Additional Quotes >> USA 107, Belarus 61

Sept. 28, 2010 • Ostrava, Czech Republic

Press Conference Audio (MP3)

Auriemma

Geno Auriemma (University of Connecticut)
On tonight's game:
One of the things that is difficult about playing against us is when we substitute, when we go to the bench and the team doesn't change that much. So it puts a tremendous pressure on the other team to have to keep up with that, and it's very difficult. We're fortunate. We're lucky that we have some really good players who want to play together. They're unselfish. They want to share the ball, like they did tonight. We made a couple changes in the starting lineup just to give us a new look, and it worked great.

At one point during the game I said, 'I don't think we're as good as we looked during that first quarter, first half, and I don't think Belarus is as bad as they looked.' They're a lot better, and they've shown that they're a lot better during this tournament. We just happened to play really, really well tonight against a good team. I've seen them play the other four games that they've played here, and they're a very good team. For us to do what we did tonight, we had to play really, really well and we did.

On playing Australia tomorrow night, a team the United States could see again in the gold medal game, with nothing really on the line in the game:
There are some teams that play one way when the game means something and they play a different way when the game doesn't mean something. In my trips to Europe, I've seen that a couple times. Where a team, when the game doesn't have any significance, will not play to win all the time. They'll try to match-up to see who they want to play in the next round. I don't think tomorrow's going to be anything like that.

I think tomorrow night you've got two teams that really want to win, that really want to beat each other. You've got a lot of players on their team, a lot of players on our team that are very familiar with each other. I think tomorrow is going to be like a gold medal game. It's going to be played like that. I know it is on our end. It's important to us tomorrow.

There's no guarantee that either the United States or Australia will be in the gold medal game. We may not play each other again, so tomorrow might be the only time. So we're going to play to win, as I'm sure they are.

Is Australia's inside play going to be tough to combat?
Yeah, they're probably the biggest team. (Liz Cambage) gives them a whole new dimension than they've had in the past. They're able to play different combinations, so they don't have to play Lauren (Jackson) on the inside all the time. That makes it a tough match-up for whoever is guarding her, because you're going to need your biggest guy to guard who they put out there.

We're not as big as they are. You can tell when you watch them play that they've played together. They've played a lot of basketball together. You could see it. They read each other. Penny Taylor is so good. Everybody talks about how great Lauren is, and I know Lauren's a great player, but to me, I think Penny Taylor is what makes it work on both ends of the floor. It's going to be tough, but I'm looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun.

Will you stick with this starting lineup?
I don't know. We were talking it over with the players, and we felt like there was something missing. We didn't have the kind of flow that we were looking for, so we thought let's try a couple different things and see how it works. If that didn't work we were going to go another look, a different lineup. But this one worked pretty well. I was pleased, really pleased, with the way it turned out.

On the USA players competing year-round:
I think it benefits the players because they get the experience of playing against teams they're going to be playing against in the World Championship. And it hurts a little bit because they're never available to train. We don't have an opportunity as a team to practice and become a team. We're a collection of all-stars who have to become a team quickly. That's the one disadvantage. But that's the way it is and … yeah, they're tired and you get Sue Bird and Angel McCoughtry and Swin Cash and Lauren Jackson, they all played for the WNBA championship. They just finished it. Now they have to come out here and play again. It's not easy. I know it's not easy. But, they're young, and when you're young and you can play basketball, you're never tired.

Bird

Sue Bird (Seattle Storm)
On tonight's game:
You always want to get a great start going into games, or at the start of games, and I think the more we've been able to play with each other in these games, the more comfortable we've gotten and tonight was just proof of that. For some of us, we only got here a week ago, so everything is still kind of new. But tonight I think we took a step in the right direction.

On playing Australia, a top team, before the medal round:
I think it's the way the tournament is run. In previous years we've had to play, I want to say in the last three major competitions, we've had to play Russia really early on, whether it was pool play or before the medal round for sure. So, it's just the way it is. But for us, we are just trying to take it one game at a time, trying to get better.

Charles

Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun)
On tonight's game:
We have goals before every game and it's to come out, play hard, play smart and have fun. When you get the first two down, it's just a lot of fun out there to play with these girls and to gel together. We're trying to get better night in and night out. That's what we did tonight, and we executed plays and we were unselfish. It led to our victory.

Do you know exactly what coach Auriemma wants?
Yeah, because the system that he brought here, I went through it my junior and senior year at UConn. It definitely is great to be underneath him and to be playing for a great coach.

Was the change in lineup tonight due to an emphasis to get off to a better start?
I think anybody that coach decides to put in the starting lineup wants to go out and get the first punch, be the aggressor out there. Candice and I took the opportunity to go out and play hard. We were just going to do all the things that coach wants us to do and expects from us individually.

On playing Australia tomorrow:
It's going to be a battle. We're going to have to grind it out. We know that everybody's tired, physically, so I think that game's going to have to be a mental focus of who wants it more.

Fowles

Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky)
On tonight's game:
We came out strong tonight. We had no let downs from the jump ball, and that's something that we have been lacking the last couple of games that we've been here. The first five went out with a lot of energy, and we brought a lot of energy from the bench and just tried to keep up the intensity.

On the USA's 24 assists on 41 made baskets:
That's what we are about, sharing the ball and using our depth. We kind of got away from it for a few games, but we are starting to click and get along as a team.

What sort of game do you expect against Australia tomorrow?
I expect the game to be very physical and a very up-tempo game. They are a very good team, and the USA has to bring our A-game and be ready.

Jones

Asjha Jones (Connecticut Sun)
On tonight's game:
I think we did a good job of letting our offense come from our defense. We made them work on the offensive end, and we turned that into turnovers and we pushed it down the court and shared the basketball. I think no one took a bad shot tonight. Every shot was open, so we looked really good on offense.

Could you tell that the team's chemistry had improved yet again?
Definitely. Everybody is getting involved. Some people early on weren't really getting into the flow of how we wanted to play on offense. I think everyone is doing a good job now of reading each other and reading the defense, just knowing what to expect and helping each other out on the court.

McCoughtry

Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream)
On tonight's game:
Tonight was really fun. We played the way you want to play. Everybody touched the ball, and we had five players in double figures, so that's a good game for us.

Does a win like this set you up to face Australia tomorrow?
Yeah, anybody. We are trying to set ourselves up for the gold. We want that gold.

Was today's start an improvement?
That's a great sign, going into tomorrow, that we had a great start to the game today. We have a tough game tomorrow. It will be a true test to see what we are really made of.