KoriEllis
08-26-2004, 10:36 PM
Tom Powers | How do you say `crybaby' in Spanish?
By TOM POWERS
www.mercurynews.com/mld/m...504287.htm (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/9504287.htm)
Saint Paul Pioneer Press
ATHENS - Yippee! We aren't the bad guys anymore, at least not in basketball.
The United States cleared a major hurdle on the road to image rehabilitation Thursday. We found someone who is a bigger whiner and a bigger jerk than any of our NBA guys.
Mario Pesquera, head coach of Spain's Olympic basketball team, stepped front and center and out-uglied any American playing in this tournament. It was a thing of beauty.
Gracias muy mucho, Senor Pesquera.
After losing to the United States in Thursday's quarterfinal, Pesquera reacted by: 1) blaming the referees, 2) blaming the scheduling, 3) trying to pick a fight with coach Larry Brown.
This gentleman has NBA written all over him. I can envision him throwing a towel, a chair or even his pants onto the court in a fit of anger.
I would like to have seen the doughy Pesquera try to take on Brown. Unfortunately, their assistants stepped in between.
Can you feel the Olympic spirit?
Supposedly, Pesquera was furious because Brown called a time-out with 23 seconds to play and a big lead. In reality, he was steaming because our NBA "B" squad came alive and knocked his previously undefeated team out of the medal hunt.
So he reacted the way any self-respecting basketball coach would under the circumstances. He made a fool of himself.
"I had a lot of respect for Larry Brown," Pesquera said through a translator. "Let me emphasize `had.'"
A bit later, he clarified his statement.
"I will continue to respect Larry Brown as a coach," he said. "But a trainee who has been up there with the best, like Dean Smith, would have never done anything like that."
The translation is a little fuzzy there. But I'm pretty sure Pesquera was taking another shot.
The Spanish media, who grumbled their approval at whatever he said, egged him on. You have to understand that this notion of an impartial press is peculiar to America. Journalists from many other countries openly root for their athletes while covering sporting events.
The Spanish press was indignant over Brown's time-out. They did not appear indignant that their team played like wimps on defense. They did not appear indignant that their team choked in the fourth quarter.
But that time-out? Their blood was percolating.
"I must have an explanation," one of them said to Brown during the press conference.
Brown said he originally was trying to get a time-out with more than a minute to play. But as the clock ticked down, he went over to the scorer's table and tried to cancel it. They wouldn't let him. Brown added that he tried to apologize to Pesquera.
Later, the Spanish coach was having none of it. He claimed Brown could have "annulled" the time-out by sending his players back onto the court immediately. Instead he "seized the moment to give instruction."
That rat!
During the ill-conceived time-out, a few players started jawing, gesturing and grabbing certain body parts. After the buzzer, the argument between the coaches escalated as Brown tried to explain what happened.
"It was like having a disagreement with my son," Brown said. "Sometimes, he doesn't let you explain. He didn't want to hear it. I tried to apologize. He kept saying something about the NBA. Again, I would never do anything to embarrass anybody."
But Pesquera would. And clearly he targeted himself.
"Are we playing under NBA rules or FIBA rules? There were multiple violations. I thought we were playing under FIBA (international) rules." Pesquera said. "Are we going to allow traveling? Tell us."
Keep going, Coach, you're making our guys look good. What did you think of drawing the U.S. in the first game of medal play?
"It is strange to take part in a competition that rewards teams that lose," he said in disgust.
What did you think of the anti-Americanism among the crowd of 14,500.
"I think the people were solidly behind the stronger team. We are the stronger team!"
Maybe this fellow is a genius. He had everyone worked up about a meaningless time-out. Meanwhile, nobody seemed concerned that Spain had just flamed out of the medal hunt.
Anyway, the U.S. can no longer be accused of being the biggest knucklehead on the block. The torch has been passed to Mario Pesquera, coach of Spain's Olympic basketball team.
When it comes to having a rotten image, our guys can now proudly chant: "We're No. 2! We're No. 2!"
By TOM POWERS
www.mercurynews.com/mld/m...504287.htm (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/9504287.htm)
Saint Paul Pioneer Press
ATHENS - Yippee! We aren't the bad guys anymore, at least not in basketball.
The United States cleared a major hurdle on the road to image rehabilitation Thursday. We found someone who is a bigger whiner and a bigger jerk than any of our NBA guys.
Mario Pesquera, head coach of Spain's Olympic basketball team, stepped front and center and out-uglied any American playing in this tournament. It was a thing of beauty.
Gracias muy mucho, Senor Pesquera.
After losing to the United States in Thursday's quarterfinal, Pesquera reacted by: 1) blaming the referees, 2) blaming the scheduling, 3) trying to pick a fight with coach Larry Brown.
This gentleman has NBA written all over him. I can envision him throwing a towel, a chair or even his pants onto the court in a fit of anger.
I would like to have seen the doughy Pesquera try to take on Brown. Unfortunately, their assistants stepped in between.
Can you feel the Olympic spirit?
Supposedly, Pesquera was furious because Brown called a time-out with 23 seconds to play and a big lead. In reality, he was steaming because our NBA "B" squad came alive and knocked his previously undefeated team out of the medal hunt.
So he reacted the way any self-respecting basketball coach would under the circumstances. He made a fool of himself.
"I had a lot of respect for Larry Brown," Pesquera said through a translator. "Let me emphasize `had.'"
A bit later, he clarified his statement.
"I will continue to respect Larry Brown as a coach," he said. "But a trainee who has been up there with the best, like Dean Smith, would have never done anything like that."
The translation is a little fuzzy there. But I'm pretty sure Pesquera was taking another shot.
The Spanish media, who grumbled their approval at whatever he said, egged him on. You have to understand that this notion of an impartial press is peculiar to America. Journalists from many other countries openly root for their athletes while covering sporting events.
The Spanish press was indignant over Brown's time-out. They did not appear indignant that their team played like wimps on defense. They did not appear indignant that their team choked in the fourth quarter.
But that time-out? Their blood was percolating.
"I must have an explanation," one of them said to Brown during the press conference.
Brown said he originally was trying to get a time-out with more than a minute to play. But as the clock ticked down, he went over to the scorer's table and tried to cancel it. They wouldn't let him. Brown added that he tried to apologize to Pesquera.
Later, the Spanish coach was having none of it. He claimed Brown could have "annulled" the time-out by sending his players back onto the court immediately. Instead he "seized the moment to give instruction."
That rat!
During the ill-conceived time-out, a few players started jawing, gesturing and grabbing certain body parts. After the buzzer, the argument between the coaches escalated as Brown tried to explain what happened.
"It was like having a disagreement with my son," Brown said. "Sometimes, he doesn't let you explain. He didn't want to hear it. I tried to apologize. He kept saying something about the NBA. Again, I would never do anything to embarrass anybody."
But Pesquera would. And clearly he targeted himself.
"Are we playing under NBA rules or FIBA rules? There were multiple violations. I thought we were playing under FIBA (international) rules." Pesquera said. "Are we going to allow traveling? Tell us."
Keep going, Coach, you're making our guys look good. What did you think of drawing the U.S. in the first game of medal play?
"It is strange to take part in a competition that rewards teams that lose," he said in disgust.
What did you think of the anti-Americanism among the crowd of 14,500.
"I think the people were solidly behind the stronger team. We are the stronger team!"
Maybe this fellow is a genius. He had everyone worked up about a meaningless time-out. Meanwhile, nobody seemed concerned that Spain had just flamed out of the medal hunt.
Anyway, the U.S. can no longer be accused of being the biggest knucklehead on the block. The torch has been passed to Mario Pesquera, coach of Spain's Olympic basketball team.
When it comes to having a rotten image, our guys can now proudly chant: "We're No. 2! We're No. 2!"