Paul George took issue with both the overly physical play of Australia and the calls made by the referees in Team USA’s win last night.
Much like Team USA overall, Paul George had a tough game against Australia yesterday. Coming off of a 20-point performance on 7 shots against Venezuela, he finished with just 5 points on 6 shots in a 98-88 win. It was a disappointing outing after Coach K gave PG the starting nod and moved Klay Thompson to the bench.
As he is wont to do, Paul George put some blame on the officials, which is his least favorite profession based on his on-court contempt for the folk.
Here is what he had to say after the game, per USA Today’s Sam Amick.
"“Personally, we were doing the same stuff that they were doing and we were getting (nabbed) for it,” George said. “We’re fine playing physical. That’s our game in the NBA. If they’re going to allow us to play that way, you’ve got to let us play it both ways.”"
There was more, with PG saying the Aussies were a bit dirty.
"“We knew we were going to get their best,” said George, who started for the first time here but had just five points in 17 minutes. “It was an adjustment for us. This game kind of got out of hand with the chippy (play) and the physical play. We knew that coming in. This team has a knack for being a little dirty. I thought the second half we did a good job of just matching it.”"
Now, nobody is going to be shocked by a team featuring Matthew Dellavedova and Andrew Bogut going outside the lines a bit to gain an advantage. Both appeared in the top three of a player and coach survey trying to identify the NBA’s dirtiest player, with Delly placing first.
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Unless this is some Flight of the Conchords-like discrimination against Australians, yeah, this isn’t a surprising claim.
The officiating complaints are mildly troublesome to hear from George, however.
While he picked up some great knowledge, habits, and leadership wisdom from David West and Frank Vogel, he has also embraced and mastered their penchant for complaining about officiating. While he was better at times last year, seemingly calmed-down after missing a season to injury, he was among the biggest yelpers in the league during the 2013-14 season. He regularly pushed off responsibility for his own turnovers and poor choices with the ball onto, often phantom, bad calls by the zebras.
All great players make their dissent known at times to the refs. But there is a fine line between demanding respect and whining. PG was on the right side of that line often last year. He was, however, a habitual line stepper during the team’s last run to the Eastern Conference finals.
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Hopefully this is a one-time, steam-blowing-off event on the international stage and not something that leaks back into his game on the court in 2016-17 for Indiana.