Quotes of the day (26 August 2007)

Panama vs. Argentina 8-26-2007

SERGIO HERNANDEZ, ARGENTINA HEAD COACH

Did you think this game was going to be as challenging as it was?
Before anything I want to say that I have great respect for Panama. From all the questions earlier, I felt that people assumed we would win against Panama much easier, but I never considered that idea. I believe Panama has the same talent as any one other team; they beat Mexico before and gave us a run for our money tonight. They just had a bad night against Puerto Rico. I also think that playing a late game last night and not practicing this morning affected our concentration. We are a team of hard work. There is not much else to say.

The sign of a great team is to win games that maybe they shouldn't have, admittedly this game was extremely difficult but you found a way to pull it out at the end. Do you agree?
I think that if you win when you don't play great is a good sign. It's true. That is why I have said earlier about respecting Panama as they are a good team. They played to win the game today. Maybe our concentration was about fifty percent today and that affected us, but good teams have to know to win even if they are not playing their best game.

DIEGO LO GRIPPO, ARGENTINA

Before the tournament, did you ever think that you were going to play such a key role as you are now?
No, I've always dreamed about playing on the tournament. It's been a few years that I have been with the national team and I think this has been the most important tournament for me. Other than that, I have been doing what I always do, making the plays
I have to make and taking advantage of every opportunity possible in hopes of helping our team. 

You were very consistent on tonight's game, especially in the come back. Did you feel you had to take a bigger role than normal?

I always try to do the same, to play my best and help the team. I work on my attitude and concentration before I start to play and give it my all. Tonight, I might have had the opportunity to help out more than on other games, but this does not mean anything. Today it was me, but tomorrow is someone else. The important thing is that the team played well… late, but on the right time. I am very happy to have gotten this victory, and I look forward to what is to come.

VICENTE DUNCAN, PANAMA HEAD COACH

Could you give us your thoughts about tonight's game?
It was very disappointing. We executed our game plan, but at the end we kind of missed our center. Other than that, we performed the task given to us. We had a strong team to fight for the qualification, but towards the end of this game we realized we needed more experience. Within the regulation game time, we should have won it. Either way, the players who were on the court had a good taste of what it is to play international basketball.

What was your strategy for tonight's game?
We decided we wanted to go for the win. So at the end we just said to hold the ball for one shot and whatever happens happens. If we could have done it again, I think it was better for him to drive the ball to the basket instead of taking the shot. Either way, we just had to take the last shot.



USA 113 vs. Brazil 76

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI, USA HEAD COACH
We beat a really good team today. Brazil is one of the best international teams, their coach is outstanding.  We had a great game against them last year.  They had a terrific game plan against us.  I thought our defense in the second and third quarter was at the highest level that it has been at during the tournament.  Chauncey [Billups] was huge for us; we think we have at least seven starters on the team.  Obviously anyone could start but for me to be able to have Chauncey go in there and alternate him and Jason is a huge plus.  LeBron [James] floor game was magnificent, it was really good.  We had some adversity tonight, Tayshaun [Prince] is out at least a day maybe two with a sprained ankle.  We had foul trouble right away with Carmelo [Anthony] and Dwight [Howard] and we had to use LeBron at the four, which is something we haven’t used yet.  There was a lot going on in that first half and our guys responded real well.

Did you mean to target Barbosa the way you did or was that guys rising to the challenge?
He’s the leading scorer in the tournament, I think, he’s averaging 27 points and the next guy on their team is averaging 13.  I think we at times we went too much that way and didn’t talk as well as we have been talking the first three games.  But overall that’s a nice mistake or nice adjustment to make when we’re going so hard.

Coach they were successful getting back into the game by dribble penetration and breaking down the defense a little it.  Was that the purpose of putting Chauncey and Tayshuan in together and did it work better as a tandem?
That was a little bit more of our normal substitution.  We played a good team, you hope you get a lead and you don’t expect them to not to come back, it’s a long game.  They have too many good players, that is the biggest team we have played, they are very strong.  They have four big guys.  You are concentrating on Barbosa and playing the bigs and their guards got by us a few times.  Splitter did a really good job in the first period of driving the ball to the basket, it was obviously their goal was to do that.  I think we made adjustments in that regard, our guys did a much better job after the first quarter.

[Question inaudible]
We don’t want to give penetration, we don’t want to give three’s, we don’t want to give points.  You do give up three’s you do give up points and you do give up penetration and you just hope you don’t do it as much as they do it for you, that’s why games aren’t shutouts.  They are good.  They are really a good basketball team.  We respect them to the utmost.

In the second round you will meet Argentina.  What is your opinion about Argentina?
I have not studied Argentina because we don’t play them until Thursday probably. One of the things our team has done is that we really respect the international game and we respect every team playing.  You do that through preparing for them, full preparation.  We won’t change.  If after Wednesday’s game you ask me about Argentina I will be more able to do that.

You have seen Argentina?
They [Argentina] were not in our pool, this is a big game.  The guys who were scouting have seen Argentina but for a head coach, especially older head coaches you don’t want to give an older head coach too much information, we confuse things.  We need our wives around to remind us what the hell we are doing.


CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, USA
Did you mean to target Barbosa the way you did or was that guys rising to the challenge?
We did put a lot of focus on Barbosa, he’s a dangerous player.  He can beat you inside, he’s so fast, so quick to the basket.  He can get you in foul trouble so we put a lot of emphasis on him, on stopping him.  Kobe started off and did a great job trying to denying him the ball and not let him get touches and playing physical with him.  When he [Kobe] came out of the game, whether it was me or whoever else on him we took the challenge and tried to do the same thing. We felt like we could take him out of the game and make the other guys make plays that we would have a great chance tonight.

Did Mike D’Antoni come up with a few hints on playing Barbosa?
Not really, we have all played against him a lot.  Of course Mike knows about him more than any of us do, having the pleasure of coaching him.  We all know his tendencies and the things he likes to do and his sweet spots on the court just from playing against him during the season.  Like I said he is their most dangerous player and wanted to make our best effort to stop him.


ALUSIO FERREIRA, BRAZIL HEAD COACH

What do you think about this loss?
I think this loss will happen to everyone; our chances and goals are still the same as before. We had some good moments and others no so much. We played against an impressive team that gains by its individual quality and by its rival's mistakes. Their three-point shootings complicated even more our game, but I believe that our team did what they had to do. They played the game with a specific goal up to a point in the game as after a while the objective changed. We came to win the game, but by the third quarter when the US team made eight three-pointers out of twelve tries our goal changed. Our goal then became to standardize the team for the followings matches.

What do you expect for the second round?
The sequence is not going to matter as much as we will have to go against the top teams qualified for it. Brazil will now look to get the best possible qualification. We are now going to try to do our best during the second round to get into the semifinals looking for the second or third placement. That is our objective.

Can you comment about the US's defense strategy today?
I think it was a game where the US team played with all of its dedication and passion. In a way I think that was very good for us as we got to train our defensive strategy. It gave us a strong challenge, and in my opinion the Brazil team came out OK.

Can you talk about Kobe Bryant on Barbosa and how this affected Brazil's strategy?
We are trying to play collectively and not concentrate on one individual. Of course Leandro is a key player, but we try playing with all of our players. They simply did what we try to do; to start with our strongest players especially on the offensive.

TIAGO SPLITTER, BRAZIL

Do you think that your efforts today serve as a credential for your selection in the NBA draft?
I think that my performance today was not anything out of this world. I simply did my job. Some of our plays today depended on me and I tried to simply do my best either making shoots or defending. I think the most important thing is the team as coach said. Today we could not win as the other team played a better game, but we will continue to work towards our overall goal.

What was your biggest challenge for today against team USA?
They have very talented players. Their defense is very complicated as they often make changes, which it became a challenge for us. In a way we were able to balance the game at first, but their offensive strategy with the three-pointers was the problem.

MARCELO MACHADO, BRAZIL

What did you think about today's game?
As I said yesterday, we came to win, but at the end the game became more difficult than expected. We were able to balance the game in the first quarter for a while, but they had a better game. Today's game is already done, and we knew it was going to be a challenge. We knew that no matter what the score of this game, we could not let ourselves down or think we were going to be qualified. So today's game is passed; now we have to think about tomorrow's game.

Either way, does this loss affect the player in an emotional way?
It's always bad to loose a game with such a big difference as what happened. We were going against a solid team with some of the best players in the world. We cannot let this bring us down. Our thought is still the same as our chance is still the same. Now we have to get into the second round thinking about winning the games necessaries to be qualified for Beijing.

They cut back to two by penetration. What did they do to adjust?
I think they have a good percentage on three-pointers. They play strong and fast. We missed a lot of shots, and they had fast breaks with three-pointers. So they easily opened up 15 points over us. Playing against a team like this is hard to get back once they break ahead. We just have to focus on tomorrow's games as we knew that no matter what happened today our Olympic chances remain the same. We still have four games in the second round and we'll have to try winning all four to get to the semi-finals. Our goal is still qualifying to the Olympic Games.

Uruguay 91, Mexico 82

ALBERTO ESPASANDIN, URUGUAY HEAD COACH
Congratulations on your win.  Was it hard to manage Mexico's full court press and new team dynamic?
I think Uruguay played well.  As a result of their full court press we only had two or three turnovers, so I think Uruguay played smart.  We did well with their pressure.  The dynamic in today's game and Mexico's team was interesting, but Uruguay was still able to come out on top.

MARTIN OSIMANI, URUGUAY
You had the biggest responsibility on the court and despite the exhaustion you still managed to stay in control.  How were you able to do this?
Our focus was not to rush in this game.  I tried to guard the ball without being too passive because that allows them to move their pressure further up the court.  So while I tried not to run all the time, when I could, I would pass the ball to Nicolas who was very effective.  When you have such a high shooting percentage - 7 out of 12 - among your team members that opens the game up.  That's what's good about our team; we're clear about what we play so we don't fall into their game.

How does it feel to win today?
It's great.  We have the finals tomorrow and we know Brazil is a tough team.  USA is an unbelievable squad and we know with Canada we have a chance, so we'll play all our cards tomorrow.  It's a final like today and it's great.  We came here with a lot of expectations and things are going great so far.  Our work over the last couple of years has paid off.

NOLAN RICHARDSON, MEXICO HEAD COACH
This was one of those games that you had some changes. Can you comment on how that forth quarter unfolded?
We had definitively some changes. There were a few times that we could not catch it in the free-throw line. In a game that tight, we almost have to make all the free-throws because Uruguay was making all of theirs. I thought that on the third quarter we came out much more aggressive. We played the kind of defense we had been working all this time to get back into the ball game. We took away some of the things that they were able to do by shooting threes. I never seem so many three pointers made by individuals. Uruguay did a good job making three throws also.

Can you talk about the tournament so far and what has been going on the past three or four days?
Watching all the teams and been able to see some of them play is quite tremendous. The Argentina team is good. The Brazil team is magnificent, and the United States is awesome. And again, the rest of us fit right among a different cut. I think teams such as the Virgin Island, maybe Canada and Uruguay, and some of the other teams might be just below teams such as Brazil and of course the United States.

What happened with your team today?
What happened? We lost. That is the game. We had many opportunities to win, but we could not make the free-throws when we needed. Uruguay has a strong team. We played well, but we could not follow their game. This happens at times.

 
VICTOR MARISCAL, MEXICO
I know you guys have been playing a lot of games lately. Did you feel ready or were you tired for this particular game?
We had a lot of preparatory games before this tournament, but as coach said it before, there are some of the best teams on our continent here and they all play very well. They had a great strategy; we could not get passed their three-pointers. It was a very competitive game. We had many opportunities, but one of their Big Man made a three-pointer against us and after that we could not control the game. I think he made eight or ten three-pointers. So there is no discussion about this.

What do you expect on the second round?
We are already qualified for the second round, now the worry is about the position we will get. If Panama wins, we will be forth. We would be playing against the US on the second round. If Panama loses, we then will get in third and will play against Brazil. We just have to keep working hard. There will be two teams who will have to go home, and we'll get an opportunity to go further; so we'll have to keep it going strong.



Venezuela 100, Virgin Islands 90

NESTOR SALAZAR, VENEZUELA HEAD COACH
You said you were satisfied after the games you've played, but not happy.  Now that you got the results you wanted to make it to the next round, what do you think about what's ahead?
When you come to this type of tournament, you always have to maintain a positive mind.  You're trying to do the best you can for your country and we had a clear goal, which was to defeat the most accessible teams in our group, which were Canada and the Virgin Islands.  Canada we almost defeated and against the U.S., we were the team that scored the most points and the one that the U.S. scored the least points against.  Against Brazil, we had a great first half, but our team is young and we still need more international experience.  As far as the second round of the tournament, all the teams we're facing are pretty even.  Argentina, Uruguay, Puerto Rico and Mexico are all teams that we've played well against in the past and like I told the kids, the table is served for us to improve our performance in the tournament moving forward.

Something that we saw throughout the game was a positive attitude among the team members, regardless of the score.  Does this have anything to do with your motivational talk prior to the game and some type of mental work?
The group of players I have knows well that we have to play as friends.  There's a great harmony and that has kept us very united.  In the first two quarters we had 16 turnovers.  When we went into the dressing room I told them to stay focused and motivated in order recover.  Otherwise, we couldn't do it.  Our focus was to minimize turnovers, try to push the ball to the shooter, who was Hector, and they were able to do that.  But they still remained anxious and that's the part I have to control with this team, because part of the characteristics of a young team is anxiety.

What do you think about Greivis?
Greivis is a talented player, I've known him since before he was born and he's always been the same way.  But he has a tough mind.  When he does something wrong, he immediately tries to fix it.  He's only 20 years old and already assumes a huge responsibility on the court.  But he still has to work on a lot of things - he's young and has a long road ahead.

MANUEL BARRIOS, VENEZUELA
It seems like the big men, you, Hector, had a lot of energy today and fresher legs than the Virgin Islands team.  You really attacked both courts rebounding.  Can you talk about your efforts today?
I've been working on that.  Hector, as coach said, is a great leader on the court.  I've been doing my job and when we practice exercises during training, it helps us to work better as a team, and that's what I'm here to do, help.

You and Marriaga were important and worked well on the interior, can you comment on that?
We realized from the beginning of the game, that Miguel could take short shots and Hector could take shots inside and out of the paint.  That was the other team's weakness. So that's what we did, we passed the ball inside, moved it around and shot when we had an opportunity.

TEVESTER ANDERSON, VIRIGIN ISLANDS HEAD COACH
Talk about the tournament and how you felt your team played.
We came in expecting to get at least one win and to advance.  We have two of our key players hurt, our center was out yesterday and one of our guards, our second leading scorer was out.  We don't have a deep line up.  Give Venezuela credit, they came out with a lot of energy, they played hard for 40 minutes, and when you have that you have the chance to win.  Our team had low energy today, we played a real hard-fought game yesterday, and they had the day off yesterday.

Did you come in with the second round as a goal and just fell short of that?
We aren't very deep and when of our troops go down, we have a hard time replacing that.  Most teams here are much deeper than we are.  We didn't an NBA player on our team; every team here has a player with NBA experience.   We thought Raja Bell was going to play but he had surgery about four weeks ago and he started practicing and running on it and had some swelling in his knee so he could not play.  He is the one player that could have competed in these games.  His leadership was missed.

What is this for the program now, what are you going to assess for the FIBA World Championships?
We have to go back to the drawing board a little bit. I think we have a few kids that we felt like could have helped us a little bit, if we can get Raja Bell back for us next summer that will be huge for us.