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ATHENS, Greece -- USA basketball beat Spain 102-94 to reach Olympic basketball semifinals. Here's what USA head coach Larry Brown, assistant coach Gregg Popovich and star of the day Stephon Marbury (31 points, all-time USA Men's Olympic record) said after the game:

USA head coach LARRY BROWN

Opening comments:

It was a great game. We were able to keep the lead in the first half with some severe foul trouble. Most of the game we were in foul trouble, but I think a lot has to do with the way they drove the lane and got the ball inside. Under the circumstances we shot the ball, moved the ball better, only had eight turnovers and that's been a big problem for us throughout the tournament. This was a great team we played against. (Pau) Gasol was incredible. They hurt us on dribble penetration. But for the most part, taking care of the ball and generally taking good shots, having our bench help us when Timmy (Duncan) and Lamar (Odom) were in foul trouble, got us through today.

On the enthusiasm of the team in the game today:

I don't know. I think Stephon talked about it. We've been together awhile, not enough time as far as I'm concerned. We've been through some difficult times. It's a young team and I think the adversity we've had, getting blown out by Italy in Germany, playing so poorly against Puerto Rico, giving the game away against Lithuania, sometimes adversity brings you together a little bit. And sometimes that young enthusiasm is a good thing. We have become much closer as a group and that was vital tonight.

Explanation of team's final timeout against Spain:

When I asked for a timeout it was an 8-point game and I think some time went off the clock and when I saw the score I told the timer we don't need the timeout. He gave it to me anyway.

We had basically turned the ball over twice against their press and I was still trying to teach and win the game but when I saw some seconds went off the clock and saw how late it was I tried to wave it off, but they wouldn't let me. So you're going to live with it and move on.

NOTE: In international basketball, a coach may request a timeout with the scorers table. The timeout is given at the first deadball when the team requesting it has offensive possession or on a foul. You are, under international rules, allowed to request a timeout and if it has not been called, wave the timeout request off.

On the crowd cheering for Spain and not the USA:

I think it's a good thing that the crowd is cheering for other people. I don't think it has anything to do with what's going on in the world. We've won so much. Sometimes we haven't acted the best. But I look at it as a compliment. They want us to lose because we're supposed to have the best teams and the best players. I've been saying this forever, the world has improved so much. The coaching is better, the players are better, our league has benefitted by all the foreign players and it's only going to continue. But we're the big guy on the block right now. As far as I know, no pro team has lost a gold medal in the Olympics and I would hope that they would cheer for the underdog. They do it in our country. They even cheer for Detroit (laughs).

USA assistant coach GREGG POPOVICH:

The Spanish coaches were angry about the last timeout. But, we didn't call the timeout then. The rules here are different. We had lost the ball earlier when we were bringing up the ball and we wanted to talk to our team about press offense. So, we had to go say ‘timeout,' but that was before that. The timeout was already at the scorer's table. You don't get it right away. By the time we got it, we didn't need it. Coach (Larry Brown) and I both went to the table to try to take it away, but they blew the whistle. It was unintentional.

If it was the NBA and we called it like that, it would be bad. I can understand why the coach was upset. He has a great team. It was a difficult loss and I would have been angry too.

Sure! Timeouts are different in the NBA than they are here. In the NBA you call them immediately, when things happen. In Europe you have to put in for a timeout. So we had already put in for a timeout before that moment and it was set. We wanted the timeout because we had just lost the ball on a press earlier so we wanted to set our press offense better because we are still trying to teach them that sort of thing. So, the timeout was already there. So, when there was a dead ball coach said we got to take it off, we will take it off. So, we turned to take it away like we don't want it now because so much time had gone by, but they blew the whistle and the timeout came. So it wasn't intentional, nobody's trying to embarrass anybody. The timeout was already set at the bench.

STEPHON MARBURY:

On today's game:

This afternoon we came out and played with a lot of emotion. Guys are well aware of how we've been playing from the beginning of the Olympics. Guys' mind-sets are that if we don't come out and we don't play from the jump, these teams are so good, we're not going to give ourselves the opportunity to win. Again, we wanted to go out and attack on the defensive end. We knew that Pau Gasol was going to have a big game because he's their guy and they go to him a lot. Our main concern was playing with a lot of energy and a lot of effort.

Did you come in feeling like you had to start shooting the ball?

Not at all. When I first came here, coach Brown told me I was going to score by accident. Don't even worry about scoring, just go out and play. The last couple of games he's been coming up to me and telling me that I need to take those shots when I get open. But my mind-set when I came here was to pretty much run the team. Get everyone involved, try to be the leader on the court. Basically go out and play as hard as I can to try and win a gold medal.

I went to the gym the other day because I knew I wasn't shooting the ball well. I knew I was capable of shooting the ball better. I haven't been playing basketball all summer. So when I came into the Olympics I wasn't even thinking about scoring. When I realized I had to make the open shots, I went to get in some extra shots in the gym. I pretty much started shooting the ball before practice and after practice. As anyone who knows anything about basketball, repetition is the key to shooting the ball well.

When the whole Dream Team thing started in Barcelona, it seemed that the whole world was rooting for the U.S. Now it's obvious almost nobody is rooting for you. Coming here, the way international basketball has changed, how many international players are in the NBA now, it's changing. I think that the players are a lot better. The whole world is looking at how basketball is looking at basketball totally different. They used to look at it as the U.S. as being the most dominant. Whereas now, with international play, countries feel that they're the best teams. You can't doubt them for that, you can't fault them. When we go into games, this group of guys, we go into the games trying to win. We're not going into the games thinking about who's cheering for us and who's not.

Is it fair to say that the better the opponent is, the better you guys play?

I think it is fair to say that, but unfortunately as a team it shouldn't be that way. We're growing as a team each and every day. The assessment of us now is that we know how to play games, we know how to play defense together, we're communicating and we're talking. When you build that camaraderie playing with each other for a long time, as far as our shooting today, I think we've been playing against zones so much that it really doesn't matter anymore if they play zone or they play man. Preferable, we're starting to like playing against zones. When we go back to the United States we'll be able to play against the zone a lot better.

Was it hard to get in those extra shots in the gym, where did you go to get those shots?

It wasn't hard. We have a practice facility and we timed it where the volleyball team was about to practice and I went in about an hour and a half before they started on our day off. I just shot the ball. I got back into my groove, shooting the ball the way I know how to. For me, it's been a great experience playing under coach Brown. It's not been easy, it's tough because he demands so much from you. To try to play your game and try to do exactly what he wants, have that combine at once, it's been a challenge for me. But it's been a great challenge for me and when I go back to my team, everything I've learned from coach Brown, I'll bring it to New York. I think it'll help me with my teammates and with my coach.