Tamika Catchings, Kara Lawson and DeLisha Milton-Jones are the final pieces of the puzzle for the '08 squad.

By Brittany McCall
July 10, 2008

A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. Fortunately, for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team there are no weak links to be found and the chain is now complete.

USA Basketball announced today 2007-08 USA Women’s National Team members Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever, Kara Lawson of the Sacramento Monarchs and DeLisha Milton-Jones of the Los Angeles Sparks as the latest three additions to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.

The trio will join three-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie and two-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Smith. Seven other players comprise the official 12-member 2008 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team roster, including 2004 Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Tina Thompson; while Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, Candace Parker and Cappie Pondexter will participate in their first Olympic Games.

Although all three members of the trifecta have their eyes set on gold, their path to the Olympics was anything but easy.

After winning an Olympic gold medal in 2000, Milton-Jones was forced to withdraw from the 2004 Olympic race after falling subject to a knee injury. However, she never gave up on her chance for a second Olympic gold medal. Certainly, she is no stranger to the winner’s circle. In 1998 the Los Angeles Sparks standout came down with a case of gold fever as she aided the USA to a gold medal finish at the FIBA World Championship and later helped the red, white and blue repeat its winning performance in 2002. However, Milton-Jones fell short of her golden dream as Russia bested the USA in the ’06 World Championship and forced the red, white and blue to settle for bronze.

The same unlucky fate awaited fellow teammate Catchings, who injured her Achilles heel last September. After leaving the 2004 Athens Olympics with the taste of gold still in tact, Catchings remained hungry for another medal and refused to let her injury bring her down. Although hindered by the reality of the ancient Greek legend, for Catchings the memory of Greece was stronger, and by 2008 she overcame what even a mythical hero could not as she readied herself for Beijing.

Of the three, Lawson may perhaps be the hungriest for Olympic gold, for she has yet to have her first taste. A 2007 FIBA Americas Championship gold medalist, Lawson’s second encounter with USA Basketball came in 1999 when she scored the driving layup to win the game; however, the victory that day did not belong to the USA. During her inaugural campaign at Tennessee, Lawson came off the bench to score 14 points and upset the 1990-00 USA Basketball Women’s National Team 65-64. Her work ethic and determination that day made an impression on the red, white and blue, which has stuck with USA Basketball ever since.

A late addition to the pool of potential 2008 U.S. Olympic Team members, Lawson never lost hope and never lost sight of the goal. Before helping the USA Women’s National Team qualify for the 2008 Olympics at the 2007 FIBA Americas Tournament in Chile, Lawson stressed that getting to Beijing was the USA’s first goal. Now, she has arrived and another goal is in the making.

Adding these final three makes a dozen, and USA Basketball is prepared to put all their eggs in one basket as the U.S. goes mining for gold medals in Beijing. The time for redemption is now and these golden girls are ready to earn their prize.

USA Basketball was able to catch up with Catchings, Lawson and Milton-Jones prior to the official announcement to get their reactions on making the team.

Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever
You’ve worked so hard since September to rehab your injury and get back out on the court. Do you feel that your hours of hard work have finally paid off?
It feels great to be back on the court. It’s like a long-awaited moment, being out there and being with my teammates. Throughout the whole process everybody’s been so supportive. It’s made things easier for me knowing that all of them are behind me and everyone wants to see me do well. Everybody wants me back on the court, that really helps.

What are your thoughts on this team, do you have everything you’ll need to win this summer?
I do. I think it’s definitely a matter of time, getting everybody back out and gelling together. I feel like we have the opportunity. It’s going to take everyone coming together at the end of the month and everyone learning to play together again.

Does it help that at least most of you have all played together at one time or another in the past?
I think that with all the different training periods we’ve had the opportunity to get to know each other on the court, with so many players coming in and out. But I definitely feel that once we get together, settle down, get some practices in, go over the plays, get some more review together, everybody will get more comfortable and figure out our roles for this team.

What do you think your role will be?
Right now the thing that Anne has talked about is defense. Knowing what I brought to the table in 2004, that kind of defensive intensity. One of the things is, looking at the under-18 team here, the point guard and his story, I think he and I look at it from the same standpoint as far as figuring out what you can do for your team. Here, I need to play defense. We have enough scorers. That’s not to say I’m not looking at shooting at all but my focus is making sure that, from the defensive standpoint, I set the tone from the beginning of the game and everybody else follows from there. I think I can do that.

Note: the 2008 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team’s point guard Maalik Wayns was profiled in USA Today on Tuesday, May 8.

Tell me about some of your competition:
The same as usual, Russia and Australia are always top contenders that we have to face. I don’t see that changing. But one of the things we all know is that more and more overseas teams are spending more time together. They’ve been training since 2004 for the 2008 Olympics. For them, there is more consistency. I think all of the teams we will go up against will be a lot better than they’ve been in the past.

Kara Lawson, Sacramento Monarchs
This will be your first Olympic Games. After helping the USA to qualify for the Olympics in Chile, how does it feel to make to back to the Olympics in Beijing?
It’s a dream come true. Like most of the players on this National Team, I have been playing with USA Basketball since I was seventeen years old. When you begin playing on those junior teams, your ultimate goal is to make it to the Senior National Team and represent your country in the Olympics. For me this is the higher career achievement a player can garner because of the amount of respect I have for the history of USA Basketball and the opportunity to represent your country. This is the pinnacle. I am very grateful that the committee has given me the opportunity to help the team.

What was your initial reaction when you found out that you had made the 2008 U.S. Olympic team?
I screamed out loud. It was unexpected because of the timing. I had no idea that, that particular phone call was going to be the one that told me I had made the team. But I stayed hopeful and I never tried to over-analyze anything. I felt that I had a pretty good year last year so I always felt there was a chance. I was hopeful, but you still never know. So when you finally get that call it’s validation for you as a player and as an athlete that you made it. It’s kind of like when a swimmer or a runner completes their event at the Olympic trials and finishes in the top three. You don’t know it until that moment, but that’s when you realize you have just qualified and that you are going to the Olympics. Now being a part of USA Basketball is different because we are a team; so instead of winning a race you just have to try your best and wait. But the moment is the same and the emotion is the same. It was like I had just won my race. So after I screamed, I cried. It was an emotional release for me and I was so happy and excited.

Did it feel like all the hard work you put in over the last couple years with the USA National Team was worth it? How much do you think your play during training camps this past year contributed to the selection?
I definitely think the experience I had playing at a young age with USA Basketball when I was a senior and when I was in college, and then getting the opportunity to play with the National Team in 2006 when they were preparing for the World Championships has played a huge role in the selection. USA Basketball has played a big role in my development as a player because you learn so much from the other players around you. When I first came to play with the National Team I did my best to watch and learn from the veterans. There is a lot of knowledge and a lot of people there to help teach you and help you raise your bar. When you get to that point, you see how talented these players are and it makes you hungrier to get closer to their level and it also forces you to watch them and understand how they got there. My time with USA Basketball has allowed me to play with great players and see not only what it takes to get to that level, but more importantly, what it takes to sustain it for many years.

Even though the full team hasn't been together at one training camp, do you think it's going to be easy to come together at the end of July? How has the pre-Olympic training gone to this point?
I have played with every single player on the team within the past year, with the exception of Tamika Catchings, who I played with in college. I feel comfortable as far as having that recall experience and knowing what it’s like to play with these players. My past year at training camp was invaluable for a number of reasons. First, I needed to earn my spot on the team. I was a player who needed to go through ever single training camp and work hard to earn my spot. Also, it was important because it allowed me to learn about the players I was playing with, develop a knowledge of their game and see how they fit with my game. It also gave us time to develop a sense of team chemistry and to get to know each other as people and our different personalities. I don’t think anything about the Olympics will be easy, so I can’t say it’s going to be easy in terms of when we gel. It’s going to be a great challenge because of all the talent we have. But I am confident that we will gel together and everyone will focus on our ultimate goal, which is winning the goal medal. When you have players who are as serious, talented and motivated as we are, I think that is a very good combination.

What do you consider to be your strengths? Describe your role on this team and how you see yourself fulfilling it.
I think my strengths as a player are my competitiveness, my toughness and the energy that I bring to the team. I think I am a skilled player and I think I have a great work ethic. These are the things that I can control, and this is what I really tried to bring to training camp this last year: to be competitive in every drill and go out there in practice with the mindset of winning every drill; the aspect of mental toughness, pushing through when you are tired or even pushing through in the last seconds of practice or a game and knowing that you have to bring the energy, whether you are in the game or on the bench. Those are the things I hope to bring to this team: competitiveness, mental toughness, energy and work ethic.

Can you break down some of the USA’s competition? Who do you think will be the toughest test for the USA in Beijing? Is there any one particular team you are looking forward to playing?
I think the teams that finished ahead of us in the World Championships, Australia and Russia, are the two teams that will pose the greatest challenge in Beijing. They have great players and great team chemistry. These are two teams that will have more preparation time as an actual team leading up to the Olympics. They have phenomenal players; a lot of players that we are used to playing against in the WNBA. Because they have a lot of WNBA players they also have a lot of players who are experienced in international competition. We had an opportunity to play against Australia and Russia in this last training session in Russia. Even though we didn’t play against the Russian National Team, a lot of the players who are now on the Russian National Team were on the two teams that we did play. And of course we are going to rely on our veterans a lot. We have a lot of players who have been to the Olympics before and understand what it takes. For those of us who are first-time Olympians, we are going to look to the veterans a lot to show us what it takes to win a gold medal.

Is there any added pressure or responsibility heading to Beijing after the loss to Russia at the Worlds?
There is pressure every time you put on a USA Basketball uniform because everyone either expects you to win or is cheering for you to lose. We understand that. I think it is more motivation than pressure for our country, for us as players and for our program. It’s motivation to get the title back and prove that we are the best basketball team in the world. I think that is something that the veterans have talked about – when you have it for so long and then it is taken away from you, you can’t wait for the next chance to get it back.

Have you thought about what the Opening Ceremonies would be like - walking in with the rest of the Olympians from all over the world?
That is one of the first things that popped into my head when they told me I had made the team; the first thought of course, was standing on the gold medal podium with my teammates. But the second thought was of being there with all the athletes from around the world at the Opening Ceremonies. I just took a second and allowed it to soak in and I thought about what it would be like to walk into that stadium behind your flag, listening to everyone cheer and knowing that everyone from around the world, no matter what country you live in, is probably watching you at that moment.

What are the team's objectives or goals, both on and off the court, for the Olympic Games in China?
You always want to think about how you represent your country, both as an individual and as a team. For some people, this will be the first time they see USA Basketball play and it may even be their first opportunity to interact with Americans. Everyone has different stereotypes or views of different countries and cultures, so for us, it is important that we are the classiest team there. We have to respect our opponents, respect the game of basketball and play with a lot of effort so that people will really respect how much we care about the game and representing our country.

DeLisha Milton-Jones, Los Angeles Sparks
What kind of emotions are you feeling after being named to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team?
I have one word that will encompass all my feelings and emotions, it’s my philosophy behind the quest for the Olympic gold and it’s called redemption. My definition of redemption is to right a wrong. What happened to us in Brazil, losing the World Championship and having to go and qualify for a spot in the Olympics in Chile, all of those things were wrong that happened. The only way to right those wrongs is to come to Beijing and win the gold. When you have the opportunity to participate with the team and to be able to right that wrong is tremendous for me. If I wasn’t named to the team and didn’t have that opportunity, that would be something I’d have to live with for the rest of my life. It would be very, very hard for me to deal with so I’m so elated.

What do you bring to the team?
The thing I bring is my defensive toughness. Of course, being experienced in this game, be it at the international level or domestically, really helps. Going into hostile territory, you’ll need some type of toughness that can be translated into positive energy for your teammates. If you have people who have positive energy it becomes contagious and the next thing we’re on the podium with our heads bowed receiving our gold medals. I really think that defensive intensity is the main thing that I’m going to bring to this team.

What are your thoughts on the team?
I think that the committee did a great job once again of finding who they thought would be the best athletes to represent our country in our quest for the gold medal. Everyone who is on this team is on this team for a specific reason. I’m sure they’re going to come and do whatever task is asked of them to do.

Aside from the obvious teams like Russia and Australia, who will be some fo the tough teams to beat in Beijing?
I would have to say the Czechs and even a scrappy underdog like the Belarus team. But really anybody at this point. You can’t really pinpoint a specific team. We know who the cream of the crop are as far as the Olympics are concerned. But right now just about everyone is capable of beating anyone at this point so the USA is just going to have to come out focused and play at a high level no matter who it is we’re facing.

Will it be easy to get back on the same page on July 28, given the fact that you’ve all played together in the past?
Yes, I think so. Even though our training camps were spaced out, I think now that everyone who will be at this camp is on the team, it will bring a different level of focus and a different level of togetherness. Everyone will put more of an effort of really trying to get to know their teammates because we know what’s ahead. We know the amount of time that we have to prepare going into the Olympics. You’re going to see our intensity, you’re going to see our drive and our focus all at an elevated level.

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