USA recap, stats, quotes, etc.

[pap49cba]

Brittney:

On her game:

(I was) just letting it come to me, whatever the defense gave me. I didn’t want to force anything, or you start to make a lot of shots and you start doing crazy things. I just wanted to let it come to me naturally. I need to make those damn free throws, though. Six of them I missed.

(Reporter) I wasn’t going to bring that up:

I’ll bring it up. I needed to make those. I haven’t missed that many free throws since we lost to UConn when I was at Baylor.

LINK

 

[RadyLady]

great comments by Brit. thanks for posting Pap.

 

[easttexastrash]

That was really strange to see BG miss that many FTs. She was near 80% in the WNBA this past season and 92% in the playoffs.

 

[easttexastrash]

WOW...the team talked more about Griner in their interviews than I do here (anymore). I love what Tina and Maya had to say. I really makes me proud to see UCONN players, and Geno, have so much respect for what Griner brings to the team. There was one time when Griner had a big sequence of plays and Geno patted her on the butt (not in a Mulkey kind of way) as she walked to the bench and it just made me proud to see him appreciating her game like that. When you earn Geno's respect, you know you have accomplished something.

Tina Charles (New York Liberty)
Can you talk about you and Brittney Griner getting the USA off to that incredible start?
She’s just a special, unique player. She’s a big target. I really enjoy playing alongside of her. I don’t think I’ll ever have another opportunity to play with somebody of her talent, her skills and just the way she approaches the game, just knowing how young she is and what she can do to impact the game. So, it’s a lot of fun to lob the ball up there, knowing she is the only one who can get it.

Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx)
What was the difference in this game?
Just being aggressive, getting the ball inside. I thought Brittney (Griner) did a great job for us, just being tough, finishing around the rim, getting to the free throw line, on the ball a little bit, running high-low. I thought our posts did a great job of finding each other, and then when we got those stops, we were running. That’s when we’re at our best, when we rebound and get out and run. The way we moved the ball, for the most part, was one of the better games for us I think, just with the assists we had. France is a tough team. They run, we tried to slow the pressure down a little bit by picking them up full court, slowing them down a little bit. I thought overall our connectedness was as good as it’s been in awhile, in order to slow it down.

 

[OneTrickPony]

Brittney:

On her game:

(I was) just letting it come to me, whatever the defense gave me. I didn’t want to force anything, or you start to make a lot of shots and you start doing crazy things. I just wanted to let it come to me naturally. I need to make those damn free throws, though. Six of them I missed.

(Reporter) I wasn’t going to bring that up:

I’ll bring it up. I needed to make those. I haven’t missed that many free throws since we lost to UConn when I was at Baylor.

LINK

Just what I was thinkin'...

 

[meyers7]

Great game by Griner. She has improved leaps and bounds since college. Glad she's playing for US(A).

 

[j66kicker]

This team is so impressive. All are single-digit first round WNBA draft choices (except Stewart of course, and she will be). 8 of the 11 WNBA players were #1 picks, with the lowest being #6:

Taurasi - 1
Bird - 1
Moore - 1
Charles - 1
Griner - 1
Augustus - 1
Ogwumike - 1
McCoughtry - 1
Sims - 2
Whalen - 4
Dupree - 6

Amazing there is not enough room in the starting lineup for THREE overall #1 draft picks.