six rebounds, while Whalen tallied 13 points and dished out five assists. “I’m not surprised by their start, I’m
surprised by ours,” remarked Auriemma. “When you’re playing a road game and you’re the United States, you always expect the other team to be ready, or more ready, than they ever will be. The emotions of the game were very high for them at the beginning. We were kind of passive in our offense and in our defense. The GB team is very disciplined on the offensive end. They took advantage of whatever mistakes we made. It might have been the best thing that happened to us, to be honest with you, to get down 10, 11 at one time. Because, sometimes when you’re the U.S. and you’re constantly playing from ahead, you never get an opportunity to play from behind and see how you respond. It might have been a good thing for us that happened." The USA’s depth was one factor in
its lopsided win, as the bench accounted for 55 points. Speed was another advantage as the Americans raced to 30 fast-break points compared to GB’s two. With the score tied at 6-6, Great
Britain compiled a 15-4 spurt to take its largest lead of the game, 21-10, at 3:20 in the first quarter. Two free throws from Catchings, however, were followed by two free throws from Moore and an old- fashioned three-point play from Whalen as the USA began to right the ship, thanks in part to a defensive trap. The USA forced 23 turnovers over-
all while collecting 19 steals, including five apiece from Catchings and Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream). “Yeah, we’re out there pressuring
and pressing and running so you’re definitely going all out and giving every- thing you have,” Whalen said. “So if you get tired you get a sub, and if you get tired and get a sub, then whenever you go back in you do the same thing.” The USA’s 21-0 run lasted through
to the first few minutes of the second period and included five scorers and seven points from Moore, and by the time Great Britain scored at 8:03 in the second, the USA led 31-23. Another 10-0 run for the Americans
helped the USA take a 15-point, 47-32 lead into the halftime locker room. Great Britain got as close as seven
USA Basketball News
Sylvia Fowles, a 6’6” center, provided an inside presence for the Americans and posted 10.8 ppg. and 5.8 rpg. in the team’s five exhibition wins.
points in the third quarter when Stef Collins, who finished with 14 points, sank a 3-pointer at 4:55. Auriemma called a time out, and the break served its purpose. Whalen scored six points during a 10-0 run that restored control of the game to the USA and helped the Americans secure a 73-51 lead headed into the final 10 minutes. The USA outscored Great Britain
15-12 in the fourth quarter to bring the game to its final score of 88-63. In just nine minutes played, Fowles
tied GB’s Julie Page as the high rebounder with eight boards apiece. “Definitely, and I feel like this is
great that we have these games,” Catchings said of the team’s exhibition schedule. “I don’t know how it would be if we just went straight from practice and straight to the Olympics.”
USA 109, Croatia 55 Shooting a blistering 70.8 percent
(17-24 FGs) from the field in the first quarter, the Americans ran away early with a 109-55 win over Croatia on July 21 at Abdi Pekci Arena in Istanbul, Turkey.
Led by 15 points on 6-of-6
shooting from Fowles, Parker added 14 points and six rebounds, Augustus tallied 12 points and six rebounds and Charles scored 11 points. “It’s a little odd, for us and
for them I’m sure, to know we are playing them a week from today, so we wanted to make sure we found out a little bit about them and more impor- tantly, kind of start getting into some kind of flow ourselves. “Having Sue (Bird) back
really helps an awful lot. It’s fun to watch us when our defense is generating all of our offense for us like it did that first 10 minutes. You score as many points as we did that first quarter, that’s a great sign for us because we have 12 scorers on our team. So, as long as the ball is moving, as long as everybody is on the same page and our defense is the catalyst, we’re obviously capable of being a really, really good team just like we were tonight,” said Auriemma.
The USA was back at full strength
with the return of Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), who arrived in Istanbul early that morning after returning home to New York on July 15 following the death of her mother’s longtime partner, Dennis Burden. The USA was off and running with a
10-0 run to start the game that included four baskets from four different U.S. players, including a 3-pointer from Catchings, who finished with nine points, five rebounds and four steals on her 33rd birthday. Forcing 11 turnovers in the first 10 minutes, the USA raced to its highest scoring stanza of its 2012 exhibition schedule, leading 38-13 at the first break. The USA’s largest run of the game
began with a coast-to-coast layup from Moore at 2:38 in the first quarter, and it stretched all the way 6:41 in the second period when Croatia finally scored to end the 19-0 onslaught. By the time Cash scored off of an offensive rebound at 5:54 in the second period, all 12 U.S. players had put points on the board to
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Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images
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