Additional Quotes >> USA 109, Japan 68

July 29, 2009 - Bangkok, Thailand

USA head coach Carol Owens (Northern Illinois University)
On today's game:
We pulled away and at halftime we talked about not getting complacent because we were up by so much and that they had to see the big picture. We knew we needed to use that time to be able to work on some things and be able to work on our defense, especially our man-to-man defense. That was our emphasis, playing to the expectations of our USA team.

Were you pleased with the USA's 3-point shooting?
Yes. Overall this is the best we've shot since we've been here. We hit 10-for-19 from the 3-point line and 52 percent from the field. I'm pleased with that. Our goal is to realize that if we have an advantage over a team, we need to be able to execute to make that work in our favor. After we hit some shots they had to guard us from the outside. That left some space for our posts. After we dumped it into our posts, we were able to get it outside and get some shots from there.

Are you pleased with the way the team is working together?
Yes, it's coming together. As we head into the medal round, I think it's important to understand that now every game is a huge game for us. It's not just about on the offensive end, because they all can score. It's about the little things that we're capable of doing and rebounding is a big part of that.

LaSondra Barrett (Louisiana State / Jackson, Miss.)
On today's game:
Japan was really quick. They were small, but they were quick. They made up for their size with their quickness. They had a lot of shooters and they shot-faked and drove. They played a small line-up against us and we knew we could take advantage of them on the boards, giving it up to our post players inside and scoring.

Is it difficult to keep your focus and intensity up after taking a 20-point lead?
Yeah, it was a little bit in this game. I felt kind of sluggish after we were up by so much. But it's about playing hard on every play. We know we're better than them. So we have to play to our level, and make ourselves be able to play for the next team we're playing, not for Japan.

The team chemistry seems to be coming along:
Yeah. After being around each other so much in these three weeks, we kind of know what each other does well. We feed off that and that works to our advantage.

Kelsey Bone (Dulles H.S. /Stafford, Texas)
On playing against a smaller team like Japan:
It's always interesting for a team with size to play against smaller, quicker people. We did a good job of preparing and getting our minds wrapped around the idea of playing a smaller team. We knew who their go-to people were. So it wasn't as big of a challenge for us.

Do you feel the team is starting to click?
Yes, and I feel that the more games we play, the more we've gotten to know each other, we know who can do what and who can't. As we move into the medal round it's a good thing that we're starting to come along because now every game is a game towards the gold. It's getting better for us now.

Is it difficult to stay focused after taking such a big lead?
It's really hard, but it's something that coach Owens is really stressing with us. We know we're not going to be ahead by 25 or 30 points in the next stretch going for the gold. We have to be able to keep up our intensity for 40 minutes, whether we're playing Japan or whether we're playing Australia.

Layshia Clarendon (Cajon H.S. / San Bernadino, Calif.)
What kind of team was Japan to go up against?
They're really different than any team we've seen so far. They're really small, quick and fast. We just had to play them straight up at first. We got a feel for them as the game wore on. We adjusted to them. Coach got us into some good defensive stuff.

Were you working on things for the next round?
We were giving up too many points, so after awhile coach really emphasized that. They shouldn't have had almost 70 points on us. She told us that even though we were blowing them out we still needed to work on a lot of things. She was drawing up some quick plays and some defensive adjustments in the middle of the game.

On the USA's 3-point shooting:
They really were sagging a whole lot, but we put our shots in. We could have missed them, but we were really focused. We realize that it's getting deeper into the tournament and we know that it's win or go home.

What do you feel the team could improve upon before the next game?
As a team, our defense mainly, our offensive and defensive rebounding, our transition defense. We kind of give up too many points in not matching up in transition defense. I think we'll be alright if we just stick together as a whole.

Skylar Diggins (Washington H.S. / South Bend, Ind.)
On her three consecutive 3-pointers in the first quarter:
They sagged and we penetrated. I was standing there one time, just thinking ‘oh my goodness, should I reverse the ball?' and she backed up. So I shot it. Coach was like ‘you hit two, let's see you put it up again.' They were just falling.

Were you working on anything during the game after you took a big lead?
Just making sure we stayed smart and maintained our intensity, even though we were up. It's going to help us down the stretch. We're going into the gold medal round. We want to make sure that we're still playing smart because it will help us down the road.

What do you still need to work on heading into the medal round?
We just need to keep playing our game. We're playing some of our best basketball right now. We shot the ball the best we have since we've been here. We have to take this momentum and carry it over to the medal round. We have a day off tomorrow and I'm sure we'll talk about some things. I'm sure we'll watch some games and check some people out. We'll try to stay mentally focused and get mentally prepared for the next round.

Taber Spani (Metro Academy / Lee's Summit, Mo.)
On today's game:
Japan's a unique team in that they're small, they're quick, they're great shooters. They're really disciplined. We knew this was going to be a focus challenge for us. Obviously the athleticism was a little overmatched in our favor. We were just trying to focus on the little things. Focus on playing our own best game and not so much focusing on Japan once it got to be 25 or 30 points. We were really trying to focus on us and preparing for the medal round.

On the team's 3-point shooting:
They sagged, I think they were so concerned with our bigs. That's such a great thing about this team, we have such a great balance of inside and out. Our bigs were getting inside early and that opened up the outside, they were sagging off (the perimeter players). Then Sky (Diggins) hit three right off the bat, which really was big. That really opened up things for everybody and everyone kind of fed off each other. It was really nice to get the shots going in and getting the touch back.

Do you think that took Japan by surprise, since the USA hasn't been shooting much from 3-point the last couple of games?
I'm sure it did. I think that we have so many secret weapons and everybody steps up in different ways each game. We're so multi-dimensional that people have a hard time guarding us.

It looks like your team chemistry is starting to click. Is that the case?
Yes, I think so. We know how each other plays. We know how to feed off of each other. We know what motivates other people and how to get them pumped up in different ways. Now that we head into these last three games we're really a focused and determined group.