Congratulations, Greece

It is old news by now, especially in Athens, but I wanted to congratulate the Hellenic Republic for their well-deserved victory over the USA in the FIBA World Basketball Championship in Japan.

The Greeks, a nation of 10 million, managed to beat the country that invented basketball, the home of the best basketball players in the world.

But I don't agree with the slant of the article linked above or the Greek player who said,

"I think we showed everybody that maybe we're not very good athletes like them, but we know how to play the game," said Greek guard Theodoros Papaloukas, who carved up the U.S. defense with 12 assists. "We are clever."

Clever and modest. Too much is made of the athletic abilities of African-Americans, who make up 90% of the American team, and too little is made of their cleverness.

Theodoros, Achilles is your ancestor, and you are a very good athlete. A superior athlete. You could not win against the US team unless you were a very good athlete.

Conversely, the Americans are clever, too. They have excellent brains just as most human beings do.

The difference was not, Theodoros, that you were clever and slow, like the tortoise, and the Americans were stupid and fast, like the hare. The difference was that you scored more points this time.

Rejoice, Theodoros and the Greeks. You are a worthy match for the best basketball players in the world. Because you, also, are the best basketball players in the world.

Comments

[Elias]

I htink that you are being unfair to Theo Papaloukas. What he said is "we played clever" not "we are clever". I do not know how his words translated into US media, but I heard him live on Greek TV.

Probably the best asset of this Greek team is that they have NEVER raised their egos above the team and what they really are: A bunch of very good (not exceptional) players. Yes they are a modest team and yes they are among the best basketball players out there, just like the members of Team USA. To date, despite what I read around the web, I have not heard or read a single cooment coming from the Team USA players thar shows lack of respect to their opponents in this tournament. You guys have to give them some credit too. They just played against a better performing team that particular night and they lost. It is not the end of basketball for USA.

[DF]

Elias, Thanks for reading BwP.

Regardless of what Papaloukas said in Greek, the American media for some reason has a stake in making sure that African Americans are seen as great athletes but somehow not clever, while Europeans and others are seen as clever but not great athletes. I think this is grossly unfair to everyone.

My point: everyone who plays basketball at this high a level is an exceptional athlete AND exceptionally clever. You couldn't play at this level without being both.

Congratulations to Greece again, and continued success in the future!