Round 17 - The Defining Round

I'm watching Fox Sports tomorrow night to see if Perth enforcer Galen Young (left) and Tigers Sam MacKinnon lock horns and flex.

By the end of this round (17) we may have a clearer picture of who the Top 4 are or it could once again become tighter than the Gold Coast rims.

Wednesday night really sets the mood for the week's games. First we have the resurging Melbourne Tigers taking on the top of the table Perth Wildcats on Fox Sports.

The Tigers are winners of 5 of their last 6 and have moved up to sixth on the ladder. Having added import Mike Rose, the Tigers have played their hand in saying the season ain't over yet. This weekend's home and away against the Wildcats will determine if the Tigers have any roar in them as we head towards the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats are playing for a Top 2 finish and home court advantage during the playoffs. As we know, the Wildcats are tough to beat at the "Jungle" so Rob Beveridge will have his boys amped for this mini series.

I'm saying each team will win on their home floor but look for Sam MacKinnon and Galen Young to conduct a no holds barred wrestle for halftime entertainment.

The Wollongong Hawks and the Townsville Crocodiles also enter a home and away series over the next three days. Wednesday starts down at the "Sandpit", while the return leg at the "Swamp" is Friday night.

The Hawks continue to go about their business despite MVP fav Ty McKee out for the season. The Hawks have dusted the Crocs 2-0 already this season so can their good play continue against the reptiles?

I'm sure now leading MVP candidate Corey "Homicide" Williams will be looking to have a night out on his feathered friends. Coach Gordie McLeod's scout on the playground legend has been spot on to date.

If the Crocs have aspirations of a Top 2 finish, they need to get over this hurdle the Hawks have presented to date. Meanwhile, if the Hawks can get two wins, they will put to rest all the doubters and should secure a playoff birth.

Thursday night's game across the ditch is being pumped up as a grand final for both teams.

Adelaide has had an injury scare this week, but it seems that captain Adam Ballinger boarded the flight and will suit up for the 36ers against my New Zealand Breakers.

As for the Breakers, they/we just need a win for the sake of confidence right now. If the game had been reduced to thirty minutes this year, the title favourites (at the start of the season) would be holding court and making bookies look like they knew what they are doing.

Unlucky for the Breakers the game is forty minutes and they/we have found just about every way possible to cough up a handy fourth quarter lead.

I'm tipping the Breakers, break out, and drop a lazy 100 on the 36ers.

Saturday night will see the Crocodiles play their third game in five days as they travel to Cairns. The folks of the far north will be promoting this one big time and plenty will make the trip north from Townsville.

No matter what is at stake, these two towns will always show up and support their team.

The Taipans have not been playing the best ball of late but they must be due and I'm sure they are holding onto the old mathematical equation scenario regarding making the playoffs.

On the other hand the Crocs mental makeup (from their two games against the Hawks) will determine how they go into this game.

Last but not least, the Gold Coast Blaze host the NZ Breakers.

The Breakers will come into this game with renewed energy and hope after beating the 36ers on Thursday. Having been narrowly defeated on New Year's Eve at the same venue, the Breakers will like their chances.

Joey Wright will have his Blaze team thinking Top 2 so they cannot afford to drop too many more in the fashion they did in Wollongong last round.

Injury is starting to creep into the Blaze camp (Adam Gibson and Ayinde Ubaka) but if they are serious about competing for a championship they need to win this one.

I'm tipping this is going to be the game of the round so people on the Coast need to get a piece of this action come Saturday night.

Highlights of Hawks vs Blaze Round 16

The Time Has Come

There are seismic like movements in the NBL and it's about to explode.!

Watch this space for some earth shattering news on the NBL in the very near future.

Episode 2 Of "The OT" with JR and DJ Rod

DJ Rod and myself have churned out Episode 2 of "The OT". Click here or on the icon to the left to listen.




In this issue we look back at the first three games and preview the rest of Round 1. We have a special guest drop by as well as our All Time NBL "Ranga Team". Did you make the team?


Enjoy and please leave a comment about how we are going.

Question Of The Day

"Goorj, we found our games, they are that way."

Text messages, e-mails and general conversation centred around one thing today, "What is wrong with the Boomers, JR?"

There is no doubting the Australian Boomers (0-2) are struggling to find any type of team cohesion right now, but their Olympic campaign is not over yet. Lets allow the next three games to play out before we pass judgement on their performance at Beijing.

Cast your mind back to the Sydney Games of 2000 . The Boomers got out of the blocks very slow during that tournament but managed to win the games that were necessary to win to advance to the medal rounds. They ended up playing in the bronze medal game.

Fast forward to 2008 and the same situation has been presented. The Boomers have looked down right dreadful during their first two games (Croatia and Argentina) but they will see there next game against Iran as a momentum builder. Iran are considered to be the easy beats of this pool so if the Boomers are to get on track, they need to win this one.

Confidence is a wonderful thing and it is only one game away. If they get past Iran, Russia is the next hurdle. Russia is 1-1 at the time of this blog so the game against Australia will be key to advancing for both teams.

That game right there might be the grand final for both teams as far as advancing to the next round.

Australia finishes pool play with Lithuania (2-0). Not exactly a team you want to be playing in a must win situation. Depending on the results of the other games played, it might just come down to that.

How will the Boomers be able to turn their fortunes around?

Start to get some production out of our big men. The quartet of Andrew Bogut, Matt Nielsen, David Andersen and Chris Anstey were suppose to be one of the team's strengths. None of these guys have been heavily involved in anything. Sure they have themselves to blame to some degree, but has anyone created and easy dunk or layup to get something happening for these guys? No!

Self pride will have to kick in you would think. The body language of many of the players is not positive. When times are tough you just need to go out there and let it "fly". What you have been doing previously has not been working so change your approach to the game.

Ball moment has been non existent and this had made all players look bad and the offense anemic. Besides Pat Mills, no player has found an offensive groove so it is imperative that the five on the court work together to create some easy opportunities for each other so team confidence can be found.

Last night against Argentina it looked like each player was trying to take it upon themselves to make it happen. It is a team sport so you need to have faith and use your teammates.

I will harp on it again, 9 assists last night. That is showing you how much team work is happening at the offensive end.

Although the Boomers have been disappointing to date, the final chapter in this story is still to come. Lets hold out judgement until the Olympic Games are over and the Boomers final result is known.

Side Note: Speaking from my own Olympic experience, I hope the players are taking in some of the other Olympic events. It is an amazing feeling when you watch a fellow countryman do something special and it takes your mind off of your own performance.

What Everyone Is Saying About The Boomers

Just In: Australain Opals continue to roll towards Olympic gold with defeat of Korea. boxscore

Boomers bounced by Argentina - Sydney Morning Herald

Boomers Stick with Losing Formula - livenews.com.au

Boomers Go Bust - sportal.com.au

Mills provides a spark for Australia - insidebayarea.com

Odds and Ends with Pat Mills - Slam Online

Fans left unhappy by Seven's coverage - Herald Sun

Bogut's Boomers a Bust - The Salt Lake Tribune

Mills plans three-flag party - smh.com.au

"He's going to be great" - Manu Ginobili on Pat Mills - insidebayarea.com

Who's Hot - Spanish 17 yo PG Ricky Rubio vs Russia

Day 2 From Olympic Men's Basketball - Aussies Slip To 0-2

This is the "Redeem Team" and not the Dream Team. There are spare seats everywhere. Are we at the Kingdome?

Men's basketball from the Olympic Games has been happening all day and the picture is getting a little clearer as to who will advance to the medal rounds. Sure it is early days, but teams that have secured 2-0 records can book their ticket to the next round, while the hole is getting a little too deep if you have fallen to 0-2.

Here is a look back at what happened.

Argentina 85 defeated Australia 68

The Boomers never troubled the South Americans and Luis Scola (17pts) continued to dine out on the Green and Gold defense and Manu Ginobili (21pts, 7ass) toyed with the Aussie defense as he penetrated and dished to his wide open teammates as well as knocking down key baskets.

As for the Aussies, they look lost and not assertive at all on offense. Patrick Mills (22pts) is being aggressive but when your point guard is dominating the shot total, this is not a good sign for team play.

The team had a total of nine assists on 29 made field goals for the game. This does not reflect to well on team basketball.

Meanwhile the oppositions in their two games against the Boomers have averaged 18.5 assists and have nailed a total of 23 three's. Most of these shots are wide open and have been created through good ball movement and the extra pass.

Brad Newley (although stat efficient) who is one of the few guys that can create his own shot is running around without any purpose to his movement. He needs to somehow find a way to become more involved at the offensive end. After all, he is there to score.

The big man rotations are not working out. This area is suppose to be the team's strength but there is no cohesion here. Andrew Bogut, Matt Nielsen, David Andersen and Chris Anstey have had not found any rhythm as a combination. They need to find it quickly and I hope this is achieved in the next game against Iran.

Is it time to panic for the Aussies. No, but we need to beat Iran in the next game or the players might as well get an Olympic schedule and start preparing what events they would like to see while in Beijing. (I highly recommend athletics, hockey, tennis.....)

If the team gets off to a slow start Coach Brian Goorjian is going to have to roll the dice on his rotations. Time is ticking and there are no "W's" in the most important column.

boxscore

Lithuania 99 defeated Iran 67

Lithuania (2-0) had to rise and shine (9am tipoff) to play Iran (0-2) today after having an emotional four point win over Argentina less than 48 hours ago.

They were up to the task and thanks to the stellar play from Euro great, Sarunas Jasikevicius, the Lithunanians cruised in the second half to an easy win.

Jasikevicius finished the game with 20 points but it was his 15 first half points that set the Eastern Euros up nicely.

I must say I thought this Lithuanian team was not as strong as their past few Olympic teams but I have been proved wrong so far.

I should not have underestimated the great PG play at this level by Jasikevicius. There is no doubting he could not find his feet in the NBA but I can tell you first hand, this guy can control and win games at the international level.

I first came across Sarunas in 1995 when I was a member of the Gonzaga Bulldogs first NCAA appearance. We played the Maryland Terrapins and Jasikevicius was a member of this team. He has not looked back from those days.

Since that day I have competed against this guy too many times for my liking at the international level. He is one of those players that has the ability to control and win a game by himself. He is that good. He is truly a European great.

Back to the game. Denver Nugget Linas Kleiza lead the Baltic team with 22, while Hamed Ehadadi once again led the Iran team with 21.

A side note on Ehahadi: I'm going to go out on a limb and say that we will see Hamed and his soft touch in some NBA camp come October.

boxscore

Croatia 85 defeated Russia 78

This game was about too much Zoran Planinic and the continued red hot three point shooting from the Croatians (2-0).

Planinic a NBA cast off played an efficient game today. Shooting 7/9 on his way to 20 points helped his team control the game from start to finish.

Croatia killed the Australian team the other night from deep (12-16 3's) and that story continued against the Russians. 8-15 was the damage today.

Marco Popovic led Croatia with 22.

Russia (1-1) was led by Utah Jazz star Andrei Kirilenko who had team highs in points (18) and rebounds (6).

It doesn't get an easier for these teams as Russia plays Lithuania next and Croatia gets the defending gold medallists, Argentina.

boxscore

Greece 87 defeated Germany 64

This game was about a team of champions playing a champion team.

Germany's NBA pair of Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman could not match the team play of Greece.

Nowitzki and Kaman combined for 17 points on 4/11 shooting and 8 rebounds. I'm sure Greece would have taken that before the game.

On the other hand, Greece had 9 players trouble the scoreboard with one time NBAer Vassilis Spanoulis leading the scoring with 23.

It was the Greeks team defense that allowed them to get the easy win. They crowded and made it hard for Kaman to operate down low and double team Dirk at every opportunity.

In the end they restricted the German's to 36% from the field.

Side note: German great Detlef Schrempf has added pressure by saying a medal is needed now.

Germany plays Spain next, while Greece will play the USA.

boxscore

Spain 85 defeated China 75 (OT)

The game of the day. Spain had to fight back from being 14 points down in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.

Spain's electric backup backcourt of Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio (17yo) ignited the Spanish fight back.

Fernandez who will play for the Portland Trailblazers this NBA season ended the game with a near triple double, 21pts, 8 ass, 9 rebs.

Rubio scored 1 point but it was his defense that sparked Spain into action. His game high 5 steals and 4 assists is what allowed them back into the game.

Knotted at 72's after regulation, Spain outscored the host nation 13-3 in the extra period.

LA Laker Pau Gasol lead Spain with 29pts and 8 rebs, while Houston Rocket Yao Ming had 11 pts and 9 rebs before fouling out.

Yi Jianlian still struggles through the Olympics. Playing 38 minutes the New Jersey Net produced 4 pts (2/4) and 9 rebs. i'm confident in saying they would be looking for a little more offensive punch from him.

Liu Wei led China with 19 points.

boxscore

USA 97 defeated Angola 76

The USA (2-0) "redeem team" played another solid and well rounded game against Angola (2-0).

Dwayne Wade continued his hot shooting (6/8) on the way to leading the Americans with 19 points. wade is leading the team in scoring @ 19 a game but the remarkable stat is he is shooting 87% from the field.

Meanwhile the Angolians played without their best player, Olimpio Cipriano, who will miss the rest of the Olympics due to a shoulder injury.

25 turnovers was the killer for the African champions and the USA converted many of these into easy fastbreak points.

The USA is now done with the easy part of their schedule. They now finish the remainder of pool play with Greece, Germany and Spain.

Angola takes on the host nation, China, next.

boxscore

GAME TIME: The Australian Opals play tomorrow night against Korea. Tipoff is 10pm Down Under time.

Blog of Note

Check out A Stern Warning. This Aussie blogger covers everything that I don't, so there is a lot to check out.

NBL News

Adelaide 36ers sign their second import, Temple grad Mark Tyndale.
Sydney Spirit hold onto nickname.
Taipans rookie Kerry Williams shines in first appearance.
Sydney Spirit down Purdue Boilermakers again. boxscore
Aaron Grabau continues to fight off injury.
Wade Helliwell to remain in Italy.

Andrew Bogut talking Olympic Hoops

Players Will Always Move On - Sonny Bill The Latest

Sonny Bill has turned his back on the Bulldogs. (Find out more below)

The major dilemma facing the NRL at present revolves around how to keep the top tier players from chasing big money overseas.

Every armchair fan, past player, and local hero weighs in on the topic and puts their two cents about how to solve the problem into the ring. But let’s get real. There is never going to be one magic solution that keeps everyone on home soil. There will always be something somewhere that will draw players to other competitions or codes in the world. The pot is never going to be big enough to accommodate everyone.

Obviously it is disappointing to lose world class players like Mark Gasnier and, a little closer to home, Jonathon Thurston (as he has admitted to being approached about his future when his current Cowboys contract runs out). Their vacancy, however, leaves the door wide open for the next ‘big talent’ in line.

Take, for example the playing career of Jonathan Thurston. The guy could not get a regular start with the Bulldogs, but his move to the Cowboys has allowed him to grow into a player that is widely regarded as the best footballer in the world.

There are future Thurstons and Gasniers out there. They just need their day in the sun to prove it.

I can remember people saying it hurts the NRL when a player like Trent Barrett leaves for England. I personally do not think the game has suffered from Barrett’s departure and little fanfare has taken place about his return to our domestic competition next season.

Football is not the lone sport battling to keep their best players at home. I’ll use basketball as another example. We are losing players to Europe and the NBA at a rapid rate.

So I would say that the best way to combat the problem would be to spend resources developing our sports at grass roots so that we have the talent to fill the vacancies left by the inevitable departure of high level talent. It allows our sport to sustain itself without being so dependent on a small group of individuals.

Promote yourself to the kids the right way and spend money and time on doing so. They, in turn, will want to be involved in the sport. The more players you develop, the more players you have to fill your talent pool. The deeper your talent pool, the more able you are to sustain and survive the loss of players.

I would also like to suggest that I think it is a good sign when other countries are willing to pay our players the big money to join their overseas club. It’s a reflection of a product that has been made in our backyard and has been sought after worldwide. What business would not see that as a good thing?

It does become an emotional issue, when your favourite player decides that it is time to chase the cash away from home, but maybe critics should ask themselves, “What would I have done?”.

I think anyone who is honest with themselves would have to, at the very least, consider answering the question the same way Gasnier did. Playing in France for a million a season sounds pretty easy to handle.

You can read my article every Saturday in the Townsville Bulletin.

In other NRL news Sonny Bill Williams has left the Bulldogs for France.

Jawai Gets NBA Deal and ABA Weekly Wrap

Jawai's new home. A little bigger than the Cairns "Hiss House".

I'm a little behind this week due to my excursion to China but better late than never. Here is a look at all of last week's boxscores from the ABA ranks. (Click on your favourite League to get the scores.)

Queensland: Ex-NBLer Thalo Green drops 47 points and grabs 18 boards on my hometown Toowoomba Mountaineers. Oh how times have changed on top of the mountain.

Waratah: Troy Pilon had a double double (18 & 13) for the Illawarra Hawks. Can anyone let me know if they have seen the "Truck" dribble with his left hand? It will be his first time.

Big V: Ex Tiger Luke McMillan still gets it done. He led Ringwood with 40 points and 16 rebounds.

Western Australia: Carmie Olowoyo has a double double (28 & 13) in a losing effort for Stirling.

South Australia: Rupert Sapwell has his Norwood Flame charges travelling along nicely right now. He has been unable to get an NBL assistants job in the off season, but teams will not be able to keep saying "no" if he keeps on winning.

SEABL: AIS gets the better of the Canberra Gunners in the local derby.

Nathan Jawai was rewarded with a two year deal by the Toronto Raptors today. This is quite and achievement for a second round draft pick.

With Jawai securing a two year deal this shows just how high the Raptors are on the young Aussie. There are no guarantees being a second round pick so for Jawai to secure a deal like this means the Raptors see a future for Jawai in the NBA.

My sources told me it took a little time for the Raptors to warm to the Bamaga local. Their scout Jim Kelly was not overly impressed with his first look but over time Jawai changed their mind.

They must have been keen pre draft because they had him workout twice for them.

All this is history now and I'm lining up for my Jawai jersey. Go Raptors!

The Men's Olympic Basketball team was named today. As I mentioned yesterday, former Sydney King Luke Kendall became the odd man out from the thirteen man squad.

The team: David Andersen, Chris Anstey, Ddavid Barlow, Andrew Bogut, CJ Bruton, Joe Ingles, Patrick Mills, Brad Newley, Matt Nielsen, Shawn Redhage, Glen Saville, Mark Worthington

Over the next few weeks I will give you a breakdown of each player.

Other News
Tall Blacks defeat Iran.
Another article on the Jawai deal.
Men's Olympic team.
Radford signs with Wildcats.
Goorjian to rely on "BIGS".
Day 4 of the Orlando Summer League.
For all the latest happenings at the Vegas Summer League, click here.

Beasley and Rose at the Orlando Summer League