Australian basketball legend Brian Kerle has called for the US team to “man up”

“MAN UP”. That’s the message former Australian basketball great Brian Kerle has for the US Dream Team after they labelled the Boomers “dirty” in their tussle this morning.

OLYMPICS COVERAGE Brian Kerle played for the Australian basketball team at the Olympics a long time ago and thinks local products Cam Bairstow and Brock Motum can help Australia win its first ever Olympic men's basketball medal in Rio. Picture: Chris McCormack.

AUSTRALIAN basketball legend Brian Kerle has called for the U.S. team to “man up”.

Kerle, who represented Australia at the 1972 Munich Olympics, made the call after Dream Team superstar Paul George labelled the Boomers “dirty” after their clash in Rio this morning.

Australia were at their physical best and pushed the star-studded U.S. all the way before falling 98-88 in their first loss of the Rio Olympics.

George even received a technical foul just minutes into the match after a foul from Boomers guard Matthew Dellavedova.

But Kerle said there was nothing wrong with the Boomers’ style of play and called it “just tough, international basketball”.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL — AUGUST 10: Cameron Bairstow #10 of Australia moves the ball past Kyle Lowry #7 and Klay Thompson #11 of United States during a Preliminary Round Basketball game between Australia and the United States on Day 5 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 1 on August 10, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

“This is international basketball not prep school,” he said.

“If the kitchen is too hot get out.

“Don’t complain. Play like men, act like men and be a man.”

The Boomers have shown they are serious contenders to win their first medal in Olympic competition after wins over France and Serbia and almost beating the U.S.

“I thought we played hard and had our chances,” Boomers forward Cameron Bairstow said.

“However the rebounding gave them too many second chances for a team like that.

“We were confident to begin with, we know the type of team we have and will continue striving for our ultimate goal.”

Former Boomers assistant coach and current Illawarra Hawks NBL coach Rob Beveridge also praised the way Australia went about taking on the world’s best team.

“A lot of players are very precious and simply don’t like it when we stand up to them,” he said.

“I can show you plenty of tape of dirty players from the USA and other countries. It is was it is.”