USA basketball Olympic qualifying team quotes after beating Argentina to win gold medal
LARRY BROWN, USA & Detroit Pistons head coach
What about Mike Bibby’s play during the tournament?
“I’ve always admired him as a player but I guess when you’re around him for 3 ½-four weeks you realize how lucky Sacramento is. He’s a special player. He’s a great addition to this team because he just plays.
What about having coach Williams on your staff?
“It meant a lot, it meant everything to me. He’s the same pedigreed as me and I know how proud coach Smith was when we were both picked to coach this team. He’s a phenomenal coach, a good friend, and it was really fun being with my whole staff, that made it special. Pop won a NBA championship and all he talked about was losing in Indianapolis and I don’t even think he even celebrated winning the championship, so this is even more special because of him.
Does this send a message that America’s back?
“Oh I don’t know about that. I don’t know of a team that I’ve ever been involved with that has played any better than this team did. We didn’t have Allen (Iverson), Jason (Kidd) got hurt, Tracy was hurting, we didn’t have Karl (Malone), Kenyon (Martin) comes on his honeymoon. This is a hard thing, playing 10 games in 12 days. I think I substituted in some difficult situations trying to play everybody.
“Watching them play tonight, I think they helped the game all over. It was pretty special.
What did you say to the guys to get them ready for this game?
“We just wanted to play the right way. Show everybody we could play as a team and we could do the things that all the European and international teams do. We wanted to go from an all-star team to a team. You know we didn’t have a lot of time to practice and as the tournament went on we had some slippage because the games were kind of easy, most of them, but they challenged themselves tonight.”
You’ve always stressed the importance of team play, did you put extra emphasis on it considering what happened in the World Championship last year?
“No, I’ve always tried to do that, Pop’s always tried to do that, Roy (Williams) and Oliver (Purnell) too. This is a team game. The hardest thing is we have so many great players that they all had to make a big sacrifice and I think they all did that. That was what was so neat about tonight, to watch that display, if you’re a basketball fan I don’t know how you couldn’t appreciate that.
“Then the biggest thing, three guys were involved in Indianapolis, but we all were part of that, but for Elton (Brand), Jermaine (O’Neal) and Pop (Gregg Popovich) this was a nice night.
Where does that stretch of baskets in the first and second quarters rank?
“Considering our opponent and the last game and the way they played us and what they did in Indianapolis, they really should have been the world champs, and consider what we did to them, I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s one thing to doing it in the preliminary round, but with what was at stake and the fact they broke our string (of 58 consecutive wins) and gave us a great game, that first 20 minutes was incredible.
How much do you think the familiarity from this summer will carry over next summer.
“I think it will help out a lot, especially finishing the way we did. From the coaching standpoint, working with Roy, Oliver and Pop, I know a lot more of what we need to do based on what they’re capable of doing and their experience is really going to help. The core guys playing here, which wasn’t easy, worrying about families, me worrying about playing time, no practices, I think it really helped us and I think it will be a good base to start with.
How hard will it be to fill the last three roster sports (for the 12-member 2004 Olympic team)?
“Karl and Kobe are going to play and there were some guys here who certainly deserve a lot of consideration and hopefully some guys do something this year in the NBA and hopefully it’s a carrot for them because it is an incredible honor. You saw the way Puerto Rico and Argentina celebrated in respect of this opportunity and I think that’s a nice thin for our players to see?”
Were you at all concerned after last night about how this team would come out?
“We had an interesting meeting at our film session. We talked about what we had to do and what we were trying to accomplish when we got together. Pop said some really neat things based on his experience, and Elton and Jermaine as well. They just showed us what they’re made of and what they’re about. It was really pretty neat.”
Did you have any final words for Allen as he headed out?
I spoke to him before the game...he wanted to play, I was scared to death to have a repeat of happened two years ago.”
Can you categorize what the message was from those guys in the meeting?
“Pop told them how much respect he had for Argentina and he kind of shared what happened with the team last summer, and we played at home last summer, it wasn’t like we were on the road. We just said if we came out and didn’t share the ball, and defend and execute like we tries to do from day one it was going to be difficult. They did everything we asked them to do and more. I can’t imagine any body playing any better than that team did. I don’t think I’ve ever been part of anything like that.”
ELTON BRAND, Los Angeles Clippers
“This feels good, especially after last year. It feels real good. It’s very exciting and I’m glad (USA Basketball) gave me the opportunity. It was real fun and it was an honor to be here.”
This game tonight was one of the USA's best performances, can you comment on the game?
"Yes, we jumped on them right from the beginning and we hadn't had a game start like that. Coach Popovich and coach Brown just had a talk today. No shoot-around but a talk and coach stressed that he wanted us to play like he knew we could play.
Compare the game last night (vs. Puerto Rico), against this total collective effort:
"We knew we would have a let down. We had scrimmaged Puerto Rico two times, we played an exhibition once and we played them two times in this tournament, so we had a bit of a let down. But, it shook our coaching staff up and shook the players up and we were prepared for today. That's why we played so well."
VINCE CARTER, Toronto Raptors
Was this about qualifying for the Olympics or was it more than that?
"I think it's all in one. If we come home with the gold, it means we took care of business and beat the teams we were supposed to beat. We beat the tough teams who were in this tournament. We played good basketball. We played team basketball and we were only together for 21 days. That says a lot. We need to play as a team or it's not going to happen.
"What happened in Indiana, it bothered everybody. And by that, I mean every American in the league whether they were on the team or not. The guys who got the opportunity to play on this team were more than happy to do so because of that. The passion for the game that these guys (in the USA locker room) have, on top of wanting to get USA Basketball where we want it to be and get back in the Olympics, was a passion that made us all come together as one."
Has the USA re-established itself?
"I think the other teams are getting better. But we want to show that we're getting better also. We have all this talent but we can play the right way - like the coaches have said. We can play the right way and compete with anybody."
TIM DUNCAN, San Antonio Spurs
"When we do it right and defend right, things happen. We get in the open court. We get layups. We get dunks. And after awhile we just wear people down."
Did you expect it to be so easy?
"We didn't expect it to be easy. We didn't expect it to be that way. We got some offensive rebounds early and we took a lot of the wind out of them. Even when we missed shots, we got put-backs. Defensively, people weren't getting through screens and getting layups like they did the last time we played them. We were ready for that. Offensive rebounds were a key, too. We pounded the glass and got second shots. Even when they got stops, we found a way to get it back up there. We had the kind of energy and intensity that we needed."
How does it feel to be gold medalists?
"It's great. It's great. It's great to have it over and win the way we did. Now we just look forward to Greece next year. We want nothing less than gold."
On the USA’s quick start:
"We expected Argentina to play tough. We came out with a respect for them that they deserve. They played well last year and beat us. They played us well earlier in the week. We came out and jumped on them early and then kept them down. It was the kind of statement we wanted to make. We knew the importance of this game and what they were capable of and we didn't take them for granted.
"Hopefully this kind of play will carry over into Greece. This was a warmup for us. This is the kind of experience together that we are going to need for next year. Hopefully we have built a little bit of a foundation here so we can pick it up next year and take it form there."
On his offensive play tonight:
"I was just running the floor and people were finding me. I got a couple of layups early and hit the offensive glass and got a couple of bounces that went my way that I got put-backs on. It's the same way I've been doing it all tournament, running the floor and hitting the glass."
Is it a relief to win? The expectations were high:
"A little bit of both. We were expected to win but it was relief to come out here and do it the right way."
RICHARD JEFFERSON, New Jersey Nets
“This has been good. It’s been a long time since I finished first in something. It feels great to be a part of this team, the Hall of Fame coaching staff and all the players out here, it was a blessing to be a part of this.”
JASON KIDD, New Jersey Nets
“It felt good to win the gold. In ‘99 it felt great to get that gold and qualify for the Olympics and this was the same kind of circumstances. So it was good for us to come out and show the world that we can play the game the right way. We’re happy to be able to come back and represent next summer in the Olympics.”
On the USA’s start:
"We had one more game to play. The coaches spoke to us this morning and kept us focused. Everybody came out here tonight in the spirit of showing our dominance and playing the game the right way. We didn't want to end the trip on a sour note. We came right out of the box and showed them."
Do you think the rest of the world is going to take notice after the way the team came out tonight?
“I think everybody’s probably back on notice that we can play the game the right way, by sharing the ball and being a team. I think that’s what we showed them the past two weeks.”
KENYON MARTIN, New Jersey Nets
“This feels great. It’s the first step to next summer. We took care of business here, we did what we came here to do. We weren’t settling for anything less than gold. It’s a great thing.”
On the quick start:
“We were very focused today. Guys did a great job coming out focused and we jumped on them early and got it done.”
TRACY McGRADY, Orlando Magic
"Tonight, we showed that we are the best. We didn't forget what Argentina did to our team last year. We came out and from the first guy to the last guy, everybody contributed to the success of this tournament.
"We played better team ball and there was not a lot of individual play out there. We knew we couldn't take Argentina for granted. We moved the ball around and we had a lot of fun tonight. When you have guys with talent who are sacrificing, playing defense and playing like we did tonight, you are going to win a lot of games."
Going into next year in Athens, how much will this experience help with the core group you will bring to the Olympics?
"Anytime you spend time with a bunch of guys who are willing to sacrifice, come in, play hard and contribute to something that is really special, and just being around the guys for 21 days it establishes a great relationship on and off the court. It will certainly carry over to next year.
"It was like fast break after fast break. But, really it was the defense. Argentina does a great job of executing on offense, doing a lot of moving, but we took them out of their offense. And, that's how we got a comfortable lead.”
Was a message sent tonight?
"We wanted to send a message to our coaches, more than anything."
On the great spirit of the Argentina fans:
"I just loved that. No matter how bad they were getting beat, they were still supportive of their team and they were proud of their country and what the players were doing out there. I loved it. It didn't matter to them, because they knew they had qualified (for the Olympics) so they knew that they played a team that was better. The fans were supportive of their team and I enjoyed that."
JERMAINE O’NEAL, Indiana Pacers
“This feels pretty good, but I won’t feel redemption until I have an Olympic gold medal around my neck. Once I have an Olympic gold medal, then it’ll be solidified.”
Do you think the rest of the world is going to take notice after the way the team came out tonight?
“I hope so. Writers are going to write what they want to write and people are going to think what they want to think. But ultimately we really showed tonight that when we come out and play as a team and follow the game plan on both ends of the floor, we are pretty hard to beat.
"Hopefully this will let the rest of the world know that we are for real."
What message does this win send to the rest of the basketball world?
"That the U.S. is still very good. Argentina is one the premier international teams and we controlled them from start to finish. We exploited them at both ends of the floor. We pretty much shut them down on cuts and screens and got out on our kind of transition offense. But you know they are going to come back. They're going to retool and hopefully next summer we can get the same outcome."
