Shira Springer of the Boston Globe reports that Bucks? coach George Karl is still getting bashed for his performance as the coach of Team USA in the World Championships. This time, Boston?s Paul Pierce was telling it like it is.

When asked what he learned playing in the World Championships this summer, Pierce said, ''I learned not to go play USA basketball if George Karl is the coach.'' Pierce may have laughed the remark off as a joke, but the relationship between Pierce and Karl was definitely strained during the tournament.

When the tournament began, Karl was full of praise for Pierce, lauding him as the team's best individual offensive player. Karl was impressed by Pierce's skills in practice. It was a different story by the end of the tournament, in which the American entry became the first US team comprised of NBA players to lose in international competition. As the tournament wore on, Karl said he felt Pierce was not being enough of a team player.

Karl held Pierce out of the fourth quarter of the American?s loss to Spain which gave Team USA a 6th place finish. Karl blamed the ''money and greed of the NBA'' as a contributing factor to Team USA's poor showing. Also cited was the team's minimal training time together.

Pierce had a differing opinion.

''I don't think he's a players' coach, straight up,'' said Pierce. ''It wasn't only me, but a number of the players didn't respond to what he was saying or understand what he was trying to do. But me, I just play my part. I'm never going to question what he needs to do in practices, what he needs to do in games. 'We had a great coaching staff, [San Antonio's] Gregg Popovich [to name one assistant]. We had personalities on the coaching staff that you could get along with, but it was hard to read [Karl] at times, what he wanted out of certain people.''