USA - Tell Australia we are coming: Taylor

AUCKLAND (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Tyshawn Taylor stepped up in the last quarter of his team's tight win over Lithuania. He talked to Paulo Kennedy from www.fiba.basketball about the game, the rest of the tournament, and responded to Australia's claim that they can beat the USA.

FIBA: That was a very challenging game, and you seemed to take it on your shoulders to make some tough shots down the stretch.

Taylor: We started kind of slow, and we knew they were going to play hard because this was their game. If they had beaten us they would still be in the tournament. I played with a kind of chip on my shoulder because I didn't play so good yesterday, so I just wanted to come out here and play a good game.


Did you feel like you had to take over down the stretch?

I just wanted to be aggressive, whether that be scoring or looking to attack and hit one of my teammates for a lay-up. I just wanted to be aggressive and I had open shots, so I took them and they just fell for me today. They weren't falling for me the last couple of games, so I'm glad they were falling for me today.


What was the reason for the slow start?

I think they just outplayed us. I think they had more to play for in this game, so they came out more aggressive and I don't think we expected that.

We were tied up at half time and coach told us we had to come out, they were playing like it was their last game, we were playing like we had another day, but we had to play like it was our last game too. So we came out with a little more intensity in the second half.


Did it take a while to adjust to playing against such a tall team?

Yeah, their guys are big, they have a 6'11 (211cm) guy that can take you off the dribble (Montiejunas), so it was kind of weird playing against those guys and they ran some plays that we aren't used to.

But we got it together, I mean we have great players on this team and we made plays down the stretch.


It seemed like you made some adjustments at half time to guard Montiejunas.

Yeah we adjusted. We knew he was a great player, we knew he was going to be aggressive and try to carry the team, and our guys responded to that. Our big guys responded, Darius Miller played really good against him, Gordon Haywood played really good against him.


Is the team feeling fatigued after the first week of competition?

Yeah, we are kind of tired but we have got tomorrow off. Everybody's tired, everybody's played the same amount of games as us, so we can't use that as an excuse. So we've got the day off tomorrow we are going to rest our legs and come back here Friday and be ready.


The USA look like the team to beat, but Cody Ellis from Australia says they can beat you guys, what do you say to that?

If I was in the Australian team I would say the same thing, I don't think nobody is going to say that they can't beat us. Australia's a good team, we watched them a couple of times, they're a good team and we're looking forward to them, but I don't think they can beat us! So let Australia know we're coming!


This is like the NCAA tournament now, you've got to win to keep playing.

I think most of our guys are used to this. We'll be paying like it's our last game just like Lithuania did tonight, and I think with more to play for our guys will come out and we'll start more aggressive, and we'll be ready.


Some past USA teams have been labelled selfish in the way they play, but that's definitely not the case with this team. What's the feeling like within the group?

I think it's just a bunch of guys that like each other, who like playing with each other. We haven't been together long, but we like playing with each other and we like being around each other.

There are not really any stars on this team, it's just a bunch of great players who like playing with each other, and I think that calls for a good team. It's hard to beat us when you don't know who is going to be the leading scorer, rebounder or the leading assists man.


What does it mean to be representing the United States of America at the FIBA U19 World Championship?

It means a lot, I am glad to have this honour. It means so much to be here. Out of 12 guys, I think all 12 guys feel the same way, it's just a great honour to be here representing our country. So many guys wanted to do this, and a couple of guys tried out and didn't make it, so it is a great honour.

Paulo Kennedy
FIBA