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Ball Don't Lie

Fri Aug 29, 2008 1:20 pm EDT

Aussie likes Kobe, calls everyone else on Team USA 'pork chops'

By J.E. Skeets

"BEIJING — AUGUST 24: Dwight Howard (pictured right) of the U.S. Men's Senior National Team relaxes after defeating Spain 118-107 to win the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games."

Confused? Better let Glen Saville of the Australian national basketball team explain.

From the Illawarra Mercury (via You Been Blinded):

"Without a shadow of a doubt, Kobe carried himself way above every other person on that team," he said.

"I'd heard and read stuff about him in the past, but he was a class act all the way through, even going back to when we played them at the pre-Olympic tournament in Shanghai.

"Most of the other guys on that team just acted like prima donnas. They just carried on like pork chops," he added.

I live-blogged just about every single minute of Team USA's run to the gold medal this summer, and I still can't for the life of me figure out why so many people insist on calling this team arrogant and/or hotheaded.

Why? Is it because they played hardnosed defense? Is it because they crushed most of their opponents? Is it because they played with a swagger that confident squads should and do play with? Is it because they pushed back when they were pushed? Is it because they — AGHAST! — dunked? Seriously. Why? I just don't get it. That's called basketball. Some of the haters should try and play it sometime.

Related: USA Basketball

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25 Comments

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  1. Jay B
    1. Posted by Jay B Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:27 pm EDT

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    pork chops? fricken love it. in fact, i would have preferred it had he referred to tham as ham sandwiches, or better yet, sticks of rhubarb.
    fyi skeets: in oz, it's not about whether they actually were arrogant, it's just about maximising your abilities to describe someone as a pork chop.
    kudos to the "battered sav". good to seem him back with the hawks.
  2. Mookie's Stern Warning
    2. Posted by Mookie's Stern Warning Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:26 pm EDT

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    Sav is a legend!!
    Pork chop is such a playful term to use too... Aussies really couldn't care less! It's a game at the end of the day... and then you have a beer (and a pork chop).
  3. J.E. Skeets
    3. Posted by J.E. Skeets Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:33 pm EDT

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    I'm not talking about JUST Saville — even though he is calling 'em "softies" — this quote just got me started on a little rant.
    With that said, I could really go for a pork chop.
  4. Mookie's Stern Warning
    4. Posted by Mookie's Stern Warning Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:26 pm EDT

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    I could go a pork chop too, right about now...
    I guess the problem is, there is such a massive divide in cultures between Australia and USA (and with most other nations) -- the behaviour of Team USA from within Australia looks like "a bunch of pork chops" whilst from within America, it looks just fine.
    The only way to sort it out is for everyone to gather around and have a big barbie.
  5. Jeff Wong
    5. Posted by Jeff Wong Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:32 pm EDT

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    Having read the article and other commentaries (i.e. a stern warning's), I think Saville was talking about the unnecessary roughness (Wade), trash talking (LeBron) and lack of respect shown at end of game (again, LeBron).
  6. Mr. Wise
    6. Posted by Mr. Wise Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:44 pm EDT

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    you don't shoot the ball from half-court before the game... that's something you shouldn't do! maybe that's one of the reasons why some people thought they are arrogant. the dream team didn't do that...
  7. C
    7. Posted by C Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:37 pm EDT

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    Funny, to America Kobe is arrogant but to the rest of the world he isn't. Like Barack said maybe the media has been making a big election about little things and you all bought into it.
  8. Fiona
    8. Posted by Fiona Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:00 pm EDT

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    Sav would've been annoyed because Wade smacked him in the junk on a 3 pt attempt when the game was already done (he only played garbage time against the US). I guess I would've found that a little arrogant.
    On the Aussie coverage, our local basketball legend Andrew Gaze got pretty fired up a few times when talking about the dream team's attitude. As Grandfather of Oden said above, I think the differences were cultural - the US went in with a plan to play hard basketball for 40 minutes, and all in all succeeded in this. But when you're facing a team that is playing hard and you're on the wrong end of the scoreboard in a big way, then it also might feel a little arrogant.
    I actually think the US was there to win the gold. Being nice guys would be goodbut was only secondary. And I guess that you can understand that, given the consequences of not bringing home gold...
  9. Tony C
    9. Posted by Tony C Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:10 pm EDT

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    if you asked me they were humble and very kind during the olympics..they played un-nba like defense and put everyone in the pressure cooker.I was very proud of this team,they handled everything great.Now that i think about it ...we were the ones geting "ALL" the hard fouls and rough play done to us.
  10. Head
    10. Posted by Head Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:12 pm EDT

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    Aussie's were the biggets losers of the Olympic tourney. Everyone saw how lousy the shot the ball and play the game. They're an embarrassment to the sport. Not only did they play like high schoolers (not the good shigh schoolers in the US either), but they showed lousy sportsmanship after the US trounced them. I hope the rest of the audience saw when the two teams were shaking hands after the game when that minor league Aussie schlub Nielsen turned his head and intentionally stuck his shoulder into Kobe's chest. Aussie's should stick rugby and their silly version of football. Basketball's for athletes, not losers. Also, writing is for writer, not bitter Aussie losers. Come to think of it- Seville's bitter, unprofessional writing represents his loser hoops team and his country very well.
  11. Trees At TheSportCount.com
    11. Posted by Trees At TheSportCount.com Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:56 pm EDT

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    Any excuse for an Australian to mention a barbecue.
  12. Trees At TheSportCount.com
    12. Posted by Trees At TheSportCount.com Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:56 pm EDT

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    Also, CA Sports? You're an embarrassment. Mate.
  13. PlanetMars
    13. Posted by PlanetMars Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:25 pm EDT

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    funny how stupid people call team usa's players arrogant even when they acted with class both on-and-off the court. if we want to talk about bad behavior, then we should talk about argentina and spain playing dirty and whining all the times. those euro teams whine like crazy (just look at spain's whining during the gold medal game..and they deservedly got a tech during the last few seconds of the game)..and how about spaniards trying to imitate chinese people pulling their eyes skin back? and then saying that it was not a big deal and it was not offensive? or how about spaniards saying that they would've won the gold medal game if it wasn't for the refs (and the spaniards conveniently ignored that the refs were bad both ways and the americans were in foul trouble at the start of the game)?
  14. PlanetMars
    14. Posted by PlanetMars Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:25 pm EDT

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    Spain didn't even want to admit that team USA way better than them. Maybe the arrogant ones are those euro teams. It's time people realize this instead of unfairly bashing americans players all the times.
  15. Dave B
    15. Posted by Dave B Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:50 pm EDT

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    "Some of the haters should try and play it sometime."
    Well, it's nice that you blogged about every game Skeets, but I think Saville is in a much better position to judge than you, SEEING AS HE ACTUALLY PLAYED IN THE OLYMPICS. In Australian basketball circles, he is considered one of the gentlemen of the game (and I'm a fan of his team's arch-rivals), so if he is calling them out, then I'm inclined to agree.
    For what it's worth, good sportsmanship is more than smiling at the press conference afterwards.
  16. Head
    16. Posted by Head Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:12 pm EDT

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    Trees, you posted one heckuva argument. ... btw- don't call me mate, that's what you slimy aussies do with koalas.
    Dave- that's probably why seville's obviously so bitter. He wasted his time playing for that worthless aussie team and probably could've done better than the clowns that made up their team this time around. But his frustration at the weaknees and ineptitude of his home team is no reason to unprofessionally and stupidly insult the US Team.
    Thankfully for the aussies seville's a nobody in the US and our team probably won't remember his dumb remarks four yrs from now and take it out again on his lousy little national team. They'll just beat the aussies up routinely again.
  17. Dave B
    17. Posted by Dave B Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:50 pm EDT

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    CA Sports: "that's probably why seville's obviously so bitter"
    Firstly he's not bitter -- he also said: "Our results were better than Athens and I came away with a lot of good memories." and "It was awesome. Not many people get the opportunity to guard those guys in the same game, and I really enjoyed it.". Does that sound like a bitter man? Not really... what he has done though is point out that aside from Kobe, the Americans were kind of jerks. And since he was actually on court, he's probably got a pretty good point of view.
    Secondly, your banging on about the "weakness" and "ineptitude" of the Australians is kind of funny. I mean, you also said called them "aussie cretin losers"... in a discussion about how the Americans were pretty poor sports in a competition they dominated. Way to prove a point, mate!
  18. Mookie's Stern Warning
    18. Posted by Mookie's Stern Warning Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:26 pm EDT

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    Congratulations "CA Sports", you provided exactly the attitude that everyone has been talking about, the same attitude that makes people think that Americans are arrogant.
    You've done your country proud, pork chop.
  19. clips1386
    19. Posted by clips1386 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:27 pm EDT

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    It's the rubbish that is talked on court that makes the "redeem team" appear so arrogant.
    Chris Paul in garbage time apparently told Joe Ingles (the young kid who only played small minutes in garbage time) that "I'm worth more than you and your whole *** family".
    Now I don't doubt that CP3 earns over 10 times what Ingles' family does, but does that make him more of a man? That he is paid more than someone else and he has the need to tell people about it?
    As for "CA Sports", you are a clown and you set a good example of why so many people from outside the country think so little of American people.
  20. Jeff
    20. Posted by Jeff Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:32 pm EDT

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    Wow, just... WOW! I can't believe how stupid America is getting! George W is winning with this lot that's all I can say! His "keep them dumb" policies are truly an art form unto themselves!
    P.S. Can anyone say "Sore winners" at all? I didn't think so, mustn't come up in those places you guys insist should be called schools!
  21. oyet
    21. Posted by oyet Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:35 pm EDT

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    whatever
  22. mikey
    22. Posted by mikey Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:41 pm EDT

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    no wonder so many americans call themselves canadiens when they travel outside the usa, there are some real american idiots posting here and I wish they would go to the philippines or somewhere and say this stupid arrogant crap and see what a big deal a beat up american is..I am american but when I travel I stay away from americans, biggest losers on earth
  23. lainee
    23. Posted by lainee Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:14 pm EDT

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    "Chris Paul in garbage time apparently told Joe Ingles (the young kid who only played small minutes in garbage time) that "I'm worth more than you and your whole *** family". "
    its not in chris paul's nature. any proof (article/blog) that this was really said?
    ive watched that game and saw replays too. and i think the boomers ran their mouths yapping at team usa throughout the game. they were very physical (some were cheap shots).. dwade didnt took his legs out thats for sure. this saville guy was all up on dwade's face calling him a b*tch. classy eh?
    team usa played hard and presented themselves well.
  24. Head
    24. Posted by Head Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:12 pm EDT

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    Michael, you're just a big pvssy. I hate that I've served two decades in the military to defend pvssies like you. Next time you travel abroad, some place with pvssies like you like say France, just stay there.
  25. Head
    25. Posted by Head Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:12 pm EDT

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    you're so stupid Michael. These people hated you and us Americans long before any of us said anything here to them or anywhere else. You can stand up and be a man who's proud of who he is, or you can run and hide from the world, and lie and tell everyone you're someone that you're not. You've obviously already made your decision to be a spineless wimp, or as those down under cretins say, a 'sheila'. You may now return to kissing a french guy's posterior or sticking your head back in the sand.

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