Our performance today was disappointing by Leo Rautins (Canada)

POSTGAME FLASHQUOTES SLOVENIA - CANADA

Defense and winning the battle of the boards were the two elements that handed Slovenia the win against Canada, as Ales Pipan, the coach of the national team of Slovenia stated during the press conference. His colleague on the bench of Canada, Leo Rautins, described his team's game as disappointing".

Leo Rautins (Coach, Canada)

"Our performance today was disappointing. The only thing that matters now is the game against Korea. We have to regroup and to be ready, because today we weren't. What we showed against Slovenia doesn't reflect our real potential. Slovenia is a great team, well coached and very bonded as a group".

Ales Pipan (Coach, Slovenia)

"Congratulations to my players. Defence was the key of the victory. We managed to stop Canada's shooters and controlled the rebounds. We played better than yesterday on both ends of the court and we got a lot of fast-breaks. This win means a lot, but, at the same time nothing at all; the most important game for us is the one coming up on Friday for the quarterfinals".

David Thomas (Player, Canada)

"It was a difficult game. We believed that we could be the winners, but we got in the game on the wrong foot and we didn't make it. Slovenia is a very good team on the open court and can create a lot of cracks in the defensive line of its opponent. We are disappointed of course, but we have to keep our head up and be ready for the game against Korea".

Jaka Lakovic (Player, Slovenia)

"We played better than we did on the first day of the tournament. We were more focused and high motivated. We played basketball the way we know. We were in control from the first minute to the end of the game.  We deserved to be the winners. We know that it is possible to face Greece in the semi-finals, but it's too early to think about that. We are only thinking of the quarterfinals. Our goal is to earn a birth at the Beijing Olympic Games and we don't care who we have to win, Canada, Puerto Rico or Greece. Whatever happened in the past against Greece has gone down in history".


POSTGAME FLASHQUOTES CAPE VERDE - GERMANY

Eric Silva (coach, Cape Verde)

“In general, I am satisfied with my team and the way we played. Our performance was much better than the one we had in the first game. We were facing an experienced team in Germany and I liked very much the way my team handled the different situations during the game”.

Dirk Bauermann (coach, Germany)

“Congratulations to Cape Verde. They fought and I think that they performed well at the Tournament, in spite of their two losses. They have gained everyone’s respect, because they gave everything on court and played as a team. We got some easy baskets from open shots and we played well in defense, too. Everybody saw that our goal is to get to the Olympic Games and I believe that we can make it. We are satisfied with the win and now we are focusing on the game against New Zealand”.
On Chris Kaman: “Chris is an amazing player, but he needs to find his rhythm and learn better the plays of the team. But, it is something that will improve in time. 

Mario Correia (player, Cape Verde)

“We played better compared to our opening game. We were facing a very good team. We couldn’t make the basket and our percentage in field goals tells more than I could ever say. It was a good experience for us to compete in international level. We learned a lot and we wish to be part of such an international competition in the future, too”.

Philip Zwiener (player, Germany)

“It was a hard game for us. The opener would be possible to turn out dangerous. We performed well, we had to face a good team, but we found the target from the perimeter and got the rebounds. We are happy with the win”. 


POSTGAME FLASHQUOTES CAMEROON-PUERTO RICO

Lazare Andingono, Cameroon head coach

“Congratulations to Puerto Rico, they had a fantastic performance and were the better team tonight. I wish them good luck for the rest of the Tournament. I would also congratulate my players, too. I have to thank this young group of guys, which remained focused on their mission and made it happen after all; for their country, but for themselves, too. I think that the entire world will soon understand that Cameroon is going to make noise for the years to come. But, it’s up to the players to decide whether this had been the end or the beginning of a new era for Cameroonian and African basketball.
During the game, I may have yelled a bit more, but that’s because in that time I saw them losing their concentration. We had to get back on track. I told them that they should always compete in every single second on the floor.
As far as my future in the team, I leave that to the people in charge. I pay the biggest respect to them; this decision is going to be theirs. I am passionate with- and loyal to my country, but at the end of the day if the sense of respect isn’t there, than I will might not come back. The team showed today, and the day before, what is capable of doing. We have the opportunity to play for World titles. We are in the position to compete against the best teams of the world.”

Harding Nana, Cameroon player

“I can’t speak on behalf of all my teammates, so I will speak for myself. We had a hard time preparing for this Tournament and there were some things that should have been done, but never were. I feel disappointed with my country’s government. I love basketball and coach Andingono, too; hadn’t he been here, I would haven’t’ played either. If he goes, I’ll go too. Anyway, we competed at this Tournament for ourselves and the people back in the country we care about. We’ll see about the future.”

Manuel Cintron, Puerto Rico head coach

“I would like to congratulate the Cameroonian team and its coach. We faced some problems halfway the third quarter and didn’t execute well. However, we used the three guards in the same lineup, moved the ball around well and sailed to a final 9-point difference. We should work more on this three-guard-rotation. I am proud of my players.”

Carlos Arroyo, Puerto Rico player

“In Cameroon we faced an athletic team, which never gives up no matter of the score. They depend a lot on their free-style system, run the floor very good and press full court. That’s what they did tonight, too, especially in the second half. We kept our composure at the end, showed patience and acted exactly according to the coach’s orders to seal the win. There is a lot room for improvement, though. We can do much better in all areas, especially on offensive rebounding. Cameroon trimmed the margin from 22 to nine points; in the next games and in go-home situations, a team will try to come back even if it’s down by 50. We play Croatia tomorrow; I saw there recently for the fist time. They execute well, play good defense and have great fundamentals. They play in the typical European style, this means they shot from behind the arc, but also penetrate a lot. I think that as far as our team, executing will be the key; and staying focused also.”


POSTGAME FLASHQUOTES LEBANON-BRAZIL

Fuad Abou Chakra (Coach, Lebanon)

“As I said yesterday, it happens that we are in the strongest group as both teams are great. Greece has the ability not only to qualify to the Olympic Games, but also achieve great results in Beijing. Also, Brazil will in the Final Four of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. . So, our hopes to escape with a win were very limited. Our team depends a lot on Joe Vogel, who can protect our basket, give us more rebounds and play inside and outside –all our other frontcourt players who were recruited for the National Team play only in the paint.
I am sure that we will convert this bad result to something positive, because Lebanese people and the Lebanese Federation always face their problems. Hopefully, we’ll naturalize some players who can help the National Team. Only in Brazil there are 6 million people who come from Lebanon. The President promised me that there is going to be a recruiting team in Brazil, Australia, the U.S. and Canada because there are 15 million Lebanese throughout the world. Let’s hope that we’ll convert this fact to something positive asap.”

Monsalve Moncho (Coach Brazil)

“I’m very glad to see coach Chakra. It’s true that Joe Vogel is a vital piece of the Lebanese roster, because he is a splendid player. With him, and if Lebanese people enjoy peace in their country, Lebanon will be a better team. Now, we’ll face Greece, a team which, in my opinion, is one of the 4-5 best teams in the world –the others being USA, Spain, Lithuania and Argentina. There won’t be any similarities between the game we played last week and the one we are going to play tomorrow. These are completely different games. Greece played tremendous defense against Lebanon. Usually I don’t talk about players who are not with us. I only care about the players who are here with us. If they change their mind and would like to join us after the Olympics, it’s ok with me.”

Ricardo Probst (Forward, Brazil)

“This game was the first step for us towards Beijing. We played a great game with a lot of intensity and our defense was very hard.  We know that the game tomorrow will be different, tougher. We have played against Greece before. I think that if we play cleverly tomorrow, we will win the game.”.

Mazen Mneimneh (Guard, Lebanon)

First of all I want to say that this is a great tournament to participate in. Actually we tried to play as hard as we can, but unfortunately the injury of Joe Vogel hurt our game too much. I hope that next year we’ll work hard and we’ll try to play better. “