David Barlow and a Great You Tube Clip

Boomers need David Barlow's shooting, not his so called versatility.

David Barlow is the next player I will breakdown as we are only days away from the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

I believe this tournament will be a defining moment in David Barlow's international basketball career.

Dave has shown that he has become a player at the NBL level, but can he take his game to the international stage and be consistent? I think he has been unfairly tagged as Australia's next great versatile player but his outside shooting will be greatly needed in Beijing.

Sorry, but Dave is not in the same league as a Sam MacKinnon when it comes to versatility in his game.

Barlow's strength is his perimeter shooting and there is no doubt he is the best long range sniper on the team. He is near perfect with his feet set so get this guy the ball when he is open.

Barlow can handle the ball well but I would still question what happens once pressure is applied. I know we all remember the World Championships in 2006 against Greece.

He is a good athlete with length, but I can never recall him climbing above the pack and claiming that key rebound for his team. Something that MacKinnon has made a living from.

It may seem like I'm hating on Barlow but I do like his game and his attitude. I saw this first hand in Sydney but I feel their is too much expected of him.

When you have a perfect shooting game (Barlow had one during the past NBL season.) people get caught up in the hype and start seeing things that aren't really there.

Barlow needs to concentrate on being the best shooter on this squad as it will be paramount to the team's success.

He could take a leaf out of Jason Smith's book. Smith mastered a few skills that stood by him well throughout his career.

At the international level, being a master of something serves you better than being ok at everything.

The Beijing Games will be David Barlow's moment of truth on the international stage.

NEWS

Boomers getting ready to face "Redeem Team". ESPN Live 10pm est - Tuesday

Matt McQuade of nbl.com.au gives us his Olympic thoughts.

Should we read into J-Kidd getting benched against Russia?

Carlos Arroyo leaves NBA for Europe.

Opals crush Mali 112-43. (boxscore) Boxscore from day before against China.

Mavs Josh Howard caught drag racing.

Nellie defeats Cuban for $6.3 million.

Luol Deng to stay with the Chicago Bulls.

Ex Croc Vanderjagt signs with Blaze.

36ers preseason schedule.

Cairns release preseason schedule.

Bendigo Braves defeat NW Tassie in SEABL.

New Perth assistant coach Mark "Rat" Radford has parting shot.

Cairns Marlins too much for Power.

Thanks to NBLBBALL, here is a NBL classic. ENJOY!

Boomers Win While China's Yi Jianlian Is Unhappy, Jackson Injuried

Yi is not giving his coach the thumbs up.

The Australian Boomers started the FIBA Diamond Ball for Men with a solid 67-55 win over hosts China.

The Boomers displayed trademark Brian Goorjian defense which disrupted the soft Chinese all too easily. China's 24 turnovers did not allow them to get into any offensive rhythm all game.

The Boomers on the other hand had a very balanced team effort. Chris Anstey was the leading scorer with 11, while David Andersen was the only other Aussie player to reach double figures with ten.

Freshly cashed up Andrew Bogut was very solid for the Boomers. His 9 points and team leading 8 rebounds do not tell the whole story. He battled Houston Rocket centre Yao Ming on all possessions and made it a long night for Yao.

Yao lead China in scoring with 14 but Bogut's constant pressure created a team high 5 turnovers from the Chinese centre.

After watching this game (http://www.justin.tv/) I feel Yao needs to get in the weightroom and shoulder press his night away. The Chinese team is expecting their NBA All Star to create a miracle on every possession. Sure it is great to have every play ran for you (ask Andrew Gaze) but you need help to ease the pressure a little. He cannot carry this team on his shoulders alone.

Yao had no help out there tonight.

That leads me to newly acquired New Jersey Net power forward, Yi Jianlian. Yi had zero points tonight on 0/3 shooting. There is no other way to sugarcoat this, he was plain miserable.

Word is, he and head coach Jonas Kazlauskas are not seeing eye to eye. This little tiff apparently started the night before in their game against Angola (maybe due to Yi being abused in the post by Angola's Olimpio Cipriano) and obviously carried over into tonight's game.

Could this be a case of a NBA player coming home and thinking he is better than what he is? I'm betting on this being the case.

He is too good a talent to have zero effect on a game and Yao needs someone to ride shotgun with him. Point guard Liu Wei is no Robin to Yao's Batman.

Enough of the Chinese. This is a solid win for the Boomers but lets not get carried away as I don't think China will advance on their side of the draw in Beijing.

Tomorrow (Thursday) at 6pm EST will see the Aussies take on Angola. This game will be a good test as the team from Africa is a very free flowing style of team. They have the ability to put a lot of points on the board in a hurry.

This game will test our perimeter defense as the Angolans are happy to penetrate and pitch for the three.

Check out www.justin.tv/antileech for a live feed of the game.

On the women's side of things, the Australian Opals defeated the Brazilian national team for the second straight game.

The Opals ran out winners by the score of 85-62, even without the world's best women's player Lauren Jackson. Jackson sat out due to and ankle injury but should be ready in time for the FIBA Diamond Ball for Women.

Suzy Batkovic led the scoring for the Opals with 17, while series MVP Belinda Snell added 13 for the home side.

All players contributed to the end total besides defensive juggernaut Tully Bevilaqua.

Boxscore

The Opals will begin action in the Diamond Ball later this week.

In other Pre Olympic action, you can catch Team USA play Turkey on Thursday night on ESPN from 10pm. This will be live coverage.

NBL News

Gold Coast Blaze get a major sponsor.

Brian Goorjian and his most talented team, EVER!

Spirit debate still going on. Check out the Sydney Spirit website. If I'm Bendigo this is my argument. How serious are they about their name chance? Not to serious if it is still the "The Official Website Of The West Sydney Razorbacks". I will give them some credit. Punch in http://www.sydneyspirit.com.au/ and you get re-directed back to the Pigs website.

NBA News

Ron Artest has been traded to the Houston Rockets. Bobby Jackson back to the Kings.

Ex-ref gets 15 months jail.

$71 million will see Deng stay in Chicago.

NBA teams to play Euro power clubs in preseason.

Emeka Okafor will stay with Bobcats.

Something a Little Different - Former PM John Howard Rolling His Arm Over