I recently stumbled across Darren Ng’s basketball blog and have been an avid reader ever since I found it.  During the last off season, Darren signed with the Singapore Slingers after his most productive NBL season.  Singapore are obviously no longer part of the league and Darren has stuck with the Slingers and played some fantastic basketball and had some great times.  I recently took a punt and asked Darren for an interview and he agreeded.  Enjoy!

Hi Darren.  Thank you for joining us at Basketball and Everything in Between.  How is life treating you in Singapore?

Life is good. The city is great, the people are great and I’ve had no trouble settling in. Admittedly, there have been some ups and downs since I’ve been here, but overall it has been a new experience that has opened up new opportunities for me.

You had a great season last year with the 36ers.  How did you end up in Singapore?

I was pretty happy with my season last year (actually around the time Julius came in I started playing well – I see he’s back!) and Singapore had been trying to get me to come over and play for them. It was a combination of something different for me and having a new experience in my basketball career. I always enjoy challenging myself and this was a new challenge in my life.

The Slingers are playing a series of exhibition games against different Asian teams.  How difficult is it to get yourself up for each game when there is no season and finals series?

There is obviously no playoffs to look forward to at the end of the season, but for me, and I suppose everyone on the team, when you go to play a game no matter what for, the competitive spirit comes out. Then there’s the fans that come out to watch every game and of course the special games where there are 6000+ people in the stadium. There’s also the opportunity every game to showcase what I can do and that in itself also generates interest in the region.

What was your feelings when you found out that the Slingers would not be playing in the NBL?

I was pretty shocked to begin with, of course. None of us had seen it coming. But if you looked at it objectively and did the sums, it was the logical thing to do. I’ve written about it extensively in a post on my blog and you can read more about it there.

I read with interest that Gordie McLeod left the team mid season.  Can you shed any light on that situation and how it occurred?  How did the team feel about him leaving?

Gordie was having some issues with his contract, so chose not to go on. It is tough having him leave as he is such a great coach, one that is highly respected in Australian basketball. But we have a great replacement in Frank Arsego and the team is now moving on.

You had some great games for the 36ers last season (including a career high of 30 points against Wollongong) but the 36ers came up short and missed the play offs.  What was your take on the whole season?

Its probably been talked about a fair bit already – we started slow and probably had a few injuries that cost us at the start. Obviously, when Julius came in we kicked up a gear and about that time I started to play well and find my niche in the team. We were one game away from the playoffs and finishing the season strong so it was a pity we didn’t quite get there.

Who is the best import that you have ever played with?

Julius Hodge.

Obviously playing for Phil Smyth had a great influence on your career.  How was he as a coach?

Phil was one of those coaches who not only coached, but knew how to manage a team. I think he and Steve Breheny complemented each other really well and that is clear from their success. I am indebted to both Phil and Steve for allowing me to play as well as complete my Medical degree – not many others would have been as accommodating. Not only was I able to become a doctor, but at the same time I was able to improve my game to the level it is now.

You took the 2005-06 season off to complete your medical studies.  What strand of medicine are you hoping to practice in at the conclusion of your basketballing career?

I am still considering which path in Medicine I want to take. I would like to play basketball professionally until the stage I feel I have competed at the highest level I can, or feel that I am not competitive anymore. So, I guess the medicine is going to fit around that for a few more years. I’m sure that when my playing days are over I’ll be in for a challenging career in Medicine, as that is just part of my character.

What are your thoughts on the demise of the NBL?  How can it return to its glory days of the past?

I’ve seen the NBL slowly head south since I started playing in the league. I came in at a time where it had peaked and support (particularly in Adelaide) was at a high. It is a shame that this has happened and I think some of the onus has to be put on the people running the league. Some teams have profited, while others have been left behind. When this happens, those struggling teams try to spend over their limits to compete and that’s where problems arise. Three teams fell out of the NBL in the past off season and I know that for a fact Singapore would still be in the league if they had just given us a few allowances, like better scheduling of games (something simple, but they still couldn’t do it). I suspect Sydney and Brisbane could have been saved if the NBL and other teams really wanted. ABC learning was obviously a great supporter of the league and it was unfortunate what happened there and nobody could have seen that coming. That probably kicked things into panic mode a little more. Hopefully this new review has some ideas, but at this stage it is hard to tell. I see that they would like to play in Asia, but their foothold (Slingers) is gone and we are looking towards an ASEAN league in the near future. I really do hope the NBL gets back as there are many great players in Australia and it would be a shame to lose them.

Favourite team mate of all time?

Brett Maher – a great guy, great player and someone I’ve looked up to my whole career. It was a privilege to have played with him.

I am sure that you have heard about the whole Ben Cousins returning to the AFL drama.  What are your thoughts on this?  Should he be allowed to play again?

That’s a hard one. It probably leaves the door open to superstar players thinking they can get away with whatever they like. However, Ben is such a talented player that clubs are willing to take a risk with him. And if he has gotten his life back in order, then good on him. I’m not really sure about this one. I don’t like seeing drugs in sport (or recreational drugs in life in general), so I’m probably just on the ‘not allowing him to play’ side. But it’s tough.

Last question – will we ever see you back in the NBL again?

I guess we’ll see in the future if I’ll be back. Having been up here in Singapore has opened up opportunities that I would have never have imagined possible, so time will tell where my next challenge takes me. If it is the NBL, then I’d be happy to be back.

So there you go.  I personally think that league is worse off without guys like Darren and the other guys who are with the Slingers.  I am glad that they are getting an opportunity to play and get paid but it is not for the best for basketball in Australia.  But it was awesome that he took the time to do this interview.  Check out this YouTube mix of Darren’s highlights with the Slingers and this one from his time with the 36ers and of course visit his blog to keep up to date with the things that are happening with him and the Slingers. 

Tim Dillon was one of my favourite imports to ever grace a NBL floor.  I know that I seem to say that  a fair bit, but this guy was the real deal and could flat out get it done.  If you read my article on Brian Goorjian, you will know that I was a huge North Melbourne Giants fan who turned to the darkside when the Magic was formed.  I loved the Giants and one of the main reasons was this guy.  When I was a youngster, his brother Mike, played for the Dandenong Rangers in the SEABL (or whatever it was called then) and he held a clinic.  Both Tim and Scott Fisher turned up and this was the highlight of my week for around 6 weeks. 

A bit of background information – Tim only played two years in the NBL for the Giants.  In those two years he averaged 31.08ppg, 10.47rpg, 2.36apg and 1.47spg.  He shot 55% from the field, 34% from the 3 point line and a suprisingly low 69% from the Free Throw line.  But for me it was more than his numbers.  It was the way that he got his numbers.  He was listed at 203cms and I remember in the 1988 season, both he and Scott Fisher were the starting 4 and 5 men for the Giants.  In 1989, Ray Borner joined the Giants program and he was allowed to play more of his natural game which allowed him to step out to the perimeter sometimes.  Prior to that, Tim attended the Northen Illinois Unversity and was drafted with pick 49 by Chicago in the 1984 NBA Draft (the same draft as Jordan and Hakeem)  In this article, Adam Ballinger is compared to Tim Dillion which I think it a pretty fair comparison.  I think that Tim could get it done more off the dribble than Ballinger but both have good size and good shooting touch.   

I searched and searched Google for some images of him as a player, but I couldn’t find a single one.  Don’t ask me what the above image has to do with him.  I guess he was in the NBA draft but not in the lottery!    In the latest edition of The OT with DJ Rod and JR, they discuss imports from the past and how they would have went in the modern game.  I think that he would be tough as in the 2008-09 NBL season.  In my opinion, Adam Ballinger is a very good import and in his prime, Tim Dillion was better. 

Got to love the memories!  It was sad that he only played two seasons in our league.  I can’t remember the reasons why.  I had a conversation with Bruce Palmer about this once but I just can’t put my finger on the reason that he was only here for a short time.  So there you go!  Hopefully others have just as fond memories of Tim Dillion as I do!

Welcome to another edition of Saturday’s Silly Sollies.  I would like to dedicate this edition to the Australian Acquastion of the Year Russell Hinder.  Hopefully you will get your starting spot back soon Rusty!  So lets go.  There is a lot of stuff going on in the basketball world.

- Townsville upset the Melbourne Tigers on Wednesday night.  I was sitting there after watching the debarcle that was South Dragons vs Cairns and the score came up on the screen on Fox Sports news after the game.  I have to admit that I did a double take and was amazed to see that the Crocs had knocked off the Tigers.  Good on them for getting it done.  It sounds like it was an awesome game and Michael Cedar got the job done.  It looked like that the Crocs got it done with a lot of guys contributing. 

- On the same night, I had the displeasure of watching the Dragons rip apart the Taipans.  I knew that the Taipans were in for a long night when Darnell Mee was injured to start and didn’t even suit up.  Scott Cook looked reasonably composed against the pressure of the Dragons but Kerry Williams did not.  The Taipans seemed to run through their offensive sets but weren’t getting anything out of it.  There is a lot of pressure of Alan Black.  I think that he deserves to see out the season as he is a good coach and has a proven track record at a number of locations.  I read with interest that the Cairns Convention Centre is still throwing mud around the lease etc.  It will be interesting to see how that pans out.

- Thursday night saw the NZ Breakers give the Perth Wildcats a bit of a basketball lesson. I watched the majority of this game (my wife rang her mother and Grandmaster Funk came over for me to sign some mortgage documents) and to me the most pleasing thing for Breakers fans must be the fact that Kirk Penney was pretty well contained and wasn’t a huge contributer.  I really enjoyed watching Dillion Boucher.  I am the first to admit that I have never been a huge fan of his, but he is the perfect player for this team.  He is a pretty good ball handler, has some basketball smarts and plays a good team game.  I think that the Breakers are defintely now the real deal.  I was pretty amazed to hear the interview with Connor Henery after the game where he criticised CJ Bruton for standing at half court and playing it up to the crowd.  Get over it Connor!  He was trying to get the fans excited (which they should be) and create some atmosphere.  This seems to be an interesting rivilary brewing between these two teams.  When will teams learn not to press the Breakers?  Hopefully soon for them! Shawn Redhage’s best friend Phil Jones was also pretty good during this game. 

- In the latest edition of the OT, JR and DJ Rod discussed all things NBL with Russell Hinder and Crocs Marketing, Media & Communications Manager Mili Simic.  It was different to the usual format of the show and I really enjoyed it.  They were talking about some ideas to increase the popularity of the NBL and one idea floated around was the ‘Bonus Point’.  When the bonus point was introduced into Super 14 Rugby, some people were against the idea but it has proven to be successful.  I am not overly sure about Rusty’s idea about if you get 10 dunks and 10 threes in a game, you get the bonus, but it would sure make for some interesting times.  Thanks again to Russell Hinder for nominating this site as his favourite basketball site.  There is a lot of love here for you!

- Darren Ng has wrote an article about the Slingers latest series of games in Indonesia.  Whilst I can’t exactly imagine basketball being overly competive in Indonesia, good on the Slingers for promoting the game in Asia.  Look out for a Q & A that Darren has done for us that will be published next week (Monday maybe)  It is a great read and he is very articulate (which I am not and I am not even sure if I spelt it correctly!) and you can tell that he is a doctor!!

- Boomers 2010 is the latest entry on JR’s blog.  In his blog, he discusses the team that will represent Australia at the 2010 World Championships in Turkey.  I agree with his assessment on the automatic selections (Andrew Bogut, Brad Newley, Matt Neilsen, David Andersen, CJ Bruton and Pat Mills) and also the guys who should make the cut pretty easily (Mark Worthington, Joe Ingles and David Barlow)  So that is nine guys, which leaves three roster spots avaliable.  There are a lot of guys up for those three spots.  I am not overly sure about who could fill those three spots but I wil have a think about it and blog it soon. 

- Ross Lewis from the Western Australian has wrote an article about Australian basketball’s new head honcho will need to keep a cake of soap in his office. In the article he talks about how Perth Wildcats CEO Nick Marvin has had enough of the swearing of NBL players and coaches and he wants action taken.  I am a bit of a fence sitter on this point.  I can understand that sometimes people become caught up in the moment and can drop the occassional ‘F Bomb’ and the ‘S Word’.  I have never heard anybody say the ‘C word’ that rhymes with runt.  I can also understand that the players and coaches have a responsibility to promote the sport in a positive light. 

- This Greg Evans character is really starting to annoy me now.  It has been revealed that the Sydney players have not been paid for over a month.  I don’t want to blog heaps about it but I will say that I hope that they see out the season and make a deep play off run.  

- Andrew Bogut has a new blog entry up entitled ‘When it Rains, It Pours’   He talks about his injury at the moment and how the whole Sydney Spirit stuff is affected people that he knows and cares about.  I remember reading an interview somewhere where he talked about that one day in the future he wanted to own a NBL franchise but he didn’t want to go in half arsed. 

- In honour of the whole Movember thing, check out this article about the Great Mustaches in NBA history.  My personal favourites are Connie Hawkins and James Edwards. 

- The people out there are really enjoying listening to The TO – The official podcast of Basketball and Everything in Between.  There are some haters out there but generally speaking most people are appreciating our crappy effort to making a contribution to the Australian Basketballing Community.  We enjoy doing it and hopefully get better each week.   Speaking of podcasting, it has become a bit of an obsesison of mine over the past couple of weeks.  Obviously there is The OT and The Official NBL Podcast each week.  Is there any other NBL podcasts out there?  If there are, could you leave a comment at the bottom of this post or email me at ashleyproud@gmail.com  I am sure that you will all appreciate this non basketball related podcast.  

- This is a pretty good interview with Adam Ballinger It is interesting to see how much he loves Larry Bird.  The more I think about his game, the more he is a poor mans Larry Bird. 

- Congratulaitons to the Melbourne Tigers for allowing Bo’s Blog to return. 

(As you can see, I have changed the theme of my blog.  Let me know what you think of it by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post or email me at ashleyproud@gmail.com )

Every NBL fan (and non NBL fan) knows that the NBL has very poor TV coverage.  At the moment, we are lucky to get one game a week on Fox Sports.  Last week we were so lucky to get two games due to the fact that Maroi TV from New Zealand covered the Breakers vs Dragons game and it was played on delay late Thursday night on Fox Sports.  But apart from that, there is no games on Free to Air TV.  Last year we had a replay on Sunday morning on Channel 9 but I don’t think that this exsists anymore (I live in a part of Australia that does not get Channel 9 – we get Imparja!)

Michael from Shibz’s Spiel recently wrote an article entitled: Television Coverage A Must In Today’s Digital Age.  In this post he talks about the importance of having television coverage in this day and age and how it is impartive to get.  My friend (and co host of the TO) Grandmaster Funk and I were talking about this just the other day.  I then stumbled across Hoops TV – Episode V.  In it the guys interview Boti Nagy and he talks about the importance of even getting local TV coverage for home centres (e.g. Channel 7 in Adelaide covering 36ers games etc)  I think that this is an awesome idea but I am unsure if the networks would grab onto it.

I am also an avid listender of OH-FM (which seems to have disappeared from the radar) and I remember in this episode, Derek talking about something called BitTorrent  I had absolutley no clue what it was so I went and did some research and found out that it was a free, open source file-sharing application effective for distributing very large software and media files.  His plan was that the NBL would upload the games to a certain site and we could access it from here (I think that was his idea)  He talked about the legal issues and apparently this was a bit dicey.

An idea that the NBL seriously should consider is broadcasting the games over the internet.  The D League in the USA, apparently does this to great success.  Therefore fans (and I wouldn’t be one for two reasons: 1. I only have crappy dial up internet at home and 2. Even if we had broadband, my wife is the boss and she would say no!) could pay a subscription fee and access all of the games over the net.  There would be costs to the NBL.  They would need to provide:

1. Provide at least 3 cameras for each game (estimate….I have no clue $3 000 ??)
2. Two local callers ($800 all up for the night)
3. An ICT guy ($300 for the night)
4. 3 camera men  ($750 all up)
5. Stats people (should be $0 as they should be able to use the exsisting system)

So by my maths, I estimate that it would cost the NBL each night $1 850 for each game.  If the NBL charged $200 per season for each person to subscribe for the year, it should almost be cost netural.  There would be some start up costs for the NBL to buy the cameras but they could be shared amongst the teams. 

So there you go.  Hopefully the NBL does something soon about the TV coverage soon, but I am sure that saving the Sydney Spirit is higher on their agenda!

I am trying to stay away from the whole Sydney Spirit thing until I have time to sit down and write a decent post about it.  I am attempting to focus on the positivies of our league the moment.  I am very upset at the owner of the Sydney Spirit and he has pissed me off!

So on Friday night, I was flicking through the channels and came to the live telecast of the Canberra Capitals vs Sydney Flames game.  Now I am the first to admit that I don’t follow a lot of the WNBL (and I should!!) but I religiously watch the Opals play.  I used to love watching the old NWBL as a kid and players such as Michelle Timms, Robyn Maher, Shelley Gorman and Regina Days amongst others.  The WNBL is more about execution of plays and the NBL is more reliant on athleticism to get it done.

Anyway, a time out was called in the game and it was in the Capitals huddle.  I was extremely impressed with how Graf spoke to her troops and they all seemed to be into what she was saying.  So I asked myself the question: Could Carrie Graf coach in the NBL?

I went to her profile and found out the following:

Carrie Graf surprised many punters when she overcame the departure of Capitals legend Lauren Jackson to guide Canberra to the 2006/07 Championship; her fifth as a WNBL head coach. The reigning WNBL Coach of the Year has also been an assistant coach with the Opals (1996 and 200 Olympic Games) and a head coach with the New Zealand Tall Ferns and the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA. In 2007, she led the Australian women’s University basketball team to a Gold Medal at the World Uni Games in Bangkok, Thailand

So she certainly seems to ahve the credentials in regards to her coaching pedigree.  Her manner seems to be very assertive (which it would need to be if she was coaching the men) and she has been involved with the greatest womens coach in Australian basketball history – Tom Maher.  If I remember correctly (and I am pretty unsure of this) she was a member of Brian Goorjian’s coaching staff at the Victoria Titans for a while. 

So could she coach in the NBL?  I think a few years ago, Mt Gambier had a women head coach for their SEABL Mens program.  They were reasonably successful I think.  I honestly feel that if she had the right scenario and team, she would be a success as a coach in the NBL.

The TO – Episode Two

Here is the second episode of The TO.  We discuss the round that was and the round that will be.  For some reason it has the same link as the previous episode but it is a new episdoe.  I am still not sure of this hosting site.  Hopefully it works out well.  We discuss all things basketball.  Look at for future interviews with players.  It is in the pipeline

Hello and welcome to another edition of Tuesday’s Random Rambles.  I am thinking about changing the theme of my blog as it seems that I have lost my ’side bar’ from the right hand side.  It is at the bottom of the page and I am finding that really really annoying.  If you have any thoughts on this, leave a comment at the end of this post or email me at ashleyproud@gmail.com  Anyway here we go:

- It seems as though some people are actually reading my blog.  My Google Analytics account tells me that I have had 1 084 visits!  Thanks for reading my blog.  At the end of this post I have a big rant and a challenge for you. 

- The first episode of the TO was reasonably well received by people and lots of fun to do.  We are going to try and make it a weekly thing and if I can get my head around the technology side, have some guests ring in and do interviews. 

- Speaking of Podcasts, I really enjoyed the latest edition of The OT with Kirk Penney.  He seems like a really humble guy and really down to earth.  I know that DJ Rod was a huge fan of him and said that he was a great guy.

- The Townsville Crocs have seemed to have snapped their lossing streak with a win over the Hawks.  In his post game interview coach Trevor Gleeson talks about how hard it was to bench Corey Williams, Russell Hinder and John Rillie from the starting five.  It was a pretty gutsy thing to do but they got the job done.  Williams still played 29 minutes, Hinder played 21 minutes and Rillie played 26 minutes.  It will be interesting to see if Trevor Gleeson sticks with this for the remainder of the season.  I think that he really needs to play those three guys more for them to be successful against the power teams in the league (Breakers, Dragons and Tigers) but good on the Crocs for getting the job done.  It was extremely pleasing to see Daniel Egan put up some great numbers.  9 from 10 from the field and 3 from 3 from the 3 point line certainly helps my FNBL team.  Thanks Daniel!  Once again, I forgot to activate Brad Williamson and it turned around to hurt me.  It seems that Corey Williams is not overly happy with his benching. 

- It seems as though my post on the NZ Breakers has proven to be correct.  If you are not a believer by now, you are an idiot.  The Breakers are going to make a deep run into the playoffs this season.  If they can get home court advantage, they should be in fantastic shape. 

- Michael Scibilia has wrote an interesting article titled ‘Smoke, Mirrors and a Salary Cap’. I really enjoy reading his blog and wish that he would write more often.  Anyway, in this article he discusses the possiblity of the ‘New NBL’ (we need an awesome name!) doing away with the Salary Cap.  He feels that this idea is shocking and I would have to say that I agree with him.  This is not the English Premier League where Russian Maffia families own teams and have an unlimited supply of money. 

- Ryan Mobillia has some interesting thoughts on how Zac Efron could svae the sport in our country.  I stumbled across his blog as well (it was linked to JR’s) and it is another good read.  He should write more often as well. 

- Whilst I like to keep this blog Australian related, I have to ask this question: What the hell is going on with Stephon Marbury?  In the game against the Bucks, he dressed but refused to play.  Is this guy serious?  I understand that he is not happy with the situation but there are twenty million basketballers around the world who would love to even put a NBA uniform on and he is refusing to play.  This just blows my mind.  Come on Stephon!  Pick up your game!

- It seems as though St Marys has taken over the mantle from Metro State as the production factory for young Australians playing college basketball.  I really enjoyed watching their game against Freno State last week on ESPN and loved the style of game that they play (e.g pushing the ball at every opportunity)  Their coach seems to have a firm handle on the Australian basketball scene.  Having David Patrick (who I played against at the Australian Schoolboys Titles in Newcaste in 1994) also helps as well.  I read with interest that they have signed three more Australians to their roster next year – Jorden Page, Matthew Dellavedova and Mitchell Young 

- The NBL is fuming that the AAP has cut its regular coverage of mathces as of next round and so they bloody well should be.  This is a disgrace and should not happen.  We are fighting hard to keep our sport above water in this country and this crap happens.  Boo to AAP!

I would like to personally challenge every blogger out there to put out more NBL coverage.  We need to ban together as a basketballing community and keep the information flowing about this league.  If the whole ‘New NBL’ thing is going to happen next season, that is great,  but lets enter the season with a bit of momentum.  It seems as though some people in power are just resting and doing nothing to promote the game in our country.  More needs to be done people.  Individual sites for each NBL club should have features on players etc.  They are not hard to do.  I have sent out a whole bunch of requests to certain players for interviews for my little site and I have already done one and have another two defintely ready to go.  If I can do it, why can’t others?  Come on offical NBL sites.  Have some interviews with players or something.  Get it done!

End of my rant!

Chris Goulding is a development player with the Perth Wildcats.  He was a member of the Brisbane Bullets last year and the Australian Junior Team last year.  He is an exciting player who agreeded to have an interview with me.  Here is the interview:

Hey Goulds!  Thanks for joining us at Basketball and Everything in Between.  First off, your Brisbane Under 16 coach must have been the biggest influence on your career so far.  Would that be a correct statement? (It was me by the way!)

Haha yeah I guess you could say something like that. My under 16 coach was always tough on me, but he definitely knew what he was doing, and coached me to my one and only state championship as a junior. So gotta give him a lot of credit.

To be honest, up until under 18’s, you were a good representive player but nobody would have dreamed that you would be playing in the NBL.  What do you think was the biggest development in your game was when you were top age under 18’s?

In top age under 18’s I got cut from the Brisbane representative team, and moved back over to my home team the Southern Districts Spartans for the season. The biggest thing for me was getting a chance to play. I hadn’t been getting much court time the last couple years and just getting to play gave me some confidence. Couple that with the coaches that believed in me, and that was the biggest thing for my game.

 After making the Queensland South Under 18 boys team, you spent the next season training with the Brisbane Bullets and playing QABL / SEABL with the Southern Districts Spartans.  Was there ever an opportunity for you to go to the AIS and if so, why did you choose not to go?

There was a chance for me to go to the AIS. After our Emus team qualified for the world championships, Marty Clarke asked me if I would like to move to Canberra to be a part of the program. At that time I was already involved with the bullets and was training pretty regularly against some great players, and working hard on my game. I consulted a lot of people, and in the end, it came down to me asking Marty if I could still make the World Championships team if I didn’t decide to move to Canberra. He told me I still could, it would just be harder, as i wouldn’t have the luxury of being in front of the head coach everyday.  So I set my sights on working my but off in Brisbane and making the team. And I ended up achieving my goal of playing for Australia

Playing in your first QABL season for the Spartans, you were coached by Bruce Palmer.  How was he as a coach?

Bruce was awesome. He always managed to get the most out of his guys and make sure they were having fun while doing it. We had a pretty successful team that year and a lot of it had to do with Palmer.

In 2007, you also made the Australian Emus squad and went away to the World Chamionships How was that as an experience?

Being included in that Australian team was the proudest and best time of my career. Going away to the World Championships was something I thought I would never do, and it opened my eyes to the level of talent around the world. Definitely the best experience I have had in basketball.

In the Emus team, you were team mates with Patrick Mills.  How was he as a team mate?

Patty was a great team mate. He was the Captain of the team and I was the Vice Captain so we had a fair bit to do with each other. He was a real good leader on our team. Pat and AJ Ogilvy were definately the standouts on that team, and Im not surprised and couldn’t be happier with how well they are doing over in the States.

What was your experience like as a development player playing for the Brisbane Bullets? 

I loved being with the Bullets, it exposed me to all the ins and outs of playing basketball full time. Joey Wright was great towards me and whenever he got the chance to throw me into the action, he always gave me the nod.

Going up everyday against CJ Bruton, Ebi Ere and Stephen Black would have given you an education on how to play the guard spot.  What was the biggest thing that you learnt from them?

The biggest thing was just the physical nature of this league, and how much more I have to work to make it in this league.  They are 3 of the premier guards in the competition and I couldn’t have asked for better guys to help me through my first year.

We are all aware of the demise of the Brisbane Bullets.  Tell us about the process and when did you find out that they were definitely going under?

We found out that they were definitely going under at the same time as the media and all the fans did. The players and staff received a call and a text message in the morning explaining how guidelines hadn’t been met, and that the licence would be handed back to the NBL.

Last SEABL season you put up some good numbers and had some big games for the Spartans.  Why do you think that your numbers improved?

Mainly, the experience I got from being with the Emus and the Bullets. We also had a very talented team with Adam Gibson, Brad Wiliamson, Peni Nasalo, Justin Brown and Greg Vandejagt, which allowed us all to put up some numbers as opposition teams had more then one or two guys they had to worry about.

So now you are in Perth and you tell me that you are settling in well.  How did you end up in Perth?

Well, when the outlook for the bullets started to get a bit cloudy, I got a call from Mick Downer, who was my u20s coach, he and I had stayed in contact pretty regularly since the tournament. At that time, he hadn’t been appointed Wildcats assistant coach and was just calling to see if everything was all good with me, and if I had any plans of moving on from the bullets or not. When he got appointed at the Wildcats, he put my name forward, I went over for a trial with the team for a couple of weeks, and now I live over here.

What are the differences between the Wildcats and the Bullets organisations?

The main difference between the Cats and the Bullets is the community support we receive over here. All our games are pretty much sold out and the fans love it over here, they go crazy and they are loud and they are the best crowd in the league at the moment.

The Wildcats have one of the deepest rosters in the league.  What are your goals for the remainder of the season with the Wildcats?

My goals are pretty much the same as they have been for the last year or so. I want to help my team in any way I can, and if I get a chance to get out there and help the guys out, ill be ready. At the same time, I want to get better, so I’m going to use all the experience and talent on our roster to help me become a better player.

Last question: being in WA, the whole Ben Cousins thing is sure to be in the news.  Do you think that Ben Cousins should be allowed to play in the AFL?

Touchy subject this one. I don’t have a massive opinion on this, but If he has served his penalty that’s been handed down to him by the AFL, and he has passed all their guidelines and rules that they have had in place, I don’t see why a second chance shouldn’t be granted.

So there you go.  I think that Chris has a huge future in the NBL.  Check out this YouTube highlights package of him. 

The heart and soul of a champion: his life, his career, his game. To understand basketball, you have to understand Larry Bird. Arguably the greatest all-around player the game has ever known, he led the Boston Celtics from the basement to three world championships, collecting three NBA Most Valuable Player awards along the way. .

Yet, despite these massive accomplishments, Bird rarely talked to the press, and much about the man has remained a mystery. In Drive, the long-silent superstar sets the record straight, revealed a side of himself-and of basketball-you’ve never see before. Inside, you’ll learn Bird’s most private feelings about: The momentous decision to transfer from Bobby Knight’s Indiana University to Indiana State. The heartbreak of his father’s suicide and his own failed marriage. The single-minded discipline that tumed a small-town hero into a national superstar. The Boston Garden and the legendary Celtic charm. The Isiah Thomas controversy and the fierce Celtic-Laker rivalry. The great players of the NBA: including Magic Johnson, Dominique Wilkins, and Michael Jordan, and much more. here is the book that puts a basketball legend-and his game-on the line

I think that I bought this book from a place called Barstow which is about half way between Los Angles and Las Vegas.  It is a great book. 

If you have been living under a rock for the past week, you wouldn’t have heard that Ben Cousins has been granted permission to re enter the AFL after spending a year on the sidelines for his drug addiction.  Ben never tested positive for an drugs throughout his career but admitted that he was a drug adict and the league de registered him for twelve months.

Luckily for the NBL, there has never been any huge drug scandals.  Yes there was Baywatch Bobby Breenan who allegedly tested positive for pot along with Damon Bailey who was supposedbly a big smoker but no huge controversies like the Cousins one.  So how would the NBL handle a situation like this? 

Lets be honest, Ben Cousins is a huge star.  Lets say that a certain star from a new NBL franchise called the St George Saints has a huge drug issue.  He is into some serious drugs but has never tested positive.  How would our current NBL management handle this scenario?  Would they just let it go through to the keeper and keep it hush hush in the media or would they get it out in the open and put him to the cleaners like the AFL did to Cousins?  I have a lot of doubt that the NBL could handle this situation correctly at all. 

Does the NBL have a drug culture?  I highly doubt that it does.  I am sure that there are some guys who do (just like there is in any run of society) but I think that the biggest issue is that most of the young NBL players don’t have the disposable income that some of the AFL / NRL guys do.  Also most basketball players in Australia can go to a club or bar and be recognised but not swarmed.  I know for a fact that many a time I have been out with NBL players on the drink.  They love the free drinks (like anybody would) but to the common man, they are not overly famous.  A young kid in the AFL could earn up to $100 000 a year.  Not many basketballers in Australia would earn that. 

Hopefully we will never have to deal with this situation in our game.  Fingers crossed!