USA – Auriemma and the ‘evaluation tour’

VALENCIA (Olympics) - Geno Auriemma had to make some unexpected adjustments on the USA women’s recent tour to Europe.

The coach of the national team, Auriemma’s finest hour with the USA came when he led the squad to the gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women in the Czech Republic and he had hoped to have many of the same players recently with the London Games less than a year away.

But on a tour to Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic, it didn’t work out that way.

“Originally this tour started as possibly the last training camp before the Olympics,” he said to FIBA.com.

“Then because of the WNBA playoffs, (Lindsay) Whalen, (Maya) Moore, (Seimone) Augustus in Minnesota and (Angel) McCoughtry in Atlanta, then injuries, (Sylvia) Fowles, (Sue) Bird, (Diana) Taurasi – then it became an evaluation tour – a lot of young players with not much or none it all international experience, mixed with a couple of veterans.”

Far from being disappointed, Auriemma got a very good look at players who staked claims for places in next year’s Olympic team, including Baylor University’s Brittney Griner and Renee Montgomery, a former point guard for the coach at the University of Connecticut.

“It’s been really good in that respect, regarding who has a chance of making the team next year," said Auriemma.

“And looking down the road to 2016 as some of the older players move on.

“I think we learned a lot and they learned a lot.

“Mostly in USA Basketball, you just have to keep making sure you are learning how to win because that is always the expectation level.”

Asjha Jones, Swin Cash and Tina Charles ended up being the World Championship-winning players to tour with the United States.

The 2008 Olympic gold-medal winner, point guard Cappie Pondexter, also returned to the squad after missing the World Championship.

Still, with a lot of inexperience, the USA were not the force people are accustomed to seeing.

They lost games to EuroLeague Women outfits Ros Casares and USK Prague.

After their last game of the tour, an 83-77 win over Hungarians Sopron, Auriemma said: “Usually when the U.S. shows up in Europe, we’ve got all our guns blazing.

“We’re ready to go and, wow! We’ve got the best team, we’ve got the best players and we’re deep, we’re talented.

“In this particular trip, we had to struggle. It was a big struggle.

“We got to find out which players can function under that kind of adversity. So, it was good.

“It was unfortunate that a lot of players didn’t make the trip.

“But, at the same time, for those who were on the trip, it was a worthwhile time for them. It gave them a chance that they may not have had, had those other guys been here.”

Going Home

Another highlight of the trip for Auriemma is that he was able to spend some time in his native Italy.

He was born in Montella in 1954, and the United States opened their training camp in Naples on September 27.

"I have always enjoyed my visits there,” he said.

“I've been there a lot with my team, the University of Connecticut. This was my first opportunity to go there with the national team and really got a kick out it.

“I had a chance to go back to my hometown and see some of my relatives.

“So, we ate well, we had a great time and we played some good basketball so all in all, it was a great trip.”

When asked if the saying “You can take the boy out of Italy but not take the Italy out of the boy” applied to him, Auriemma smiled and said: "That's absolutely true. It only took me a day or so to get back into the swing of things.

“When we left, you're kind of looking forward to the next thing but you are also kind of sad that you have to leave. And the people there were fantastic.

“They couldn't have been more generous with their time. I didn't know what to expect but it was great and it was way more than we had ever anticipated.”

FIBA