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2007 Features ...
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Michelle Snow,
Sylvia Fowles and Katie Smith pose in front of the Med Sea.
(Photo: USA Basketball |
For the USA Women's Senior National Team, the Tour of Italy has not been
just about basketball. They've enjoyed some leisurly meals, saw a few sights
and got to test drive a brand new Ferrari ... well, not really! Check out
what the team's been doing the past few days in this new photo
gallery. And look for much more in the coming days. After tonight's
game, the squad will practice at 10 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, followed
by two afternoons of jam-packed tours of Roma!
When In Rome ... Part II
Through the week the USA has beaten the Italian National Team 77-47 in
Rome before traveling to Napels for victory No. 2 -- 72-49 versus Phard
Napoli.The team is currently in Pomezia, a town 20 kilometers outside
of Rome, for a few days. A scrimmage with a local guys team, a trip to
the outlet mall, a post-practice weight room workout and some McDonald's
are all on the schedule. And then, beacause that's where the road leads,
the team will return to Rome. More...
New USA Women's Team Photo Gallery
We've been saving these photos from practice up for a rainy day.
Well, it's raining in Italy, at least in the region around Roma, and thought
it was about time to load 'em up. Enjoy!
When in Rome ... Part I
The 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team training got underway
in Italy with a great mix of veterans and newbies. But, as has been the
case over the years, the vets are taking the younger players under their
wings and the newcomers are soaking up the knowledge. With 12 players
at practice on Sunday and the addition of Olympic gold medalists Swin
Cash and Katie Smith on Monday morning, the squad was able to scrimmage
that night. So after three sessions under their belts, USA Basketball.com
thought it was time to find out what it's been like out on the court in
Rome. More...
Extra! Extra!
In promoting the USA-Italy game, held at the Pallazetto dello Sport where
Ali won his gold medal in 1960, the teams got together yesterday for lunch,
which was followed by a press conference and today Fowles, McWilliams-Franklin
and Michelle Snow visited an elementary school along with three Italian
team members.
• Check
out some pics from the USA-Italy lunch from April 10 at Capitol Hill!
• Check
out some pics from the school visit!
10 Minutes With The Young 'Uns
USA Basketball named a 21-member 2007-08
Women's Senior National Team pool that included four current collegians.
With most of the pool off in Europe and the four collegians -- Ohio State's
Jessica Davenport, LSU's Sylvia Fowles, Oklahoma's Courtney Paris and
Tennessee's Candace Parker -- we thought we'd find out a little bit more
about what makes them tick, how they feel about being named to the USA
Senior National Team and what they feel they can bring to the team. USA
Basketball.com, thanks to their respective sports information directors,
spoke with each of them for about 10 minutes on the phone and one thing
we found out was that these four players are quite enthusiastic about
the future of USA Basketball.
Checking in with Katie Smith
When last we saw her, Katie Smith was trying to both bask in her first
WNBA title and get past the disappointment of her first non-gold medal
finish in international competition since 1997. What's she been up to
since September? Check it out!
Catchin Up With Catchings
Involved with USA Basketball since the summer before her senior year in
high school as a member of the 1996 USA U18 National Team, Tamika Catchings
has gone from a wide-eyed youngster in awe of members of the historic
1995-96 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team to a mainstay on the
USA Senior National Team.She has come full-circle and is now one of the
athletes idolized by youngsters honing their skills. More...
2006 Features ...
French Press
USA head coach Anne Donovan sat down one afternoon in Brazil with members
of the French media. Listen
to what she had to say!
Growing Up Red, White & Blue
Back in 1973 Bruce Springsteen sung about growing up in Jersey. Today
Alana Beard, Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi discuss growing up with
USA Basketball. In the summer of 2000 the lives of these three phenoms
decidedly different backgroundsconverged on the basketball court. Beard,
from Shreveport, La., met up with Chicago's Pondexter at the USA Junior
National Team Trials. The wise-cracking kid from Chino, Calif., joined
in during the team's training camp a month later. All three would grow
up and continue honing their skills not only in college and the WNBA,
but in the international arena during the summers. USA Basketball.com
sat down with the trio to talk about their journey. Listen
in!
Coming Together
The USA took to the court for the second time in Brazil on Sept. 10 for
a friendly practice with Brazil. Scrimmaging for three 10-minute quarters,
the U.S. squad looked like it was coming together. Some of the passes
were crisp and the spacing was good. However, there's still work to be
done before Tuesday's tip-off against China, and two more pieces to add
to the puzzle: 2006 WNBA champions Cheryl Ford and Katie Smith begin their
journey to Brazil tomorrow.
• Listen
in as Tamika Catchings, Tina Thompson, Diana Taurasi
and Sue Bird (in that order) talk about the team coming together
in Brazil.
• Listen
in as USA Basketball.com talks to DeLisha Milton-Jones on going
from one of the younger players in '98 to being one of the vets in '06,
her take on the Czech Republic and more!
USA takes to the court in Brazil
Following a close to 24-hour travel day, the USA World Championship Team
arrived in Brazil and started on its final training push prior to the
tip of the Sept. 12-23 FIBA World Championship. The team stepped onto
the court at 6:30 p.m. for a two-hour practice in the arena where they'll
play the first and second round games.
• Take
a peek at the first Brazil practice session
• Listen
to the coaches talk about the first practice session
Pioneers Of American Domination
Few athletes can stake a claim of being part of a history altering moment.
However, that was exactly the opportunity 11 American women were given
in 1995- the opportunity to help change the landscape of women's basketball
in the United States. More...
Young Guns Happily Soak Up Knowledge
After two training sessions that featured veteran international players,
USA Basketball brought in some younger kids to test the waters and also
to give collegians a look of what the game is like on the senior level.
Ohio State junior Jessica Davenport Louisiana State sophomore Sylvia
Fowles and Tennessee freshman Candace Parker fit in well among
the four Olympic gold medalists and WNBA vets. How has the experience
been? Are they learning? Are they being made to feel like they're part
of the team? Find out here!
Anne Donovan: Do You Know?
That Anne Donovan looks to Michael Jordan as being her favorite basketball
player of all-time because of the interest he took in the women’s
team in ’84 (and how good he was)? Do you know who her favorite teammate
was? Her favorite opponent? What she saw as the turning point from the
Soviet-dominated international basketball scene to the emergence of the
United States women? Find out more
here!
2006 Audio Clips ...
- The team went to some of the areas where the initial Operation Overlord
D-Day invasion took place in France on June 6, 1944, and here's what
Sheryl Swoopes, Kristin Haynie, Michelle Snow and Katie Smith (in that
order) had to say about the experience. Listen
In!
- Greetings from Sopron, Hungary (pronounced SHOW-prawn), where the
U.S. is taking the first steps to building a team that will look to
defend the USA's World Championship gold in September. USA Basketball.com
caught up with DeLisha Milton-Jones in the hotel lobby for a
quick chat. Listen
In!
2004 Photo Galleries...
» Sue
Bird & Tamika Catchings: Wine Makers
» The
U.S. team arrives in Athens and goes through USOC team processing
» Tamika
Catchings and Dawn Staley keep busy at the 2004 USOC Media Summit
» Sydney
& Turasi take the USA National Team by Storm
» Members
of the USA squad at NCAA Hoop City
» Tour
Budapest's Castle District with Ruth, Katie & Catch
» Katie
Takes You on a Tour of Prague
» Katie
Smith's Homecoming Photos
» Tour
Prague with the USA team
» Katie
Smith's Homecoming ... ane more!
» See
Havana through the eyes of the USA squad
» The
U.S. is welcomed by Cuba upon arrival in Havana
» NOTE: Game photo galleries can be found on the USA's exhibition
or Olympic results pages.
2004 Features...
Postcards From the Road ... Sue Bird
checks in from Salamanca
Let me tell you what we've been doing since
we left New York. I can sum it up in one word. Sleep. Only joking! While
I have slept a lot, we've been doing some other things off the court.
Read on...
Media Time Out ... New York City
The USA National Team sat down for some Q&As with the media prior
to the USA Basketball vs. WNBA game at Radio City. Read what they had
to say about the upcoming Olympics and
more!
Hoping For the Best
During the USA's recently completed European Tour, six athletes
joined USA core members in hopes of making the final 12-member roster
in Athens. With all these players competing on the tour, one would think
the team would play a bit disjointed. But that was not the case at all.
What did the hopefuls
think about it?
When In Rome
South Carolinian Shannon
Johnson has kept her southern roots, which includes typical favorite
southern dishes of hog maws and collard greens, but has tried everything
put in front of her all around the world. She displays the ‘when
in Rome' attitude, which, she found out after eating an unknown piece
of meat, is not always a good thing! More
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Katie Smith Goes
'Home'
In the midst of the USA Women's Senior Team's European Tour,
Katie Smith has returned
to one of her second homes - Gdynia, Poland. A member of the Lotos VBW
Clima team for a year and a half, Smith was excited to see her old friends,
and everyone has welcomed her back. You won't want to miss this question
and answer session with usabasketball.com. More...
Island Welcome
Arriving in Havana after four days of practice in Florida, the
U.S. squad was met by a large media contingent inside the airport. Fielding
questions while standing in line to get through immigration and waiting
for the bags to appear, the USA players were then pleasantly surprised
by what else awaited them outside the terminal. More
... // Photo
Gallery
Training Camp Through 'Rookie' Eyes ... And
More!
Sit down with Swin Cash,
Cheryl Ford, Ruth
Riley and Nikki Teasley
as they begin their journey with the 2004 USA Basketball Women's Senior
National Team on its way to Cuba. More
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