Shane Heal looks unlikely to stand face-to-face, chest-to-chest and word-to-word with the likes of Dream Team antagonist Charles Barkley. But in Friday night's USA-Australia men's Olympic basketball exhibition, Barkley found an international opponent unwilling to step back or step down.

To Delta Center fans, Heal appeared relatively anonymous and innocuous - 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, beach-like blond, a pesky player for out on the perimeter.By the end of the the Dream Team's 118-77 triumph, Heal had made a name for himself twice over - once for a trash-talking, chest-bumping, jersey-grabbing confrontation near the end of the first half with Barkley, and the other time for a long-distance shooting display that wowed the Utah crowd.

Aussies already know all about Heal's hardwood heroics - and his free-spirit image on the Australian Olympic Team. A Sydney-based reporter described Heal as "the only Australian player cocky enough to trash-talk," adding that Heal wears pierced earrings, which Australians deem unmasculine for men.

Heal had already heaved in several long-range bombs in the Friday night's first half as the Aussies were keeping within 10-12 points of the favored Americans. After draining one long trey from the left wing, Heal found himself felled by Sir Charles.

"He took my legs out from under me," Heal said. "I said a few things to him, and he came back at me and then Gary Payton came at me."

Nothing like taking on the NBA's two most notorious trash-talkers. "I never think twice - that's the way I learned to play," he said.

"I don't think you can take a backwards step from them, and in turn I think they give you some respect in the end," said Heal, who later tussled with Barkley at the start of a timeout.

In the second half, however, there were no more heated exchanges as the Dream Team nearly doubled its 21-point halftime lead. Barkley gave Heal a postgame head rub and bear hug - "I thought he was going to squeeze the air out of me" - and Heal later sought out Barkley in the Delta Center tunnels, hoping to pose together for a photograph.

Heal finished the game with a game-high 28 points. His 10-of-17 shooting from the floor included 8-of-13 from beyond - often way beyond - the three-point line. He had Delta Center fans urging him to fire away anytime he had the ball inside the halfcourt stripe.

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The 25-year-old guard with nine years of pro experience averages 27 points and half-dozen treys a game for the Sydney Kings in Australia's professional league. In one game last year, he hit 19-of-29 from the floor - including 13-of-19 from three-point range - in a 61-point outing.

He's received some interest previously from NBA scouts and hopes there's more in the wake of Friday's game and future outings. He wants to be remembered for NBA-caliber performances, not his near-punches with Barkley.

"I think I could play some sort of role with an NBA team," Heal mused.

After the U.S.-Australia exhibition, one wonders if that role is as a hot-shot point guard or team bruiser.

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