April 15, 2010

USA Basketball Select Team begins training

The 2010 USA Basketball Women's Select Team got underway with its first practice this morning. The day's activities included a press conference honoring the 2010 John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year Tina Charles and finalists Kelsey Griffin, Maya Moore and Nneka Ogwumike.

Nneka had this to say:

You are back playing for USA Basketball after earning gold medals with the 2008 USA U18 National Team and the 2009 USA U19 World Championship Team, what's it like to be back in a USA jersey?
It feels great. I don't think I've ever played on a USA team with anyone here, but I've been to trials with a few. I'm on the younger side in this group. It's fun to be around a lot of girls that have been sucessful throughout their season, and we are having a lot of fun and working hard.

What was your first experience playing for Geno Auriemma like?
I thought it was great. I like him a lot. Anyone who gets to practice under him is lucky. He's very charismatic and he's entertaining as well, but he also knows how to talk to people and get the job done. So, he just ties all of those personalities into practice, and I think it's really great.

The purpose of this select team is partly to develop future Women's National Team players. Does that make you nervous or put pressure on you?
Just a little bit, but at the same time, they invited everyone here for a reason. You just have to take advantage of the opportunity and just seize the moment. I think it's a really great introduction into what the National Team level is like. I'm really excited that I get to do it with this group of people, and I'm really honored that they invited me.

How do you think you did adjusting to a new coach and a new system today?
I felt like I played alright. Everyone is willing to learn and willing to work hard, and I think the congruency is kind of immersing itself because he is really teaching us lot of new offenses and things that they plan to run. It's also kind of similar to how we run it at Stanford, so it's not like it's something completely new to me. It's kind of a refresher course, but also at the same time learning new material, so I'm really excited as well.

Here are Nneka and Kayla on the court. There are lots more photos here and the complete report from USA basketball here.

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