Dwyane Wade 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 guard Dwyane Wade said after the game:
Question: Talk about the game against Greece in 2006.
Dwyane Wade: We kind of laid back and let them run their offense, let them get into a groove. We didn’t make adjustments, they ran 42 pick and rolls, we didn’t make adjustments at all in the game. Tonight we threw a couple different defenses at them.
Question: How would you describe your defense today?
Dwyane Wade: We played like we wanted to win. We played together. We were very aware of their offensive sets. We were very aware of their personnel and we played like that. We stepped in front of what they wanted to do. We knew everything already. Our coaches did a great job of getting us prepared.
Question: Why was the second quarter so much better than it was in the first quarter?
Dwyane Wade: It’s always like that for us. We come out in the first quarter and we understand that teams are going to come out and they’re playing with a lot of emotions, they’re very excited, we’re very excited and we’re going to spar at first until we hit that button and we try to turn it up. I think that’s why we’re one of the best teams in here – we’re deep and we can bring in another wave of guys and there’s not a letdown from the first guys. That’s our key, we have a wave of guys who will keep coming.
Question: Does this mean something for you to beat them like this?
Dwyane Wade: Yeah, we wanted to make a statement that first of all, we’re a better team than we were in ’06. We’re only going to continue to get better. It’s only game three. It’s another win and we can learn from it but we have to move on to the next game.
Question: Do you think you sent a message to other teams?
Dwyane Wade: I don’t think so. These teams are not afraid of us at all. I don’t know what kind of message it sends. But we’re here. We’re going to play that way on the defensive end that way every day to give ourselves the opportunity to win. Then when we have one of those offensive games where we’re really clicking on all cylinders, we’re really going to be tough.
Question: Talk about Spain, the USA’s next opponent.
Dwyane Wade: Spain is good, they’re a good team. They’ve got a lot of weapons they can throw at you. They know each other, they’ve been playing together for awhile. They’re a very good team and we’re looking forward to the match-up.
Question: Is the identity of this team the defense?
Dwyane Wade: No question. We know that we’re not going to win if we don’t play defense like we played tonight.
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