USA Women's National Team Gets Back to Work

Las Vegas, Nev. • May 10, 2011

• Photo Gallery

Gathering for the first time since winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship gold medal, 21 members of the 2009-12 USA Basketball Women’s National Team, as well as hopefuls Brittney Griner of Baylor and recent Gonzaga grad Courtney Vandersloot of the Chicago Sky, got on the court together in Las Vegas.

Most players had been through practice with USA and UConn head coach Geno Auriemma, but for some it was their first time being coached by the Hall of Famer. After a few early teaching moments, however, everyone seemed to understand what Auriemma and his staff wanted and got down to work.

USA Basketball chatted with Auriemma and several players to find out what they thought of the newcomers, getting back onto the court, being a veteran this time around, and other topics. Read below to see what Olympic gold medalists Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker had to say and then watch Augustus, Tamika Catchings and Geno as they review today’s practice.

Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx)
On being one of the veteran players on the team:
I feel like an old lady now. I see these young ladies come in and they are just so excited and energetic. It’s like you’re trying to keep up with the young guns but it is fun to see the evolution of the game, to see the younger players come in and see how they compete and how they’re going raise the level of basketball for USA.

Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky)
What was it like to get back out here with everyone?
It’s good just to see everyone again. But I think the most exciting part of this is all this competition around you. You know you’ve got to go out there and work and push yourself through all your tiredness and all that other stuff. But it feels good to see everybody and to be back as a team

Did you guys kind of fit right into the flow again?
There’s always some learning when you come back but at the same time it kind of clicks so you get back on the same page very quickly. But it’s still a learning process.

You got out there with Courtney Vandersloot, your new teammate with the Chicago Sky. What was it like playing with her today?
She got me some good looks. I think I need to do my part though. I didn’t get deep enough, and I didn’t finish enough baskets today, and I turned the ball over a few times. But just having her on the court is going to be an eye-opener for me because I haven’t had that in a while.

I saw you banging around on the court with BG (Brittney Griner), what do you think of her, she still has two years of college left.
She still has two years of college left but she’s pretty good. She’s going to be great dealing with Geno and she can get some good skills under her belt out here.  She’s big! I’ve never had to look up to anyone but to just have to look up to her felt a little awkward but at the same time, like I said it’s a learning point for her and also a learning point for me, so we have to learn from each other.

Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks)
What was it like to get back out there on the court, going up and down, being healthy, with your old teammates?
It felt good. You know I’ve missed USA Basketball, not playing the last couple of years, so it’s good to be finally be healthy and to be able to be here. It’s nice to have this many people here too, to help us get back in shape. We had a good practice today.

What do you think the biggest challenges are for this team over the next year and heading into London?
I think just having time to play together, I think that’s going to be the biggest challenge. You know, making time with our schedules and things like that. I think this is probably going to be the only camp that all 24 people, 25 people, you know whatever, that most of the people are going to be here. So I think just making time and just getting everybody’s chemistry together in terms of playing with one another.

What do you think of the two new kids that are hoping to get on the USA National Team, Courtney Vandersloot and Brittney Griner?
I’ve been a fan of both of them. Obviously Courtney came on to the scene during the NCAA Tournament but we knew about her a long time ago with the rivalry and her playing against Tennessee a couple of times. I think she’s a great point guard and I feel like she’s going to be added to the (national) pool because she is very talented.  Brittney Griner is a different post player than we’ve seen. She’s got size, she’s athletic, I think she did well. Both of them are easing into the situation and not shy about coming in and just playing their game.