Arizona State head women's basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne is currently in Belgrade, Serbia, coaching the USA Women's World University Games Team. Throughout her time in Belgrade thesundevils.com will be providing coverage of Charli's experience coaching the team through blogs from Charli, releases and recaps from USA Basketball and other coverage from the World Wide Web. Competition at the World University Games will take place July 1 - 11.
July 11, 2009 - Charli Blog #8 (Got the Gold!)
Well we beat Russia 83-64 but I don't mind telling you we were down 8 in the second quarter. We then went on a 19-3 run to finish the half!
We went in at halftime up 8 points and ready to make a few adjustments and turn up the "heat" defensively. We came out and poured it on in the first 3 minutes and I don't believe they got any closer than about 13 after that.
Whew! It has been an intense and hardworking month but worth every second. To be up on the medal stand with USA on your chest and to have reached our goal felt tremendous. I am so thankful to the players for buying in and to my incredible staff (Suzy Merchant of Michigan State University and Julie Rousseau of Pepperdine University).
We all became a great team and will take many fond memories and many "Serbia stories" away with us. Of course some things that happened in Serbia must stay in Serbia. :-) Ready to be home!
Signing off from Serbia,
Charli
July 10, 2009 - Charli Blog #7
One Game One Goal!
We beat Australia and now is the big showdown for the gold medal. Statistically, Russia has dominated in almost every category with us usually a close second. Russia is an offensive machine. They are bigger, older and I believe basically all professional players so we will have to really play great defense and control the boards for 40 minutes to achieve our goal. We will be ready!
On a sidenote, everybody wants to trade for our USA gear (it is pretty cute). Mine might fit a gymnast or two. Haha!
July 9, 2009 - USA Women Advance Undefeated To World University Games Gold Medal Game After 81-66 Win Over Australia
FROM USA BASKETBALL -- BELGRADE, Serbia - Down 13-9 with 4:53 remaining in the first quarter, the 2009 USA Women’s World University Games Team (6-0) launched a 25-0 run that established an insurmountable U.S. lead and helped propel the USA past Australia (4-2) 81-66 on Thursday evening in Belgrade, Serbia.
The USA advances undefeated to the 2009 World University Games gold medal game, where it will meet the winner of also unbeaten Russia (6-0) and Czech Republic (4-2) at 3:00 p.m. (9:00 a.m. EDT) on Saturday, July 11 at Belgrade Arena. The loser of the Russia versus Czech Republic game will face Australia in the bronze medal contest at 12:30 p.m. (6:30 a.m. EDT).
"I think we came out, got a little run and then we let up," said USA and Arizona State University head coach Charli Turner Thorne. "As a coach I don't understand that. We always want everybody to go out and work hard every possession. You have to credit Australia. They're a tough, physical team. They play hard every possession. Our team can learn from that. We take possessions off and every time we took a possession off in the second half, they capitalized."
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Quoting Charli Turner Thorne
“It’s going to be interesting, going into the final game. I’m not expecting to have a big lead against Russia. We’re really going to have to talk about hat and prepare for more of a one possession game. We have been preparing for that and talking about it, but it hasn’t materialized. Poland was a great situation for us because it was at least a two or three possession game at times. In some ways, maybe it’s good that we didn’t play great today. Knowing this group and how well they adjust, how much pride they have and how much they want to get this done. Usually off of a down game they come back and play really, really well. Hopefullly we can make a few adjustments and be ready.”
On the second half:
“I think we came out, got a little run and then we let up. As a coach I don’t understand that. We always want everybody to go out and work hard every possession. You have to credit Australia. They’re a tough, physical team. They play hard every possession. Our team can learn from that. We take possessions off and every time we took a possession off in the second half, they capitalized. This 5:30 game time has not been good for us in terms of our energy level. We just don’t seem to be at the right energy level the entire game. We’ve been good at the 3:00 game and that’s our next game time. I think no matter what time we play for the gold medal, we’ll be energized and ready. I don’t know, though. We let up and they took advantage. Bottom line is that we’re playing for the gold and we’ll be ready.”
On Russia:
“They’re the team we’ve prepared to play. There’s usually one other team that’s as good as us and that’s Russia. They have depth like we do, they can go nine, 10 deep. They bring great scorers off the bench. They’re bigger than us. They’re older than us. They’re more experienced than us. I coached against half this team two years ago at the U21 (World Championship). They’re a graduate school team. They have heart, they play within themselves. I think it’s going to come down to 40 minutes of defense for us. We have to have a better rebounding effort than we had today.”
July 8, 2009 - Charli Blog #6
We are 5-0 with one "scare" from a good, well-coached Poland team and now finally the moment we have been preparing for! We play Australia in the semi-finals tomorrow. We need to win to play for the Gold Medal on July 11th.
Russia is definitely the favorite to advance on the other side of the bracket. They have been every bit as dominant as we have through the tourney, winning on average by 30-plus points!
On a side note, the girls had a blast cheering the USA men's team on to victory over the Serbian men in a "barnburner" in front of 13,000 Serbians and 100 Americans. They were waving their American flags, dancing to "Soulja Boy" and chanting ‘U-S-A!’ Fun Stuff!
Getting late and still film to breakdown so stay tuned!
Charli
July 7, 2009 - USA Women Defeat Czech Republic 115-78, Advance To Medal Semifinals As Undefeated No. 1 Seed
FROM USA BASKETBALL -- BELGRADE, Serbia - Led by 20 points from Tina Charles (Connecticut / Jamaica, N.Y.), the 2009 USA Women’s World University Games Team (5-0) featured five players in double figures as it crushed Czech Republic (4-1) 115-78 on Tuesday afternoon in Belgrade, Serbia.
The USA advances to the medal semifinals as Group E’s No. 1 seed, and will play No. 2 seeded Australia (4-1) at 5:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. EDT) on Thursday, July 9. Also today, Russia (5-0) beat Australia (4-1) to secure Group F’s No. 1 seed and will play Czech Republic at 8:00 p.m. on July 9th. The two semifinal winners will meet in the July 11th gold medal game at 3:00 p.m. (9:00 a.m. EDT), while the semifinal losers will battle for the bronze medal at 12:30 p.m. on the 11th.
Click here for full release.
Quoting Charli Turner Thorne
On today’s game:
“This was much better, it was a big improvement over Poland. Anytime you can outrebound a team by 30, you’re going to be happy. I thought we controlled the boards and we controlled the game. They responded well after the Poland game. They really came back with a greater sense of urgency, better focus, better energy. I think that if we can carry this into the medal round, we’re going to be in great shape.”
Were you surprised they didn’t try to zone you like Poland did?
“Usually you kind of do what you do. Poland’s been zoning the whole tournament and the Czechs really don’t want to. They were in it a little while in the first half, but we shredded it. We actually came back and worked on our zone offense a little more in practice yesterday. So I think we were ready for people playing us more zone.”
On the Czech Republic:
“They did a good job, they didn’t quit. They kept transitioning and taking it at us. They’re a good team.”
What are your thoughts on Australia, your semifinal opponent?
“We scrimmaged them for three quarters. They’re always good, they play great basketball. They’re aggressive, a good defensive team and they have a post player who scored about 35 the other night. So they have a good inside attack and then some good shooting guards. I think we’re familiar with them, that’s kind of a nice thing. What I have to make sure of is, what happens in a scrimmage and what happens in the medal round is two totally different things. We have to make sure our team realizes that this is going to be a much different game, a much tougher game than that scrimmage.”
How much is the USA’s depth an advantage in a tournament like this?
“That’s a great question because I think that’s what separates us. The only team I’ve seen that comes close to our depth is Russia. They can bring kids off the bench who are possibly as good as their starters. Everybody else, Czech Republic especially, will sub in a little. For us, we’ll have a day in practice where we think one group’s the first group and then a different group will dominate. We really have 11 great players who can play, we have 12, but 11 healthy players and obviously that’s a huge advantage for us.”
July 5, 2009 - USA Women Fight Off Poland, Remain Undefeated With 75-67 Win
FROM USA BASKETBALL -- BELGRADE, Serbia - An 11-0 run that stretched from the end of the first half into the first two minutes of the third period helped the USA Women's World University Games Team (4-0) fight off a resilient Poland (2-2) team and remain undefeated with a 75-67 win on Sunday evening in Belgrade, Serbia.
Tina Charles (Connecticut / Jamaica, N.Y.) recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds; Danielle McCray (Kansas / Olathe, Kan.) also scored 12 points; and three U.S. players, Alexis Gray-Lawson (California / Oakland, Calif.), Jeanette Pohlen (Stanford / Brea, Calif.) and Kayla Pedersen (Stanford / Fountain Hills, Ariz.), contributed nine points.
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Quoting Charli Turner Thorne
On playing against a three-two zone the entire game:
"We knew that we were going to see a zone. Offensively we scored some decent points, we did a good job of attacking the zone. We haven’t seen much zone at all and it was a little bit of an adjustment. Mainly it was a great game for us. It was great to have to dig deep, make big plays in a game and have things bite us in the butt that we’ve been coaching them on and need to do more consistently."
Is it good to have a close game like this?
"I think this team, knowing them and their pride, will take this somewhat as a loss and really learn. From their lack of communication on defense to everything else. We’ll use our prep time between each game from here on out. That will also help us. These are quick turnarounds. These teams are very good. Julie Rousseau did a great job on the scouting report. Poland did exactly what we went over."
On the USA team’s play in the second half:
"I thought the second half was great. We came out, jumped on them, got that 10-point cushion and really didn’t relinquish it much the whole second half. Poland’s a good team. They’re coached well, they played us well. They played their zone a lot differently than we had seen it on tape. They made adjustments for our inside game and made us beat them from the outside. Thank goodness D-Mac (Danielle McCray) and (Jeanette) Pohlen and some other players hit some shots and did some good things. They really keyed on our inside game. They also keyed on our transition. They didn’t even offensive rebound, they just ran back and said ‘we’re not going to let you get into transition.’ They had a really good game plan, but I think we made some good adjustments and did a good job."
Were you worried at all about your inside scoring in the first half?
"They were doubling from the wing and we needed to enter from the top. When we did that, we were successful. We definitely missed some easy shots. We’ve been preparing from day one for that. Our goal is to be the best defensive team in the tournament. We played a very good offensive team and I thought our second half defense was good."
On the Czech Republic, the USA’s next opponent:
"The Czech Republic is the winner of their pool. They’re a stronger team than Poland. They’ve got two really good scorers. They’re very similar, in terms of run, transition offense, spread the floor, take us off the dribble attack, make the extra pass. I think they’re going to play us more man, but at the same time this is the only team that hung around us and they played a zone. So if the Czechs have a zone, I’m sure we’ll see it."
July 5, 2009 - Charli Blog #5
We beat Serbia 84-50 but it was the most hard-fought 34-point victory I have been involved with. Just imagine the most physical game you have ever played in and then times it by 1000. I was very proud of how composed our team stayed despite everything.
With our third convincing win in a row the team more than earned a day off. So we were off to the Fortress, St Marcos Church and a few other sites with our trusty tour guide Goran, who had more knowledge than our crew could absorb at times. Since we walked for almost two hours, I am not sure the players felt it was a day off. Haha!
My family arrived too! If you can believe it they had no delays and they had all their bags, but they were exhausted as can be. I went to visit Will, the boys, and Grandma Gloria in their "plush" digs at the Hyatt after our day of touring and needless to say I did not want to leave. Oh I wanted to visit with THEM but the big comfy beds, fluffy towels, and clean spacious room never looked so good.
It was a good off day. The coaches spent much of the evening preparing for Poland. They have great transition offense and rebound very well and like most of the top teams can really shoot it if you let them (we don't intend to let them).
Outside our Village......
Serbia has a large gypsy population of people who live by the river in boxes and little shacks. They peddle odds and ends on the streets to try to survive. Apparently the government has offered them better housing outside the city but they do not want to leave their ‘homes.’
The people of Belgrade have been very friendly and while there is no Starbucks here I did find a place to get a daily hot chocolate. After four days of purchasing at least one a day they have come to expect me!
July 3, 2009 - USA Women Power Past Host Serbia 84-50
FROM USA BASKETBALL -- BELGRADE, Serbia - After a first-quarter fight from Serbia (1-2), the 2009 USA Women's World University Games Team (3-0) buckled down on defense and held its opponent to just 36 points in the final three quarters and 36.7 shooting from the field overall to secure a 84-50 win on Friday evening in Belgrade, Serbia.
The USA will advance to the second round as Group A's No. 1 seed, where it will meet the No. 2 seed from Group D, Poland (2-1), at 5:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. EDT) on Saturday, July 5.
Click here for full release.
Quoting Charli Turner Thorne
On tonight's game:
"I think we were prepared for a close game, and at the same time, we knew that if we rebounded and played defense, we could pretty much dominate the game. I am really proud of this team for their composure and playing through rough play. We did anticipate Serbia would be very aggressive after scouting them, and the crowd was certainly in their favor. But it was fun. This is what we prepared for - a big arena, big crowd and having to pull together and find a way to get things done. It was another great team win."
On USA's rebounding advantage:
"We have been on them and on them about rebounding, and that's how we are choosing starters is by their rebounding, and their assist-to-turnover ratios. I think that they are getting rewarded first and foremost for rebounding has helped, but also I think that this team is savy enough to know that if we control the boards, we will control the game and we will win."
On the difference between the USA's aggressiveness in the first and second quarters:
"I think we were off to a little bit of a slow start. I don't think we were communicating very well. This is our third game in a row, and teams aren't quite as sharp. There is a little mental and physical fatigue. We were giving them easy shots, just not communicating. But we adjusted, got ourselves going and created some offense off our defense, which is what we want to do and what this team is about. This team's biggest goal is to be the best defensive team in the tournament, and they know if they do that, they are going to bring home the gold. I thought the second half our defense was a lot better.
"The slow start was actually good for us. We haven't faced any adversity on the court, and I think today was a little taste of it. I saw some things that we definitely need to address, the communication, and a little bit of selfishness crept in that first quarter. We'll talk about that and make sure we are a little more prepared."
On advancing as Group A's No. seed:
"We have checked off three wins, and we need seven total. It's a game-by-game process, and I'm looking at it one game at a time. Our goal is to win every game, and I think we have positioned ourselves well."
July 2, 2009 - Charli Blog #4
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I am happy to report while we have faced a little adversity off the court, so far so good on the hardwood.
We snuck by France 115-30 in our first game. Today we played Great Britain which has a team comprised mostly of British Americans who play college ball in the US. They were solid but in the end we prevailed 93-59.
Next up, the hometown team, Serbia. They love their basketball and their women's team is quite talented. We will play them in their Belgrade Arena which seats 20,000 (that is where Opening Ceremonies were last night). I doubt it will be a sell-out but we are expecting a big crowd and some serious "razzing".
During the Opening Ceremonies there were many people begging for our hats as we walked through the streets. Mine went to an eight-year-old boy who flashed me a beautiful smile!
Well, Happy early Fourth of July to everyone and stay tuned!
July 2, 2009 - USA Women Defeat Great Britain 93-59
FROM USA BASKETBALL -- BELGRADE, Serbia - For a second consecutive game, the 2009 USA Women's World University Games Team (2-0) needed just 10 minutes to build a comfortable lead before it ran away with a 93-59 victory over Great Britain (1-1) on Thursday afternoon in Belgrade, Serbia.
Jantel Lavender (Ohio State / Cleveland, Ohio) led the red, white and blue with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Danielle McCray (Kansas / Olathe, Kan.) tallied 15 points four board and four steals. Ta'Shia Phillips (Xavier / Indianapolis, Ind.) rounded out the USA's double-digit scorers with 11 points and eight rebounds.
The USA's size advantage on the interior was apparent from the start, and the USA finished with a 55-30 advantage on the boards and 48 points in point.
Click here for full release.
Quoting Charli Turner Thorne
On today's game:
"I was pleased. I thought we really set the tone with our defense. We knew they could shoot it well and they were going to try to pull our posts out, spread us out. I think we handled it well and created a lot of offense off of our defense. We had some lulls. It's always hard when you go up that big to stay focused. All in all, it was a great team effort.
"We're definitely feeling like Serbia is the most dangerous team in our bracket. Just being the home team and having the game in their arena. They're the most talented team, beside us, in our bracket. We have a quick turnaround for the third game. We have to get some rest and get prepared for our toughest game yet."
What kind of team does Serbia have?
"They're very offensively talented. It's hard to know who their key players are because he plays everybody. A lot of them come in and are very aggressive offensively. They shoot it really well. They're not really a low block team like us, but they're a very typical international team. They're going to try to spread us out, try to beat us off the dribble. I was very impressed with their transition offense, and I was very impressed with how aggressive they were on defense. A lot of times you're use to saggy man defense, but they really got after Great Britain and caused a lot of turnovers. I'll be anxious to see them against France tonight."
On the USA team's performance against Great Britain:
"Jantel (Lavender) continues to play better and better. She continues to do a great job inside. We knew they were going to swarm the post and they did. She handled it tremendously well, powering up, finishing, making good decisions with the basketball and rebounding the crud out of the ball. I think everybody's doing some really good things. This is such a balanced team. Danielle McCray definitely had a pretty complete game, defensively and offensively. I still want my guards to rebound better. That's our big challenge, but we have a lot of players doing a lot of great things. That's why the scoreboard looks so good right now."
July 1, 2009 - USA Women Open World University Games with 115-30 Win Over France
FROM USA BASKETBALL -- BELGRADE, Serbia - The 2009 USA Women's World University Games Team (1-0) forced 44 turnovers and shot 56.1 percent from the field (37-66 FGs) to cruise to an easy 85-point, 115-30 win over France (0-1) in its first contest of the 2009 World University Games on Wednesday morning in Belgrade, Serbia.
"We wanted to focus on outworking teams, outrebounding teams significantly, which we did, and taking care of the ball," said USA and Arizona State University head coach Charli Turner Thorne. "We wanted to be more patient on offense. I thought we did well in all of those areas.
"I was very pleased with our 3-point shooting and our field goal percentage in general, but I still want us to slice and dice a little more against zones."
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June 30, 2009 - Charli Blog #3
Final Preparations!
We are starting to adjust to the food and time change and our last practice is today before it all starts!
We tried to have a "Fun Day" and go tour Old Belgrade and see their castle and a few churches but it basically got rained out!
We got down to Old Belgrade and were waiting for our guide when the downpour hit. We tried to wait it out but it just kept coming down so we got a city bus and headed to a traditional Serbian restaurant for lunch. When we got off the bus the rain was coming down hard so we ducked into a restaurant we did not have a reservation for. With no relief in sight from the rain, our fearless leader [USA Women's National Team Director] Carol Callan talked possibly the top restaurant in Belgrade to seating us even though they were completely booked.
We dined on food that was different but very tasty. For appetizers, their beans and spinach quiche were the "favs" but their corn bread was definitely not our version of corn bread. The main course was basically meat and french. I know, you that know me are asking what my picky vegetarian self had. Well, if you must know, they made me a special plate with awesome sautéed mushrooms, mixed veggies and rice. But, it was not just the food experience, we were serenaded by a talented band of musicians that had our players dancing and singing! In short, the sites were few but the three-hour lunch was fun.
We had our last scrimmage before the tourney and I was very pleased as we beat Australia by 30.
Now we start the real games and our quest for the Gold!
June 29, 2009 - Photo Gallery
Click here for a photo gallery of the team in Serbia (photos courtesy: USA Basketball).
June 29, 2009 - Charli Blog #2
So we truly take MUCH for granted in our great ol "US of A!"
A Couple of my New Favorite Things
1. Shower curtains: Apparently they are optional over here which is truly testing my dexterity as it relates to holding a shower nozzle and NOT soaking the floor while washing my hair.
2. Mirrors: Ok this sounds quite vain but with five people per flat and one itty-bitty bathroom with an itty-bitty mirror it has been a new experience to apply make-up and do my hair without the benefit of a mirror.
With all that said, `It's all good!' I am surprised that almost everybody speaks English and that we get a police escort everywhere we go. I am choosing to look at the latter as a big convenience instead of being scared that we really need protection. Haha!
June 26, 2009 - Charli Blog #1a
Well we have officially completed our weeklong training camp and the report is I think we are ready. One week is a short time to build a team but the players have worked hard and have had outstanding attitudes. Being successful definitely starts with those two things.
We had scrimmage games against some very fast and skilled guys and that proved very beneficial. They really tested our transition defense and our ability to "fake" on offense. We had a few shots pinned against the glass, but all in all we got the best of them.
In short, we have gotten better every day so I feel we are now prepared to "Bring Home the Gold!"
Stay Tuned... as travels begin so should some funny asides.
June 26, 2009 - Charli Blog #1b
Travel Day: It's all Good!
"It's all Good" is of course our ASU motto that no matter what happens, we stay positive and make the best out of it.
Well, you probably did not expect to hear from me quite so quickly but I find myself with a little extra downtime. We are in Milan, Italy of all places.
Let me back up... We were delayed two hours on the runway in Chicago which caused us to miss our connection in Munich. So to get to Belgrade we have had to split our travel party with some going to Slovakia and some to Milan.
Well now our flight is delayed about two hours out of Milan so instead of arriving in Belgrade about 12:30 pm today as our itinerary suggested and having a nice lunch, getting unpacked, and a light practice, we will be headed straight to bed after staying up for well over 24 hour! Good thing we took our "Airborne!"
I am proud of our team. They have just rolled with the delays and have tried not to sleep too much so they can adjust to the nine-hour time difference.
We have definitely had more "quality" time which will only help as we continue to build our communication and trust with each other. IT'S ALL GOOD!