LeBron James Olympics interview
USA Basketball | Aug. 14, 2008
On the morning of August 14, the third day of Olympic basketball competition, Team USA beat Greece, 92-69. Here's what USA forward LeBron James said after the game:
Question: How does this Greek team compare with the one in 2006?
LeBron James: I only see the difference in our team. We’re a much better team and we showcased that tonight.
Question: Did you see fear in their eyes?
LeBron James: No, I don’t think so. We don’t know that we want to go out there and put fear in people’s eyes. A lot of teams think they can beat us, but until they get out onto the court … you can’t go over how fast we are until you get out there on the court with us. It was a great game for us.
Question: What would you say your role is on this team?
LeBron James: For me, it’s just to do whatever it takes to win ball games. I can do everything: score, rebound, defend, it doesn’t matter. Whatever needs to be done at that point in time in the game I can take care of.
Question: Talk about today's game.
LeBron James: Every time we go on the court we want to have that type of intensity and that type of feeling that it’s our last game. We’ve been in tune for the last couple of games.
Question: What does it feel like when you get it going like you did, especially in the second quarter?
LeBron James: It feels great. When we can get a stop on the defensive end and get out and run, it feels great. Unless you can get out on the court with us you can’t understand how fast we are as a team. When our bigs are running and our guards are running it feels good.
Question: Coach K just said there are no unbeatable teams, even the USA. Your thoughts?
LeBron James: Of course there aren’t. If you don’t come prepared and play like you know how to play, every team can be beat. We are looking to coming out and continuing to play the way we know we should and give ourselves a chance to win. Coach is right.
Question: Does the USA team have a weakness?
LeBron James: I don’t think we have a weakness, but if a team comes out and plays better than us or we don’t come out and play like we know how to play, then we could lose.
Question: What about Spain next?
LeBron James: We haven’t focused much on Spain yet. Tomorrow is going to be Spain all day, all Spain. We’ll go through video, go through practice, go through shootaround game day getting ready for Spain. They have a good team. They have a lot of pros, a lot of guys who have been together for a long time. We look forward to the challenge.
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