How was the basketball different in Australia and Portugal compared to the States?
Vince Kelly: Australia, when I first came, basketball wasn’t as big as it is now. Most players who came over here had to work as well as play. They were finding work doing various jobs just to help supplement their income. In Portugal, it was more like gladiator basketball. You’d walk into some stadiums and there was a concrete floor. It’s totally fenced off, with a 10-foot fence around the court just to keep the fans away. Every game, the refs would have police escorts. They were really fanatical fans. If they didn’t like a call, they would throw coins on the court, or AA batteries. But the basketball was good. I think I really grew as a player when I went to Portugal and I was given the freedom to do a lot more things on the court. When I first went over there I went to replace a player they weren’t happy with. They said he wasn’t scoring enough points. So once I got there, the pressure was on me because the player was still in the town. He was like a local hero; everybody loved him
