27/08/2006
News
to read
Carmelo ANTHONY (USA)
Quotes of the Day - August 27
"It's great to get to the quarter-finals. We forget all the tough times we've had to go through to get this far. Today we showed what we were capable of doing if the team played together. This shows that France is a good team and that we can go far in the big tournaments."
France swingman Mickael Pietrus reacts to his team's 68-62 win over Angola.
"For years people have talked of France as a team with a few NBA players and nothing more. Today Mamoutou and Aymeric among others proved them wrong once more. Diarra made two big three-pointers in the fourth quarter and Aymeric made the free throws down the stretch. It shows that every player from first to last is very important to the success of this team."
Pietrus tries to correct a misconception about France's team.
“We just picked up our energy in the second quarter. We haven’t really got off to good starts these past few games but we came out in the second period, picked up our defensive intensity and started making easy plays and getting easy baskets."
Team USA's Joe Johnson talks about the turning point of their 113-73 defeat of Australia.
"This team really cares about basketball and playing the game the right way, with each other and not against each other. It's a really fun way to play. The guys are unselfish and we are having fun out there."
Team USA's Shane Battier is enjoying playing basketball the right way.
"They forced us into turning the ball over and we didn't really get any shots while they were able to run and get some dunks. If you play the USA like we did in that quarter, you're going to lose."
Australia's Andrew Bogut explains what it's like to play Team USA
"This is a tough loss but it's a great result for Nigeria basketball. I'm really proud of my team-mates. We've been through a lot these last couple of months. We didn't have a lot of time to train together so we were still trying to get to get to know one another during these games and figure our roles out there on the court, but this is all very encouraging for the team."
Nigeria's Ekene Ibekwe, who led his team with 22 points and 10 rebounds, talks after the one-point loss to Germany.
"I just wanted to play well for my country. For me personally as a college player, this was a great experience - one that I couldn't pass up. To get the chance to come out here and go up against the likes of Dirk Nowitzki and Boris Diaw. That's the reason why I came out here. It's tough to play against those guys but I enjoyed the challenge."
Ibekwe talks of his personal experience of the FIBA World Championship.
"As you can imagined it's very hard. You're talking about an All-Star and one of the best players in the world. I told myself I would come out and try to do my best to contain him. I wanted to contain him and not let him get any easy shots and go for a 40-point game."
Ibekwe talks of his first hand experience of having to defend Dirk Nowitzki.
"It showed how well we were to get to this point. We were no match for them physically. The games we've been competitive in we've been able to play defense and contain
Greece and Turkey. We couldn't guard this team. And we can't trade baskets with anybody." Australia coach Brian Goorjian on his team's struggles against the United States
"It was over in the second quarter. We just did what we could to stay respectable. That score could have blown out to anything. We had no answer for them tonight."
Goorjian on the same subject
"We just turned the ball over too much. They didn't really shut us down. They forced us to turn the ball over. And we didn't really get any shots. They ran and got dunks. If you play USA like that you're going to lose."
Australia center Andrew Bogut about his team's second quarter struggles against the United States
"It's definitely something to build upon for Beijing (2008 Olympics). We have a young team. We have a lot of college kids playing against NBA guys. Hopefully for Beijing we can get a core group out of this group and move on."
Bogut about the team's future
"Coach K 's decision to give me a leading role in this team has given me a lot of confidence. Having said that, confidence is something that I've always had, even when things go wrong I never let it discourage me."
United States forward Carmelo Anthony talks about his self-belief under US coach Mike Krzyzewski.
"We met our lowest goal by reaching the second round but I think we could have gone further. Our team doesn't have a lot of experience to play against the best teams
in the world .We did a good job in the first round but in the second round it's a different ball game, it's more physical, there's more body contact and there's a different mind set. We just need to play more."
China center Yao Ming leaves Saitama with his hopes of a quarter-final appeareance dashed
"This arena is probably one of the best I have seen in my life. We don't play in arenas like this one so it's top notch."
United States forward Carmelo Anthony gives the thumbs up to the Saitama Super Arena
"For sure he feels pressure. He is the key figure in Germany right now, since he is playing in the NBA, everyone is watching him. It's a big load on his shoulders but so far, he is handling it really well"
Holdger Geschwindner on good friend Dirk Nowitzki
"They are not just athletic, they also know how to play the game, and that's a combination you don't always see. The clich? they are very athletic but sometimes play out of control is false."
Germany's coach Dirk Bauermann gives respect for the Nigerian team
"Dirk is an extremely part of our team, but one can not beat five. We are not just a one man team."
Bauermann thinks his team deserves more respect
"When you're able to beat a team like Nigeria in a day Dirk isn't playing well, that's a good sign for us."
Bauermann always looks on the bright side of life
"At half time we explained to the guys this game might come down to one free throw, and that's what happened."
Nigeria's coach Sam Vincent saw the future at half time.
"I think this team could be better if we have a better point guard."
Coach Vincent knows what needs to be improved before the next big competition
"We exceeded the expectations of people."
Coach Vincent says what everyone else is thinks
"What can you expect from me in the future? More dunks and more blocked shots."
Nigeria's forward Ekene Ibekew knows he can easily stand behind these words
"We realized we can compete with the top teams in the competition. It's going to be more in the future."
Ibekew gains confidence from his team's performance in the competition
"We knew we need to play bigger because we have taller players."
France's All-arounder Boris Diaw reveals his team's tactics.
"There are two points in which we can improve – we need to get some more experience and play a full game."
Diaw knows what to improve towards the quarter-finals
"France is a very dangerous team, and in the quarter-finals they can surprise their next opponent."
Coach Alberto de Carvalho of Angola sends a message to Greece
"We showed one more time that we are 12 players that play like a team,"
Vasilis Spanoulis of Greece makes sure nobody will forget.
"We tried to force them to make quick decisions in offense."
Coach Panagiotis Yannakis of Greece shares what brought him to the quarter-finals.
"My team needs more experience. More games like today. It should be good to go to Europe and play some games against European teams."
China's coach, Jonas Kazlauskas is thinking about the future
FIBA
"It's great to get to the quarter-finals. We forget all the tough times we've had to go through to get this far. Today we showed what we were capable of doing if the team played together. This shows that France is a good team and that we can go far in the big tournaments."
France swingman Mickael Pietrus reacts to his team's 68-62 win over Angola.
"For years people have talked of France as a team with a few NBA players and nothing more. Today Mamoutou and Aymeric among others proved them wrong once more. Diarra made two big three-pointers in the fourth quarter and Aymeric made the free throws down the stretch. It shows that every player from first to last is very important to the success of this team."
Pietrus tries to correct a misconception about France's team.
“We just picked up our energy in the second quarter. We haven’t really got off to good starts these past few games but we came out in the second period, picked up our defensive intensity and started making easy plays and getting easy baskets."
Team USA's Joe Johnson talks about the turning point of their 113-73 defeat of Australia.
"This team really cares about basketball and playing the game the right way, with each other and not against each other. It's a really fun way to play. The guys are unselfish and we are having fun out there."
Team USA's Shane Battier is enjoying playing basketball the right way.
"They forced us into turning the ball over and we didn't really get any shots while they were able to run and get some dunks. If you play the USA like we did in that quarter, you're going to lose."
Australia's Andrew Bogut explains what it's like to play Team USA
"This is a tough loss but it's a great result for Nigeria basketball. I'm really proud of my team-mates. We've been through a lot these last couple of months. We didn't have a lot of time to train together so we were still trying to get to get to know one another during these games and figure our roles out there on the court, but this is all very encouraging for the team."
Nigeria's Ekene Ibekwe, who led his team with 22 points and 10 rebounds, talks after the one-point loss to Germany.
"I just wanted to play well for my country. For me personally as a college player, this was a great experience - one that I couldn't pass up. To get the chance to come out here and go up against the likes of Dirk Nowitzki and Boris Diaw. That's the reason why I came out here. It's tough to play against those guys but I enjoyed the challenge."
Ibekwe talks of his personal experience of the FIBA World Championship.
"As you can imagined it's very hard. You're talking about an All-Star and one of the best players in the world. I told myself I would come out and try to do my best to contain him. I wanted to contain him and not let him get any easy shots and go for a 40-point game."
Ibekwe talks of his first hand experience of having to defend Dirk Nowitzki.
"It showed how well we were to get to this point. We were no match for them physically. The games we've been competitive in we've been able to play defense and contain
Greece and Turkey. We couldn't guard this team. And we can't trade baskets with anybody." Australia coach Brian Goorjian on his team's struggles against the United States
"It was over in the second quarter. We just did what we could to stay respectable. That score could have blown out to anything. We had no answer for them tonight."
Goorjian on the same subject
"We just turned the ball over too much. They didn't really shut us down. They forced us to turn the ball over. And we didn't really get any shots. They ran and got dunks. If you play USA like that you're going to lose."
Australia center Andrew Bogut about his team's second quarter struggles against the United States
"It's definitely something to build upon for Beijing (2008 Olympics). We have a young team. We have a lot of college kids playing against NBA guys. Hopefully for Beijing we can get a core group out of this group and move on."
Bogut about the team's future
"Coach K 's decision to give me a leading role in this team has given me a lot of confidence. Having said that, confidence is something that I've always had, even when things go wrong I never let it discourage me."
United States forward Carmelo Anthony talks about his self-belief under US coach Mike Krzyzewski.
"We met our lowest goal by reaching the second round but I think we could have gone further. Our team doesn't have a lot of experience to play against the best teams
in the world .We did a good job in the first round but in the second round it's a different ball game, it's more physical, there's more body contact and there's a different mind set. We just need to play more."
China center Yao Ming leaves Saitama with his hopes of a quarter-final appeareance dashed
"This arena is probably one of the best I have seen in my life. We don't play in arenas like this one so it's top notch."
United States forward Carmelo Anthony gives the thumbs up to the Saitama Super Arena
"For sure he feels pressure. He is the key figure in Germany right now, since he is playing in the NBA, everyone is watching him. It's a big load on his shoulders but so far, he is handling it really well"
Holdger Geschwindner on good friend Dirk Nowitzki
"They are not just athletic, they also know how to play the game, and that's a combination you don't always see. The clich? they are very athletic but sometimes play out of control is false."
Germany's coach Dirk Bauermann gives respect for the Nigerian team
"Dirk is an extremely part of our team, but one can not beat five. We are not just a one man team."
Bauermann thinks his team deserves more respect
"When you're able to beat a team like Nigeria in a day Dirk isn't playing well, that's a good sign for us."
Bauermann always looks on the bright side of life
"At half time we explained to the guys this game might come down to one free throw, and that's what happened."
Nigeria's coach Sam Vincent saw the future at half time.
"I think this team could be better if we have a better point guard."
Coach Vincent knows what needs to be improved before the next big competition
"We exceeded the expectations of people."
Coach Vincent says what everyone else is thinks
"What can you expect from me in the future? More dunks and more blocked shots."
Nigeria's forward Ekene Ibekew knows he can easily stand behind these words
"We realized we can compete with the top teams in the competition. It's going to be more in the future."
Ibekew gains confidence from his team's performance in the competition
"We knew we need to play bigger because we have taller players."
France's All-arounder Boris Diaw reveals his team's tactics.
"There are two points in which we can improve – we need to get some more experience and play a full game."
Diaw knows what to improve towards the quarter-finals
"France is a very dangerous team, and in the quarter-finals they can surprise their next opponent."
Coach Alberto de Carvalho of Angola sends a message to Greece
"We showed one more time that we are 12 players that play like a team,"
Vasilis Spanoulis of Greece makes sure nobody will forget.
"We tried to force them to make quick decisions in offense."
Coach Panagiotis Yannakis of Greece shares what brought him to the quarter-finals.
"My team needs more experience. More games like today. It should be good to go to Europe and play some games against European teams."
China's coach, Jonas Kazlauskas is thinking about the future
FIBA
