Is David Andersen ready to swap his Barca uniform for the NBA?
I'm just going to add my own little flare to the Ben Pepper story. Following him getting drafted in 1997 by the Boston Celtics in the second round, Pepper made his Australian Boomers debut on a United States tour.
Remember those days, when we played in winter and the national team toured in the summer.
Back to the tour where I was lucky enough to join Pepper on tour and spend some time with the Geraldton junior.
On this particular night we had travelled to Champagne, Illinois to take on the Fighting Illini at Assembly Hall and the student section had decided to make Ben Pepper public enemy number one.
If the students had done any research on our previous games, they would have noticed that Pepper did not trouble the scorekeeper too much. Instead, they had studied that year's NBA Draft.
For the entire game Pepper sat parked at the end of the bench listening to the educated Illini students.
"Pepper are you the guy the Celtics drafted?"
"Celtics must have needed someone to peel the oranges this year."
To the students credit they had done some research as that final comment is not one that Americans use very often.
I felt for Pepper as he could do nothing to ease the chants reserved for him.
Coach Barry Barnes left Big Ben on the pine to watch and listen. There was no proving the Student Section wrong on this occasion.
If I felt bad for Pepp in that situation, this next on really takes the cake.
Our last game of the tour was against the Maryland Terrapins. While most players are looking forward to heading home, Pepper would have been as toey as a Roman sandal for some court time.
The Boston Celtics were in the house to take a look at their fresh faced second round draft pick.
The closest Pepper got to showing the storied franchise what he was made of was with his hand shake after the game.
Pepper met both Don Nelson and the legendary Red Auerbach after the game right outside our team lockerroom.
I thought Barry Barnes could have found a few minutes for Ben as the tour had wound down and two of the game's greats had come to check out their goods.
News
- Speculation is running wild regarding another Aussie who was a second round draft pick in 2002. It has been reported that David Andersen is very close to joining the Atlanta Hawks for this upcoming season.
It would be great to see Andersen take this step. He has proven that he can be a great European player, so all that is left is the NBA.
Get him in a pick and pop situation and Andersen will show you he has NBA talent.
Good luck with it all David.
- Australian Emus take care of Kazakhstan, 87-54 at the World Championship for u/19 men.
The Emus take on Argentina tomorrow at 11.30am. You can follow all the action right here.
- Looking for a new blog to read? Former South Dragon import Bakari Hendrix has started one. Check it out here.
- Talking of blogs, Brad Davidson has had his up and running for some time now. Drop by and see what the feisty guy has to talk about, but be careful because you may find yourself buying a house if you spend too much time there.
- If you can read Chinese please let me know. I would love to hear what they are saying about Brian Goorjian's right hand man Nick Popovic and his skinfold taking ability.
- The Australian Uni Games Team that is competing at the World's, has been knocked out of medal contention.
The Aussies went down to host's Sebia, 84-66.
Cameron Tovey was the best performer for the green and gold with 21pts and 5rebs. St Mary's Ben Allen was next best with 12pts and 9rebs.
Australia will play China next as they fight out for the minor placings.
This is the definition of miss spent youth.
Remember those days, when we played in winter and the national team toured in the summer.
Back to the tour where I was lucky enough to join Pepper on tour and spend some time with the Geraldton junior.
On this particular night we had travelled to Champagne, Illinois to take on the Fighting Illini at Assembly Hall and the student section had decided to make Ben Pepper public enemy number one.
If the students had done any research on our previous games, they would have noticed that Pepper did not trouble the scorekeeper too much. Instead, they had studied that year's NBA Draft.
For the entire game Pepper sat parked at the end of the bench listening to the educated Illini students.
"Pepper are you the guy the Celtics drafted?"
"Celtics must have needed someone to peel the oranges this year."
To the students credit they had done some research as that final comment is not one that Americans use very often.
I felt for Pepper as he could do nothing to ease the chants reserved for him.
Coach Barry Barnes left Big Ben on the pine to watch and listen. There was no proving the Student Section wrong on this occasion.
If I felt bad for Pepp in that situation, this next on really takes the cake.
Our last game of the tour was against the Maryland Terrapins. While most players are looking forward to heading home, Pepper would have been as toey as a Roman sandal for some court time.
The Boston Celtics were in the house to take a look at their fresh faced second round draft pick.
The closest Pepper got to showing the storied franchise what he was made of was with his hand shake after the game.
Pepper met both Don Nelson and the legendary Red Auerbach after the game right outside our team lockerroom.
I thought Barry Barnes could have found a few minutes for Ben as the tour had wound down and two of the game's greats had come to check out their goods.
News
- Speculation is running wild regarding another Aussie who was a second round draft pick in 2002. It has been reported that David Andersen is very close to joining the Atlanta Hawks for this upcoming season.
It would be great to see Andersen take this step. He has proven that he can be a great European player, so all that is left is the NBA.
Get him in a pick and pop situation and Andersen will show you he has NBA talent.
Good luck with it all David.
- Australian Emus take care of Kazakhstan, 87-54 at the World Championship for u/19 men.
The Emus take on Argentina tomorrow at 11.30am. You can follow all the action right here.
- Looking for a new blog to read? Former South Dragon import Bakari Hendrix has started one. Check it out here.
- Talking of blogs, Brad Davidson has had his up and running for some time now. Drop by and see what the feisty guy has to talk about, but be careful because you may find yourself buying a house if you spend too much time there.
- If you can read Chinese please let me know. I would love to hear what they are saying about Brian Goorjian's right hand man Nick Popovic and his skinfold taking ability.
- The Australian Uni Games Team that is competing at the World's, has been knocked out of medal contention.
The Aussies went down to host's Sebia, 84-66.
Cameron Tovey was the best performer for the green and gold with 21pts and 5rebs. St Mary's Ben Allen was next best with 12pts and 9rebs.
Australia will play China next as they fight out for the minor placings.
This is the definition of miss spent youth.
Posts
4 comments:
why you be hating on chinese people again JR
chinese translation =
"DJ Rod is Shit and JR has no home anymore, which is a good thing 4 Bball in Aust". + "The T.O. is a much better basketball show".
is The T.O. about basketball? wow! I've watched 4 episodes and couldn't figure it out.
Anonymous come on, dont be shy now, post ya real name like I do. Better still, post your B-Ball show so I can compare it to mine.
If you could not see all the Basketball gear, topics and subjects, you must be dumb then. Hope you get some help with this very soon.
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