"What am I going to say that you didn't see out there? That's competive greatness. He gives you your best when you need it most."

German coach Dirk Bauermann about the performance of his star Dirk Nowitzki.

"If we can't get a contribution from other guys - like Ade (Okulaja) - we're not going to go very far."

Bauermann on the importance of getting big games from players other than Dirk Nowitzki.

"What (Olimpio Cipriano) did was a tremendous exhibition."

Bauermann on the excellent shooting of the Angola guard who scored 33 points in the game.

"This game takes a lot of us. But I think we made a statement, and I hope it wakes us up. It defnitely gives us a lot of confidence."

Bauermann on the importance of the game.

"It was a great battle between two great teams. It was a fun game to be part of. We need a bit of luck in a tournament like this. You always need games that push you forward. And hopefully this is one of them. Our goal is still to get a medal."

German star Dirk Nowitzki on the historic game.

"It's just a matter of a lot of concentration. At this tournament I haven't been doing that well at the line."

Nowitzki on his 17-of-17 free throw performance in the game.

"I've been playing a few years. There's not much else to do but to take it and hope it goes in. The play was not designed for me. It was Dirk's call and I was just open.

German point guard Mithat Demirel said about his three-pointer to even the game at 69-69 with 29 seconds in regulation.

"I would have preferred to be a spectator today. He's unbelievable. And he made some incredible."

Demirel on what it's like playing in a game like this - and with Dirk Nowitzki.

"He's tremendous. You see why he's one of the top 10 players in the world. It's great to play with him. He's such a great scorer and he attracts so much attention and helps his team find open shots. And we have to keep that in mind."

German guard Johannes Herber on playing with a star like Dirk Nowitzki.

"We're going to the next stage, but I hope the referees can respect more our team."

Angola coach Alberto Carvalho about the team's advancing to the knock-out stages of the tournament as the third placed team.

"Today we showed the whole world we have a lot to offer. Unfortunatley we came up short in the end. We gave the effort, we showed the hard, we just came up short in the end."

Angola power forward Joaquim Gomes about the close game against Germany.

"We're not afraid of anybody. We play together and give everything we have."

Angola guard Milton Barros on his team's state of mind.

"We were playing for our survival Panama wasn't in the same mental state that Japan was. I think offensively we executed much better. Shooting 52 per cent is a lot better. We can take a lot of positives from this game. The main thing is getting through."

New Zealand coach Tab Baldwin on his team's performance against Panama.

"Phil's been in a slump before. We're not talking about a kid. We're talkIng about a veteran. I just tell him to shoot his way out of it. We want him to keep shooting until they start dropping. It's in his hands."

Baldwin on Phil Jones' struggles shooting the ball in the tournament.

"We have to lift ourselves still. I we do that and the offense starts clicking better, we're going out there to beat them."

Baldwin on his expectations for the game against Argentina.

"Our goals was to win as many games as we can to get onto the top 16. Argentina is going to really difficult. If we come ready to play I think we can win. Everyone on the team played a bit better today. But we're going to have to raise it up about 10 more notches to have a chances against Argentina."

New Zealand guard Mark Dickel about the team's mindset heading into the Argentina match.

"It's really tough after five matches that we couldn't win a game. This is the first time in my career that I have had five losses in five games. But I really believe this is the first step for the Panama basketball federation."

Panama coach Guillermo Vecchio on the tough showing for Panama at the FIBA World Championship.

"It's hard to say that we need more games. Eveyrbody knows we got here just before the first game. We tried our best. I think if we had been here earlier we could have surprised a lot of people. We didnt come here for vacation."

Panama point guard Jair Peralta on the team's struggles at the tournament.

"We have to keep going hard to get in better shape for the next game. That's the way we've been working and we'll work the same way."

Spain coach Pepu Hernandez about using his starters in the fourth quarter of a blowout.

"It's going to be a very hard game. Everybody in Serbia can play really good even though they are a young team. We have to look at what we can do. We know them better than the other teams we may have faced."

Hernandez about his Spain's Round of 16 matchup against Serbia & Montenegro.

"Now the big part of the tournament will start in Saitama. We can't be stupid and think we're better than we are. Every day we have to take another step forward."

Spain power forward Jorge Garbajosa about finishing off the first round with another victory.

"It's basketball. We have young guys, and they did a good job coming back from yesterday."

Japan coach Zeljko Pavlicevic about his team having to play a day after failing to hold an 18-point half-time lead against New Zealand.

"I don't know. My job is finished. What happens in the future we'll see. The first thing is rest. We've been thinking about this for one or two years. And many people have learned to accept Japanese basketball as something."

Pavlicevic about his future.

"To say that we are a young team would be an excuse. I will never forget the game against New Zealand. We blew a big chance this time. When another one comes around I hope I'll be ready."

Japan swingman Ryota Sakarai about talk that his team lost against New Zealand because they were too young.