Due to a busy week for myself "The OT" studio was left to collect dust this week.
I'm sorry to disappoint our regular listeners but we will be back next week with our normal great show.
In the meantime, I have uploaded the complete Andrew Bogut interview from a few weeks back.
Enjoy and remember to tune in next week.
Don't forget you can now get "The OT" with JR and DJ Rod via iTunes and RSS feed now!
- The unpredictability of the NBL season continues.
- Hawks Matt Campbell speaks out about the league.
- SLAM online takes a look at the NBL. Yes, this American publication is showing some love to the league Down Under. Part 1 here.
- A nice review of the games from Epoch Times.
- Spirit just looking for respect!
- Gold Coast imports need to improve.
- Sydney Spirit Coach Rob Beveridge is happy with their progress.
36ers fans would like to see Julius Hodge icing in Adelaide, not in Europe where he is with the Nets.
Don't forget you can download Episode 5 of "The OT" with JR and DJ Rod here.
- Perth Wildcats Coach Conner Henry has worked a master stroke. Earlier today in the media the rookie Wildcats coach referred to the champion Melbourne Tigers as a "NBA-like line-up".
When I saw these comments I was wondering what state Henry's mind was in. It is obvious to me know that he new what he was on about. His motivation via media worked a treat for his team.
The Wildcats defeated the Tigers 105-101 tonight in Melbourne. (recap)
I have always liked the passion Henry has displayed on the sidelines and now he has shown that he can play mind games as well.
- "We want to be 5-0 at the end of this home stretch," Breakers Tony Ronaldson said. "I think that any team that is serious about wining the championship will need a five-win home stretch and our job's far from done yet." Courtesy of Sportal.
- Shane Heal's weekly column. He talks about there being no personalities within our league. being promoted. I agree with him as the NBL has no marketing that helps promote players into the national eye.
- Paul Henare will be back for the Breakers and he touches on the how he has been effected by the injury to his young son.
- Larry "The Birdman" Abney is back to his best?
- Gold Coast Blaze youngster Tyson Demos is ready for opportunity.
- The Chinese league (CBA) expands with two new teams but almost double their games played.
- "When I was about 11, I still remember it to this day," Andrew Bogut told JSonline. "I cut myself open on a fence. I've gotten them ever since then. I was playing football outside and bent over to pick up the football, and it was getting dark, and I smacked my head right on it."
Andrew Bogut explains why his migraines happen.
- James Posey and his winning touch can now be found in New Orleans.
- Second year Portland rookie Greg Oden finally hits the court.
- After 22 years Elgin Baylor is no longer with the LA Clippers.
- "When she pulled up to my house and started yelling at me after she fired a fake gun at me, I couldn't help but to start yelling back at her," Luke Walton said. "She was in my driveway. But when we were interacting, I could tell by the stuff she was saying that she's not all there in the head -- which makes me feel bad for her." Article courtesy of the AP.
- Orlando Magic pick up option on J.J. Redick.
- If "The Hoop" is on the money, Lithuanian power club Zalrigis his heading for bankruptcy.
Don't forget about the "caption" competition and Episode 4 of "The OT" is now available.
After a good win and an early morning swim I will now fill you with all the news from over the weekend.
Round 3 results
Perth 105-92 Wollongong recap
New Zealand 118-80 Adelaide recap
Gold Coast 90-107 South Dragons recap
Cairns 77-101 Melbourne recap
Wollongong 95-114 South Dragons recap
Townsville 97-80 Perth recap
LADDER
News
Cortez Groves saying all the right things.
Trevor Gleeson talks up 200 gamer Kelvin Robertson.
Brian Goorjian wants to see the Sydney Kings back in.
New Zealand shooting guard Kirk Penney believes the Breakers can get better.
BestOffGround blogs about the import saga confronting the South Dragons.
Other Hoops News
You want to know more about this season's Euroleague, check out WorldHoopsBlog and the video link for complete coverage.
TheSportCount takes a look back at Magic Johnson via YouTube.
Homicide's TV Segment -All the things you need to know about Cam Tovey
I'm happy to say we are getting better at this podcasting thing. On Episode 4 of "The OT", you will hear from Adelaide 36ers Brett Maher. Having just played his 500th game in the NBL I'm sure there is something for everyone in his interview.
We have introduced a competition with prizes to be won as well as a review/preview of all the games. We throw out a challenge to http://www.nbl.com.au/ about linking the "underground" NBL media section.
Don't forget to let us know how you think we are travelling - jronfire31@yahoo.com
NEWS
- Perth 105-92 Wollongong recap
- "I'm fine, I'm normal," the 6-foot-10, 280-pound Nathan Jawai said yesterday. "I haven't had any symptoms or anything. I'm breathing okay and everything's fine." Read more on Jawai's health thanks to Thestar.com. Also check out what the Bamaga big man had to say at Toronto's Media Day.
- "Shane (Heal) has a real strong personality and in all honesty he's done a lot of things for this club and put a lot of things in place," said South Dragons coach Brian Goorjian. TheAge.com.au has the rest of this article.
- "They're talking it up a bit and they are a good offensive team, just as we are too," New Zealand Breakers Dillon Boucher said. Thanks to sportal.com.au click here for the rest of the article.
- "He (Stephen Black) had a great game, they switched a lot on him and when the bigs switched on him he just took 'em on and shot the ball over them or went past them," Cairns Taipans Coach Alan Black said. Thanks to sportal.com.au here is the complete article.
- Your time is done, Eddie Groves. Mr Groves is no longer in control of ABC's Learning Centres.
- Former Razorback (dubbed the next Leroy Loggins by his coach at the time) Jermaine Blackburn is still playing.
- Click here if you want to listen to tonight's Wildcats/Hawks game.
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.
Episode 1 (podcast) of "The OT" with JR and DJ Rod can be found here.
- This afternoon the defending champion Melbourne Tigers got their 2008/09 season off to a solid start . They came away from Sydney with a 112-102 victory over the Spirit.
The Tigers got out of the blocks quickly and ended the first quarter up nine. The rest of the way it was pretty much a stalemate although the Tigers got out by 17-18 points at different times during the game.
Ebi Ere has not taken long to introduce himself to his teammates. He led the game with 31 points including 5-9 from "down town".
Meanwhile it seems that the NBL has come to its senses and okay'd Luke Martin to suit up for the Spirit. The little "buzz saw" hit the court for seven minutes.
- Boxscore from the Cairns Taipans/South Dragons game.
- I've had some good feedback from the podcast, thank you, but it seems the accent of the voice-over girl we used has sparked some interest. This mystery woman and her accent is a little muddled, but she is American born and has been residing "Down Under" for the past nine years so cut her a little slack. I'm sending her to speech classes as we speak.
- NBL diehard fan Matt MacQuade gives an in depth team-by-team preview for you.
Fellow blogger A Stern Warning has his own preview. Part 1 and Part 2 so far.
While on bloggers who show love to the NBL, American blogger WorldHoopsBlog wants the fashion police to tap South Dragon's Adam Gibson on the shoulder and have a little chat.
Young Melbourne blogger BestOffGround gives another NBL preview.
- The Age: "That's arguably the best starting five in the history of the NBL. They've got three MVPs on the floor", said Sydney Spirit coach Rod Beveridge.
Almost "Bevo", the Tigers have two league MVP winners. Chris Anstey a two time winner and Sam MacKinnon has one to his name. Maybe the Spirit coach felt Ebi Ere should have won it last season? Article here.
- Spirit import Derrick low tells the SMH, "We were the worst team, we were the doormats (talking about Washington State University). When I went in as a freshman it was like the Spirit - no one knew us, everyone thought it would be easy to play us, and it was like that for a couple of years. But then we started winning and by my third year we turned the program around and made the 'Sweet Sixteen' [finals series]. I went into the program when there was nothing there and leaving it in the position it's now in is a great feeling."
- From The Age. Cairns Taipans get win after a slow start.
- Darwin All Stars and the Singapore Slingers to play a two game series in December. Even talk of Darwin hosting a NBL preseason tournament.
- Slingers and Jason Castro find themselves in a sticky situation. The Filipino point guard fled Singapore when they pulled out of the NBL. Now Castro's people are trying to trade two other players to fill the void left by Castro. Bob Turner must be wondering what he has got himself into.
- CJ Bruton talking up his Kiwi teammates. Have they not told him New Zealand is not in Europe, yet?
- "We've worked hard in the pre-season. Rectifying our defence was something we knew we had to do. We're not a glory side, coming and slamming in 40 a game but I'm confident we now have 10 players who can defend the hoop." Wollongong coach Eric Cooks talking to New Zealand's Sunday News.
- A great article on Andrew Bogut. He talks about how you used to rock a Darryl McDonald jersey. I preferred the Wayne Carroll Giants replica.
- TrueHoop weighs in on how things are going to go down this year in the NBA. They are suggesting the Denver Nuggets are headed for turmoil.
- Cleveland Cavs lock in guard Delonte West for a few more years.
- Trailblazer Raef LaFrentz to have shoulder surgery.
- It only took Oklahoma City five days to sell out their season tickets. Here is their phone number ( 405-208-4800) in case any team the other side of the Pacific would like to know how they did it. 13,000 tickets sold in 5 days.
- Shaq O'Neal will retire after 2009/10 season.
- Rookie Mike Beasley looking for a new agent already. My money is on Aaron Goodwin to land the job.
- This is funny. A goodbye letter by Ball Don't Lie's J.E. Skeets. Blowtorch has responded, well.
- TheSportCount has the lowdown on Ben Gordon. Nice one Boys.
Finally I have installed the first edition of the "The OT".
Hosted by myself and DJ Rod, topics include a preview of all the teams in this year's NBL competition, a special guest drops by and we talk about a few issues that came up over the off season.
You can click here or on the logo to the left to start listening.
Allow a few minutes for it to download and you will be in business.
By the time Episode 2 comes out (next week), it should be available on iTunes to download.
Enjoy and let us know what you think.
There's a new addition coming! Stay tuned for more.
Blogging has become my new addiction. My drug of choice. Besides spending time with my family (they may argue this point) and getting ready for my 15th season professionally, blogging is how I spend my day.
This blog started from a suggestion by my wife (I bet she wishes she could have those words back) and I have never looked back.
So having been blogging for over a year I felt it was time to add to the JR Blog Empire. Time to inform my loyal visitors through a different avenue. Hey, I might even appeal to a different crowd along the way as well.
My new baby I'm speaking of is a Podcast. Hopefully in less than 24 hours you will be taking it for a test drive, and if you like it, there will be another edition next week.
It is currently in the "Chop Shop" so as long as there is minimal editing, my editor should have it shining by tomorrow. Hopefully it will sound as good as The Basketball Jones. (Just kidding, maybe by next week though.)
What will be on the show? In the first episode my co-host and I concentrated on the upcoming 31st NBL season and have previewed all team rosters, ran through the few games that are on tap this weekend and have a guest pop by our luxurious recording studio.
This will become a show that covers all things basketball (NBL, NBA, NCAA, Europe) so I hope you will join us and our special guest each week. Providing my technical skills allow me, this will also become available on ITunes so you can download and listen whenever you want.
I'm always up for constructive criticism so once you have listened, please comment on what you think can be done better or what you like about the podcast.
News
- Brian Goorjian is already in midseason form. According to him the Melbourne Tigers are untouchable and the rest of us have no chance, unless we bring a sword to the game.
- Adelaide Advertiser's Boti Nagy see the NBL "bouncing back". He also takes a look around the league at what is happening.
- "I'm happy to be here (Melbourne Tigers). Wherever I play, I'm happy to be here. It's all about playing, you know, committing to the team that you're on. It's a business as well. I've got to handle my business", said new Tigers signing Ebi Ere when talking to The Age newspaper. I look forward to the Tigers and South Dragons squaring off during the season.
- Sydney Spirit to take the softly, softly approach. Their youth needs time to mature. Too bad they open the season with the Tigers.
- Perth Wildcat Paul Rogers will miss their season opener against the South Dragons. How dickey is this guy's knee?
- Cairns Taipans are going to start the season with a celebration. It is their tenth season as a franchise so they are starting it in style. The Cairns fans will be hoping the team can party on the floor for a little longer this year.
- "The launch will be a 'comfortable and intimate affair'." This courtesy of the Gold Coast Bulletin as they discuss the season launch of the Blaze. It will be held some 78 stories high, even dwarfing 213cm Greg Vanderjagt.
- Coaches have their say on who's the best.
- Young Crocs guard Michael Cedar may one day wear the green and gold.
- Luke Walton should we back on the floor soon.
- NBA rookies Chalmers and Arthur fined over behaviour.
- If you live in a NBA fantasy world or league this is for you.
- 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks gets contract extension.
- Seton Hall recruit to sue Big East. No, it's not Andrew Gaze.
- High schooler turns down big time football to play mid-major hoops.
- Bloggers WorldHoopsBlog and BestOffGround give us their NBL previews.
- The Sport Count has an open letter to NBA commissioner David Stern.
- A Stern Warning takes a look at a legend.
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