Seimone returns to action with USA Basketball

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Coming off an ACL injury and long rehab process, Seimone Augustus makes an appearance and gets some quality action on the court for USA Basketball. Here are some of her thoughts:


On the USA Select Team:
They fought tonight. It was good to see them playing. It took them awhile to get into their groove, but once they did, some girls impressed me. I got caught up with Jantel (Lavender) and it was torture down there banging with her. I’m impressed with the way they’re playing.
On any surprises in camp:
I wouldn’t say seeing Maya Moore is a surprise. Everybody knows what she can do. But to see it in person is like, ‘wow.’ She reminds me a lot like Tamika Catchings. She’s a hard worker. She plays on both ends of the court. She’s a great rebounder for a guard. Tina (Charles) as well, seeing her play and how hard she goes every possession is a plus. As far as the college girls, I’ve only (practiced) with Dee (Danielle Robinson), Kalana (Greene) and Kelsey (Griffin). They’ve all impressed me because they are so poised. They never seem to get rattled. They’re coachable. They’re willing to listen to criticism and go out there and better themselves.

On being back on the court after missing last fall and winter while rehabbing from her ACL:
I’m happy to be back out on the court. It’s been tough for me. It’s been brutal. Sunday was the worst day for me because it was actually my first time playing against top-notch competition. I just started playing a few weeks ago and it was at the YWCA. That wasn’t really a lot of good competition. But everyday here I’ve seen a lot of good progression. I haven’t had any pain in my knee and I’m looking for better days to come.
You watched on the sideline last fall during training camp, did that help you to know what coach Auriemma wanted?
It was good because I actually got a chance to talk to coach. You read things in the media, you see things on TV about him, but he’s actually a great person. He’s very straightforward, which is what I like. He tells you what he wants done and if you do it, you shouldn’t have any problems. As far as the offense and things, it’s seamless to what we ran at LSU, a motion offense, so it’s kind of easy to get into the groove with that. Defensively, that never has been my strong point (laughs), but I’m going to do what I can to make sure I’m helping out the team.

What did you get out of this training camp?
I got a lot out of it. I got to measure myself, see where I’m at and see how much further I have to go. I was excited about everything. Every day I saw progress. I got stronger each day. As far as playing with the young ladies and everybody, being coached by Geno, it was a great experience. I had a lot of fun. I got to learn a lot about Geno and the other coaches. I learned a lot about the other players on the team. Hopefully we can transfer this to the summer and to the World Championship.

Posted by Bill Martin