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. 

Welcome to another edition of Tuesday’s Random Rambles!  Here we go!

- Got to love the Gold Coast Blaze.  They get smashed on Wednesday night against the Spirit, win a close one against the Hawks on Friday night and get demolished by the 36ers on Sunday.  Later this week I am going to write a huge post about Daniel Joyce and my thoughts on him.  Good on the Blaze for winning their 2nd game of the year but some consistency wouldn’t go astray (apart from being consistenly bad!).

- The Melbourne Tigers celebrated 25 years in the NBL on Saturday night.  It is awesome to see that this club is still around after almost going broke a couple of years ago.  It has a direct link to their junior program which is awesome to see.  Some great photos were also taken from the night. 

- Mookie has informed me that Baron Davis has signed a 5 year footwear deal with growing footwear superpower Li-Ning.  This got me thinking – is the Asian footwear market a route that Australian players could take to earn some money?  I remember the old Pony days!  How unique it was!

- The Crocs apparently finished strongly against the Breakers on Saturday night but just didn’t get over the line.  When I looked at the boxscore, I was excited at first to notice Daniel Egan’s excellent productivity due to the fact that he is in my FNBL team.  Then I got more excited when I noticed Brad Williamson’s numbers because he is also on my FNBL team.  I then realised that Williamson was on my Injured Reserve and therefore his stats wouldn’t count for my team!  I am an idiot! 

- Don’t ask me how I found this but I John Rillie has posted the funniest clip of all time on Youtube featuring Andrew Gaze doing ‘That’s Gold!’  Funny Stuff

- Obviously Shane Heal didn’t racially abuse a fan in their game against the Spirit on Wednesday night.  I guess we will leave it at that but the Hammer was not a happy man on his snippet that was on Fox Sports on Friday night / Saturday.  He mentioned the Ozhoops Message Boards and was very short with the journalist.  I guess if you were accused of something you didn’t do, you wouldn’t be happy as well.

- Brendan Joyce and Daniel Joyce apparently didn’t win themsleves many fans in the game against the Hawks on Friday night.  A thread on the Ozhoopsboards has over 100 posts about it.   The guys at asaspace.com have an excellent post on this scenario and every year there is going to be a situation with Brendan Joyce coached teams.

- I saw an add on Fox Sports for the whole Movember thing.  They showed a snapshot of the ugliest moustache of all time – Sam McKinnon.  Is he doing again this year?

- Former Brisbane Bullets coach Joey Wright is coaching Seastar Apoel in Cyprus.  He took former Brisbane Bullets manager ‘Big Joe’ with him.  Big Joe has been blogging his adventures and they can be found here It is fair to say that it is a bit of a culture shock and things aren’t travelling to smoothly over there.  Fancy having to be scared for your lives after a basketball game.   Just read in the Courier Mail that Joey got the sack.  I guess that is the end of that! 

- Darren Ng once again is keeping his fans up to date with his life.  In this blog entry, he talks about his favourite foods and the Rihanna concert. 

- 36ers coach Scott Ninnis is hoping that people don’t see Julius Hodge as the saviour.  I have news for him: All 36ers fans are hoping that he is the saviour and the messiah rolled into one!

- Cairns coach Alan Black is not happy with how his team is fading out late in the game  Is the late fade outs anything to do with the fact that he has an old team that aren’t overly athletic?

- The whole Nathan Jawai health thing is still going and apparently it is not career threatening.  Hopefully it will all work out soon.  He is an awesome palyer and has a huge future in the game.

- I never knew that Patrick Mills was an AFL star as well.   What is the AFL’s loss is Basketball’s gain!

- Speaking of Patrick Mills, Brian Goorjian has came out and stated that he was the best player at the Olympic Games for the Boomers. 

- The Sydney Spirit have an awesome feature on their website called ‘Spirit Talk’  The latest edition has an interview with Drew Williamson.   To be honest, I am a bit of a fence sitter when it comes to this guy.  Sometimes I think that he is fantastic and other times I think that he has a tendancy to float in and out of games. 

- Who will be John Rillie’s player of the week on DJ Rod and JR on the OT?  If they had an award for most inconsistent import, it might go to Justin Bowen.  In the game against the 36ers, he had some respectable numbers but (19pts, 10rebs and 3asts) but turned the ball over six times.  In the same game Aaron Bruce had 14 assists.  His relative Cameron must be happy with that effort! 

You have got to love this man (Jalen Rose).  I used to love the whole ‘Fab Five’ thing and I even named my son after him (my wife loved the name and she wanted to spell it Jaylen but I stood my ground)  I stumbled upon this article from the Sportingnews which ranks him in the all time greatest players to play for Michigan – which of course I would agree with!

So I couldn’t think of anything to post today (it is Friday and I am posting this on Saturday), so I decided to make this a bit of a mixed bag of random basketball stuff.  So here we go:

- Firstly, nobody can be overly suprised at the axing of 36ers import Mark Tyndale.  In the game against the Dragons last Wednesday night, he looked out of place and slow.  I am sure that every 36ers fan will now be demanding that their management step up and sign the golden child Julius Hodge.  That would be a smart move and be exactly what their team needed!  Maybe head coach Scott Ninnis could put on a singlet and be more effective than some of the guys on his squad.  Once again, everbody’s favourite South Australian Boti Nagy has wrote an article on his departure. 

- Speaking of the 36ers, it seems that my post on Aaron Bruce – do we believe the hype? was not overly popular with a guy by the name of Cameron Bruce (a relative I presume).  He so elquontaley states:

your a wanker, got no game so u bag other players. stick 2 reffing “hulkamania”

I actually don’t think that I was bagging Bruce out.  But I guess that opnions are like arseholes – everybody’s got one! 

- Shane Heal could be in a bit of trouble for racially abusing a fan during Wednesday’s game against the Sydney Spirit.  This was all over the Ozhoops NBL board on Thursday and Friday.  My stupid works internal blocking system is not working so I can’t give you the direct link to it.  Let’s just say that apparently (and I state apparently) the guy has video footage of what occured and if what he is reporting is true, the Hammer could be in a fair bit of trouble.  Scratch that: I just went back to Ozhoops NBL board and I noticed that the thread on this story no longer exsists!  I wonder why  

- The latest episode of the OT with JR and DJ Rod is up and it features a huge piece with everbody’s favourite Australian / Croatian Andrew Bogut.  It is pretty awesome that a guy like Bogut would take the time to do this interview and it goes to prove that if you are a somebody (e.g John Rillie) other somebody’s (e.g Andrew Bogut) will do things for you   In the podcast they discuss various issues and Andrew gives some insight into some of the things that he does.  He comes across in the interview as a casual, down to earth guy and it was super to hear him interact with JR.  This blog even got a shout out at the 45 minute mark.  If only JR on Fire wasn’t banned at my work.  For some stupid reason I can use my iGoogle account to RSS feed the episodes of the OT.  Go figure!  I can’t access any blogspot sites, so I can’t comment on many Australian basketball blogs.

- The NBL announced today the player of the month is Kirk Penney and coach of the month is Brian Goorjian. I am not doubting either of these two people are very deserving winners but I was very amused when I looked at the overall votes.  The article made this statement: 

The NBL’s Player and Coach of the Month for December take into account Rounds 1 to 7 inclusive. All NBL Head Coaches and accredited media are eligible to vote.

So then I went and looked at the list of players who actually received votes and here is the list:

Kirk Penney (New Zealand) 89
Chris Anstey (Melbourne) 27
Corey Williams (Townsville) 19
Shawn Redhage (Perth) 17
Joe Ingles (South) 14
Mark Worthington (South) 12
CJ Bruton (New Zealand) 12
Luke Schenscher (Adelaide) 7
Sam Mackinnon (Melbourne) 5
Dusty Rychart (Wollongong) 4
Darnell Mee (Cairns) 3
Julian Khazzouh (Sydney) 2
Darnell Hinson (Perth) 2
Ebi Ere (Melbourne) 1
Glen Saville (Wollongong) 1
Adam Ballinger (Adelaide)

Are you serious?  As much as I loved Julian Khazzouh, player of the month? Even Glen Saville could bet put into this category. 

Then I looked at the coach of the month voting and had a huge laugh when I saw this:

Brian Goorjian (South) 85
Andrej Lemanis (New Zealand) 73
Eric Cooks (Wollongong) 39
Alan Westover (Melbourne) 9
Rob Beveridge (Sydney) 2
Scott Ninnis (Adelaide) 1
Conner Henry (Perth) 1

Scott Ninnis is currently coaching a team that is not playing well and he receives a vote?  How can Conner Henry only receive the same amount of votes.  At least the right people won the two awards!

- Luke Kendall hasn’t quite found his groove with the Perth Wildcats yet. In his latest outing with the Wildcats against the Crocs, he didn’t exactly set the world on fire.  Whilst the game was a blow out, it seems that Perth has some interesting issues with their rotation of playing time.  Let’s not forget people that Kendall was the last man cut from the Olympic team and is a quality player.  I am personally calling upon Connor Henry to insert him into the starting line up at the expense of Peter Crawford and see what happens.  I doubt this will happen though!

- Mookie has wrote an insightful piece on where NBL mascots go to die.  Maybe the Lion was sold when the team went into recivership! 

- How awesome are the South Dragons?  I really enjoyed watching them play on Wednesday night and I stated to my friend Grandmaster Funk, if I had $56 million and wanted to buy one of the new NBL franchises for next season, the first player that I would get from current NBL rosters would be Mark Worthington.  He just goes so hard, plays defense and is hard to guard.  He is a bit of a tweener at the international level but great at the NBL level.  I would even take him over Chris Anstey at the moment.  Matt Burston was also huge in this game and the NBL site had a good article on him.  He is a guy that has had a lot of tough breaks.  It was awesome to see him go at it and get the job done.   Next week I have a huge post on Brian Goorjian and another post on some guy that I had never heard about until the other day, Daniel Dillon. 

- How much longer will the Melbourne Tigers keep playing David Barlow out of position and PG and persevere with him?  His numbers against the Spirit last weekend were ok but it really seems to be affecting his play.  Andrew Gaze and Nigel Purchase had some interesting things to say on the running of the shuffle offense and how they are running it at the moment.  They feel that the problem is how the players are running it.  On the Tigers website, an article titled “Tigers say We Believe” has been uploaded and Alan Westover states that there aren’t going to be any changes to the system.  Two more things:

1. What is up with Rod Grizzard turning the ball over 7 times against the Spirit?
2. Why is the NBL Podcast still called ‘The NBL Hummer Podcasts’  Is Hummer still a sponsor?

- In The latest episode of the OT with JR and DJ Rod JR mentions the ‘man love’ that I have for Russell HInder at the moment and how that love is recipracated by him and I am his favourite blogger!  I appreciate the love and still think that the greatest thing about Russell Hinder at the moment is the fact that he is getting it done in multiple categories.  In the shalacking that was the Perth game, he hit two 3 pointers and 2 assists which is very reasonable for a centre.  (We won’t mention the four turnovers though!)  I would highly doubt that there is another centre in the league who is being as efficent statistcally at the moment as him.  Keep up the good work Rusty!  My FNBL team thanks you!

- The Rockhampton Rockets want PG Rhys Martin to return for another season in the QABL (or whatever it is going to be called.)  It would be interesting to see what Eric Cooks’s take on this is.  If the Hawks are in the league next year and Martin is a required player, maybe he wouldn’t be overly keen on him playing.  Everybody knows that Rockhampton plays their players quite well – not SEABL money but better than most Queensland clubs.  Cameron Tragardh has been a QABL monster over the past couple of seasons as well.  Only time will tell I guess! 

- Finally it seems as though new Gold Coast Blaze import Justin Bowen has had a tough night at the office during his second game against the Sydney Spirit. Whilst he was affective on the glass (11 total rebounds) his point production (4pts) and FG% was shocking.  Worse than that was his 9 turnovers that he had in 30:38 minutes of courtime.  Coach Brendan Joyce stated in this interview that he felt that Bowen was bumped a lot and not geting many calls.  He also states that Bowen basically has to ’suck it up’ and get the job done.  I am sure that Brendan Joyce will be addressing this during the week.  If you are reading this Brendan, read my article on Pero Cameon.  He has to go! 

So for somebody who had nothing to post, I certainly crammed a fair bit into this post!

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

Before we start I would like to thank the 489 people that my Google Analytics account tells me that has visited my site over the past three weeks.  For those who don’t know anything about this tool, it is well worth checking it out.  It provides you with day to day analysis of visits to your site and where people are from. It is well worth the investment in time.

Anyway, after my Russell Hinder post the other day and discovering that he played some college ball at the University of San Fransisco, it got me thinking about this – how many NBL players (currently on NBL rosters) have American college basketball experience?  For those who are not aware of the college structure in the USA, Wikipedia provides a good analysis of the conferences and how they mesh together. 

Now back to my original question.  I am not just talking about NCAA Division 1.  I am talking Division 2, 3, NAIA and JUCO.  I am also not talking about naturalised Australians in this list.  Here is the list that I have come up with.

Adelaide:  Luke Schenscher, Aaron Bruce and Ryan Kersten

Cairns: Gary Boodnikoff, Ian Crosswhite, Scott Cook, Dean Brebner, Kerry Williams and Matt Smith

Gold Coast: Ben Melmeth

Melbourne: Adrient Sturt, Daniel Johnston, Bo Westover, David Barlow and Tommy Greer

New Zealand: Tim Behrendoff, Tony Ronaldson, Kirk Penney, Thomas Abercrombie, Corey Webster, CJ Bruton and Adam Tanner

Perth:  Adam Caporn, Luke Kendall, Paul Rogers, Alex Loughton and Stephen Weigh

South Dragons: Mark Worthington and Daniel Dillion

Sydney: Clint Reed, Matthew Knight, Damian Martin, Drew Williamson, Luke Martin and Jason Smith

Townsville: John Rillie, Russell Hinder,

Wollongong: Cameron Tragardh, Rhys Martin and Larry Davidson

That is a pretty extensive list!  I am sure that I missed some.  If my mathematics is correct (and I am sure that it is) 31.66% of players who are currently on NBL rosters have attended colleges in the USA in some form.  Some have attended schools for the entire four years (Matthew Knight, Luke Schenscer and Damian Martin), some have had outstanding careers at NCAA Division 2 schools (Mark Worthington), some have had good NAIA careers (Scott Cook), some have attended large schools for short periods of time (Tony Ronaldson and Ben Melmeth) and some have had outstanding JUCO careers (CJ Bruton) 

So what is that attracts Australians to go to college in the USA and coaches in the USA attraction to Australian players?  From a players point of view I think it is the fact that you can live the best part of your long lives overseas and playing the game that you love.  You also get a free education and see another country.  From a coahces point of view, you generally get players with good fundemental skills who enjoy the game.  Coaches from mid major or small schools have absolutley no chance in getting ‘big time’ USA players whilst they have a very good chance of getting a good young Australian recruit.  Patrick Mills at St Marys is the prime example of this. 

I still remember watching Andrew Gaze at Seton Hall for that fantastic Final Four run.  I also remember hearing about two young Australians (I was 11 at the time and they were 18!) called Luc Longley (attending New Mexico State) and Andrew Vlahov (attending Stanford)  These guys were really the trend setters for the young players of today.  I am sure that there are hundreds of guys playing college hoops in the USA at the moment.  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.

So in summary, if I was in year 12 and wanted to go to university, I would not hesitate to go to the right college in the USA and play some basketball.  These university degrees are worth thousands of dollars and set people up for the future and have the times of their lives.  They just need to make sure that their degrees are recognised in Australia.  If not…..

So all basketball fans around Australia now have 35 million reasons to be happy.  I am sure that everyone has heard the news and knows what is going on.  All I can say is ‘WOW’ and that this is awesome for Australian basketball.  But as I sit here at 7:45am on Sunday morning, I am wondering about the amount of teams in the new league. The magic number being thrown around is 8. I personally feel that 10 is going to be better. My ten team league would be:

Perth
Melbourne
Adelaide
South Dragons
Sydney
Gold Coast
Brisbane
Townsville
Cairns
New Zealand

I know that this is going to russle some feathers with Hawks fans (that was pretty funny, I didn’t even mean it to be!!!) but you can not possibly leave out Cairns or Townsville.

Anyway, I am off to the Bakery to get some bread! More on this tommorow (or maybe this afternoon if my wife lets me on the computer)

Ok, so I am back!  I am currently listening to OH-FM #12: Eight Is Enough from Ozhoops Of course the major topic of the Podcast is the NBL reform. He was talking about the similarities between the A League and the new NBL. The magic number that he keeps mentioning is 8. He was mentioning the possiblity of only having one team in North Queensland.  Derek is not obviously keen on this as he is a huge Crocs fan but he is being a realist.  He makes a point about the fact if Cairns goes, their fans will not automatically follow the new team (and I guess the same goes for if the Crocs go)  He also made an interesting point about whilst Cairns and Townsville aren’t the most popular markets in regards to population, they are the teams which are drawing the most money and have a good business model.  He also talks about the possiblity of not having an Adelaide team due to financial woes in the past 12 months.  I think that it would be disastorous if the league does not have a presence in South Australia.  They have a great venue and keen fans. 

In this article from Fox Sports made the following statement:

Thodey and Basketball Australia interim chief executive Scott Derwin stressed the revamped national league competition for 2009-10 would again start in October.

The independent review advocated a minimum of eight clubs, though Thodey and Derwin suggested that was not set in stone.

However, they suggested financial viability rather than geography was likely to be the major factor in determining which areas were represented.

Thodey said he hoped the criteria for inclusion in the new national league would be finalised before the end of this year

If this is the case, then there is no way that a new league could not have the Crocs and the Taipans.  It sounds like that I am a huge Crocs and Taipans fan but in all honesty I am not.  I just think that they have great fans who consistenly go to games, so therefore they should be rewarded with a team in any new league. 

On another track, what is FIBA’s take on all of this?  When the huge A League review happened, there was a lot of input from FIFA and they were active in the way that they helped the new league promote themesleves.  But FIBA seems to be very silent about all of this.  Isn’t Australia a member of FIBA?  Do they even care about the game in our country?  If they do, they should be flowing some money back through into our country to help promote and sustain the game. 

My only worry about this whole $35 million thing from Fox Sports is the lack of mainstream media coverage on Free to Air TV.  Super 14 and A League is only on Fox Sports and there is very little media coverage.  Unfortunately the NBL isn’t really in the greatest bargining position and $35 million is a lot of money!

 
I am going to make every Tuesday a random rambling day where my blog entry doesn’t just have one category – it has many.  Here goes:

- The NBL has fined Perth Wildcats coach Connor Henry for comments made to the media following his team’s 103-99 loss to the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday night. I don’t exactly know what he said to get the fine but the NBL has become very very sensitive towards players and coaches critising officals. I am not say that we should become a ref bashing league but a coach should be able to say something like “Hey some of those calls down the stretch really affected the outcome of the game”.  They shouldn’t be able to say “That loser screwed us and his seeing eye dog needs to be on the court with him next time”.

- It looks as though James Harvey has caught the Brendan Joyce disease of not living in the real world. Let me state this very clearly for everyone to hear: there is absolutley no way that the Gold Coast Blaze will make the NBL playoffs this season.  Maybe Chocko needs to start playing some of the young kids.  Talking of the Blaze, it seems that Justin Bowen is the man to replace the injured Hawkins. Joyce had this to say about him:

He is a genuine three-spot man. We were looking for someone obviously who could put the ball on the floor and get to the rim, and someone who can create scoring opportunities for himself and others and is solid at both ends.

I will say this – unless this guy is a dead set superstar, the Blaze are in for a long long year.

- Darren Ng has posted the third part of his three part story on the pre season trip to China. It is a good read!

- Boti Nagy is still calling for the head of Mark Tyndale This scatching article was written a while ago which is very critical of Sixers management.

- Rhys Martin’s car got torched whilst he was away in Cairns on a road trip. This is very very average. Speaking of Martin and the Hawks, I am still on Lindsay Tate’s case.  His game against the Taipans on Saturday night was once again not that impressive. Come on Eric Cooks – what are you thinking?

Righto. That will do! See you all tommorow.

Everybody is going to town on Brendan Joyce and the Gold Coast Blaze (myself included) but not many people have been overly critical of the Adelaide 36ers and their play.  They currently sit second last on the ladder with a 2-5 record.  Maybe they need to bring back Lanard Copeland from retirement.  At least he can get it done.  Rookie coach Scott Ninnis has had a tough induciton into the league and believes that they need to toughen up if they are going to be successful.  A lot of hype was made about the recruitment of Luke Schenscher in the off season and people were hoping that he would be the answer to the Sixers fans prayers.  He has had a slow start to the season but seems to have turned the corner with his player of the week performance I picked him up for my FNBL team and have been happy with his performance since I picked him up.  John Rillie had some interesting thoughts on this award and thinks that it should have gone to a player who played on a winning team.  I personally feel that his performance warranted getting the award and he is going to be a nice player in this league for a while.

Boti Nagy wrote this scatching article about the Sixers management  recently and he is openly campaining for Mark Tyndale’s sacking.  He states:

Adelaide is 2-5 and management has at least as much to answer for as rookie coach Scott Ninnis who, realistically, has little or no responsibility for the fact Brad Davidson, Paora Winitana, Brett Maher, Adam Ballinger and Aaron Bruce all have missed games through injury.

It looks like some of the decision-making was hindered again by a young front office, maybe overpaying some and therefore restricting bargaining with others.

Lets have a look at their roster:

Aaron Bruce: a lot of hype was around about his pre season signing.  He didn’t have the greatest senior season after representing Australia at a WC early in his college career.  Seems to have some slight injuries but should be ok.  I am not a great fan of his and never have been.

Brett Maher: he has announced that this is his last season and he deserves to got out with a bang.  Good solid veteran who can still be relied upon to do the right things.  Seems to have an injury every second week now.  Hopefully he can get through the season.

Brad Davidson: is one of my favourite all time NBL players.  I remember watching him play ABA in Townsville and Burdekin.  He is not afraid to take a backward step and mixes it up with the big boys.  Heaps of heart but not a match winner.  He is a good solid 2nd or 3rd guard in the rotation.

Paora Winitina: is the guy who came over from the Breakers who doesn’t play on Sunday’s due to religious reasons.  Boti Nagy was in love with him during the pre season.  Has had some injuries so he hasn’t had a chance to do a whole lot.

Mark Tyndale: once again if Boti gets his way, this guy will be gone very soon His numbers don’t seem that bad but my friend Grandmaster Funk from Ozhoops League 4 FNBL fame is desperate to get rid of him.

Adam Ballinger: very good reliable import. Huge upgrade (in my opinion) from Dusty Rychardt who they had a couple of years ago. Can mix it up and play inside and out. Gets to the boards. I love his overall game and his carrot top!!

Luke Schenscher: enough has been said about him above.

Jacob Holmes: this guy has been in the league for years.  To slow to be a three man but not big enough to be a four man.  Crashes the glass with reckless abandon but is slow and unathletic.

David Cooper: athletic shot blocker who is a servicable NBL player.  Have loved his game since he played for the Uni Reds and the Brisbane Capitals. 

Brad Hill: I don’t really know enough about this guy to make a judgement. Is he the one who broke his arm when getting smashed by Larry Abney?

In one of my previous blog posts I compared Brendan Joyce to Moaning Mrytle from the Harry Potter series I unashamelessly plug my blog on Ozhoopsboards and LegoSHAQ attacked my ability to prove a point and my focus. He also made a mention of my poor grammar So in response to this my point is this: The 36ers seem to lack athletes. Holmes has always been very groundbound, Tyndale apparently (I haven’t ever seen him play) is not overly athletic and Schenscher is a huge 7 foot guy who is not blessed with speed. Cooper is a shot blocker and very mobile for a big guy. Maher seems to be always injured and Davidson and Bruce are very quick and athletic. They also seem to lack depth in the 3 point shooting department. In the game against the Wildcats they went 6 from 22 from the 3 point line which is not fantastic. Maybe they should get the man in the picture back out of retirement. He knew how to get the 3 ball up and how to get his own shot going!  Unless they play a ‘grind it out’ game style, and try to beat teams in the half court, I just don’t see how they are going to be successful this season.  Maybe they need to get Darren Ng away from Singapore and the blog scene and back into a 36ers uniform. He has the best surname ever in the NBL!

It would be a shame to see Brett Maher go out on a low. He is a true legend in our league and deserves to go out a winner.

If you are a 36ers fan (or a NBL fan) let me know what you think.  I will be interested to hear some view points on this squad. 

Go the Spirit!  J Smith should be back!