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Junior basketball in Australia has been fuelled to an extent in recent times by an influx of African refugees to Western Sydney. As reported in today's Daily Telegraph, Blacktown coach Edward Smith has been instrumental in training these youngsters as basketball players, with many of them coming from a zero-base in terms of roundball experience.
"To date, he has been able to field 17 Australians in US colleges with a further 11 players this year attending US high schools, where they could hone their game and life skills."
By far the most exciting and successful of these new Australian youngsters is Ater Majok. Now 20 years old and standing 6'10", Smith first introduced Majok to the basics of basketball four years ago. Now he is in a situation where he has been heavily recruited in the USA, having a choice of colleges and choosing ultra-successful UConn as the next step in his journey.
Majok has the athleticism, touch and work ethic to be a star. He has been pinned as a top 10 power forward prospect and there is no doubt that the NBA is firmly in his sights. Watch the footage of Majok in 2006 (below), when he was just 18, and you can see the potential for a solid NBA career. His spring around the basket is strong, his work ethic appears solid and for a player with such little basketball experience, he has a nice touch on his hook.
The Telegraph article questions how many of these refugees will return to Australia with the skills which they have acquired under the tutelage of Smith, after breaking into the US College and High School scenes. Great Britain is currently benefiting from another Sudanese refugee, Luol Deng, in their National program. In the case of Majok, it sounds very likely that he will have the talent to don Australian Boomer colours one day. More than this, it sounds like he has the will to be a Boomer and wants to return to Australia with the spoils of his US experience.
In this March 2008 Telegraph aricle where he was deliberating over which College to attend, Majok reveals his three main goals in basketball: "win the NCAA division one title with whatever school he commits to, make it into the NBA as a first-round draft pick and play for Australia at the 2012 Olympic Games."
This is great news for Australian basketball, as Majok's future sounds bright. And with a name like that, no doubt there will be many in the media knowing his name in the near future and possibly affixing the nickname "Magic" to it.
Ater Majok in 2006, upon his arrival in the United States:
A recent highlight reel of Majok moves in high school:
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I was interested to read this entry on You Been Blinded, which quotes Glen Saville, Australian Boomer, as saying that all of Team USA, except for Kobe Bryant, "carried on like pork chops."
To translate that from the Aussie vernacular, what 'Sav' is trying to say is, that Kobe was the only player on Team USA not to make a tool of himself in terms of his attitude towards his opponents.
The easy approach to take in this instance, by American supporters, is to say something along the lines of, "you lost, you're just bitter! USA! USA! USA!" All you need to do is check the comments section in almost any Olympics-related article to find these sorts of attitudes springing forth.
It's sometimes hard to look from the outside looking in and realise how people look from the perspective of others, but perhaps the perceived aura of arrogance that surrounds USA squads is not totally unfounded.
Now of course the media has driven us to death with the moniker "Redeem Team." This name had a two-fold meaning. The first part was obviously for USA to reclaim their place as the top basketball nation in the world. The second, less emphasised part, was to regain dignity after gaining some poor press based on their apparent arrogance and disrespect for both their nation and their opponents.
Kobe, LeBron and Co certainly fulfilled the first part of the redemption, but did they achieve the second part? That is the question we pose here today.
Now, back to Saville's claim that the USA (less Bryant) acted like pork chops in their match up. Australians are known as some of the best competitors sports-wise in the world; a country of only 20 million people that competes like one 10 times that size. Australians are used to a fairly large level of success and do not need to bring whining or complaining into it in order to please their nation with their performance. This is why it seems unlikely that Saville (along with some of his teammates) was complaining unnecessarily that USA were not being totally sporting about the affair.
The debate on this topic is pretty pointless amongst sports fans, as none of us were on the court to witness the reality of it all, however I will point you to look at the final handshakes after USA had disposed of Australia quite cleanly. From my viewing of that sequence, Bryant was indeed the only player to make an effort to talk to each player he shook hands with and in particular LeBron James did not appear to even look the players in the eye as he shook hands with them all.
You may say, "big deal." However it must be remembered that many of these players are to an extent role models of their opponents and are looked up to. James is one of the most marketed sports personalities on the planet. The least he could do after knocking over an opponent is to shake hands, look them in the eye and commend them on their performance, just the same as any good sportsman does even in their local rec league.
The 2008 Olympics are history now. The Americans won the Gold. Did they redeem themselves?
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116-85.
No surprises.
That was the score. The expected outcome was reached. Australian basketball fans dreamt of the Cinderella story, the Rocky-like miracle victory. Then the Redeem Team, aka the USA Men's Basketball team, smashed the glass slipper on the ground before midnight even came around and the pumpkin carriage could arrive.
The Aussies kept it tight for the first quarter and the USA players certainly looked flustered and somewhat surprised. Most of that came from a very poor three-point shooting performance by the red white'n'blues early on and Australia stopping baskets underneath with some solid fouls which were not converted upon.
Ultimately, everyone in Australia knew that a "miracle" was needed to pull out victory, against a squad that has dominated all comers. The 11 point game prior to the Olympic tournament (sans Andrew Bogut) was just a smokescreen and Team USA had turned on all cylinders by the time this match came around.
USA goes on to deal with Argentina and likely Spain as they try to take the Gold Medal unhindered. Australia battles for the fifth place, the best consolation available at this stage.
However a lot can be taken from this campaign for the Aussies. The team is very young and one star in particular has jumped to the forefront of the public consciousness: Patrick Mills. The 5'11" 19-year old has proven on more than one occasion in this tournament that he is not at all intimidated by players at the highest level. NBA scouts will no doubt be watching him, as many fans are.
Guarded by Chris Paul, the player he most resembles on Team USA, he showed no signs of struggle as he danced to the basket on more than one drive; even taking and and-one from Paul himself at one point when the game was still in contention.
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Well, it's game time soon. One team has to accept that they will not be walking home with medals around their necks and the other goes on to battle it out with the likes of Spain (who beat Croatia 72-59 this morning).
Many people are searching for the game time on this one, so let's make it clear:
Men's Olympic Basketball: Australia v USA
1pm GMT
8am US ET
10pm AUS ET
I'm sure you can work out your obscure timezone with reference to those above!
Key Links
Ball Don't Lie will once again be live-blogging this match.
BrewHoop has their allegiances crossed -- Redd or Bogut?? They have a load of links the size of Chris Kaman's conscience.
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The Australian Boomers shocked a lot of people, perhaps even themselves, with their thrashing of the previously undefeated Lithuania, 106-75. As Lithuanian star Linas Kleiza said after the match, "I hope they continue to do that against the United States. If they play like they did today, maybe they have a chance."
That is where Australia find themselves -- matching up against might of the Redeem Team. Both of these teams have been reviewed and analysed to death. Scroll down to the bottom of this article for some links to reviews. What we're going to discuss here is, what factors could get the Aussie Boomers a win here and what factors could see Team USA run away with an expected win; a knockout punch on their way to the Gold Medal match.
How willAUSTRALIA surprise Team USA?
1.Composure -- the Americans rely on their athleticism to run teams off the court. Even in their biggest of blowout matches, USA has started out with fairly close first quarters, with their opponents relying on early addrenalin to allow them to keep up with the more physically dominant NBA greyhounds. However after one quarter of pressure, teams tend to tire and forget what their coaching staff have drilled into them. They fall to the full court press that Team USA throws out there and start to give away steals at mid-court to Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Before you know it, USA has turned a single figure game into a 15-20 point game and their opponents put their heads down in submission.
Australia's point guard combo of CJ Bruton and Patrick Mills have to play the games of their life to ensure they keep a steady ship for the Boomers. Bruton will be relied upon in the early going to set the tempo, show his veteran savvy and hopefully knock down a couple of threes. Mills will be brought on for a change of pace and has already shown that he can blow by the best of them in this tournament. He did the same against Chris Paul in the pre-Olympic warmup between these two. Steady point guard play equals steady offence, which in turn leads to less USA fast breaks.
2. Defence -- Perhaps the most deflating thing that Team USA does to it's opponents, more than the chest-bumping, more than the strips and fast-break dunks, is the way they come back at you after you've just scored and convert on a touchdown pass within 2 seconds of you sinking a basket you worked so hard for. Brian Goorjian is renowned for his defensive strategies. He might not be the most gifted offensive coach in the world, but he certainly knows how to motivate a team to play hard-nosed D. He will be preaching to the Boomers that they need to have at least two men back immediately on every play to prevent the American fast break.
3. Bigs -- Australia (like most countries) clearly has a bigger stable of low-post players than USA does. In general this hasn't caused a problem for the Redeemers in most games, as they spend most of their time in the open court, without their interior weakness being exploited. However, if the Boomers can get some early fouls on Dwight Howard and if Andrew Bogut can continue his scorching recent form, the boys in green and gold may be able to gain a solid advantage inside. Bogut, along with David Andersen, Matt Nielsen and Chris Anstey have the ability to do some damage inside on offence. At the other end, they all stand 7-feet or thereabouts and will intimidate many shots in the paint.
4. Perimeter shooting -- the type of shooting display that Australia put on against Lithuania would come in handy again, however those types of performances (16/25 from deep) don't come along often. What the Boomers do need is for one player to spark up from the outside. If that player can be David Barlow, all the better, as he will draw LeBron James (his likely defender) out of the key where he has been a menace defensively against many teams (credit to John Rillie for this thought). Barlow and Brad Newley have both had solid Olympics campaigns so far -- coming out parties if you will. If they can pull that out of the bag against USA, the Boomers might not be going home just yet.
How will TEAM USA keep their undefeated run alive?
1. Full-court defence -- taking other teams out of their gameplan is what has kept every team at arm's distance so far for the Americans in this tournament. Even the might of Spain eventually fell prey to the USA full-court press. If they can continue to generate offence from their defence, it will be very hard for Australia to score enough points at the other end to keep up. This will also keep the interior weakness of Team USA under wraps.
2. Use matchups -- USA may have some weaknesses in overall height, but as Henry Abbott at Truehoop pointed out, they certainly have a huge advantage over most teams at the swingmen positions. In height. In weight. In terrifying atheltic power. Whilst Carmelo Anthony's well-documented alergy to defence may give Nielsen some opportunities for isolations at one end, LBJ, Kobe and DWade will have field day in many cases against the swingmen put up against them. This is the way the NBA works, it's a man-on-man game designed for athletic superstars. If any of these guys can get some room, whilst being guarded by Newley, Barlow or Mark Worthington, the like their chances of getting to the basket or at least drawing a foul from the help D of the Aussie bigs.
3. Role players -- whilst the USA superstars are the bread-and-butter for this team, their memories are not short enough to forget that to win International tournaments you have to rely on guys that do the other things as well. Michael Redd and Tayshaun Prince in particular will have to be used to knock down threes and play tight D respectively, where needed.
4. Respect -- this team has been remarkably humble to date, though they are coming from a low base given the performances of some previous USA ensembles in the past 8 years. It is important that USA continues to not lose sight of the bigger picture in this tournament and not lose respect for their opponents, even a team like Australia. For too long the benchmark in American culture has centred around how many NBA players a team has in identifying a winner. The NBA-less Greek team soon proved that wrong in recent times and Team USA better not forget that a team that plays well together needn't be a team of individual superstars. In short, don't lose sight of the chance that Australia CAN win this game -- and from here, it's like the NCAA tournament.
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Today is the chance to shine for the Womens Olympic Basketball teams. We are less than 30 minutes away from the commencement of Australia v Brazil, as the Aussies try to remove the taste from their mouths of the Men's loss to Croatia yesterday. Here's what's going on around the basketball wide web:
Ryan at Hoops Addict continues with their successful Floor Burn Tournament. Get your votes in for Round 2.
In echoes of yesterday's Men's, the USA ladies easily accounted for China 108-63, behind 27 points from Tina Thompson and a Lisa Leslie double-double (boxscore).
In tomorrow's must-see Men's matches, host China takes on favourites Spain, Croatia and Russia should be evenly matched and Argentina vs Australia is a must-win for both teams (full schedule).
JR, On Fire brings to light an unknown Aussie who might not stay unknown for too long -- Angus Brandt. He's hitting a US court near you.
TheHive produced a very impressive Team USA preview piece the other day which pits American players against their nearest rivals. I enjoyed the LeBron James vs Mark Worthington match-up, as whilst they are players in different stratospheres, I can see the similarities that are being compared here. Wortho looked like he enjoyed guarding LBJ in the AUS v USA warmup match last week too.
Basketbawful visits Larry Bird's Summer Home for a BBQ -- and it sounds nice.
And One goes book hunting and finds some old treasures.
WorldHoopsBlog asks whether we are seeing a shift in sports society, where basketball becomes bigger than football (soccer)?
Basketball is one sport that certainly embraces all people, regardless of disabilities. As a result, all basketball fans should be interested when this type of question is raised: where is the borderline between a funny movie and taking it too far?
Good luck, whoever you're supporting at the Olympics!
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Highlights, courtesy of msfbasketball of the Australian Boomers v Team USA pre-Olympic warmup match, including the great performance from 19 year old point guard Patrick Mills.
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The first games of Olympics mens pool basketball games are almost all over, with just USA v China to come.
Today saw a couple of surprise results, along with the predictable ones.
JR, On Fire has a round-up of results for today, including a somewhat surprising Lithuanian defeat of star-studded Argentina (on a Linas Kleiza three on the buzzer following Carlos Delfino coughing up the ball), Russia's easy disposal of Iran, Germany not falling prey to potential-laden Angola (behind new recruit Chris Kaman), powerhouse Spain proving their mettle against former champs Greece and Australia sadly falling to a white-hot shooting Croatia.
Australia and the Croats both went into this match knowing that it would be a key pool game, as both are vying for a tight berth into the medal rounds. Croatia came out all guns blazing and blew the Boomers out of the water, 97-82.
Australia started the game in traditional fashion of late, with a CJ Bruton three-pointer, but from there it was all downhill.
The Croatian victory can be put down to one word: treys.
The boys in red, white and blue seemingly could not miss from deep and unfortunately for the Aussies, Brian Goorjian's trademark pressing defence played right into this strength. Australia was pressing the ball, with some success, all the way up the court. Of course though, when you press and don't succeed in stopping the ball, it leads to wide open shots.
Croatia did a great job of spreading the floor and beat the press in most cases with crisp passing that led to a series of threes raining from the sky. The Croatians just could not miss in this game. It is near impossible to stop a barrage like that.
The Croatians shot an unbelievable 12 of 16 (75%) from long range and the Aussies could not respond, with 6 of 19.
Once a team starts shooting like that, the same confidence transfers to all aspects of the game and the Croatians made a number of unbelievable and-ones under the basket and had the Aussies running in all directions, trying to cover all of their shooters.
The stars for the Croats from deep were Marko Tomas (4/4 for 12 points), former NBAer Zoran Planinic (2/2) and Davor Kus (2/3), whilst Marco Banic (16 points) and Nicola Prkkacin (16 points) did a great job inside.
It was not all doom and gloom for the Aussies, with a very strong captain's performance from Matty Nielsen (13 points, 5 rebounds) and a spirited, inspiring offensive display from David Barlow who proved himself beyond his years with 12 points including a stretch where he seemed to be the Boomers' only offensive threat.
Australia will just hope not to encounter another team with that sort of luck/skill/fortune from the land of deep if they are to progress into the next round. Their full-court defence certainly posed the Croats some problems at times and made the final scoreline more respectable than it could have been.
Now onto USA v China, which is in front of me on the TV screen now...starting with a Yao Ming three!
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Team USA, as expected by all but a few Australian players' parents, took out a victory over the Australian Boomers in Shanghai today. The 11 point victory probably did not please the American camp all that much, as many were predicting a whitewash, particularly with Aussie NBA big man Andrew Bogut out with a faulty ankle.
Dwyane Wade has silenced all of the naysayers in the pre-Olympic going with some 2006-like performances of late, including 22 points today. He was happy with the team's performance:
"It was a great game for us, the last game before going into the (Olympic) tournament, we are happy that we played them and I'm sure they feel they got better from this," Wade said.
"But at the end of the day, we won the ball game and found a way to win."
Despite Bogut being out, Australia had the advantage of not having to go to small ball, with Chris Anstey, Matt Nielsen and David Andersen all fit to go. Anstey had a game befitting of his vast international experience, stepping up with 13 points and 6 rebounds and at one point getting into a firey situation with his opponents in a short-lived scuffle.
As always, Team USA came out of the game not feeling too unsettled and walking with the swagger that only they can muster. However, the reality is that should Bogut have been in action and had replaced the minutes that David Andersen played the result may have been infinitely closer. Andersen (4 points, 4 rebounds and 5 fouls) appeared uncomfortable at times in this match, perhaps as he was forced to play down low more than usual in Bogut's absence. Once the Games begin and the Milwaukee Buck is back in action, Andersen will be able to go back to his bread-and-butter mid-range jumper.
Bogut will indeed be back in time for the Olympics, with the team saying that he is 70 percent fit. "If this was the Olympics today, he would play, but it's not _ it's just a warm-up game, and we are going to be cautious and make sure it is right," the spokesman said.
The opening of the match was not unlike the 2004 Olympic encounter between these teams, where a very tight first three quarters culminated with a fourth quarter run-away by Team USA. Team USA played full-court defence today right from the get-go, with Jason Kidd closely manning CJ Bruton. With the athletes at their disposal, this is clearly the best move. However Australia did not get too flustered by this and Bruton's experience allowed him to navigate the press well.
Eventually coach Brian Goorjian made the decision to bring in 19 year old Patrick Mills for a change of pace at the point and he did not disappoint. Mills' speed certainly took away from one of Team USA's strengths and he did surprise them en route to the basket on more than one occasion. He finished the game with 13 points and no doubt gained some new NBA scouting admirers who will be closely following his exploits at St Mary's next season in anticipation of coming Drafts. His lack of size is easily made up for in the speed, shooting and decision-making departments. Australia certainly does not lose a great deal when he subs onto the court.
In the second quarter Australia slumped somewhat, as USA used their full-court press to their advantage and the Boomers' offence suffered somewhat, giving up 22 points to 10 in the period.
The third saw Australia rally back and get within spitting distance, but the Americans never really were forced to get into top gear, as they kept the lead in double figures toward the end of the final quarter. Carmelo Anthony proved he can man the power forward position quite adequately with 12 points and 10 rebounds, whilst fellow classmen Wade and LeBron James (16 points, 4 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks) stood out from the rest. Dwight Howard in no way dominated inside and often appeared to need some help against the bigger Australians. He may also need some free-throw practice before the USA meets with some tougher opponents after going zero for six from the stripe.
After all the talk of the imporance of Australia's bigs, they did their job as expected in this match and in addition the punch was received on the perimeter by Mills, Brad Newley and David Barlow. Australia will be relying on that input in the Games to have a chance against the heavyweights.
A FEW WARNINGS
Skeets and co at Yahoo's Ball Don't Lie hosted a fun little live blog on the match, allowing us all to do a bit of hello sweet worlding about the relative merits of Luc Longley's surfing skills, the fact that Fosters is bottled in oil cans and whether we'd "like to go to a hip-hop club with [Andrea] Bargnani".
Boxscore for the match is here, courtesy of NBA.com.
Review of the match from a site I've not visited before called Soul Assassins (including a couple of great closeup pictures of Kobe v Nielsen).
SLAM giving some love to Patty Mills and Joe Ingles as potential future NBA stars, along with Ricky Rubio as players to watch in the Olympics.
This Australian squad is Goorjian's best yet, as per the Melbourne Sun (which has been said ad nauseum in the leadup to these Games -- let's hope it's for real).
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The last time these two teams met in an Olympic setting, a very close game ensued for three quarters, with Team USA walking away with an 89-79 victory at the end of it all. It is fair to say that the Australian Boomers put up a very strong fight against a USA team which did not have as easy a ride in Athens as it often hopes to, going out of the tournament with only a bronze medal to show for it (behind Argentina and Italy).
The Australians play a phyical game and have a significant amount of size in their lineup, which may bristle a few feathers, as it did in September 2000 during the pre-Olympic match held in Melbourne (see photo, right). Vince Carter walked away with a chant from the crowd he possibly had not heard before after not only injuring referee Bill Mildenhall, but also clashing with and standing over Aussie basketball legend Andrew Gaze.
Whilst firey personality Shane Heal is not with the team this time around, the Australians will no doubt still try to make a statement against USA this time around. Only this time it may all be through their play on the court.
Team USA has perhaps its strongest lineup in many years and definitely its most focussed. The athelticism of the team is unprecedented with players such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade headlining that area. The key area of weakness from the outside looking in, is the lack of depth in the big man department. Carlos Boozer, Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh certainly have an uphill struggle should any of their number have to miss time due to injury or foul trouble and will rely on players such as James to help out down low.
Here's a breakdown of how some of the matchups may play out, based upon the rotations that seem to be getting the most burn to date in the warmup games:
C: ANDREW BOGUT v DWIGHT HOWARD
Whilst Bogut has the height advantage on Howard, Superman from Orlando is a physical specimen that should not be messed with. Australia's front line may have one of the better chances of challenging Howard inside and at least stifling his dominance on the boards. It is worth noting that Bogut's performances against Howard's Magic during his NBA career have been less than flattering. He has performed well below his season averages in points and rebounds against Orlando, whilst Howard has had no such problems with the Bucks. Look to Howard to frollick untethered on the glass. In the background: Chris Anstey (AUS) v Chris Bosh (USA) -- Anstey likes to play on the perimeter a lot, whilst Bosh can mix it up inside or midrange.
PF: MATTHEW NIELSEN v LeBRON JAMES
Once again, Nielsen's height advantage on James may be negated by King James' superior athleticism and raw strength. James is undoubtably only rivalled by teammate Bryant for status as the most talented player in the world and this is an area where Australia will really struggle to contain Team USA. The defensive assignment on James may well fall to someone like David Barlow who has superior lateral quickness and athleticism, leaving Nielsen with a smaller player to guard. Nielsen has proven on the world stage in many stratas that he can perform at a high level and as captain this time around, will be looking to serve his country proudly. He will do his job on the boards and scoring from mid-range, but playing at LBJ's level is a duty beyond the call for the star from Penrith. In the background: David Andersen (AUS) v Carlos Boozer (USA) -- these guys have quite similar games, both can bang inside or hit the jump shot and will provide significant support off the bench.
SF: DAVID BARLOW v KOBE BRYANT
Barlow is a solid and consistent threat from the perimeter, particularly when he has his feet set. See John Rillie's insight on Barlow's game here. The "Prototype" will try his best to keep up with either Bryant or James on the defensive end, but whatever the assignment will be, he will struggle to keep up, as will almost anyone in the world. Bryant has designated himself the "Doberman" of the squad, so it is likely that he will be a harrowing force on the defensive end for Team USA and will look to cool down whichever Aussie gets hot from the perimeter early (whether it be Barlow or Brad Newley). In the background: Mark Worthington (AUS) v Carmelo Anthony -- once again, these guys have similar games. They both can score in a variety of ways, play big for their position and have strong on-court personalities. Worthington likes to play defence though, something Melo is not renowned for.
SG: BRAD NEWLEY v DERON WILLIAMS
Newley has shown some glimpses of brilliance so far in the Olympic leadup. His ability to slash to the basket and hit shots from the perimeter may cause some problems for USA should they decide to stick with the Deron-CP3 backcourt that they have been using for extensive stretches in previous matches. On the other end, Williams will continue to razzle and dazzle in his ball-handling tandem with Chris Paul and will give the Aussies fits at containing his solid decision-making. In the background: Glen Saville (AUS) v Dwyane Wade (USA) -- Sav is a veteran with great poise and versatility, but Wade is in a whole different stratosphere. Look to Wade to play a significant role, whilst Sav provides support in spurts.
PG: CJ BRUTON v CHRIS PAUL
As one of the team's veterans, Bruton will be looking to steady the ship for Australia and not let them get too overawed against their more famous opposition. CJ is a scrappy player that is not afraid to fall on the floor and take a charge (almost too willing some would say) and will do his best to stay in front of Paul, one of the quickest players in the tournament. Much of the time however, it may prove useful for the Boomers to bring out Patrick Mills' blinding pace to have a shot at matching CP3, who will no doubt continue his brilliant domination from the backcourt. In the background: Patrick Mills (AUS) v Jason Kidd (USA) -- the master and the apprentice. Mills at 19 years of age, will see his minutes to give the Boomers a change of pace when things aren't going to plan, meanwhile Kidd will be brought into steady the ship in much the same way, but rather he will be on court due to his experience and heady decision-making.
Australian coach Brian Goorjian will be happy with this result if Australia does not embarass themselves in a blowout. To date the Boomers have acquitted themselves well in all of their matches (wins and losses) and will be looking to keep the confidence levels up going into the Olympic tournament. Noone likes to lose, regardless of there being nothing at stake, so look to Team USA to try their best to make a statement with a big victory here, punctuated by some late game fast-break dunks.
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The Sydney Spirit naming saga continues. According to the Bendigo Advertiser, Bendigo Spirit chairman Jock Clark has unleashed a stinging attack on Basketball Australia for its handling of the Sydney Spirit name controversy.
The National Basketball League was expected to rule on whether Sydney could keep the Spirit name at a board meeting on Thursday night. However, the NBL board has deferred its ruling - asking Basketball Australia and NBL chief executive Scott Derwin to provide further information before the final decision is made.
A fired up Clark said Bendigo had been shown no respect by Basketball Australia.
“We gave birth to the Spirit name, we came up with it . . . what has Sydney done to deserve it,’’ Clark said.
Aaron Bruce has become the second major recruiting coup of the off-season for the Adelaide 36ers, after the earlier addition of former NBA centre Luke Schenscher. Bruce should have a fine NBL career, provided he doesn't get lured overseas again after having a crack at making an NBA squad this past month. His father revealled that Bruce was offered contracts in Italy and Germany for similar money to that which the Sixers signed him for. Perth and New Zealand were also trying to gain his signature. Now the 36ers just have to secure a second import and it appears that Julius Hodge will no longer be that man:
Adelaide coach Scott Ninnis said he was surprised by reports Hodge had committed to the Tigers but confident Adelaide would make strong signings to finalise it's roster.
"It was quite interesting to read that because we've received a verbal commitment as well," Ninnis said.
"I looked at that (Herald Sun article) with some interest but from our point of view we haven't been sitting back on our hands waiting for Julius Hodge to decide whether he's going to come back or not.”
Jason Castro isn't so attracted to the Singapore Slingers since they pulled out of the NBL and is trying to make his way back to the Phillipines and make his first stint in the PBA, after being PBL MVP three times. His agent is looking at a 50% buyout.
Point guard Shane McDonald is still excited about his prospects with the Slingers this season. It appears that they may still play some NBL teams in the near future.
"It is pretty exciting," McDonald said. "The club has made offers to the top teams in China, Korea, the Philippines and also Australia. A couple of teams are very interested in playing.
"So we might still play a couple of NBL sides this year."
McDonald said he had been left in a much better position than players from former NBL clubs Sydney and Brisbane, who dropped out of the league after last season.
"We are in a much different situation," McDonald said. "Those guys were left with nothing while we have had our contracts guaranteed and are still training together.
"I have a contract for the next eight months so I will be able to keep playing professional basketball."
The Slingers finished bottom of the NBL ladder last season but signed a number of promising players.
"We would have given the NBL a real shake this season," McDonald said. "We have a great group here and have been looking great.
"I am sad I won't be coming back to Australia as much this season but we have a great group here.
"The club wants to start a new Asian league next year so these matches could be the start of that."
John Rillie has a recap of Australia's last second victory over Angola in the Diamond Ball, along with his usual array of news. On watching the game, it looks like both teams may well surprise some nations come Olympics time.
In Portland, OR newspaper news, there was a little he-said-she-said going on between John Canzano (the Oregonian) and Dwight Jaynes (Portland Tribune) this past week. It all stemmed back to Jaynes putting the heat on Portland GM Kevin Pritchard's negative comments regarding the potential for comeback of Darius Miles, after his career-ending knee injury. Jaynes claimed that Pritchard's comments may have breached a Federal law regarding medical rights of employees. Canzano claimed that Jaynes' comments were baseless are far too emotional. Jaynes felt it necessary to write a blog post in response and overall, readers were left with some fairly unprofessional, petty journalism between the two of them. Well, now Jaynes has lost his job as Editor of the Portland Tribune. Coincidence? Who cares really...?
Are Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy one of the top Big Threes in the league? This analysis says they are.
Watching USA v Turkey in the Diamond Ball today, ESPN's Fran Fraschilla gave us his projected 2012 Team USA mens' basketball team. I had to check online to verify that I read on screen what I thought I read and SLAM's Lang Whitaker came to my rescue in his game notes. Most of Fran's predictions seemed pretty safe, sensible even. LeBron, CP3, Deron, Wade, Roy, Durant, Horford, Oden, Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson. I can even buy Kevin Martin. Then he got to Rodney Stuckey... that is one BIG call. I note no mention of Chris Bosh or Carmelo Anthony. Am I the only one who sees Melo's career dropping off a little or at least stagnating a bit? He just never seems like he'll keep up with the Jameses of this league. And it seems that his whole obsession with being 'gangsta' is part of it.
OKC got themselves a D-League team: the Tulsa 66ers.
Synergy Sports Technology, the team behind the newest NBA Live updates, continues to enhance the NBA and its teams.
A Stern Warning has a brand new site!! Click the logo or go to http://www.asternwarning.com
As was reported yesterday, the Slingers will no longer take part in 2008/09 NBL season. A representive of the Slingers made it clear in this comment that all player contracts will be honoured and in fact the Singaporean government has not withdrawn its support of the franchise.
Rather, the move for Singapore comes as a result of the increased travel costs associated with the NBL competition since the departure of the Sydney Kings and Brisbane Bullets. Presumably, this refers to the fact that the amended schedule would require more flights to cities which are not as economically feasible as flying to Sydney or Brisbane (two major hubs in Australia).
The Slingers have released this press release stating that the team will be playing in an Asian Professional League, which they presumably are in talks to construct, along with teams from Korea, Philippines, Japan and China.
“We had every intention to play our third season in the NBL and had recruited a team to be very competitive and more relevant to Singapore, with three players of Asian heritage on the roster”, said Slingers Managing Director Bob Turner.
“In spite of the team’s financial readiness to participate, the recent withdrawal of two keyteams from the NBL has had a negative impact on our business model and led to anunanticipated increase in travel costs. When the NBL could not accede to our request to help defray the exorbitant and rising travel costs, the board of the Slingers took the painful but necessary decision to leave the NBL and pursue the possibility of playing in a professional league in Asia instead”.
A Stern Warning has a brand new site!! Click the logo or go to http://www.asternwarning.com
Recognition goes to JR, On Fire for first alerting a stern warning to this news.
It appears that the Singapore Slingers may be the next casualty of this NBL off-season. After having lost the Sydney Kings and Brisbane Bullets already, due to financial difficulties, the Slingers may also be unlikely to start the 2008-09 NBL season.
According to rumours circulating on OzHoopsBoards, "it seems that the Singapore Slingers will not compete this season. The NBL is down to ten teams. With the league review rumoured to force the Slingers out in 09/10, the Singapore government may have pulled the pin early."
The Slingers were heavily funded by the Singapore government and as such appeared to be one of the stronger financially backed teams in the league. Unfortunately, with that backing walking out the door, the Slingers immediately become an unviable entity.
There is much talk of the NBL moving to Australian soccer's A-League format, with a reduction in teams to concentrate on one team in each major geographical centre. There is a suggestion that this would not have involved a team from South East Asia under the current review being undertaken.
I should note in all this, that this is only a rumour at this stage with no confirmation from either the league, nor the team. I can only hope that it is not indeed true and that something happens to change this.
Singapore were going to be an interesting team to watch this season. They have heavily recruited in the off-season and brought in a cosmopolitan mix of players to better draw the fans in. Imports Darius Rice and Eric Sandrin looked to be exciting additions who have both dabbed into the NBA. Jason Castro from the Phillipines brought a totally different element of fan base to the team and would have played well alongside new acquisition Darren Ng from Adelaide. Ben Knight, captain of the Slingers, must be the most disappointed. He has been with the team since their inception into the league and will struggle to fit his player points into another team's cap before the season starts.
Most of the Australian-born players will likely have real difficulties in getting an NBL job this season without some points cap concessions.
UPDATE: from John Rillie, "What I'm hearing though is all player contracts will be honoured and the club is trying to play 15 exhibition games in Singapore in the upcoming months. I'm not sure what playing exhibition games will do for a franchise without a league but I do not know the Singapore market at all.This concept is interesting but knowing Bob Turner he must have something in the pipeline. Maybe the Slingers will join an Asian league? Would the Chinese CBA look at a team from Singapore?"
I wonder if they could try to get a run in the American CBA. Didn't a Chinese team do that a year or two back?
A Stern Warning has a brand new site!! Click the logo or go to http://www.asternwarning.com
The teams are set and it is time to start theorising and posturising over the fortunes of the Olympics Mens Basketball squads for 2008. Two very strong pools have formed with neither group containing any 100 percent certainties. Today we will look at the Australian Boomers, the Aussie battlers from Downunder and how they plan to make their way out of competitive Pool A, which includes defending champions Argentina, Eastern-European powerhouses Lithuania and Russia, Croatia and Iran.
As the country's highest profile player Andrew Bogut said recently, "Representing a small country like Australia, 20 million people, it's always great fun to go and try to knock off the big dogs in the Olympic Games."
However, will that underdog, never-say-die spirit be enough for Australia to counter-act some of their obvious weaknesses against more favoured opponents such as Spain, Argentina and USA? Let's have a look at how the squad shapes up in the tournament.
STRENGTHS
-- Big men: the Aussies have a solid stable of bigs with flexible skill-sets.
-- Coaching: Brian Goorjian brings a defensive style which works well in International ball.
WEAKNESSES
-- Experience: the veteran stars that carried the Boomers of the 90s, including Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Mark Bradtke and Luc Longley are long gone from international duties and two of the veterans of the team, Sam MacKinnon and Jason Smith, are injured.
-- Outside shooting: the team is lacking in real gunners from the perimeter, despite Goorjian's coaching style relying on this for much of the team's offence.
There has been a strong emphasis in the media's pre-Olympic analysis on the strength of the Aussie frontline -- and rightly so. It clearly holds the most internationally credentialled component of the team, to the point that 2008 Toronto Raptors draftee, Nathan Jawai, was pushed out of the team. The big man department includes starting centre Andrew Bogut, Boomers captain Matt Nielsen, CSKA Moscow champion David Andersen and NBL MVP Chris Anstey. However, despite this range of styles and strength of experience, Bogut rightly points out that the key for the team will fall to the guards:
"But Bogut yesterday warned total reliance on the awesome foursome would prove the Boomers' undoing at the Beijing Games.
"You definitely have to have above-average guards that are going to have their work cut out for them," Bogut said at the Gold Coast Boomers camp.
"We need to play one through 12. It's not going to be Andrew Bogut or David Andersen averaging 20 and 12 for us to get a medal.
"I think the most important thing is having guys coming off the bench and contributing, having everyone being on the same page, having guys playing for their country and not thinking about their best job in Europe, or trying to get a contract in the NBA or impress the scouts. It's not about that, it's about being collective as a group of 12 and getting a medal for your country.
"Pressuring full court and doing those things which a lot of European teams don't do, that's going to help us – rebound, play defence and score those buckets down low.
"We're going to have to junk the game up." BOOMERS LINE-UP
BIGS
Andrew Bogut
The big man came onto the scene at the 2004 Athens games and proved himself immediately to be the starting centre the Boomers had been looking for since the retirement of Luc Longley. His international-sized frame, coupled with his agility and passing ability, make the Boomers legitimate down low and will not leave them wanting against any Olympic opponent in middle. He has proven himself in the NBA to be a solid double-double performer and the Milwaukee Bucks have rewarded him as such with a recent five-year contract worth up to $72.5m. The Boomers will hope for him to grab close to ten rebounds a game, offer a large amount of interior scoring and intimidate opposing offences.
Matt Nielsen
After proving all he could in the Australian NBL, the lanky combo-forward headed to Europe to ply his wares for substantially more money. Standing 6'10", Nielsen is a solid rebounder and shot blocker with an array of offensive moves in the post and facing up. He has the speed to blow by many bigger defenders and occasionally will switch to the small forward spot where his size will dominate. He currently plays for BC Lietuvos Rytas, who have been quite successful with Nielsen playing a starring role. He provides some of his thoughts from last season here.
David Andersen
The forward/centre provides a slightly different look to Nielsen at the four spot, as he is just as good a jump shooter, but slightly stronger whilst lacking some of the captain's speed. A shade short of 7'0", Andersen has seen a great deal of success firstly with Kinder Bologna and then with CSKA Moscow, where he helped the team to two Euroleague titles. He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 2002, but has scorned their most recent offers to enter the NBA for the greater money and playing time that Europe offers, recently signing with Barcelona. His experience and size will be greatly relied upon in the clutch games for the Boomers down the stretch.
Chris Anstey
The former Bull and Maverick returned to the NBL after successful stints in Russia and Spain, to claim the 2006 and 2008 NBL MVP awards. His 7'0" lanky frame is most at home at the three point line it often seems, giving the Boomers a very different look to Bogut inside.
Shawn Redhage
The 6'8" American-born naturalised Australian will get some minutes at both forward spots to provide additional scoring punch in Brian Goorjian's occasionally anemic offence. Redhage is a solid all-rounder who will fill whatever gaps arise for the team, as he does on a consistent basis for his club, the Perth Wildcats.
SWINGMEN
Mark Worthington
Worthington (6'7" F), as one of coach Goorjian's favourites, may end up a top performer for the Boomers by the time the Olympics is over. He excels at scoring inside and out and uses his intense personality to lock down opponents on the other end of the floor. After a solid career at Metropolitan State University, Denver he has become one of the top performers in the NBL and challenged for the 2008 MVP trophy.
David Barlow
Another Metro State alumnus who fits well into Goorjian's system, Barlow may well start at shooting guard after recent displays of extremely effective three point shooting. He often fails to make the best decisions off the dribble, but is athletic and will provide the Boomers with a swingman capable of matching opposing scorers at the 2/3.
Brad Newley
Drafted by the Houston Rockets in 2007, he was told to further refine his game in Europe and has spent a successful season in Greece, where he will continue next season (albeit for a different team to previously -- Panellinios). Newley (23 years old) is a solid scorer at the shooting guard position and will provide Australia with one of its best perimeter scorers for years to come. He should get an opportunity to play plenty of minutes in this tournament.
Glen Saville
One of the team's few veterans, Saville has seen Olympic duty previously with the Boomers at the 2004 Athens games. A completely unbiased and emotive wikipedia entry for Saville sums him up best: "Glen Saville is one of the NBL's most versatile players and at times he is called upon to man any position on the court using a combination of size, strength and speed to handle whatever match-up the opposition throws his way."
Joe Ingles
Ingles may find himself mired towards the end of Goorjian's bench in these games, but will definitely feature much more prominently in the Boomers' future. His unique combination of length, shooting and ball-handling make him a difficult matchup at the 1/2/3.
POINT GUARDS
CJ Bruton
One of the Boomers' leaders and veterans, CJ will be a key to the team's success. A solid floor general with an ability to get very hot from the outside, he has had a wealth of experience around Australia as well as in the States. A recent injury scare in camp shook up the Boomers' hopes, however it appears that Bruton's ankle will be ready to go for the Olympics, notwithstanding the disruption to his preparation. Bruton should get the lion's share of minutes at the point and his experience in tight situations will be relied upon.
Pat Mills
Aboriginal star Mills has been the recent sensation of the Australian team. His slight 6'0" frame belies his ability to come up big on the court, as he did for St Mary's University, leading them to a 2007 upset of Oregon with 37 points. He is the youngest ever to play for the Boomers, at age 19. His blinding quickness brings a change of pace off the bench and will likely see him get his chance to make his mark in Beijing.
The Boomers have their sights set on earning a medal at these Games. It has been rare in recent history that Australia has managed to gather all of their top players to compete in international tournaments, so much is expected in these games. The stock of bigs will be relied upon for much of the scoring and to dominate the middle against smaller teams, whilst the real emphasis will fall to the perimeter players to step up and hit their shots for the Aussies to do as well as hoped. Don't rule them out of the medals equation.
A Stern Warning has a brand new site!! Click the logo or go to http://www.asternwarning.com
Circum-navigating the world wide web quicker than you can say Sarunas Marciulionis, it's today's warnings:
FROM THE BLOGS
Truehoop: analysing the potential homophobia in a new Nike advertising campaign.
Ball Don't Lie: Skeets never stops bringing the bargains at ya! How about some champagne that may have possibly, by chance, speculatively come from the Chicago Bulls 1997 Championship locker room?
Basketbawful:continuing to bring you some of the worst of the NBA, in a good way...
And One: LeBron's injured his ankle, but it's not serious, or it could be, but it's probably not. Sehr gut.
Cuzoogle: some great photoshop work on some new NBA movie titles not coming to the an NBA retailer near you.
John Rillie: addressing probably the hottest topic in Australian NBL basketball right now, regarding the new franchise the Sydney Spirit (or whatever they're to be called after the Bendigo Spirit have had their crack at the name). It's a hard job trying to convince the public that a new franchise has been born when they are essentially in the same location as their forefathers (the Razorbacks) and have mostly the same squad (bar one big name signing). The new OKC team is in a similar situation, albeit they have actually moved to another city. From what I'm hearing on the Ozhoops Boards amongst some of the keener fans, it will be very hard to draw fans across from the old Sydney Kings fold, as it will be difficult to ascertain which Razorbacks fans classify this as a new franchise and which are clinging to the former team's history. Time will tell...
China: Yao Ming isn't scared of anyone. "I am very sure we can beat Angola. We lost to them in Hangzhou, but we were not in our best shape last week," he said. "Their players are not very competitive, and I don't think they are able to pose us any real threat at the Games. "We are not afraid of Germany either. Yi Jianlian has improved tremendously after playing one season in the NBA and he can limit Nowitzki. And I can take care of Chris Kaman."
Golden State: Marcus Williams is a Warrior. They're not necessarily looking as good as last year, but certainly younger and with some solid foundations. Out with Baron, Pietrus and Barnes and in with Turiaf, Williams and Maggette. They won't be a playoff team, but we knew that already.
Matt Geiger: people are being nasty to poor little Matt and not buying his house for the $21m price they promised. Maybe Latrell Sprewell can give him some tips on feeding his kids in the meantime.
A Stern Warning has a brand new site!! Click the logo or go to http://www.asternwarning.com
Summer League action has provided a glimpse at some of the incoming rookies for 2008, Olympic teams are set and the last crumbs of free agency are still being devoured by the few with enough room in their bellies (salary caps) to fit them. Here's a round-up of your warnings for today:
John Rillie has a great summary of the happenings in the world of Australian and Olympic basketball this week.
Angola, the one-time punching bags of Charles Barkley (circa 1992), beat Serbia in an Olympic warmup match.
Red's Army comes up with the worthwhile question: Did the '92 Dream Team ruin the NBA? Believe me, it's more than just a juicy headline and perhaps telling of the current and future state of international basketball.
The Akron Police are going to be getting around on some King James bicycles!
Bostjan Nachbar to play in Russia. "Already this summer, Tiago Splitter of Brazil, a first-round pick of the Spurs in 2007, and Goran Dragic of Slovenia, a second-round pick of the Spurs in 2008 whose rights were traded to the Suns, have opted for more lucrative deals in Europe than they'd be eligible for as rookies in the NBA. And four international players with NBA experience -- Carlos Delfino, Jorge Garbajosa, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Juan Carlos Navarro -- have accepted offers from European teams that easily trumped the money NBA teams were willing to offer. "The NBA had better be careful," Nachbar said. "European teams are offering a lot of money. It's much more, considering there are no taxes, than what I could make signing for the mid-level exception."
Josh Childress is seriously considering his European options (in Greece), unless someone throws a good contract his way quickly. Of course all of this talk of players going overseas must be of some concern, or at least thought-provoking, for my namesake Mr Stern. However, overall I think that this is nothing but good for world basketball. Sure, the NBA would like to retain as many top players as possible, but until the marquee players start heading overseas (say Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker or Pau Gasol for example), this is not a major problem for the NBA,
Lakers fans will miss the intensity of Ronny Turiaf, but there simply isn't room in the rotation for him behind Odom, Gasol, Bynum, Radmanovic and Mihm -- at that price anyway.
Final Summer League thoughts from the land of the Blazers. "Yes, Bayless tweaked his hand during that breathtaking, game-saving 36-point outburst against the Suns. But three team sources, including Bayless, insist he did not undergo any tests on his hand."
Junior basketball in Australia has been fuelled to an extent in recent times by an influx of African refugees to Western Sydney. As reported in today's Daily Telegraph, Blacktown coach Edward Smith has been instrumental in training these youngsters as basketball players, with many of them coming from a zero-base in terms of roundball experience.
Majok has the athleticism, touch and work ethic to be a star. He has been pinned as a top 10 power forward prospect and there is no doubt that the NBA is firmly in his sights. Watch the footage of Majok in 2006 (below), when he was just 18, and you can see the potential for a solid NBA career. His spring around the basket is strong, his work ethic appears solid and for a player with such little basketball experience, he has a nice touch on his hook.
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