"Crosswhite represented Australia in basketball in more than 300 international matches and at three Olympic Games, captaining the team at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics."
Perry clearly deserves it for his work in sports administration, and the 300 games for Australia.
I like Perry, but that L Gaze felt he needed to name a naturalized American from his own Vic "Melbourne Tigers" club to captain Australia not just once , but twice, was a real indictment upon Australian basketball's lack of development and respect for itself. Talk about a cultural cringe.
Not necessarily that Perry may not nave been the best , or even the most popular choice amongst the players, but that if he was, then what the hell were we doing wrong with our local players at that time?
It typifies the view of the time that we should "know our place" in world basketball and not "get too ambitious" . Thank you NBL ( that L Gaze and Melbourne tigers refused to support in 1978) Thank you AIS, and Thank you Adrian Hurley for having some vision of higher and better things than just 8th out of 12.