Addtional Quotes >> USA 106, South Korea 44

Oct. 1, 2010 • Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Auriemma

Geno Auriemma (University of Connecticut)
On tonight's game:
The beginning of the game, we knew we had a big advantage over them, size-wise, quickness-wise, and we are obviously a much deeper team. We have more options. Korea was down to nine players, so it was very difficult for them to try to do anything with some of our players. But we didn't want to start the game and not be ready and not be 100 percent. So, the starting five was great. We really set a tone and everybody that came in just added to it and added to it. So we're very excited about the win, obviously. We're really excited about being in the semifinals tomorrow night. It should be a great game, regardless of who we play, whether it's France or whether it's Spain, it's going to be a great game.

South Korea is typically a good 3-point shooting team. What was your defensive strategy against them?
I don't think there's anything different. We've got great athletes. There's certain lineups that we put out there that are all the same size it seems like. We're able to switch certain screens and make it very difficult for them to get a clean look at the basket. Obviously that makes it difficult for Korea to get an open look at the basket. We've got guys who play really hard on the defensive end. They take a lot of pride in themselves. So far this whole tournament, you give them a goal, you say 'this is what the goal is for this tournament, this is what the other team does, this is what we need to focus on.' And they've been great about it. Today was no different at all.

On the USA's defensive effort overall:
Every game that we've played since we've been here we've had a very solid defensive effort. Some have been better than others. One of the best efforts we've had was against Australia the other night, where they had 18 points for the longest time. When you've got great offensive players like we do, if you can get them to really buy into the defensive ends of things, your chances of winning the gold medal go up dramatically. You're not just going to come out here and run up and down the floor, trade baskets with other teams and think that that's going to be the winning edge. We've got players on our team that want to play defense. They take it personal. Our team is based on … that's what starts our offense. One of the reasons our offense is so good is because defensively we kind of set the stage right then and there. You can't get a shot against us, we rebound, we outlet and then we put the pressure on you.

On the defensive effort of Tamika Catchings, the four-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year:
After watching Tamika play defense and some of the other pros on my team, I can see why she wins it every year. She's smart. She's aggressive. She wants to do it. That's the number one thing, she wants to do it. There are a lot of other players in the WNBA that would have the opportunity to win that award, if they wanted to. I don't think anybody wants it more than Tamika, and I don't think anybody works at it as much as Tamika does. That's why she deserves it, no matter how many years she gets it.

Maya Moore looked more comfortable tonight, especially in the second half. Can you comment on that?
Anytime Maya has got the ball in her hands and she's shooting it, she looks comfortable. That's what she likes to do. We're trying to get her comfortable doing some other things. She struggled because it's different at this level. You can't get away with much at this level. It's been a real learning experience for her the entire time. She's guarding players better than any other player she's guarded. She's being guarded by better players than anyone that's ever guarded her. In a short period of time, she's made a lot of progress. She's learned a lot. When we get back to Connecticut, she's going to be that much better of a player. Next year, if we're doing anything with the USA National Team, certainly in the Olympic year, she'll be a completely different player because of this experience right here.

What are your thoughts on France, who you could face in the next game?
I think France has a chance to beat everybody in the tournament because of their style of play. They control the ball really well. They are very patient on the offensive end to get the shot they want to get. They have a great point guard who controls the tempo for them and makes sure the right people get shots. And they're big. They have the size that could pull it off. When we played them the first time, we learned a lot about them and they learned a lot about us. But I wouldn't be surprised if they won. I think that's a really even match-up. The fact that they had to play us and Australia and Belarus in our first round games over there, I think it really helped them.

Appel

Jayne Appel (San Antonio Silver Stars)
On tonight's game:
I think it was good for us to come out and start off this series of games with intensity and enthusiasm. It was a good start, and that's what we were looking for today.

On the team's chemistry:
Yeah, I think our chemistry is where we want it to be at this point in the tournament. Now, it's just about little tweaks and trying to fix up little things. That's important for us, having the big mentality down and everyone on the same page heading into the next two games.

You won't know your opponent until late tonight. Is it difficult to start to prepare for tomorrow's game?
You can start mentally preparing and helping to get your teammates all on the same page in terms of intensity and focus. We've played both teams, France in the preliminary round and Spain in an exhibition a few weeks ago, so we will have some idea of what we are facing regardless of who wins.

Catchings

Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever)
On tonight's game:
Yesterday was obviously a travel day for everybody, getting here and getting situated, but we had a chance to get off of our feet and get our energy back.

Today we came out with a lot of energy, a lot of focus. We knew that South Korea, they're known for moving around a lot, the player screens and different kinds of screens that we haven't seen in awhile. As a team, we had each other's back for 40 minutes. From one to 12 everybody came out and everybody was ready to play.

Did the Belarus upset of Russia make you all more focused on putting the game away early?
I don't think we necessarily focused on the Russia-Belarus game. But seeing what happened and knowing that if you don't come out ready to play straight from the beginning, it can have an effect on the whole game. Like coach said, for us we wanted to come out with a lot of energy right off the bat and everybody built off of that.

You were in Brazil in 2006 and lost to Russia in the semifinals. Are you disappointed that you won't be able to exact revenge against them here?
No, there's no sense of disappointment as far as revenge goes. Our goal coming in straight from the beginning is to win the gold medal. We've had to face a lot of teams getting to that point. We've got one more tomorrow and then we'll focus on Sunday after that. As far as revenge goes, no. We're just have disappointment from that year more than anything.

When you're up with such a big lead, what do you do to keep your focus in the game?
When you're in that situation, when you're up, no matter who's out there you have to focus on what we can do to continue to get better. We're not like a lot of the countries where they've had a chance to practice and have a lot of practices under their belt. So every opportunity that we have, whether it's a practice, a shoot-around or a game, we have a situation where we continue to get better. That's the thing that we have to focus on.

Jones

Asjha Jones (Connecticut Sun)
On tonight's game:
We watched the Russian team lose right before our game in a game that they were supposed to win, and I think that really sent a message to us that if we didn't come out and play our game and play hard, we could lose. Right from the beginning we wanted to come out aggressive and set the tone, and I think we did that.

On the USA's chemistry?
I think when we are good, we are really good. There are still times when we stand around and watch other people play. I think we are all on guard about that, making sure it doesn't happen too often. But I think we are doing a really good job of reading each other and playing off of each other.

Did it help to face some zone defense?
We haven't really had to face zone so far. I think we did a great job of moving and finding open spots, and that does help build up our confidence, knowing that if someone does try to change up the game with a zone, we will still be able to score against that also.

You won't know your opponent until late tonight. Is it difficult to start to prepare for tomorrow's game?
That's not really our job. That's the coaching staff's job. Our job is to play the games, and all tournament long, we've learned about our opponent in our shoot around the day of the game, so I know we will be ready tomorrow regardless of who we play.

McCoughtry

Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream)
On tonight's game:
Was there pressure now that these are elimination games?
Of course, that's on everybody though. We know that we are in a good position. We feel like we're ready, we're prepared. We just know too, that looking today at the Russia-Belarus game, you can't just turn it on turn it off, you have to be prepared.

On getting back to the semifinals:
I know all the younger players, this is a younger team, we want to win the gold. And I know it was probably devastating in 2006 for them. So, I know they don't want to feel that again, the same people who were there before. I think they are trying to lead by example for us younger ones and say, 'Hey, this is what we got to do, these are the mistakes we made last time and this is how you cut if off this time.' Because even today, we were very hard on each other. I know you look up at the score and you say, 'Why are we so hard on each other,' but we are trying to get better for the gold.

I doubt you looked at the score during the game:
We know that just because the score is 100-something to 60-something, that doesn't matter. We're trying every possession to get better because we are looking forward to the next step. It's really about the next step.

Moore

Maya Moore (University of Connecticut)
You looked a little more comfortable in the offense tonight:
We knew what we were doing. It was one of those things where we found that sweet spot in our offense, and we just kept going there -- that high post. And when we get into the middle like that against a zone, things open up. You get open threes, you get short little jumpers, you get and-ones, so I think we did a great job of continuing to go with what was working.

It seemed like tonight there was no let-down like there had been in the past?
Something coach told us in the locker room today, which was very true, was the fact that we've had our moments, our quarters, our halves, over periods of time we've played great, but we haven't really put together a whole game yet. That's what we were trying to do today, get one step forward, one step closer to putting together a complete game because that is what we are going to need down the stretch. The way we came out in the first half and the start of the second half was exactly how we wanted.

Taurasi

Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury)
On tonight's game:
Korea's a tough opponent. They've had a great tournament. We came out focused and ready to go, so I think it was a good performance for us. Sometimes the score doesn't tell how tough game was.

On advancing:
Our final goal is obviously to win a gold medal, but we understand that we need to take each step one at a time. Tomorrow's game will be very difficult task. Whether it's Spain or France, we know it's going to be a difficult game.

What was the difference in tonight's game?
I think we got good stops and we got out on the fast break and had some easy opportunities. That always helps in a game like this.