POSTGAME FLASHQUOTES NEW ZEALAND - CAPE VERDE

Mario Correia, Cape Verde player

"I think this was a good game. But, they pressed us big time in the first quarter and we failed to handle this situation. We should have been prepared for that to come in this high level of competition. I should give the credit to New Zealand; they were really well coached and deserved to win. In the second half, though, I think we proved our character and never gave up despite falling much behind."

Eric Silva, Cape Verde head coach

"There is a big difference in quality between the two teams. This was our first game in that level. New Zealand has played many games in international level; World championships and other major competitions. For us it's not the same. We felt a lot of pressure. We started too bad from the beginning and had to face a 14-0 New Zealand streak. They played tough and we couldn't handle that. We played individually and not us a team. I believe that this won't happen tomorrow against Germany. I also hope that Germany won't prove that studied as New Zealand did today. They really knew all our systems. I would like to make something clear: our goal has not been to beat New Zealand or Germany; we knew that this is not going to happen. But, we do want to show that Cape Verde can also play basketball.

Mika Vukona, New Zealand player

We needed to win this game and tried to make that clear from the beginning. Opening games might cause trouble and that's the reason we decided to play tough and press full court from the tip-off. As a result we run a good 16-point-unanswered streak and never looked back. We knew Cape Verde has some talented players and kept our concentration till the end. I am happy with the game overall.

Nenad Vucinic, New Zealand head coach

I would like to welcome Cape Verde and its coach to international competitions. This was their debut and it has been always hard to play in that level. I know they are a better team than they showed today. We wanted to start tough and build a difference; indeed we run a good streak to begin the game. However, Cape Verde showed their spirit as they didn't give up till the end and I have to say that as a coach I never felt comfortable till the very end of the game. Concerning Wednesday's game, it's obvious that we have to face in Germany a taller team. This is something we are familiar with; battle against taller players. We have to play smart and tough; we feel we are in good position. The team's rebuilding process is underway. Seven players of our golden age that reached the 2002 World Championships' semifinals are now retired. From now on, we play with the odds against us. But, we usually play well in these cases.


POSTGAME FLASHQUOTES KOREA-SLOVENIA

Jo Sung Kim, Korea player

On the game: “Our main problem was rebounding. That’s the reason we lost the game. Considering the fact that we are through a renewing process, I think we played very good today. This means that we have very much prospect of improvement. If Ha manages to overcome the conditioning problems he faces due to the injuries he had, we will raise our game to the next level.”

On the near future: “We are a young team. Today we tried our best, but that wasn’t enough to beat Slovenia. We have to work harder in order to win the next game.”

Rasho Nesterovic, Slovenia player

On Korea: “They used some crazy three-pointers to come back in the game. We have to give them the credit of executing excellent form the perimeter, though. Korea is a good team, but we were a bit uneasy today.”

On Slovenia’s performance: “We can do better. This was our opening game; should we make the open shots in the next games, our job will become easier.”

On the forthcoming game against Canada: “Canada is a tough opponent. We’ll get some rest and prepare properly to face them.”

On Canada’s Samuel Dalembert: “We played each other in the NBA. He is definitely a good player, but basketball has never been an individual sport. What matters is what the team is capable of.”

Jaka Lakovic, Slovenia player

On the game: “It was a tough. We felt a bit stressed, lost our concentration and allowed Korea stay in the game. We had a very good first half, despite missing some open opportunities. The biggest problem popped up in the last quarter; it was then, when we lost our focus and stopped playing good on defense. Korea took advantage of that and trimmed the margin; however we never lost control of the score. As it turned out, we weren’t absolutely ready, but I think we deserved the win. We are now preparing for the next games.”

On Korea: “We had a hard time handling their playing style. On offense they prefer to go to one-on-one situations, their big men tend to execute from behind the arc and their offensive game isn’t as much disciplined overall.

On next game against Canada: “They hold a completely different team compared to Korea. Canada is a great opponent that has proven its quality in the friendly games across Europe. The have a deep roster with solutions in every position. But, we know them better than Korea, which we have never seen before.

POSTGAME FLASHQUOTES CROATIA-CAMEROON

Marko Popovic (Guard Croatia)

“The most important thing for us was to open the tournament with a win. We had some ups & downs during the game, however we managed to have control in over 90% of the game. At some point during the second half we blacked out and they managed to make a come-back from several points behind. Yet, we reacted a little better and we with a 16-2 run we closed the game. I hope that this is the first step for us to proceed to the next round. We are now waiting for Puerto Rico and hopefully we’ll play much better because we have a deep roster. Let’s hope that we’ll have Roko-Leni Ukic back, whom we missed tonight.”

Brice Vounang (Captain & Forward, Cameroon)

“I think it was a good game. We had a really bad first half due to all the problems we went though. In the second half, we tried to show a little bit of what we can do, but we couldn’t catch-up from a 20-point difference.”

Lazare Adingono (Coach Cameroon)

“I give credit to Croatia, since they played a fantastic game tonight and they deserved to win. With regards to the game, we wanted to play an up-tempo game that would give us a chance to go to the basket as many times as possible. However, Croatia played great defense. Puerto Rico will be another big-time challenge for us, as they have a lot of superstars. We are the underdog, but we’ll play and see what happens.
The night is long and things could possibly happen before game time tomorrow. I am not sure whether we are going to play tomorrow or not. We are going through a lot of adversity, which does not allow this young group of people to really perform to the best of their ability. All the credit goes to the players. The guys decided to play tonight, because they care about the sport and they are professionals. They are a testament of how passionate this young group of people is. Were it not for all these problems, Cameroon could be a force in many years to come.”

Jasmin Repesa (Coach Croatia)

“Good evening to everyone. As Marco said, the most important thing for us was to win the game tonight. Our second quarter was the best we had since we started preparation this summer –both defensively and offensively. On the other hand, there are two things I am not satisfied with. Firstly, the fact that Cameroon scored 54 points in the second half and, secondly, if we want to reach our goal and qualify to the Olympic Games, we had to be much much better at rebounding. Puerto Rico is one of the favourites here, because after a long time they have a complete roster and two NBA point guards. It is a team that has excellent players in all positions, power forwards who can play both inside and outside the paint and shooting guards who can knock down jumpers. Puerto Rico is a very tough opponent. Regarding Markota, I hope that he will play in the next game. The doctor said that his injury is nothing serious.”