Basketball and everything in between

There has been a lot of hype out there about Aaron Bruce who is currently in his rookie season with the Adelaide 36ers.  As we all know Aaron represented Australia at the 2006 World Championship team and spent 4 years at Baylor University and achieved a lot of honours.  He was a three year starter for the Bears and a three time All Big 12 nominee.  He became the 19th player in Baylor history to score over 1 000 points and was the nation’s top scoring freshman in 2004-05. 

But the question is – Do we belive the hype?  Flava Flav from Public Enemy doesn’t, and I am not sure if I am a true believer yet.  Throughout his seven games this season, he has average 13.9ppg, 2.4rpg and a very respectable 5.1apg.  He has also been converting his free throws at a very respectable 91%.  He has had some injury concerns but seems to be getting through it.  The only problem is that his team is not winning! In his latest game against the NZ Breakers he had a very respectable game and played 40 minutes. 

So where does Aaron Bruce sit in the grand scheme of young Australian PG’s in the league / world?  I feel that he is a long way behind everybody’s golden child – Patrick Mills . I don’t think that anybody could doubt that.  I personally feel that Adam Gibson is on a similar level to him. Gibson is tough as nails and strong as an ox at the defensive end.  If you are an avid reader of Basketball and Everything in Between (and I am sure that some of you are!) you will know that I am a newly converted fan of the Sydney Spirit. Their on floor general Damian Martin is also a good leader and has to be rated in those top few young Aussie PG’s. All four of these guys (Martin, Gibson, Mills and Bruce) will compete for spots at the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympic Games.  My personal opinion of the order of this group is:

1. Patrick Mills
2. Adam Gibson
3. Aaron Bruce
4. Damian Martin

I just can’t get the couple of games that I watched Baylor play on ESPN last year out of my head.  The first one was against Washington State I remember watching the game and thinking that Aaron Baynes was a beast and Aaron Bruce didn’t really do a whole heap. I remember him hitting a few shots in the 2nd half but not to many. The second game that comes to mind is their round game in the NCAA tournament against Purude. Whilst Purude was seeded higher than Baylor, they still didn’t play overly great and looked average.  I remember at the time thinking is Aaron Bruce that good?

  Earlier this week I wrote a post on the influence of College basketball on the NBL In this post, I stated (this is very very sad quoting myself!):

The risk is that you really have to go to a school where you can showcase your talents. I have heard stories of many young aussies who have gone over and played a specific role for their team and have actually returned worse players.

The specific role that your coach wants you to play for your team in NCAA hoops can really affect your development as a basketball player.  I believe that there was a coaching change at Baylor before Bruce’s senior (or junior) year.  From all reports, Bruce was the go to man during his Freshman and Sophmore season.  In the above mentioned game against Washington State  I remember him being the third or fourth option and the fact that their coach played three guards together.  Aaron was guarding the opposing teams small forward and seemed to be undersized for the role

In summary, do I believe the hype?  I will go with Flava Flav on this one and say ‘Don’t believe the hype’ but I will add ‘Just Yet!’  I am looking forward to watching him match up with Adam Gibson on Fox Sports. But no matter what, I am sure that Aaron Bruce is better than this guy