My All Surprise Team

Just a random picture. EJ Rowland in pink. Only in Germany!

As we head into the last round of the regular season, I'm just casting my mind back to what I would not have thought possible at the start of the season.

Here are five guys I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams of having the type of season they did.

Top of the list is Adelaide 36ers Luke Schenscher. The former Georgia Tech centre is averaging close to 11 rebounds per contest. I can believe this part but the most surprising to me is the 17 points per game.

I just felt the NBL style and pace would have created problems for the big red head but after a sluggish start to the season, the 36ers found a way to utilize his much improved touch around the basket.

If you want to be critical at all about his game, you would think at 216cms he may give you a little more than 1.5 blocks per 32 minutes on court.

At the end of the day Schenscher has produced so well I believe he will poll ok in the MVP race.

Anthony Petrie finds his way onto this team because of his workman like attitude towards the game. (Plus anyone from Tenterfield has done well to get this far.)

Petrie has improved in all statistical categories this season but it was his defensive effort on Cairns Taipan Martin Cattalini that really caught my attention.

Petrie had the task of shutting the offensive minded Cattalini down on this particular night. He did more than that. He had Catt-Man thinking more about the one on one battle than what was best for the team.

Besides the "D" Petrie was providing he was efficient on offense and keeping Cattalini busy at his defensive end of the floor.

I believe he will find himself on another team in the near future. His 12 points and 7 rebounds won't hurt his cause either.

Cairns enigmatic centre Ian Crosswhite has surprised me over the past six weeks. There is no way I thought he would ever average a double double over any period of time.

Well Mr Crosswhite proved me wrong. Since Larry Abney, Dave Thomas and Stephen Black have moved on, he has averaged 15 and 10.

He picks his spots and his awkward left hand can cause opposing centres trouble on most nights.

I will have to eat humble pie on this one. Who will pick him up for next season?

Now to a guard. South Dragon Rhys Carter has performed the back up point guard spot for the minor premiers very well.

Carter has always shown he has flair for the game but I think coach Brian Goorjian has finally harnessed a little of this so his play is solid more times than erratic. This shows in his reduced number of turnovers.

At West Sydney he was a turnover waiting to happen as he forced the action too much for my liking. Now he has a respectable 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio.

Now to really win me over he needs to do this for a few seasons in a row.

Last to get the nod is a guy who only got to play half a season, Greg Vanderjagt.

Here is a guy that could not catch a cold in Townsville, but on the Gold Coast he finished everything around the basket. His 60% field goal shooting will support that. Also the big giraffe hauled in 7 rebounds to go with his 11 points in just 19 minutes of playing time.

He went that well that the owner of the Gold Coast Blaze has commented that the only players safe for next year are captain James Harvey and Vanderjagt.

That's a great endorsement to have along with a spot on my team.

There you have it, straight from the horse's mouth. Do you agree with my selections? Leave a comment and let me know your choice.

You Tube of the Day - Kelvin Robertson Done.

Raptors GM Happy With Jawai Pick & Kendall To Miss Out

My mail has Luke Kendall missing out on the Olympic team. Team to be announced Friday.

The Australian Boomers finished their tour of Europe with a 2-3 record. They finished play today with a 89-84 victory over the Brazilians in the Acropolis Cup held in Athens.

As fans can we get a read on the tour as to how we are going to measure up at the Olympics, which is less than a month away?

We cannot read too much into it as the Boomers played without the majority of its frontline in the lineup. Firstly, Andrew Bogut did not suit up at all as he is currently in the States securing his $72.5 million future.

He will join the squad on court for the first time next week. The Boomers have one more 10 day camp before they head to Asia for a few games before the Olympics begin on the 8th of August.

Matt Nielsen missed most of the tour due to illness. Nielsen will be a key factor for the Boomers as the experience he has gained over the past three years playing in Europe will be crucial if this team is to reach the round of 8.

Chris Anstey played when he wanted to. If his body is right he is very effective. He displayed this today in leading the Boomers with 24 points, but he sat out games with injury. Will this scenario rear its head at the Olympics?

David Andersen was the only "Big" to play consistently on tour. From previous personal experience with Andersen, this guy just loves to play for Australia.

He is the one guy that plays at this level of competition all the time, so I feel his game will be ready for the Beijing Games. i look for Andersen to have a very solid campaign and be one of the Aussies best.

So with this kind of talent missing from the majority of the five games you cannot read into these results too much.

We must remember, Greece, Croatia and Brazil are all still trying to qualify for the Olympics. Out of this list Greece is the only team that is a legitimate medal chance and they steamrolled us two nights ago.

I just think we have to hold judgement until the Boomers go to Asia and play in the Diamond Ball Pre Olympic Tournament. That will give us a better feel as to how the team is travelling.

One thing to come out of this tour is that one player had to be dropped to make way for Bogut.

My mail is that former Sydney King and Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist Luke Kendall will miss out. Look for this to be announced in the media on Friday.

Although you fans voted Kendall out on my recent poll, I felt he was going to make the final team as the 3rd point guard on the squad. Shows you how much I know.

I guess this role will be left up to David Barlow. Not a good option in my books. Barlow has been playing well in these international games so far. I see him logging some big minutes at the wing position and being asked to the main threat from long range.

Now he is going to be asked to play maybe the most key position in the game, in a pinch. It is a tough ask to get a guy to change his role on the fly.

It might just be me, but I feel you should never take a guy away from what he has been doing well, especially at the international level.

As for Kendall, it has been a tough offseason. First his Sydney Kings fold and now missing the Olympic team. I guess if he ends up at the Melbourne Tigers all is not lost.

Nathan Jawai's trade to the Toronto Raptors has become official. It seems that Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo is happy about Indiana drafting Jawai and becoming part of the Jermaine O'Neal/TJ Ford trade.

Thanks to one of my readers (Leanyboy) who found this interesting piece of audio discussing the trade. Click this link and fast forward to about the 32 minute and listen to what he says about the #41 pick.

I'm sure this has to be nice for Jawai to hear that the team really wants him.

Other News
Former Hunter Pirates owner could end up in hot water.
Big Luke and Maher will be ready for 36ers tip off.
If you are a fan of live WNBL basketball on the ABC, you better click here and make your best play at saving it.
Tall Blacks loss to Slovenia.

Check out Greg Vanderjagt and his buying skillz!

NBL All Stars Go Down To China

Some of the boys taking a break from the action.


Last night at the Wuxi Indoor Sports Arena the NBL All Stars went down to Team China 89-73.

People back home can be proud of how this team played in their first of two games on tour.


After getting out of the blocks slow we clawed our way back into the game by half time. Keeping the Chinese team to 11 second quarter points helped us get some momentum happening going into halftime. When the buzzer sounded for half time the All Stars had a one point lead (37-36).

But as it always seems to happen in China the home team began to gain ascendancy in the game during the third term.


The Chinese team managed to knock down some threes during this quarter while our offense went through some lean times. It was former NBA player Wang Zhizhi that was the catalyst behind the revival of the Chinese offense.

During the fourth we could not manage a significant run to where we could really cut into their lead. They always maintained a seven to eight point buffer until they hit a few threes in the last minute to blow the score out to a 16 point deficit.

Notes from the game:

New Zealand Breakers Oscar Forman got out of the blocks fast for us with eight first quarter points. He finished with 12pts, 2rebs, 2assists

South Dragons Matt Burston played a typical Matt Burston game. He has a knack of finding the ball around the rim. He was our leading scorer with 14pts and added 4rebs to his stats.

Only other player to reach double figures for us was Greg Vanderjagt. The currently unemployed Vanderjagt had 11pts and 4rebs for the night.

Current NBA player Yi Jianlian was China's leading scorer with 22pts and 8rebs. His athletic ability along with his skill set really identifies him as the best talent on the court.

Yao Ming did not play due to injury.

Rhys Carter had 6pts, 4assists and 3 steals.
Peter Crawford had 2pts, 2assts and 2stls.
Darren Ng had 6pts.
Cam Tragardh had 6pts.
Matt Knight had 2pts and 5 boards.
Cam Tovey went for 7pts, 5rebs and 2assists.
Alex Loughton had 7pts and 6rebs.

Tomorrow we move out and head to Ningbo for the last game on Sunday.

With a feel for our opposition now, our performance on Sunday should be a lot more polished and could see a win coming our way.

My McDonalds Crocs discount card did not work in here.

Andrew Gaze in a Press Conference after the mornings shoot around.

Some of the boys during a timeout.

And It Continues

Reality is Hinder and his family may lose their house.

When I was deciding on what to blog about today I was thinking of leaving the NBL alone. I checked my comments page and noticed all the comments were left by fellow bloggers. Good to see another person's opinion so it led to me not being able to leave the state of the NBL alone.

Now my man Glockers believes the league cannot survive with out Sydney and Brisbane. This is what I have to say in reply.

Glockers..it would be great to have both Sydney and Brisbane in the league. Especially due to the points you make.

On the otherhand they have created their own fate. Whether you want to point your finger at the utter disrespect for the salary cap or loss of sponsors, they have dropped the ball somewhere.

What needs to be remembered, this is a business and the business is sport. Businesses come and go, just as players come and go. It might sound ruthless but this is the world as we know it today.

Sure we have the issue of TV rights and major sponsors but if your market is changing, seek out sponsors that fit your landscape.

What would help out the league right now is some positive, feel good stories and the NBL making a statement about what is happening with the rest of the teams in the league.

You look at the remaining teams in the league, all are on the upswing I believe.

Wollongong I'm not sure about and/or if they are recovering from their financial problems of last year but I would think they would be moving forward since they are currently recruiting an improved roster.

The Razorbacks I have no idea about but if they move to Penrith at least they are trying to improve their situation. They are looking at ways to make the club stronger. Whatever your personal feelings towards Penrith are at least the Pigs can start to build a regular fan base that would live in close proximity to the gym. Something they could have never achieved at Homebush.

Take a look at the rest of the franchises and you have your rock solid teams (Melbourne, Townsville, Cairns, Perth). Crowds and sponsorship seem to be ticking over in these locations.

Adelaide seems to have got it back on track and with coach Scott Ninnis adding a healthy diet of locals to the roster, the Croweaters will come out and support their team.

New Zealand is making a splash and should build on their playoff debut of last season.

New kids on the block Gold Coast have made a few subtle changes and are looking to crack the top 4.

That leaves the Dragons. With Brian Goorijan back in town I'm confident in saying the Dragons will get support from the Melbourne community.

Sure it would be tough to lose a couple of high profile franchises but the foundation they have been built on was not rock solid.

I feel if you have solid franchises and a good product their will always be a market for your business.

Time will tell but the sport of basketball is not in as bad a shape as what has been portrayed over the past three days.

NBL Articles:

DJ Leon Smith was ahead of us all. Check this article out.

Best Off Ground has his say.

Former teammate Russell Hinder may lose his house.

Ebi and Sam only remaining Bullets.

Some Big Wigs have there say on it all.

Tim Morrisey thinks the NBL needs to start from scratch.

NBL season to go ahead.

Super League anyone?

On a lighter note, watch out Tim Gunn, Greg Vaderjagt is coming after your job! Please watch and enjoy what the one time Brisbane Bullet gets up to in his spare time!

What My Research Has Found Out & Kobe Close To Championship

We'll start the bidding at $50 for the trophy.

Today I worked the phones a little and did my research. Here is what I have found out about the Brisbane and Sydney situation.

Lets start with the Bullets. For the guys (Greg Vanderjagt, Adam Gibson, Stephen Weigh, Anthony Petrie, Cam Rigby) that signed contracts under the David Kemp consortium, they have all become free agents.

They have been left to scamper around and secure one of the few roster spots still available. I have a felling some will be left out in the cold as their points value is too much for teams to accommodate.

Maybe the NBL should look at extending rosters to twelve to accommodate the 16 potential new free agents. Just my idea to help out a fellow player.

For all those Adam Gibson fans, look for the Tasmanian to become a South Dragon in the near future.

The Dragons also seem to have settled on their import spots. It is going to be a high octane backcourt with Cortez Groves and Ebi Ere if this rumour is correct. No wonder Brian Goorjian is trying to get pass first point guard Gibson to sign with the Victorian franchise.

Now to the Kings. The players are doing whatever possible they can do to get their cash that is still owed to them. Rightly so to. They have held up their end of the bargain. They deserve a pat on the back for keeping their mouth shut for so long.

Once the dust settles from the players jostling for positions in their dash for cash (they may find a few other athletes in line too), look for some of these players to find new addresses for the 2008/09 season. Who could blame them, would you want to go through another year or two of that?

The NBL has been taking it up the "you know what" for the past 24 hours but I agree with what Hall of Famer Andrew Vlahov said. (please read)

Although it is disappointing that two of the more recognizable franchises are on the brink of extinction, there are many clubs out there making good. We should not lose sight that all is not bad with the NBL.

Fox Sports show "The Back Page" gave it to the league last night. It is amazing how two clubs can paint a pretty bleak picture for the rest of the franchises.

I'm not saying the league is where it was in the late 80's and 90's but I actually sensed some good coming from last year. Franchises have begun to turn it around and heading in the right direction.

It is a trying time for the NBL right now but I feel that the competition may be a better product with less teams. You never like to see the death of a franchise but life goes on.

Season 2008/09 tipoff cannot come soon enough.

NBL Articles:
Some positive news..Perth has money to sign Darnell Hinson.

This is how Greg Vanderjagt spent his birthday. Lucky him.

Blaze have some love for the Bullets.

Former NBL player Anthony Stewart is running a camp for kids. The emphasis on the camp is how to become a real pain in the ass - Anthony Stewart style.

Boomers begin their Olympic build up this weekend.

D-Mac will not be signing with the Bullets any time soon!

NBA:
Kobe Bryant an the Los angles Lakers edged to within one game of the championship series. They go 3-1 up on the San Antonio Spurs.

Spurs do not cry foul.

Daily Dime

Is Robert Horry a Hall of Famer?

Orlando Pre Draft Camp started.

Ford has Nathan Jawai at 29.

TNT Playoff Mix - Not bad marketing!

Weekly ABA Wrap - Gruber Gets Call Up

Manu just followed his nose to the hoop against the Lakers in Game 3.

We have our first ABA product getting the call up to the NBL. The West Sydney Razorbacks have signed Frankston Blues import Dave Gruber for next season. The Northern Iowa product has been tearing the SEABL up with averages of 27 points to go with 15 boards.

Last weekend also saw Michael Cedar drop nearly 100 points in two games. The Townsville Heat went 3-0 on their southern Queensland road trip. Cedar took it easy on the Ipswich Force, only tallying 16 pts but exploded for 53 against my home town Toowoomba Mountaineers and then 41 on the Northside Wizards the next afternoon.

Mike it will not be that easy when we match up this week!

Queensland: Mackay's Colin Oriard goes for 22pts and 27rebs.

Waratah: Imagine the conversation that Bruce Bolden and Butch Hayes had after their game. These young players aren't like they were back in the '70's when we used to ball as teenagers then go and get our hair faded.

Big V: Damon Lowery has zero free throws. Finally someone notices he is the greatest flopper this country has ever seen.

Western Australia: Geordie Cullen drops 41 to remind NBL coaches he is still around.

South Australia: No stats from the Woodville/Norwood clash. Rumour has it Paul Rees was a little hungry.

SEABL: Greg Vanderjagt was not the answer for the struggling Southern Districts Spartans.

Other News:
Rick Rickert (what was his parents thinking!) is hoping to pass a Kirk Penney lead physical so he can rejoin the New Zealand Breakers this season. Rickert was struck down with a back injury (apparently he tried to piggy back Tony Ronaldson) which cut his season short.

Q & A with Nathan Jawai from the USA.

Luke Cooper has signed with Kilsyth in the SEABL. My sources tell me he is playing very well in some scrimmages in Melbourne. Look for him to be a Dragons development player.

Q & A with Rob Beverage. Got to love the Red Nut.

Kings still looking for help. Bring back The Snake, The Moose and The Man Mountain. Imagine the promo nights you could have!

Wollongong Hawks assistant coach Matt Flinn is not happy, Jan.

NBA News:
San Antonio Spurs get on the board against the Los Angles Lakers but still trail 2-1.

Billups to play through injury.

Noah caught with weed, Josh Howard nowhere to be seen.

Kobe and the Jackass Boys!