about how
that competition level has upped itself. But I also think that girls are so much bigger now. Just competing in that last (spring training) session that we had (in Australia) before the start of our training camp, Candace Parker was one of the players on that team. She's about 6-5, something like that, and her versatility is enormous. I started playing basketball with boys so that kind of developed my outside game because they were a lot bigger and stronger, but I don't even think that's something Candace thought about, you know? It was like, ‘Candace get inside' and she was like ‘well, I can bring the ball up and I can shoot jump shots and stuff like that too.' I just think it's a mentality that they're getting to see the game and see players who don't want to limit their game. I know that a lot of times she was down there (in practice) on the other end with the guards and Dawn was showing her different things. I think that, one, it's the visibility of women's basketball. But also it's the mentality. Players don't want to get boxed into just one position, being just a post player or just a guard. Point guards shoot and pass now, two-guards post up. It's definitely a great evolution in the game and I think it's also due to the fact that we're so much more visible. Q: Is
there any way you can hide Lauren Jackson's passport before September
and has it been hard to hear her talk about Australia's win over the USA
(in the final game of the 2006 Opals World Challenge)? Lauren and I, we'll joke around in the locker room. She obviously has a tremendous amount of respect for all the players on our team because she plays against them every summer. But she wants to beat us very bad. She wants to win that gold medal. She's come in second I don't know how many years in a row. She's ready. But we're all aware of that, we're all aware of her talent. The same goes for Russia. I played overseas in Russia and they want to beat us. I think every team does. That just comes from the fact that we won the gold medal, as Caroline said, in the last couple Olympics and the last couple World Championships. I think all the other countries really want to win, but especially Lauren. Q: (Inaudible) BIRD: I agree with that. To be able to play for Anne not only in Seattle, but on the national team ... She's someone I'm very comfortable with now, I understand her system. I know when (Sheryl and Tina) were on the Olympic team, they gave me help with Van's system. They pointed out little things , how to do drills and whatnot. Hopefully I can (help with) that. I'm going to be very familiar with what she wants, whether it's a little drill or a last second play. Hopefully I can help out in that way. Q: Along
the same lines, is Anne a different coach when she's the national team
coach? Q: You
guys are good teammates with Janeth Arcain, who is getting ready for the
World Championship in her home country and isn't playing this season in
the WNBA. What does that mean for her in her career to play in her home
country? Can you also talk about your careers, playing overseas and playing
with international players, how much does that mean that the game is so
popular worldwide. THOMPSON: Regarding the first part of your question about Janeth, I think that Janeth not coming back to the Comets this season kind of mirrors the commitment that we have as U.S. basketball players and committing to our country. Janeth has not come back to the team in the past for Olympic competition as well because she's committed to her national team and helping them be the best team they can be. (inaudible) Women's basketball has grown so much. So much so that I've gone overseas myself and that's something that I was absolutely something that I was not going to do in the beginning. But the level of the competition there is enormous. This past season I played in Korea and it was very competitive. There was an American player on each team and we were fighting tooth and nail all the way to the end deciding what team was going to be in the playoffs. I think that each year it's growing and growing and I think that the more visibility that we get in the WNBA and with women's basketball in general, it's grown the interest as well as the commitment of the players because the competition is getting bigger and bigger and tougher and tougher. This year I think the most American players went overseas to play (in the WNBA offseason). Players like Sheryl, Lisa Leslie...because of that it was hard getting everyone together (for USA Basketball spring training) because there were so many American players going overseas. It's not just the money that's luring players over there, it's the level of competition as well. We sometimes prepare for our WNBA seasons overseas. Q: With
the four remaining players that will be named, are you leaning towards
younger players since there are so many veterans on the team? Q: Looking
at the core group, you're the only point guard on the roster. Does that
make you feel more pressure, especially with Dawn there on the coaching
staff? Q: Do
you expect one or two college players to be one of the remaining four? |
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