Nicknames & News

The Wollongong Hawks are trying to find a nickname that fits for new import Ty McKee.

So far some of the options are, 'The Sheriff", 'All Day', 'Fresh Prince' and my favourite 'Webster'. I'm sure some of the regular readers that come on by here can come up with something creative for the former Coppin State grad.

I would also love to hear from some of his former college friends as to exactly what his nickname was during that era.

Please leave a request and I will be more than happy to forward it on to the Hawks.



News

- Melbourne Tigers injured duo Nathan Crosswell and Tommy Greer hope to be back practicing tomorrow, while Head Coach Al Westover said he needs to "look at himself first". I hope he had more than just his cowboy boots on when he looked at himself.

- The New Zealand Breakers are sensing that young small forward Tom Abercrombie is ready to take his game to new heights.

If you read the article, like I did, I will have to disagree with him (Abercrombie) having the ability to match it strength wise with Sam MacKinnon.

- The Breakers go public to throw their support behind out of sorts import Awvee Storey.

I will keep a keen eye on the validity of this one.

- Read here and see what Plucka Duck and Andrew Gaze have in common.

- If you want to spend 60 seconds with Perth Wildcats import Kevin Lisch, click here.

While on D-Lisch, he has his own blog as well. Please drop by as it seems only his mother, father and proud sister do so right now.

Lisch Has Final Word On Outcome & Import Change

Former St Louis Billikens star Kevin Lisch was the hero Friday night at The Swamp in Townsville.

*** Gold Coast Blaze make first import change of the new NBL season. Bye to Michael Joiner, say hello to Erron Maxey.

All week there was a whole lot of huffing and puffing from both the Townsville Crocodiles and Perth Wildcats camp, but it was the silent assassin that had the biggest say in the end.

New combo guard import Kevin Lisch (or "D" to his teammates) silenced some of his critics out west but ultimately silenced Croc Nation with under a second remaining. As time was expiring the ball found its way into Lisch's hands and all he had time to do was catch and fire. A high arching three hit nothing but net as the Perth Wildcats ran out of town having stolen a 91-89 victory.

The Crocs opened up the first twelve minutes (oops sorry ten) like it was a clinic. They scored the first seven points of the game before heading to quarter time up 37-28. The chief destroyers for the Crocs were Michael Cedar and Rolan Roberts, both had nine points.

The Crocs were red hot as they connected on 14/20 shooting from the field.

Although the Crocs went to the main break up 57-52, you could sense that the Crocs were beginning to lose the ascendancy in this one as the Wildcats out scored them 24-20 in the quarter.

Wildcat rookie Jesse Wagstaff chimed in with nine points in the half, while Shawn Redhage was active as ever with eight.

Cedar continued to lead the Crocs with an even dozen.

The Crocs came out after the break and looked determined to close this one out early as they extended their lead back out to eleven half way through the third term.

Very much like the first two quarters though, the Crocs struggled to close out the quarter, allowing the Cats back to within five heading into the final period.

Cedar continued with the hot hand as his 22 points to this point had come on a 5/6 shooting display from down town.

At the start of the fourth you felt it could be anyone's game but I was feeling the Crocs would get home as they had been playing the better basketball for most of the game.

Enter an aggressive Kevin Lisch. (Up to this point it seemed Lisch was playing with one foot already on the plane, 1/7 fgs and 2 turnovers.) He exploded for 13 points in the quarter, including the game winning three.

I'm not sure what happened, but Lisch all of a sudden had this aggressive mindset every time he caught the ball. Whether in the open court or in the half court, he was dangerous.

Although Lisch went into destruction mode, the Crocs went into self destruction mode. 8 turnovers for the quarter was their story.

They managed to keep themselves in the contest by pounding the offensive glass on several occasions during this quarter but I'd have to question when Corey "Homicide" Williams' grabbed an "O" board himself and dribbled out to the three and let it fly. we all know the result of that shot.

It was purely the turnovers in the final period because the Crocs shot a scorching 54% from the floor for the game,. Oh and D-Lisch's final dagger as time expired.

Audio from the press conference can be found here.

Thoughts From The Game

- Paul Rogers injured his left elbow badly. This plus foul trouble to Luke Schenscher helped the Wildcats get back in the game. They had to go with a smaller agile lineup that caused the Crocs all kinds of trouble.

- Shawn Redhage seemed to be forcing the issue a little at times. His 7 turnovers will support me here.

- Fundamentals let the Crocs down in this one. I have already mentioned the turnovers in the fourth quarter, but they shot 8-15 free throws for the game. The attempted zero in the final 10 minutes.

- Wildcat Jesse Wagstaff is a player now. Once again Metro St in Denver has done a great job of developing some of Australia's hoop talent. Mark Worthington and Luke Kendall are just a few of the many that have come out of there, better than when they went in.

- Cam Tovey may win this year's three point percentage. He went 1-1. Look for him to penetrate a lot the rest of the season.

- This is not the first time in recent memory that the Wildcats have stolen one in Townsville. Damien Ryan did a similar thing to a Trevor Gleeson coached team in 2007.

Other News

- A few days ago Adelaide journo Boti Nagy had a little quiz in his column. Boti, I will beg to differ that it was Brad Williamson and not Drew that dropped those threes with Ebi Ere!

- Snakes put bite into fatigued Cats.

- Adam Ballinger tells us he should not of shot it. What the?

- SOS in Adelaide, finally gets it's night.

- NBL considered "Snoozer Of The Week".

- Ever wondered what former Brisbane Bullets and Geelong Supercat import Adrein Branch is doing? Click here to see why an "ACC Legend" is on Gardner-Webb's campus.

- Here is the boxscore from David Barlow's first game in the Spanish ACB league.

- A Joey Wright spray has been given the credit for the Gold Coast Blaze getting over the Wollongong Hawks.

- Perth Wildcats skipper Shawn Redhage feels the new rules will have a "huge impact" on the game.

- Former Boston Celtic and NBA dunk champion Dee Brown is in Australia holding some clinics.

Late News with Kevin Lisch

I have just returned from another successful game in the Townsville local competition. Due to time constraints, this will just be the news edition. I need some shut eye before I hit the streets of the far north to give away the "free stuff" at sparrow fart.

- Perth Wildcasts import Kevin Lisch has arrived in the west and is settling in quite well. Lisch and the Wildcats coaching staff are already looking over film.

“Coach (Mark) Radford and I got some tapes yesterday, I’m starting to do my homework a little and study up on the game here. The competition’s great and I’m looking forward to it", said the peppy St Louis grad Lisch. (courtesy of thewest.com.au)

My sources out west tell me that Radford and Lisch watched this piece off video footage first.

Lisch (in a nervous sweat) commented about how "that guy Rillie" will be a tough cover. Radford calmly explained to the rookie import that he has nothing to worry about as "that guy" no longer plays in the league.

I'm happy to hear that Kevin has been getting full night sleep's after the video session.

- New Zealand Breakers have hit rewind and are bringing back "Taking It To The Streets" or "TITTS" as it was referred to.

This is a great idea by the Kiwis. Nothing like taking your team to the regional areas to showcase your team.

- The Gold Coast Blaze's second import spot will be filled by Cal-Berkley grad, Ayinde Ubaka.

Ubaka has played in many professional leagues around the world. The combo guard comes in with a reputation of being able to get it done from the perimeter, while also getting to the hole.

Seems like the Blaze will be going with a three guard starting lineup with Ubaka, James Harvey and Adam Gibson.

In the same article, I cannot believe that Mike Vukona has been described as having a "smooth stroke".

Joey Wright needs to get in those video sessions with those Perth boys.

- My boys from Sydney, TheSportCount have come up with an entertaining blog all thanks to the Tweets from a few NBA players. Yes, I will include Brian Cardinal in those words.

- Has Denver Nugget guard, JR Smith finally grown up?

- Kurt Rambis to take over the team they call the Minnesota Timberwolves.

- Linas Kleiza leaves the NBA for the Greek city of Athens.