USA/Germany Post game quotes

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USA 104, Germany 87/ Post Game Quotes
Indianapolis, Indiana / August 30, 2002

USA Head Coach George Karl

"I'd like to thank Germany for giving us a tough test. Our team held together
and we all know about the pressure we feel, and when Germany came back and
took the lead in the second half I thought our team did what they're suppose
to do. They dug in and got tougher, and fortunately Paul (Pierce) made a
great run at the end of the third quarter to give us the lead, then Mike
Finley was great in the fourth quarter.

"The one thing that surprised us I thought Germany did a great job
offensively. They got Nowitzki into the game, Olulaja did a good job when
Nowitzki went out of the game. That was a big thing. We had an opportunity to
make the lead larger when Notitzki went out and we acutally lost the lead a
little bit. They scared us in the first half but I think in the end it will
be good for us. I think we're going to have, I don't know hopefully not a lot
of games like this, but I have a feeling we're going to have three or four
more just like this. So we're going to have to be ready and I thought my team
responded very, very well. "

On the international style:
"I think I told the team earlier in training camp that I don't think the
international game is an isolation game. Paul has done a great job at being
our offensive force and I thought Ben Wallace did a great job tonight
defensively in the third quarter. We just said no help off Nowitzki, try to
keep his touches (down)."

How worried were you in the third quarter?
"I'm getting to old to worry about the third quarter. I usually start
worrying about five minutes still in the fourt quarter. I was concerned, but
I don't know if I had got to worry yet. I thought we were playing hard and I
thought some of our basketball luck was going the wrong way. I was worried
about us figuring out the refereeing. It seemed like Dirk just put his head
down and got to the free throw line and I thought that we did that in the
third and fourth quarters. All of sudden Dirk wasn't getting to the free
throw line. When my team is playing hard I just think we'll figure things
out. I thought we were very positive in the locker room at halftime. I
truthfully believe we're going to be in two, three, four more game that are
going to be tight basketball game and we're just going to have to stay with
it. If we play 40 minutes of basketball and 40 minutes with playoff intensity
I think we'll figure out how to win."

Did you Think Paul's long show look good all the way?
"Yes it did and I was so happy it went in."

Paul Pierce

"I'd like to take my hat off to the German team. They really played hard and
with a lot of heart. That's the way they played us in the exhibition and we
knew this wasn't going to be an easy road for us. They have a great player in
Dirk Nowitzki and I think the team kind of fed off him early. I think overall
our depth was key in this game because we felt like toward the end of the
game we had a lot of fresh legs in the game and they were able to continue
pressing our defense even though we didn't play the type of defense we
usually like to play.

"Shawn Marion did a great job of smothering the ball and got his hands on it
and I just hustled for the ball and I was able to get a shot up and it went
in and I think it gave us a lot momentum going into the fourth. We were up
double figures at that point and I think the rest of the way we just feed off
of that. I probably didn't have to play the rest the game, everybody just had
the bjuice' as coach says. He wants to try and get the juice. that's what I
think we had in the fourth quarter. I'm sorry that it took so long to get it,
but we got it and we eventually opened up the game."

"I think coming out of halftime I was a little but frustrated with the way I
was playing. I had picked up two fouls and coming out of halftime I said I
have to be a little bit more aggressive because when I thought about the
first half I settled for the three instead of driving. I mixed it up a little
bit more in the third. when I had the opportunity to shoot the three-point
shot I took it and when I had the chance to drive I was a little bit more
aggressive in going to the basket. That's just the way I play. I'm able to
adjust in the middle of the game, pick out different parts of what I'm doing
wrong and what I'm doing well and then just adjust. At the same time I wanted
to give my team some confidence, give us some momentum and that's what I
tried to do."

When Germany came back what was the feeling, was their nerves or anything
going?
"I don't think there were any nerves going on. I think we eventually felt
they would kind of wear down. We felt like we took one of their best shots in
the first half. We said just keep pushing it at them, keep our defensive
pressure up and eventually they will wear down. I think our depth really wore
them down. Dirk really got off to a fast start in the first half and kind of
slowed down in the second half and that's thanks to the number of people we
were able to put on him. Different match-ups, going from Ben Wallace, Shawn
Marion, Jermaine O'Neal and sort of wore him down and that helped us because
their team was kind of feeding off him and if we were able to wear him down
and take the confidence away from him then the rest of the team wouldn't feel
as confident."

Did you think your long shot (his third quarter buzzer-beater) was in when it
left your hands?
"It felt good when I was releasing it."


Antonio Davis

On Dirk Nowitzki:
"You have to respect him and you have to pay attention to him. He does a
great job when he catches the ball and he gets it off. And, he can shoot. So
with us, what we try to do is to make sure we run him, make sure we know
where he is at all times. And defensively, try to move him and maybe beat him
up a little."

On the third quarter:
"Dirk kind of slowed down a little bit. I think he was on fire there for a
minute and we didn't do a good job in the transition. We talked about it at
halftime and I think we figured out where he was and got somebody on him and
we helped each other a lot more. At that point, he (Dirk) was the only one
scoring so we forced somebody else to try to beat us and obviously that
worked."

On Paul Pierce:
"Pierce has been just great. Now you've got to understand why his team
(Boston Celtics) went to the Eastern Conference Finals. He's a guy who is
very vocal and he makes sure that everybody plays at the same level. It will
help this team in the long run. It's a lot of games in a short period of time
so everybody has to fire each other up. Paul Pierce is going to be right in
the forefront when it comes to that."

On a close game like USA versus Germany:
"I think it lets us know that we are going to have to play some great
basketball to beat these teams. It was good the way we were able to come
together, not separate, not get on each other and not to start pointing the
finger. We started helping each other out to figure out how we were going to
win this game. And for a lot of young guys, I think that's great. It shows
signs of our league, even though we are young but we all mature in a fast
way. These guys on this team are the next wave of talent, so I'm very proud
of my team right now."


Reggie Miller

On the game being very close:
"It was a good game. We are in a no win situation. If we win by a lot, people
say 'that's expected of you'. If it's a close game, it's too close for
comfort. As long as we win the ball game, that's all that matters to me."

On Dirk:
"He's not only a great shooter. He's a great player. He has a knack for
drawing fouls. I think he did a good job of keeping his team somewhat
involved, but when they needed a basket, they went to him. Overall, he
definitely has the package."

On his ankle:
"It's getting better. It's moving along. Hopefully, by Monday, I'll be
ready."

On Yao Ming and game vs China:
"I think in time, he's going to be great. He has great fundamentals. He can
shoot. He's long and he blocks shots. He's a little bit more physical than
what I had expected. I think he's going to a good system and a good coach in
Rudy T. I think he'll be pretty good."

On Paul Pierce's big 3-point shot:
"It uplifts. It gets the guys that are in the game motivated as well as
getting everyone up off the bench. He created that 10-point gap that gets the
guys coming into the game a little bit more juiced and provides motivation
and that really helps."

Did this game get USA's attention:
"I'm sure there are going to be other games that will be close as well. What
it proved, especially against adversity and odds, this team knows how to step
up and play big. We were down in the second half, and we found a way to win."

On the 14-0 run in game:
"I think it was our defense. If we are going to win the gold medal, it will
definitely be off our defense. We don't have time to jell offensively, but
our defense is a foundation that we can play for 40-minutes."


Andre Miller

On Pierce's third quarter:
"He was aggressive with the ball. He made plays and he took it upon himself
to get to the basket. He made some plays for himself and he also got to the
free throw line. He had a great third quarter and our whole team fed off of
that."

"It was a great win for us. For a second, we kind of lost our focus. But some
guys picked up the intensity and everybody else fed off of it. We have become
a tight knit group. We going to be there for each other and we're going to be
unselfish. In a situation like we were in tonight, we're going to have each
other's back."

On the game:
"They came out and played well in the second quarter and the third quarter.
We hit some shots and they hit some shots. Paul finished off the third
quarter with some great shots. We were talking about the fact that they got
some confidence. Dirk was shooting the ball well. Some other guys came off
the bench and contributed defensively and helped them get some easy baskets.
When a team gets confidence, it's tough to try to shoot them down. But we had
some guys who made big plays down the stretch."

Is it tough play, knowing a USA loss would be historic?
"Yes it is. Nobody wants to lose. Every team is going to try and come out and
play hard against us. As long as we play hard, then hopefully we'll win the
game. But there's no guarantee, so you can never tell in international
basketball."


Michael Finley

On the overall game:
"It was a good game to watch for fans and a good game to be a part of. The
better team prevailed, but they gave us a fight for 40 minutes and we came
out on top. We felt good. We handled them in the exhibition game, but we knew
they would be more excited to play us. At halftime, all that changed. We took
them very seriously and defensively, we got a little more intense and it
sparked our offense.

On Dirk:
"Dirk's going to get some numbers. He's the #1, #2 and #3 option on that
team, so he's going to get some shots and make the most out of it. That's the
way it is in the NBA, too so it's not going to change for the German team."

On the USA breaking away:
"I got some good looks at the basket and we just tried to make the most of
it. We kept at it. There was a little hump that we couldn't get over. When we
picked up our intensity, they seemed to wear down a little bit. Physically,
they ran down and that's when we made our run."


Ben Wallace

On getting off to a slow start:
"We got off to a slow start. We were depending too much on our offense. In
the second half, we stretched our defense a little more and came out and got
very active on the defensive end. We were able to control the game from
there."

On second half adjustments:
"On offense, we were over reacting to the picks they were setting. We were
switching a lot on those and it gave us some match up problems. So in the
second half, we said that everyone would stay with their man."

On his defensive intensity, despite foul trouble:
"Once you look at the bench, you know there are guys capable of picking up
where you left off, so I wasn't going to be tentative trying to save myself
from foul trouble. It's not fair to the team for me to go through the motions
and not give my best. I just tried to stay aggressive and make some things
happen."

On China's (the USA's next opponent) Yao Ming:
"He'll be another big task for us. But we have to stay focused on him and we
can't allow their shooters to get going. They have guys capable of knocking
down some outside shots, so we can't put too much emphasis on Yao Ming and
allow the other guys to beat us from the outside. We will try to stick to our
game plan and try to make them shoot over us."

On the close game:
"We weren't worried about how the game was going to be viewed. They hit some
tough shots, they ran off a couple of three's and got right back into the
game. This type of game builds character. I think we needed a game like this
to get us ready to play."


Elton Brand

On the way the team came together in this game, especially behind Paul
Pierce's efforts:
"Man, Paul reached for it. Paul was a bit fatigued but he hit big shot after
big shot and you've got to respect that. We needed a close one like that to
get our team together and get our pride together. That was pride out there.
We will be more focused the rest of the way. We have to play well. Tonight,
we had some spurts, but we have to go out and play 40 minutes."


Assistant Coach Kelvin Sampson

On the amazing third quarter and a big USA win:
"Two things that I noticed tonight. One was George's calmness and his
patience. And then, the second is that great players step up. They have no
fear of failure and that's the common denominator. I tapped Reggie (Miller)
during the game and said, 'Paul kind of reminded me of you winning some of
those big playoff games.' And we needed him to. He is our best scorer. The
shots he took and the shots he made fueled us. Then, our defensive intensity
picked up.

"When you aren't making shots, you have a tendency to let down on defense.
Ben Wallace, Andre Miller, Shawn Marion, Michael Finley... I can't say enough
about that group that we had in their at that time. Elton Brand played well,
but Paul Pierce was the guy who got us going."

On the game bringing team together, mentally:
"You don't know about your team until they face adversity. Tonight's win
really meant a lot. We saw adversity. We were in a tough situation and we
came through. It should bring us closer together. I can't think of anything
better for great team cohesion than going through a tough battle and coming
out ahead."