Ben Allen/Jorden Page with Samhan

The St Mary's Gaels are about to take on Baylor in the Sweet 16. Man of the moment Omar Samhan has his own blog happening but he has caught up with two of the Gaels Aussies.

Checkout below interviews with Jorden Page and Ben Allen as the talk about the NCAA Tournament.

Omar Samhan - A Non Aussie At St Mary's

Sorry, I have not been able to update the blog recently but I've get been helping get a few things kick started around here.

I have been keeping a close eye on all things basketball, especially the NCAA Tournament.

If you happened to have watched the first weekend of action you would have noticed the Aussie heavy St Mary's Gaels have a "man" in the middle that is fast becoming America's darling.

Check out Danville, California native Omar Sanham who is averaging 30pts and 9.5 rebs on one of the largest sporting stages in the world, the NCAA Tournament.

Hinder Re-Signs

Captain of the Townsville Crocodiles Russell Hinder has been the first player to re-sign with the club for the upcoming 2010/11 NBL season.

Here is footage from the press conference which was held this morning.

March Madness

Today the field of 65 teams was announced as the NCAA Selection Committee have made their decision final.

No UNC, UCLA, UConn and no Arizona for the first time in 25 years.

Instead we will have a bunch of mid majors competing amongst themselves to make it through to the Sweet Sixteen in the second week.

Click here to see a full bracket, but let's take a look at the Aussies involved in this great event.

Sydneysider AJ Ogilvy and his Vanderbilt Commodores (24-8) will take on the Racers of Murray St (30-4). The Commodores will start favourites but the Racers have a roster capable of causing and upset and making a deep run.

Lil Stralia or better known as St Mary's (26-5) in the USA plays the Richmond Spiders(26-8). If this was a shear match up of Aussie vs Aussie, the Gaels win 5-1. But New South Welshman Josh Duinker (Spiders) will have plenty of help from his American born teammates. This has overtime game written all over it.

Old Dominion Monarchs (26-8) plays the red hot Notre Dame Fighting Irish (23-11). The Monarchs is home to Perth native Trian Iliadis. Although ODU won the CAA, they might find their opponents from the Big East have come good at the right time of the year.

One Shining Moment 2009 - March Madness

JR Smith 360 Dunk

Just in case you have not seen the best dunk this side of the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest (insert joke please), check out this amazing dunk by Denver Nugget JR Smith.

#1 in Plays of the Day!

Ranga Nation

"Bevo" will be all smiles with this line up at his disposal!

With less than 24 hours until the deciding game of the 2009/10 NBL Championship season tips off, I'm hearing rumours that Perth Wildcats Coach Rob Beveridge has asked for a last minute roster change.

The league head office is considering the bizarre request as Beveridge has asked if he can exchange/trade his current players (besides one, more on this soon) for an All-Ranga look.

I have gone through the NBL archives and I think this is the best "red headed" roster that Beveridge could ask for.

PG: Little used Singapore Slinger via New Zealand Hayden Allen and West Sydney Razorback/Sydney King (development player) Tim Hudson will play rock, paper, scissors to see who starts against Martin & Martin. Newcastle local Marty McLean may get the call up if he still has his Breville maker in working order.

SG: No brainer here due to Mat Campbell suiting up for the opposition, the mad bomber himself Cameron Dickinson. "Dicko" was the third Australian born player to average 20 points in a NBL season. He will be given a sub by Adelaide championship winning guard and former NBL top dog Peter Ali.

SF: Sydney King turned king journo Tim Morrissey gets the nod here. If people think Galen Young gets under the nose of people, you need to watch some vintage Morrissey. His back up will be journeyman Craig 'Spider" Adams. Adams was more your four man but Beveridge needs an "X" factor and that is Adams' forte.

PF: We exchange one naturalised import for another. Out with captain Shawn Redhage and in with 36ers resident "ranga" Adam Ballinger. Backing up "Balls" will be Wollongong Hawks development player Gareth Dawson. Dawson has been released to play in his native Kiwiland comp but it has all been part of Bevridge's grand plan. (note: Import Young has tried to fit into the "Ranga" culture by wearing those bright red shoes, but in the end, they are just not cutting the mustard.)

C: Luke Schenscher has retained his spot on the roster, yes, because he is a natural red head. Giving Schenscher a breather will be a Western Australian legend and three time NBA champion, Luc Longley. (note: It will be strange not to see Longley sitting next to close friend and WA tough guy Andrew Vlahov and mega wealthy Wildcat owner Jack Bendat-like Beckham.)

I cannot wait for Game 3 to tip off. With this new look roster I'm sure "Bevo" will not sleep a wink tonight.

Devendorf Lovin It Down Under

Eric Devendorf showed that offense is his best defense for the Waikato Pistons.

This week saw another NCAA team rise to #1 in the rankings, only to be knocked off the perch in the same week.

The Syracuse Orangemen (#1) traveled to Louisville to take on the Cardinals in what was to become an historic game at Freedom Hall.

Where am I going with this story you may ask? Stick with it.

The Orangemen who usually have no trouble scoring as they run out of their world renowned zone defense, struggled against the Rick Pitino coached Cardinals.

I'm guessing that 'Cuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim would have loved to have had former standout guard Eric Devendorf at his disposal.

Instead, Devendorf kick started his New Zealand pro career with a lazy 49 points (7-10 threes) against the Nelson Giants as his defending champ Waikato Pistons ran out winners 92-73.

I was told (secondhand of course) that Devendorf and Pistons coach Dean Vickerman had an interesting conversation during the early stages of this game.

It went something like this.

Vickerman asked, "Eric, can you give me a little better effort on the defensive end when we are in man to man, please?"

Devendorf responded, "Is that where I stand at the top of the keyway and way my arms around like I'm landing a plane? The way Coach Boehiem had me do it so well for four years?"

My understanding was Vickerman was a little taken back and needed to think of a better way to get his message across.

In the next break in play, Vickerman calls over the tatted point guard and hopes this message gets the point across.

"Ok Eric, lets try this philosophy I learnt from a former player I coached this past year. You are responsible for that player (points to Nelson's point guard Mike Fitchett) and if you can score more points than him, you have done a great job defensively in our man to man principals", Vickerman explains to Devendorf.

History shows that Devendorf liked the idea of this defensive concept.

I will keep an eye on this situation to see how this man to man theory continues to pan out over the season.

College Hoops Biff - Lady's Style

Sorry I've been a little slack of late, but I've been parked on the coach watching all the hoops on television. Whether is has been college, NBA and European, I have not been able to drag myself away from the tube.

It is getting to the best time of the year as March Madness is just around the corner, the NBA is getting serious as they head towards the playoffs and the European mid week competitions are heading to the money end of the season.

Just in cased you missed it, the other day in a college women's game, there was a "cheap shot" in a game. Check it out.

NBL News

Best photo I could find at time of publication, but I think this lovely female "digs" Kirk Penney.

With only two more sleeps before the Wollongong Hawks and the Perth Wildcats begin to battle for the tittle of 2009/10 NBL champ, lets see what is making news in the region.

- Hawks starting point guard Rhys Martin has dual Olympian CJ Bruton to thank for his move to the beachside town in New South Wales.

- There is a war of words brewing between the journos in the respective towns that are competing for the NBL title. Keep it going boys. Oh, it's starting to get better. Cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings.

- Gold Coast Blaze forward Anthony Petrie once honed his skills in a little country town on the New South Wales/Queensland border, Tenterfield.

I used to love heading to Tenterfield and playing in their annual carnival. I just wonder if a young Petrie was one of those kids hanging around?

- New Zealand Breaker Kirk Penney and Hawks Head Coach Gordie McLeod have taken out the NBL's player and coach of the month award respectively to end the season.

- Thanks to Twitter, we find out the Andrew Bogut believes the Perth Wildcats will win.

- Perth are ready to roll after the "bug' got them.

- Is Perth Wildcat Martin Cattalini retiring?

- Have Galen Young and Corey Williams made up?

- The Townsville Crocodiles indicate that they are ready to keep Corey Williams around.

MacGruber Basketball

Wollongong Hawk benchman Dave Gruber came out in Game 3 and provided the Hawks with the "X" factor that teams need at this time of the year.

The former Northern Iowa University product has had this type of impact on a game throughout the season. I remember him coming of the bench against my New Zealand Breakers and scorching us for 17 in an efficient manner. He was the difference maker.

Can "MacGruber" become the X Factor in the Finals series against the Perth Wildcats?