AUCKLAND (FIBA U19 World Championship) – Australia defeated Croatia 79-74 in what some people are calling the game of the tournament. Paulo Kennedy from www.fiba.com caught up with star Australian forward Cody Ellis after the macth.

Was tonight a statement game for your team?.

Yeah I think so, a little bit. I think we’ve been underrated for a long time, so we came out tonight to make a statement that we’re here to win this thing.

What were the keys to victory tonight?

The second half, I think we really picked up our ‘d’, stopped their three point shot, and we moved the ball on offence, got it inside and opened things up for our outside shooters.

What did you make of Croatia?

They’re a really good team, they have got real good height, really good shooters, and they’ll be one of the teams up there. He (Delas) is one of their ‘top of our list’ guys, him and the little point guard (Prostran). I think we did a good job on them, made their not-so-big names step up.

The rebounding battle was like a war tonight, was that a big focus before the game?

Definitely. They are a lot bigger than us, a lot taller, so our biggest emphasis was to crash the boards.

Is there much hype in Australia about your team?

There is now. There wasn’t so much at the start of the tournament but now we are starting to make some noise I think there’s certainly a lot back home.

Matthew Dellavedova was amazing with 15 points in the last quarter, tell us about him.

He can do that, he’s a tough guy. That’s Delly for you.

How is the team going by your own standards? Are you playing as well as you can, or is there still room for improvement?

I think we’re playing real well, but obviously we can play a lot better than we are. I think we have got to control penetration, get it inside and outside so they can’t guard our shooters and control our turnovers.

Most of your team have played together for the Australian Institute of Sport, is that an advantage in a tournament like this?

I think we are probably one of the closest teams, in terms of outside of basketball, and we bring that to the court. In the clutch situation we are all cheering, we are all up off the bench.

The game tonight was a real physical, half court affair, it must be pleasing to beat Croatia in a European style game like this.

To beat a team like that on any day is just awesome for us. It is definitely a confidence booster for us, I think we did real well to close that out.

Who are the best teams in your mind moving into the quarter final?

I think all the teams that have got this far are going to be as good as each other, there is no one that is going to stand out. The USA have got all the hype, but anyone can beat anyone on their day.

Some people say the USA are unbeatable, can you beat them?

Mate, we can beat them! We can beat anyone on our day.

And you have France in the quarter finals, do you know much about them?

We have played them about four times (before the tournament) so it will be an interesting game because we pretty much know exactly what each other is going to do. I think it will be a close game.

Is your depth a big strength, you don’t seem to lose much when you go to the bench?

Definitely, we have all 12 guys who can step on the court and give us something different. We don’t lose anything by subbing anyone on and off, and I think that’s definitely a big plus.

What will you do with your day off on Thursday?

We will take it easy. We have a training session in the afternoon, we will walk through some stuff, but just mostly relax and get our minds ready for the next day.

What’s it like to play for Australia at the FIBA U19 World Championship?

There is nothing better than playing for your country, just getting the opportunity to represent everyone back home who plays basketball, and even everyone who follows it. And we get to play against everyone who follows it in the other countries. It’s just awesome.

Paulo Kennedy
FIBA