USA Men Warm Up In China With Practice Scrimmage Against Japan

http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/worlduniversity/11_mwug_pr_scr_japan.html

Orlando Johnson (UC Santa Barbara)

How do you feel physically after a long travel day yesterday, and then three quarters of scrimmaging today?

I thought the travel day went pretty well. It was a long trip, but you just have to come ready and get your mind right so you are ready to play. 

Was today's scrimmage helpful as you prepare for your first pool play game on Aug. 13?

Today's scrimmage helped us get our legs back a little bit. We definitely feel a little jet-lagged, but we'll be fine. We are just ready to get to the exhibition game tomorrow and to keep building. Our ultimate goal is the gold medal, and we have some work to do to get there. 

How do you think the team played today?

We weren't at our best today, we know that, but as long as you can control your effort, how hard we play on defense and our communication, things will be fine. I think we did a pretty good job of that today. We still have things to clean up, and we'll probably watch some film and talk about those things. 

What are your first impressions of the athletes' village?

It's pretty cool how you see all of the different countries here and to get a chance to interact with them. Especially being a basketball player from the U.S., a lot of people look up to us because of how dominant we have been in basketball. When they recognize that and they respect you for that, it makes you feel pretty good about yourself. So, I'm very honored to be here and to have the chance to not only play with some great athletes but also to meet some great athletes from around the world.