Gray Reflects on Team USA Experience

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma senior forward Taj Gray recently returned from a trip to Argentina where he competed for the USA U21 World Championship Team. The squad finished with a 7-1 record, tied for the best in the tournament, but failed to medal due to an overtime loss to Canada in the quarterfinals.

Gray averaged 8.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per contest while shooting .538 from the field and .719 from the free throw line. The 6-9, 238-pound Wichita, Kan., product started four of the eight contests and produced highs of 14 points versus China and seven rebounds against Puerto Rico.

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The U.S., coached by St. Joseph's Phil Martelli, rolled through preliminary round play unscathed with a 5-0 record before falling to Canada. The 93-90 defeat relegated the United States to playing for fifth place, while Canada advanced to the medal semifinals. The USA rebounded and came back the next night to take a 99-79 victory over Puerto Rico and closed the competition with a 111-85 downing of host Argentina in the fifth-place game.

Lithuania, which also finished with a 7-1 record, took the gold medal with a down-to-the-wire 65-63 victory over Greece, while Canada earned bronze by virtue of a 79-74 win over Australia.

Gray sat down with SoonerSports.com to reflect on his USA Basketball experience.

SoonerSports.com: Talk about your experience with the USA U21 team and what you were able to take out of the trip to Argentina.
Gray: "It was good to go overseas and get a chance to see a different side of life, something you don't see every day. I got to meet different people, see how different things are done and see a different kind of culture. That was probably the most fun part about it."

SoonerSports.com: What was your emotion when you found out you made the squad?
Gray: "I was really excited to get to go overseas and play with a bunch of guys that I see on TV all the time. Going into tryouts, I really didn't know what was going to happen. As time went on, I got more nervous. I was pretty relieved when I made it."

SoonerSports.com: Who were some of the guys with whom you became pretty good friends?
Gray: "Marcus Williams of Connecticut, Allan Ray of Villanova, Curt(is) Withers of Charlotte, Rajon Rondo of Kentucky, Rudy Gay of Connecticut, Glen Davis of LSU. I mean, I became pretty good friends with everybody, especially Marcus Williams since he was my roommate."

SoonerSports.com: What was the funniest thing that happened on the trip?
Gray: "Oh, man. There were so many. One of them was hearing Marcus Williams talk in his sleep and snore. One time he said, 'What's up?' to me and then something else. The light was off and I thought he was on the phone. But he was knocked out and the phone was next to his bed. And then he started snoring. And then he said something else. I tried to record it on my phone, but I couldn't get him. That was funny."

SoonerSports.com: What did you guys do when you weren't playing ball? Were you able to do anything fun or be on your own?
Gray: "We had a chance to go out on our own and we had more free time than I thought we would. We would go to the beach or go to a party or stuff like that."

SoonerSports.com: How would you compare Coach (Phil) Martelli's coaching style to that of Coach (Kelvin) Sampson?
Gray: "Coach Martelli's more laid back. Coach Sampson is a little more aggressive. It was definitely a little different for me. I'm used to going to practice and getting after it and getting sweaty and tired. Coach Martelli's practices were more relaxed with a little scrimmaging and that sort of thing."

SoonerSports.com: Which type of practice do you prefer?
Gray (laughing): "Maybe Coach Sampson can take some ideas from Coach Martelli. But in reality, practice is practice for me. You have to do it whether it's easy or hard, so it doesn't matter."

SoonerSports.com: What were you able to take away from this experience that you think will help you this coming year?
Gray: "Probably to remain humble, because I was able to realize that a lot of people in different countries don't have as much as I have. We're fortunate as Americans."

SoonerSports.com: What about on the court? Do you feel like you've become a better basketball player?
Gray: "Yeah, just seeing how some of the other countries play the game. They play smart and they play together. That's something I really paid attention to."

SoonerSports.com: Your only loss was to Canada in overtime, and it kept you out of the medal round. Talk about that game a little bit.
Gray: "We kind of started off bad. We weren't really that focused for the game and kind of took it lightly at first. Then it got to the point where we were playing catch-up. As the game went on we got more serious, but we should have been like that from the get-go."

SoonerSports.com: How was the food there?
Gray: "Gross. We had a lot of beef and sometimes chicken. So sometimes the food was okay, but a lot of times we had stuff that I didn't know what it was. I was looking at it and saying, 'What are we eating?'"

SoonerSports.com: Were you able to go out and eat on your own?
Gray: "We ate at McDonald's quite a bit. I think we made this one McDonald's a lot of money. That was pretty good. They had pretty much everything that our McDonald's restaurants have."

SoonerSports.com: How come you only played seven minutes in the final game against Argentina?
Gray: "I got into early foul trouble. I picked up two quick ones and then two more near the start of the second half. I got off to a bad start. It wasn't a good game for me."

SoonerSports.com: Including the tryouts in Dallas, you were with USA Basketball for almost a month. Were you anxious to get home by the end of the tournament?
Gray: "Yeah, I was. It got to where I was like, 'Okay, I'm kind of tired of being here.' It wears on you being away from people you know, your family and that type of thing."

SoonerSports.com: How long of a flight was it?
Gray: "Coming back, we drove six hours from where we stayed to the airport. Then we flew nine hours to Miami, then three to Dallas and about an hour to Oklahoma City."

SoonerSports.com: How was that flight from Argentina to Miami?
Gray: "It was the longest flight I've ever been on. I slept about 1,000 times, listened to a bunch of CDs, talked to people. I did anything I could to kill time."

SoonerSports.com: What will be your greatest memory from this experience?
Gray: "Just being able to go to Argentina, see a different country and get a chance to play with some great players. It was a great opportunity and the thing I'll probably remember most is just having a good time. I think I was able to better myself as a person and as a player."

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