Tunji AWOJOBI (NGR)

"We're not here just to make the numbers. We want to go as far as we can in this tournament. We can surprise some teams."
Nigeria forward Tunji Awojobi on his team's prospects in the group.


"I think we are in a two to four year development stage right now. Playing in competitions like the FIBA World Championship will only help us improve and help us be able to challenge some of the better teams in the world."
Nigeria coach Sam Vincent on the ongoing growth of his team.


"I played against Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker in the NBA. They are both great leaders for their teams and we will have our hands full in trying to contain them. But I will take a leadership role with Venezuela and hopefully we can contend with those teams."
Venezuela swingman Oscar Torres on trying to slow down Argentina's and France's respective star player.


"We expect to win the games against Lebanon and Nigeria and they probably think they will do the same against us. So there will be no easy games and we are taking it one game at a time."
Venezuela forward Victor Diaz on the battle of the so-called "three other teams" in the group.


The team is maturing and also there is a special compliment - there are a lot of teams who admire us and that means that finally, the national team of Greece has a basketball identity.
Greece center Lazaros Papadopolous on the positive frame of mind in the team.


We played Greece to eight points, beat France and played China who played the game much more seriously (than previous two) and we played them basket for basket so we come into this feeling much better than we did after the New Zealand series.
Australia coach Brian Goorjian in Hamamatsu, following the Boomers' games in the Stankovic Game.


"I've got a lot of friends and family who want us to do well (in Louisiana) and they have been following us on the internet. I've just emailed them about FIBA having all of the games on the web (http://FIBA2006.MediaZone.com) that you can buy, so I emailed my family and friends to say they can purchase the games"
Qatar coach Joey Stiebing on that country's Louisiana-based fans


"We have a Brazilian steakhouse here, so I am very happy"
Leandro Barbosa on playing for his country in Japan.


"We're young, and we play like Brazilian people – happy (laughing). We play like that and try to win every game."
Anderson Varejao, when asked why the Brazilians look like they have so much fun on the court.


"We are really motivated and excited to play our first game against the best team in the world. The clash against Team USA will only give us more confidence for our next games. But it's really down to us how far we can go in this competition not down to our rivals."
Puerto Rico guard Carlos Arroyo on facing Team USA in their first Group D clash.


"We only won one game this summer but I hope that our last win against Australia has given my players a boost in confidence. Our aim still is to progress to the second round and unlike other teams in our group, we cannot afford to relax at times."
China coach Jonas Kazlauskas has high expecations for the tournament.


"There are great teams in this competition but we have no fear. We are here to win and there's not a game that we cannot win, otherwise we wouldn't be here. We are going to fight hard and you never know what can happen."
Senegal power forward Sitapha Savane on his team's winning mentality ahead of the FIBA World Championship.


"Although we are making our World Championship debut here in Japan I really think we can do really well in this competition. We are a more matured side, we have a European Championship behind our backs and we are really confident in our potential and excited for the tournament to begin."
Slovenia's Sani Becirovic has good vibrations about his national team's chances of going far in Japan.


"It's definitely good for the team. We don't want to have to need any one player. But we have to notice that he's here. He's great offensively and defensively. We have to play with him a lot."
Spain coach Pepu Hernandez on having Pau Gasol on the team after he missed the 2005 Eurobasket.


"We still have more games than this one, more important ones. We have to beat Angola. We can afford a loss against Germany."
Japan coach Zeljko Pavlicevic on his team's approach to their opener against Germany.

"It would be better if we could play a bigger team first to get them out of the way. But if we can get a win we could build some confidence."
Angola power forward Joaquim Gomes on playing Panama in the first game.