and a link to the quotes page. The quotes extend over 09/17, 09/18 and 09/19.
Selected blurbs below
Comments from USA head coach Dawn Staley as well as Sue Bird, Jordin Canada, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Brittney Sykes following the USA team's first practice in Miami.
www.usab.com
Sue Bird (Seattle Storm)
Break down this week’s training camp:
I thought camp went great. It’s always interesting when you have a new group of people and you’re trying to learn new plays, learn new defenses, and make what usually is a month’s worth of work into three days getting ready for competition. I think everyone came in with an open mind and really did a great job, especially for how young the group was. I’m looking forward to how they do in Puerto Rico.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa (University of Connecticut)
What has it been like for you to be at this camp and be around so many veterans?
It’s been an incredible experience. I’ve been able to learn so much from watching the vets in front of me, what they do, how they talk and communicate and just how they play overall.
Are you excited to travel to Puerto Rico and play in the AmeriCup?
It’s always an honor to be able to play with USA across your chest. To be able to go down and compete, and especially to have the chance to learn from the best, it’s going to be an amazing experience.
How much will this help you with your upcoming college season?
Definitely just competing at a higher speed, a higher pace and learning a lot more than just being at school will definitely help a lot for me going into my season. Also, I think it’ll help a lot with confidence. When you’re around the best people, playing with and learning from the best people, it’ll be something great to carry back to my team.
Christyn Williams (University of Connecticut)
What has it been like for you the past two days to be on the court with so many legends of the game?
It’s been great. I’m taking advantage of the opportunity. These are players I’ve looked up to when I was younger. So, for me to actually be playing with them, that’s unbelievable. It’s been great. I’ve learned a lot so far.
It looked like you were picking Sue Bird’s brain after practice today. What were you asking her?
Defensive-wise, in college they don’t really play certain stuff like they did today. So I was just trying to get some pointers on how to work through that, and she helped me.
What will you take away from this experience?
Learning as much as I can, just soaking up all the knowledge. I mean, we have legends on the floor right now. So, I’m just trying to learn as much as possible in these three days.
Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury)
On the short training the team has ahead of the AmeriCup
You know, it’s what we do best. We cut and paste. We get commitments from all these guys who take time out of their busy schedules, whether they’re a WNBA player, college player, whether you finished a week ago or whether you finished 48 hours ago. I think the commitment to this team has always been our priority. You see that with all these players here, people are flying in today, tomorrow, we take pride in making sure they can put together the best team to go and compete.
What do you think of all the younger players out here?
I was just saying what a great opportunity it is for them to come out here and play against people they’ve probably watched for a long time. I thought the college kids looked great. They fit right in, they competed. And with these camps, you just keep getting better every day. You get a little more comfortable with what we’re trying to do on the court, with the people around you. I think they did a great job.
How will this help you heading into the November training?
It helps. It gets you back into the USA Basketball mind frame, what we try to get done on the court. And even today, I didn’t participate much, but to be able to go over some of the things that we did really well when we were in Spain (for the 2018 World Cup), it’s like riding a bike. You need a couple trigger points to get you back on track and for Sue and I, as well as Skylar and Sylvia, that’s important.