THE UNIVERSITY OF DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY AUGUST 17 2009
SPORTS
57
TEAM USA (CONTINUED FROM 56)
File photo by Ryan McGeenev/KANSAN
Junior guard Danielle McCray jumps for a basket during the WNIT Championship game against the University of South Florida. McCray won a gold medal with Team USA this summer.
File photo by Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor falls short of a two-point basket during Wednesday night's game against Texas Tech. Taylor won a gold medal with Team USA this summer too.
For Taylor, playing under NBA-style rules was something he had to make an adjustment to.
Once she was officially on the team, McCray traveled to Belgrade, Serbia while Taylor headed to Auckland, New Zealand.
"We played against guys my age, so it wasn't the best of the best, but for the age group, I think it was good." Taylor said at the conference. "We played against some guys that play professionally over there, so there was a lot of great talent."
"New Zealand is an interesting place. We didn't really do much except play basketball," Taylor said at a press conference July 15.
"She said to always focus on the little things," McCray said. "If you weren't, then you were coming out of the game."
McCray said Thorne repeatedly told the girls to stay focused and to not let up on competition no matter how far they were. She said one difference she noticed in Thorne was her style of substitution rotation during games.
Both jayhawks played against players from around the world.
"She would bring five of us in and take the other five out," McCray said. "We were equal to each other so it didn't affect us at all."
While abroad, McCray played for Charli Turner Thorne of Arizona State and Taylor played for Jamie Dixon of the University of Pittsburgh.
McCray said Thorne was similar to coach Bonnie Henrickson.
"Guys were taking extra steps and the refs wouldn't call it," Taylor said at the conference. "It helped me prepare for the next level because they didn't
Taylor said that playing under those rules helped him to be more physical against guys who were bigger than his 6-foot-3-inch frame.
call anything."
Both teams were undefeated going into their gold medal matches. For the World University Games finals, Team USA played against Russia, and the U-19 Team USA faced Greece. Both McCray and Taylor started in the final game. Taylor lead the team with 18 points, five steals and six assists leading Team USA to a 88 - 80 victory. Taylor played in eight total games and started in six of them. He was the leading scorer for Team USA throughout the tournament, averaging 10.8 points and 4.4 assists.
"I felt like all the hard work paid off," Taylor said at the press conference. "We practiced a lot for two and a half weeks."
McCray scored six points and had three assists in the 83-64 victory against Russia. Throughout the tournament, McCray was the second leading scorer for the team and started in five of the seven games she played.
Maya Moore won National Player of the Year and was McCray's roommate during the tournament.
McCray said she had to guard Moore during scrimmages and that she and Moore had the same strengths.
"She never stops moving," McCray said.
McCray said she texted Moore to congratulate her after she won the ESPY award this year for Best Female College Athlete. McCray considers her a good friend now.
"Before she was my roommate that took forever in the bathroom; now
she's in my phone and I text her every day" McCray said.
McCray said winning the gold medal was bittersweet after losing the WNIT finals.
For the upcoming season, McCray will continue to take on the role of being the leader. Even on her two weeks off, McCray said, she came to early-morning practices to help cheer on her teammates.
Although the loss of the finals hurt the team, McCray said it was nice that it gave Kansas women's basketball more publicity.
"It really showed how you can bring people in with success." McCray said.
McCray said people were "slowly but surely" paying more attention to Kansas women's basketball, and believed that the first game of the 2009- 2010 season would be much bigger than last year.
While competing overseas, the players were different about staying in touch with their coaches. McCray said she tried to update Henrickson as much as she could through Skype. Taylor said he hadn't spoken to Kansas coach Bill Self about his experience in New Zealand, but said Self was excited for him.
For Taylor, the upcoming season is a chance to better himself as a player after playing overseas.
"I just think other people didn't really know how much I can do," Taylor said at the conference. "I think I had confidence before — it's just helping me because I know I'm going to be around great players this year, too."
— Edited by Hannah DeClerk