So in all honesty, things are not looking to good for the Cairns Taipans.  There doesn’t seem to be another ‘White Knight’ on the scene and things are not looking to good for the Taipans.  It doesn’t seem as if they will be a part of the new league and the look out for the Taipans is pretty bleak. 

So where to for the Taipans players and staff?  Will any NBL teams want to pick up the players or will they be left doing a ‘Neil Mottram’ and find themselves good enough to play in the league but not have a job. 

Here is my opinion on if each player should get another gig in the ‘New NBL’ and a possible home for them:

Stephen Black: obviously the guy is a class player but has a huge history of having the worst back in the NBL and is very injury prone.  From all reports, the guy is extremely professional and works his arse off to keep himself on the court (his ice baths are things of legend!)  There has been some news that he is exploring Europe as a possible destination for his futre.  Should he have a gig on a NBL roster?  Hell yes!  I think that a team like Sydney (in its current form) and Wollongong (if they are in the league) would be a perfect home for him.  I would also mention the Gold Coast, but I honestly don’t think that Brendan Joyce would recruit him as he would take away time from Daniel!.

Aaron Grabu: this is an interesting one.  The guy is a rock!  He is a foundation player for the Taipans and is very solid at the defensive end.  Aaron’s career has improved in the past couple of seasons and he is in career best form.  But he isn’t a super scorer and he is not the greatest outside shooter.  Should he have a gig on a NBL roster?  I am going to say no.  I think that he is on the wrong side of 29 and doesn’t offer NBL programs more than what they already have.

Darnell Mee: another one that is interesting.  He (along with Cattalini) spent a great deal of the last season on the injured list.  He is long, a veteran and a pretty clutch player.  Should he have a gig on a NBL roster?  I am going to say yes.  He would fit in on veteran roster such as the Blaze or even an in between roster like the Wildcats.  He is versatile and can defend.  It is a huge punt but if you offered the guy a one year deal, I think that it is well worth the risk.

Scott Cook: is one of the few true PG’s in the league.  He has been extremely solid throughout this season and his game seems to be on the improve.  Cook has started some games thoughout this season and played some decent basketball.  Should he have a place in the new NBL?  I say yes.  I think that he would help the NZ Breakers as a solid back up to CJ Bruton and an upgrade on what they have there already.

Martin Cattalini: as I previously discussed in my blog entry, Martin has expressed interest in finishing his career in Perth.  He seems to be playing some solid basketball after an extremely injury prone season last year.  Should he have a place in the new NBL?  I say that if the Wildcats want to roll the dice and give him a shot, it would be awesome but it would be at the expense of a young guy.

Ian Crosswhite: my mate Grandmaster Funk from the TO fame (which we will be reviving very very soon!  Watch out for that!) absolutely pasted this guy earlier in the year.  Since his pasting, it seems as if he has pulled his finger out and found some form and even won player of the week award.  Should he have a gig on a new NBL roster?  I am going to say yes but with conditions.  He would need to play for a coach who could drive him (e.g Brian Gorijian) and get the best out of him.  He would fit in well at the Dragons and the Hawks (but I don’t think that Cooks would be a good match for him)

Garry Boodinkoff: is an outstanding player on the offensive end but apparently can’t defend at all.  He came into the league with much fanfare and had an extremely solid rookie season.  But in my opinion, it has been downhill ever since then.  Should he have a place in the new NBL?  Yes he should in a backup capacity.  He would fit in well at the Gold Coast and be able to add support to their program.

Matt Smith: in one word – no.  I don’t see Matt Smith hooking onto any NBL program.

Dwayne Vale: is another one word answer – no.  He had a solid season last year but this year has not produced the good at all.  He is not overly young and doesn’t bring things to the table that other guys on other rosters don’t.

Kerry Williams – is a local hero in Cairns.  He got a bit of notoriety earlier in the season and Andrew Gaze was mentioning him in the same breath as Patrick Mills.  Williams can not shoot the ball from the perimeter but is quick and slippery.  Should he have a place on a NBL roster?  I say no but that is just my personal opinion.

In regards to imports Larry Abney and Dave Thomas: Obviously Thomas has returned to the Tigers and will problary stick there.  I cant believe that more teams did not pull the trigger on Abney.  I would have hoped that if the Blaze were still in the playoff hunt, they would have cut Whitehad quickly and picked up this superstar.  I personally feel that he is better than Ellis and would fit in well at the Crocs.  He would also be a nice addition for the Hawks (when Rychardt is an Aussie) and would have been a nice pick up for the Spirit but they have no money!

So there you go.  I think that the new NBL is going to leave a lot of guys without gigs especially if the whole points thing is kept.  Guys like Boodinkoff and Crosswhite could find themselves ‘out pointed’ if the new league keeps the points in tact.  I am still hoping that there is hope for the Taipans roster to stay in Cairns but if I was a betting man, I would bet most of my life savings (and Larry Abney’s non salary cap money!) on there not being a team in Cairns next year.

So the other day I was doing my usual scroll through various basketball websites and I stumbled upon this article. The basic theme of the article was the Cattalini wants to finish his career up in Perth next year and would love to be in Wildcats colours.  It is all well and good that he is feeling a bit homesick and would love to go home but the question has to be asked – Would the Wildcats want him?

Perth’s biggest strength over the past decade has been its front court strength.  Once again this year they have a wonderful 3,4 and 5 men with Redhage, Victor, Knight, Loughton and Rogers manning the fort.  Would the Cat fit into that mix?   The biggest strength of Cattallini’s game thoughout his NBL career has been taking advantage of mismatches.  If you put a small 3 on him, he posts you up on the block and uses his size.  If you put a 4 on him, he creates a mismatch by taking them to the perimeter and using his speed and athleticism to his advantage.

So if I was the owner of the Perth Wildcats for the 2009 - 10 season, would I pick him up? My answer would be yes.  I feel that he still has a lot to offer and if he is willing to take a reduced role, you would be crazy not to pick him up.  Yes he is in the twighlight of his career but he was pretty much out for all of last season and that should add another year onto his career.  He seems to still get the job done and I have noticed that he is playing with a lot of spunk this year.  Some people might say that he is taking away a job from a young guy.  That is true but until the young guy can outplay the veteran, the young guy should still miss out. 

If they added the Cat to the roster for next season and kept their exsisiting front court, I would confidently state that it would be the greatest front court ever assembled on paper in the history of the NBL.  Maybe he could help Connor Henry prepare for how to face a zone defense.  I could not believe it when he said that he did not prepare his team to play against a zone in preperation for the Taipans game.  Hello Connor!  The Taipans are undermanned and understrength.  What did you think?  Were they going to come out and press full court?

Anyway enough of my ramble.  I will be back at work in a couple of weeks and the blogs will be back with avengance. 

So last Sunday I travelled down to the Gold Coast with my father to watch the Gold Coast Blaze do battle with the Townsvillie Crocs.  My dad does stats for the Blaze so I was able to acquire a free crappy ticket five rows from the back.  It was my first trip to the Gold Coast Convention Centre.  As my dad was to cheap to pay for parking, we parked in the casino and walked across some bridge.  The stadium is great and new.  I snuck down onto the stats bench and from there parked myself in a corporate box with everybody’s favourite ex NBL team manager Big Joe.

So onto the game – I must say that I was extremely disappointed in the way that the Blaze went about their business.  They looked unimaginative on offense and couldn’t stop anybody.  Russell Hinder was a monster on the defenisve end and everybodys favourite blogger JR hit some sweet shots.  The Blaze had no answer to Corey Williams penertation and the guy who I was pleased with the most was Cameron Toovey.  In real life he is actually quite huge and was pretty bloody awesome at both ends of the floor.  For the Blaze there wasn’t a whole lot of positives to talk about.  James Harvey hit some big shots in the 4th but was pretty quiet for the remainder of the game.  The Crocs had it in the bag pretty early.  I actually think that they missed some easy opportunities that their flex offense created for them.  The final margin could have been even greater.  Another good thing to see was the coaching tactics of the Crocs.  Every time the Blaze even seemed to be getting a sniff, they called a time out and re grouped.  It was a well orchastrated win. 

Due to the fact that my father is a poor driver, we arrived later than expected.  I was hoping to catch up with JR and introduce myself before the game.  They had already entered the 15 minute pre game phase of their warm up and I thought that it wasn’t a good idea to do that.  JR then went to the bench to get a ball and I snuck across and introduced myself.  He knew who I was and he went about his pre game ritual.  I almost did the same thing with my boy Russell Hinder but I didn’t get a chance.  After the game I saw JR talking to some fans and I went up.  He told me to wait a minute and then we could have a chat.  Boy did we chat.  We talked for 45 minutes on a variety of topics.  He is an awesome bloke and the Crocs fans are lucky to have such an ambassdor.  The thing that came across strongly in our discussion is he genuinely loves basketball. 

Overall the Blaze put on a good game day produciton.  My mail tells me that bowl tickets cost around $50 per ticket!  That is super expensive.  I am not a huge fan of either of the Blaze imports, particualary Whitehead.  I can understand last season when they got him mid season and their were no other options around.  I would like to think that if they were in playoff contention that they would have given him the boot and picked up Larry Abney.  They might have had to offer Abney a lot of under the table money, but he is a huge upgrade on either of those two guys. 

So that is that.  I am currently at a public library stealing somebody elses internet connection so I better run.  I really am enjoying the fact that I am now living in civilization.  It is lots of fun.