Sunday, June 14, 2009

Mills, Ingles & Others

June 15 (USA time) is a date to circle on your calender. This is the day underclassmen who do not have an agent need to notify the NBA if they are returning to college and forgoing the June 25th NBA Draft.

More to the point, Aussie hoop fans will be glued to some media outlet to hear or read Pat Mills' tough decision ahead.

There are pros and cons for both sides of the story for Mills, but what will be his decision?

I have tried to get a feel from some of the people close to Mills and the results are interesting. Some say yes, some say no. I just hope Pat knows.

I guess we will have to wait for June 15 to roll around to get an answer. Good with your decision Pat.

In the meantime, I will provide you with some links for you to make up your own mind.

- The Two Man Game website has an article where they compare Pat Mills to San Antonio Spur Tony Parker.

- ESPN's college guru Andy Katz reports that Pat Mills is not the only underclassman with a tough decision to make.

- Minnesota Timberwolves assistant general manager Fred Hoiberg must read my blog. Just last week I compared Mills to Earl Boykins.

- Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has shown us just how deep this year's draft is at the point guard position. Could we see a record number of PG's go in the first round?

- NetScouts an international site has thrown their two cents worth in about the point guard depth. They have Mills at nine in their depth chart.

- While a lot of the focus is on Mills, Joe Ingles is quietly going about his business as he tries to secure a solid draft position for himself.

Today Joe worked out for the New Jersey Nets as the session was viewed by 22 other NBA teams. Ingles told me that the workout "went well".

Over the upcoming days Ingles will also showcase his skills for the Portland Trailblazers, Los angles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

- nbadraft.net - "(Joe)Ingles started to warm up as the camp (Eurocamp 2009) went on but overall he was a disappointment. Appeared to be going through the motions most of the time lacking the presence to get noticed. Teases you with good length and some skills, but appears to lack any fire."

- The Australian u/19 Men's team is currently playing in the Douai Tournament in France.

Yesterday saw the young Aussies take on host nation France in an epic battle.

The Emu's went down to the French, 68-65.

Rick Majerus and St Louis will be happy to see Cody Ellis leading the scoring with 14 and a team high 5 rebounds, while Valparaiso bound Ryan Broekhoff had 8. Joining Ellis at St Louis next year will be Christian Salecich who dropped in 8 and Colorado bound centre Shane Harris-Tunks had 8.

A few nights earlier the Aussies knocked off the Americans in a thriller, 79-77. Jason Cadee scored the winning basket with a layup on the buzzer.

Washington St bound Brock Motum led the team with 19, while St Louis bound pair of Salecich and Ellis contributed 12 each.

- HoopsWorld delivers "Five Things We Learnt In The NBA This Week".

One of them being that Brandon Jennings feels Ricky Rubio is "all hype".

- Looks like new Gold Coast Blaze Head Coach Joey Wright and former Brisbane Bullets owner Eddie Groves are going to have to put the gloves on.

- Former New Zealand Breakers Phill Jones and Tim Behrendorff are looking for new jobs.

Before I leave you, here is some lighted hearted stuff from Dwayne Wade on the Jimmy Kimmel Show.



1 comment:

Eric said...

It's probably the saddest assessment of Ingles that he "seems to lack any fire". If his limiting factor is his perceived hunger, it doesn't bode well for a career at the highest level.