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.

Does Eddie Own The 36ers?

It might not be as easy as "A, B, C", for the Adelaide 36ers. Does Eddie groves own the team as well?

This article will raise a few questions over the next few days. Article courtesy of Fox Sports.


New Basketball Australia chief executive officer Larry Sengstock says the revamped elite men's league "desperately" needs an Adelaide presence.

And Jeff Van Groningen, enlisted by 36ers owner-in-absentia Mal Hemmerling to help find a "solution" for the club, also is adamant the current crisis can be averted. Late last week Hemmerling staggered the basketball community by revealing he could not deliver the $1 million bank guarantee in the new-NBL criteria and that his attempts to find investors had been hampered by BA's delays in announcing the composition of its new league.

He then said unless BA relented on the $1 million stipulation, he could not field an Adelaide team in the new competition. That said, on Saturday he went on a five-week holiday while his club teetered on the brink.

Hemmerling and former childcare magnate Eddy Groves jointly purchased the 36ers and the Distinctive Homes Dome from the state government for $3.95 million in July, 2006. Van Groningen, who ran the defunct Brisbane Bullets NBL club for Groves, was brought into town last week by Hemmerling.

With Hemmerling now holidaying, it left many wondering whether Groves in fact owned both properties, his lieutenant in town. "No, I'm not running the ship," Van Groningen insisted.

"I'm not in a defacto leadership position. I've got a specific brief in reviewing what options to push forward."

Asked whether he had been sent to Adelaide by Groves to wind up a sale of the Dome and the 36ers, he said: "I'm here to try to give Mal whatever advice I can.

"Eddy has an interest because he owns the venue and the 36ers are its tenant but I'm not employed by Eddy. While he's interested in selling the Dome, he won't offload it at any cost and it's his preference to have a tenant."

Pressed further on what the future held for Adelaide fans of NBL basketball, Van Groningen said: "I would find it hard to picture a league without the Adelaide 36ers."

In that he has an ally in incoming BA chief executive Sengstock, who starts in the challenging role. "The bottom line in my mind is we're attempting to and wanting to get teams in each of the major cities," he said last night.

"The Adelaide 36ers have been there for 27 years. "We would desperately like to see an Adelaide team in the (new) league. Of course time is of the essence. The time frame is getting shorter - no doubt about that."

BA had planned to reveal the new league and its content before Sengstock assumed the role vacated by Scott Derwin. But it has been held up sorting the many bids non-compliant with the criteria. Those bids include the one from Hemmerling on behalf of Adelaide.

"I'm not deep enough into yet," Sengstock said when asked what solution he could foresee. But if there is a way, he is likely to find it. His big problem appears to be that, in fact, most of the "expressions of interests" accompanied non-compliant bids.