Additional Quotes >> USA 77, Famila Schio 48

Geno Auriemma, USA head coach (Connecticut)    
On tonight’s game:
All-in-all, I didn’t know what to expect in this game after just being with these guys for two days, but I’m really thrilled with the way we played. We just beat a really, really, really good team. Probably the best team here in Italy. I’m really pleased. I really am.

I thought there were stretches where we worked really, really hard and we made a lot of hustle plays. Swin (Cash), especially, kept a lot of things moving for us and everybody took turns contributing. You look at the box score, it’s pretty even. We didn’t really rely on any one person.

When Brittney (Griner) got in the game, that changed things a lot on both ends of the floor. I thought Danielle (Robinson) had a stretch there where she changed the game.

What was your game plan?
There’s not a lot of thought involved, you know like who’s going to play where. You don’t have many to choose from. So, basically you got one guard and one post player on the bench and you just try to keep an eye on everybody. I wanted to get Brittney, bring her into the game slowly. This is her first opportunity to play USA Basketball, and same with Danielle. The two of them kind of worked their way in. Obviously you lean on some of the older guys who have been here, Swin and Tina and Cappie. When we get Asjha back in the next couple of days, I think that will really add to what we’re doing. But, we only have one defense and you can only hope that we play it half decent, and we did. I don’t know that we had a game plan. Usually the game plan for USA Basketball is to make sure we win. So we did that.

This was Brittney Griner’s first game playing under the international rules. She looked like she adjusted pretty well.
I think that Brittney and Sophia Young, as their first time playing USA Basketball, were a little bit nervous going in, didn’t know what to expect. But, once you start playing, basketball is basketball and I think their instincts took over. Even when Brittney doesn’t know what she’s doing out there, she impacts the game because everyone’s looking to see where she is. Once she starts to figure out why she’s doing what she’s doing. She’s just gonna be … I heard one of the other guys from the Italian contingent tell me that she could dominate women’s basketball for the next 10 years. Personally, I hope that starts two years from now (laughs).

Not next year?
Well, here and there. I want her to dominate international basketball, I don’t want her to dominate college basketball yet. (laughs)

Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun)
What were your goals for tonight’s game:
Just to do the little things that we know how to do. Coming from different teams and everything, different backgrounds, just calm and collectively playing USA Basketball. Knowing that USA Basketball’s not just about yourself, it’s about playing like a team. Coach Auriemma is really good at prepping us for that.

On tonight’s rotation:
Coach was just putting people in and out. He already told us that we were going to be in situations we’re not comfortable with, but we definitely worked and it definitely helped us.

What can you get out of these five games?
More reps. Definitely getting more confidence, because you’re going to get more reps out there. And just competing and playing collectively with players you’re not used to playing with.

This was the first game in a USA Basketball uniform for Brittney Griner and Sophia Young. What did you think of their play tonight?
Really impressive. Especially Brittney Griner, the way she went out and competed, the way she’s coachable, especially being the youngest one on this team. Sophia Young was really happy she was able to get her citizenship and have a USA jersey on. It was really good to see her play.

Brittney Griner (Baylor University)
You just finished your first international game ever. How did it feel out on the court tonight?
It felt good. The play was a little different. I didn’t get a travel called on me, but I noticed our team got it called a couple of times. I was asking questions the whole time on the bench. It was a little bit more physical, but it was definitely fun, definitely fun.  I had a great time.

You seemed to adjust to the international rules pretty well, especially in the second half:
Yeah, in the second half I kind of got a better feel for it. I was just trying to post strong, listen to the coaches and do the little things and try to be involved in every play.

You went in with around five minutes to play in the first quarter and scored 10 points during that span. Were you getting good looks or do you think it was more because the other team didn’t know how to guard you?
No, I don’t think they really were expecting me (laughs). But, my team did a great job … we just did a great job working with each other, feeding each other and they found me when I worked and got open.

What was it like playing with Sophia Young?
It was great. I didn’t get to play with her at Baylor, but I had fun playing with her. She was always talking to me on the court, letting me know where she was, where my man was and helping me out on the plays.

What was the team’s game plan tonight?
We had two days of practice, so we came out and wanted to play hard, play good defense, play smart like coach said and have fun.

What are you doing off the court here?
Keeping my head in the books a little bit. Me and Tina (Charles) have been on our computers in my room the whole time. That’s about it.

Cappie Pondexter (New York Liberty)
On tonight’s game plan:
We play hard. We were able to watch some film at halftime and kind of see ourselves and the mistakes we were making. We learned from that and came out with a lot more energy in the second half.

How difficult is it to play with just two subs?
It’s taxing, knowing that we just finished a whole season of WNBA, but it’s about USA Basketball at the end of the day. There’s a lot of pride in wearing that jersey and representing the country that we live in. You try to give everything that you’ve got, no matter if you’ve got one sub, two subs, three subs, whatever.

On the team’s overall effort:
I thought we played really well in certain periods. I thought we gave a lot of energy, especially with one person in particular and that was Swin (Cash). She came out and led us with her energy. We all fed off of it. Hopefully as the games continue go along, we’ll all get better and bring that kind of energy that coach needs.

On Brittney Griner’s first international game:
She’s not bad. She’s going to be unbelievable. With her talent, skill level, size and ability, she’s going to continue to grow and I’m sure this experience will help her.

Sophia Young (San Antonio Silver Stars)
You were just sworn in as a U.S. citizen earlier this month and now you’re playing for USA Basketball for the first time. What was it like playing for the first time in a USA Basketball jersey?
I put on my jersey today for the first time right before the game and I was beyond words. I was speechless and I was like, ‘I pretty much can’t believe that I’m here.’ I just was thinking God for the opportunity, regardless of what comes out of it, the opportunity is amazing. To be here, representing the USA is an honor. I feel blessed. I feel privileged that they would even give me an opportunity to come three weeks after getting my citizenship. It says a lot about USA Basketball and I’m honored that I’m here.

Did you play with a little more sense of pride with that U-S-A across your uniform?
I did. But I think I was a little nervous at the beginning, because of not really knowing what to expect. This is my first time and you’ve got players here who have been in camps numerous times. I was playing really tense at the start because I was trying to play so hard that I would tense up. I think as the game got going and Coach Geno spoke to me a couple of times, I kind of just relaxed.

On tonight’s game:
I don’t know. Coach was just stressing about playing hard, playing smart. So, whenever we’d go out there, after all, we’re all trying to make the USA team, so we don’t have much room to mess up. We have to get out there and go hard to try to show our talent and to do whatever we can for the team and to make the team. So, whoever we’re playing, we’re going to go hard. I think that was our mentality: to go as hard as possible.

What was it like playing with Brittney Griner, who also was playing in her first USA Basketball game?
I really like her. I think she’s very teachable. She has a lot of development to do, of course she’s just a junior in college, but I enjoy playing with her. She’s a big presence on the inside. I’m really hoping she can come to my WNBA team whenever she gets out of college (laughs). But I totally enjoy playing with her. It’s going to be fun. Today was a fun game, it was fun playing with everyone. Cappie (Pondexter), Tina Charles, Renee (Montgomery), I think it all worked out really great.

What have you been doing off the court?
We’re just hanging out. We’re staying in a very gorgeous city. The view from the hotel where we are is just amazing. Just coming outside, chilling, relaxing, reading a book and hanging out. We’re getting to know each other. We try to talk with each other, hang out and get to know each other on a personal level. I think that’s important because sometimes playing in the league, we just compete against each other and we don’t really know each other personally. So, this camp with eight people has become very personable.