By the time the whistle blew to signal the end of the third quarter on Tuesday, Tunisia knew they had lost to Team USA. At that point everyone — including the Tunisian players — just sat back and enjoyed the show. The odds may have been stacked against his team heading into the game, but Tunisia head coach Adel Tlatli wanted his players to keep their focus. Nothing says “keep your eye on the prize” like a firm smack across the face.
As you can see from the screenshot above that was taken from this video on Deadspin, Tlatli obviously felt as though he needed to make an example out of one of his players before tip-off. With the exception of Bob Knight, we’re not used to seeing things like this in the United States. On rare occasions we’ll see a coach slap a referee on the butt, but an open-hand smack across the face is a bit more rare. Tunisia kept the game close in the first half, so perhaps the message was well-received. Maybe he should have slapped another player before the second half began.
