The women of Team USA talk about their exhibition game against Brazil and about the dunk attempt by Sylvia Fowles.

U.S. Olympians celebrate Washington sendoff with easy win over Brazil

Olympic rookie Lindsay Whalen led the way for the U.S. with 21 points. (photo by Kelly Kline)

PHOTO GALLERY- USA vs Brazil

WASHINGTON -- Other than the chaos caused inside the Verizon Center Monday night by the appearances of President Obama and Vice President Biden, everything else was about what could be expected in the launching stage of the United States women's basketball Olympic team's push for a fifth straight gold medal.

Just days after the conclusion of the front half of the WNBA schedule, the 12 American players headed quickly to the nation's capital where, after only two practices compressed into a 48-hour period, they faced off against Brazil, the No. 6-ranked team in the world and a program that has been training together for months. But those circumstances only made Team USA's 99-67 win over Brazil all the more impressive, especially after the U.S. men's squad, who played the Brazilian men's team in the second half of the evening's double-header, had to withstand an early challenge, rallying from a 10-point deficit before ultimately downing their Brazilian counterparts, 80-69.
 
There were the usual observations of some rustiness and an excess of turnovers due to the U.S. team's limited  amount of time together. Still, while Brazil forced the Americans into 22 turnovers to harvest 16 points, the USA basketball contingent capitalized on Brazil's 29 turnovers to score 27 points.
 
The U.S. women's Olympic squad, coached by Connecticut Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma, contains six of his former players -- Sue Bird, Asjha Jones, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi, and recent graduates Tina Charles (2010) and Maya Moore (2011). However, Bird was unable to play in Monday's game, leaving unexpectedly Sunday due to the death of her stepfather Dennis and returning to New York for an undetermined amount of time.
 
Auriemma said he told his star point guard to take whatever time she needs before rejoining the team, which boarded a charter flight in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, just hours after the men's team wrapped up their exhibition game with Brazil Monday night. First stop on the itinerary is Manchester, England, where the U.S. women will play another exhibition Wednesday -- this one against the Olympic hosts Great Britain -- at 7:30 p.m. local, 2:30 p.m. EDT. (The game will be aired on ESPN 2 & 3.)
 
Then, after a day of practice and media appearances, it's on to Istanbul, Turkey, for an exhibition tourney, where the U.S. will take on two of its upcoming Pool A preliminary-round Olympic opponents, Croatia and Turkey, on Saturday and Sunday, before finally heading back to England next Wednesday in time to cram in a bit more practice before Friday's Olympic Opening Ceremony and the start of the basketball competition at the Games on Saturday, July 28.
 
Auriemma said he would know more by Tuesday about when Bird would be back, but in her absence, an Olympic rookie, who while no Connecticut Husky, has at least some ties to the State of Connecticut, got the starting nod. What came after showed the strong depth of the Americans, as the team didn't miss a beat.
 
While she might be an Olympic newcomer, All-Star guard Lindsay Whalen, a former Minnesota Gopher whose early pro league career began as a star for the Connecticut Sun, is far from a green basketball newbie; now, in her eighth year as a pro, she holds down the point for the Minnesota Lynx whom she helped to the WNBA Championship last season.
 
Whalen proved her worth on Monday. Named the Tiffany Player of the Game, Whalen scored a game-high 21 points, shot eight-for-12 from the field, grabbed five boards and dealt out five assists while getting the United States off to a 26-7 start in the first quarter. Brazil never threatened the rest of the way.
 
"It's a huge honor to be part of the team and be amongst all these great players," Whalen said. "I just want to come in and in any way possible help the team. Anytime you represent your country, it's a huge honor and big responsibility."
 
As to the way the game went, Whalen said, "​I wanted to make sure we came out, got good looks and shared the ball, moved the ball.  Be aggressive when the time presented itself.  I think it was a good start for us.
 
"Got up, pressured the ball, make sure things happen.  I think that was the biggest thing -- coming in and making sure we got good looks."
 
 "Lindsay did an awesome job," said Indiana Fever standout Tamika Catchings, now the senior member of this program, who scored eight points, tacking on three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. "She knew she had to step up with Sue out. We always talk about when one person goes down, somebody is going to have to step up. As one of the only point guards, Lindsay knew she had to take control and she did that for us."
 
Auriemma seemed appropriately impressed with Whalen's contribution in his post-game remarks:
 
​"I don't think early on in Lindsay's career she probably got enough respect or enough exposure to let people know just how good she really is," he said.   "When she was on the World Championship team, I think some people were a little bit surprised, but she grows on you the more you're around ... her.
 
"She plays great at the World Championships, came back, won a WNBA Championship. And she's gotten better and better every year," Auriemma continued.
 
"​I think the fact that she's able to play that role where she can come off the bench and do whatever you want her to do, whether it's run the offense, score points, play defense, pressure people, she's just a special kid to be around.  She's in phenomenal shape, and I would think over the next month, she's going to have a real big impact on our team.
 
​"You watch Lindsay play, and you don't get a full appreciation for her until you're around her closeup, with her in practice, and you see some of the things she does," Auriemma added. "I always knew that she had the ability to get to the basket.  I always knew she was one of the toughest kids in the league."
 
"​When Lindsay has the ball and she's dribbling it, it's like she's always looking to move the chains.  When she's pushing the ball up the floor, there are a lot of people getting out of her way," he added.
 
"I wasn't sure she could shoot it from the perimeter.  I wasn't sure whether or not she would have the respect of all of these great players because she's not Sue.  She's not Diana.  She's not Tamika.  She doesn't have that kind of reputation.  But she's earned the respect of every one of these players and everyone on the coaching staff, for sure."
 
As for the statistical story, Taurasi had missed most of the WNBA season to date with the Phoenix Mercury because of an injured hip flexor. But she showed she's back to full health, scoring 16 points, 12 of them from beyond the arc where she netted four of her seven long-ball attempts.
 
​"I felt pretty good, you know,"  Taurasi said. "I haven't played in a while, so this is the first time being out there and playing the game.
 
"​When you play with someone like Lindsay, it makes the game pretty easy.  Just run and she'll find you open.  I think I'm on the right path."
 
Seimone Augustus, one of three Lynx players on the squad along with Whalen and Moore, contributed 12 points off the bench, which also offered 11 points and 10 rebounds from Charles, 11 points from Moore, five from Cash and four points and two assists from Atlanta Dream star Angel McCoughtry, who, like starting center Sylvia Fowles of the Chicago Sky, failed at a dunk attempt.
 
Though McCoughtry did not make a major offensive contribution, her defensive play, which included three rebounds, four steals and even a blocked shot, were a good sign for the All-Star, who had missed several games with a knee problem. But her dunk attempt sailed over the hoop without coming anywhere near the iron.
 
​"Angel's knee is fine," Auriemma said while also comparing the two dunk attempts. "Her hands are fine.  Her ankles are good.  Her arms and shoulders are good.  
 
"As you move up that ladder, things don't become so good," Auriemma wisecracked.  "That was the lamest attempt at a dunk I've ever seen in my life, and I embellish things a little bit, but I'm not embellishing things."
 
Of Fowles' near-miss, which awakened the crowd when it bounced in, then rimmed out after Fowles took off a bit too early, Auriemma observed: "​What Sylvia did was honorable.  I've seen guys miss dunks, and Sylvia has been dunking her brains out in practice.  What Sylvia did was an honorable attempt at trying to wake up the crowd.
 
"​What Angel did is bring comic relief to the crowd.  So I guess they both have their place in the game."

Izzy Castro Marques led Brazil with 21 points. (Photo by Kelly Kline)
 
On the Brazilian side, Iziane Castro Marques led the way with 21 points, despite spending half the game on the bench after picking up four fouls in the opening quarter. Castro Marques had been a player on the Atlanta Dream through last season's run to the WNBA Finals, but Olympic assistant Marynell Meadors, head coach of the Dream, said the Brazilian did not re-sign with Atlanta and is now a free agent.
 
On the other hand, Erika de Souza, who missed the front half of the season to train with the Brazilians, is expected to return to Atlanta after the Olympics. DeSouza had a difficult night offensively, scoring just three points, but she was a defensive force, grabbing 11 rebounds, as well as two steals, and swatting down a game-high five blocks.
 
"I can't wait to get her back," Meadors said. "That's going to make things a whole lot different."
 
Despite struggling in the front half of the schedule, the two-time defending Eastern playoff champions are a strong bet to return to the postseason this October.
 
Brazilian forward Clarissa Dos Santos, while also struggling to score, notching just five points for the outing, collected a game-high 15 rebounds and batted down three blocks.
 
Meanwhile, Brazil's Karla Costa took up some of the scoring slack, coming off the bench for 19 points and grabbing five steals. However, Costa and Castro-Marques were the only two Brazilians to breach the double-digit scoring barrier, as Brazil, which collectively shot just 31.9 percent from the field, struggled against the American defensive pressure.
 
Only 10 of the 12 U.S. players saw action Monday. In addition to Bird's absence, Jones did not play as Auriemma played it cautious because of a minor foot injury she suffered last Wednesday in WNBA Eastern Conference front-runner Connecticut's win at home over Washington.
 
Auriemma talked about that decision while also addressing the uniqueness of coaching a roster half of which is comprised by six of his former players, including Jones.
 
​"We have six that are UConn players, and, yeah, there are two that I wish I had.  I won't tell you which two.  But it's a unique opportunity that doesn't come along very often," Auriemma said.
 
"​I don't know that there's going to be another time in the near future that whoever is coaching this team will have an opportunity to coach six of their players," he continued.  "The fact that three of them all played as seniors on an undefeated team and won a National Championship, you couldn't write that story even if you tried to.
 
"​For me, it's an unbelievable experience to be in this situation, and a real comfort level that I have with them, and I think they have with me," he added.
 
"I don't have to explain to them what I'm doing.  So if I don't play Asjha tonight because I'm worried about her foot, even though the Doc says she can go, maybe. But I'm not going to play Asjha because she's not a hundred percent ready to go.
 
"And it's like Swin.  If I play Swin five minutes or 25 minutes, it doesn't matter.  If I play Maya eight minutes or 28 minutes, they understand why I'm doing it," Auriemma noted.
 
"​That's a heck of a comfort level for a coach to have. I'm fortunate. I'm really, really fortunate."
 
Because of the presence of the president and vice president, security was extremely tight.  Surprising some, the presidential visit began after the women's game was already over. Obama has attended WNBA games with his daughters in the past and coaches their junior level basketball teams. He has spoken movingly of his appreciation of WNBA players as role models for both his own daughters and girls in general.
 
Despite missing their game, Obama did take time to visit with the team in their dressing room after the game.
 
"He said he watched it on his iPhone," Taurasi quipped. "He has the apps."
 
"We talked a little health care, tax breaks," she deadpanned.
 
A number of the players on the squad have met Obama before during visits to the White House after winning NCAA and WNBA titles.
 
It was the first meeting with the president for Whalen. She called the president's locker room visit an honor:
 
"It was the first time I ever met him, so that was pretty cool.  What he said?  He just said represent your country well and make us proud.  So I know we'll all take that to heart and go in with that mindset."
 
Auriemma and his Huskies have been on White House visits after the NCAA titles in 2010 and 2011 and the coach has taken phone calls from the president after major milestones, such as when his team broke the NCAA win-streak record previously held by the UCLA men's squad with the Huskies' 89th consecutive win.
 
​Biden also has followed women's basketball, particularly Delaware, his alma mater, which is led by senior Elena Delle Donne, whom many predict may land on the U.S. Olympic squad in 2016. Biden is known to text Blue Hens coach Tina Martin before games and recently invited the squad down for a tour of the White House, hosting the group afterwards for a barbecue dinner at his residence.
 
Auriemma, a man not easily star-struck, spoke almost reverentially about the experience of being in Obama's company.
 
"Yeah, the President is a huge basketball fan -- everybody knows that," Auriemma said.  "Everybody that's paying attention.  He came in to congratulate the players and to wish them luck and he spent probably a lot more time than he wanted to down there just being a regular guy, wanting to know about the team, where we were going, what we were doing next, what the seedings were, who was playing who.
 
"​He's got a pretty good grip on what's going on with the Olympics.  Some of the players had already met him.  Some this was their first time, and he treated every one of them exactly the same," Auriemma continued.
 
"He knew some of them by their first names and some he recognized.  One of the great things about meeting the President, this President or any President, regardless whether you voted for him or didn't vote for him or you're Republican or Democrat or something else, when you're in the presence of the President, you're in the presence of the President.
 
"​We had dinner with a bunch of generals Friday night.  And you get to shake hands with two four-star generals," Auriemma explained. 
 
"No disrespect, but it's a little different than living in Manchester, Connecticut, and saying hi to one of the cops at Dunkin' Donuts.  It's not the same thing. It's a little different, you know?  A little bit different."
 
Candace Parker, the former Tennessee star on the Los Angeles Sparks, also talked about Obama and was asked if she had met him in her native Chicago before he harbored ambitions to be president.
 
"He's a great guy," Parker said. "He has so much swag. We always talk about when he walks in a room, collar popped, I think he has the most swag ever for a president.
 
"It was a great honor. He remembered my daughter's name."
 
As for their earlier meeting, "I actually attended an NAACP function when I was in Jack and Jill as a kid and he spoke (2001) at one of the dinners I was at.
 
"We Chicagoans have to stick together. It's amazing what he's done. But I don't think -- looking back, I don't think -- after his (Chicago) speech people were running up wanting to get their picture taken with him."