Round Six Player of the Month

Sorry for the lateness of this post, I have been busy doing other things, getting married and going on a Hawaiian honeymoon being on the top of that list.  This blog isn’t about my personal life so let’s get to some NBL action.

This round was one of highs and lows.  The Melbourne Tigers had a massive outing in highly touted recruit Jonny Flynn’s debut while Sydney gave Wollongong their first loss of the season and Cedric Jackson was electric in New Zealand’s two wins.  On the other hand Townsville still haven’t won a game in eight tries and in their loss to the Breakers Cairns scored a team total of 25 efficiency points.  That’s right, 25 total points for 11 players, or 2.2 points on average and.  Ouch.

Dabster Award

Round Six Dabster Award Winner

Chris Goulding, Melbourne Tigers – 30:11 minutes, 24 points (9/12 FG, 3/6 3P, 3/3 FT), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover.  ER – 27

Having an excellent point guard in Jonny Flynn can do wonders for slashers like Goulding who got his shots in open positions.  Cut import Kevin Braswell was known to be a shoot first point guard which didn’t give as many opportunities for the rest of the team but now with a PG who knows how to get people shots the rest of the team is reaping the rewards.  Goulding has always had the talent to be a top flight scorer in the league and now he has been given the green light look for more games of this calibre.

Honourable mentions

Cedric Jackson, New Zealand Breakers – 2 games, 17.0 points, 11.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals.   ER – 24.5

Seth Scott, Melbourne Tigers – 18 points, 10 rebounds.  ER – 24

Matthew Knight, Perth Wildcats – 21 points, 8 rebounds.  ER – 21

Rhys Martin, Wollongong Hawks – 15 points, 9 rebounds.  ER – 21

If it wasn’t for Goulding’s massive shooting night Jackson would be a shoo-in for this award and I’m betting that he will get the NBL’s player of the week award.  Two wins and averaging over eleven assists a game while playing excellent defence.  Scott also benefitted from Flynn’s play while Knight and Martin were lone shining lights for their losing teams.

Previous Dabster Award Winners

Round One – Stephen Weigh (Adelaide) and Matthew Knight (Perth)

Round Two – Alex Pledger (New Zealand) and Corin Henry (Sydney)

Round Three – Mika Vukona (New Zealand)

Round Four – Adris Deleon (Wollongong)

Round Five – Cedric Jackson (New Zealand)

Menga Award

Round Six Menga Leader Board

1.       Seth Scott, Melbourne Tigers – 20.0

2.       Cedric Jackson, New Zealand Breakers – 19.6

3.       Ben Madgen, Sydney Kings – 17.0

4.       Cameron Tragardh, Cairns Taipans – 16.1

5.       Matthew Knight, Perth Wildcats – 15.8

6.       Stephen Weigh, Adelaide 36ers – 15.5

7.       Adam Ballinger, Melbourne Tigers – 15.3

8.       Daniel Johnson, Adelaide 36ers – 14.0

9.       Adris Deleon, Wollongong Hawks – 13.5

10.   Larry Davidson, Wollongong Hawks – 13.0

A down year so far on last season, at this stage last season all of the top ten players were averaging over 15 ER points.  However, four of the top ten last season are now out of the league and most of the rest are playing below their previous production.  Good news is that there are only three imports in the league so take that whichever way you want, are the imports not as good as before or are the locals playing better?  I think it might be a bit of both.

Zike Award

Round Six Zike Award Winner

The Cairns Taipans – 54 points (18/67 FG, 3/19 3P, 15/21 FT), 28 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 14 turnovers.  ER – 25.

I was going to give Clint Steindl (-4) the Zike Award but I think the whole team deserves it.  They shot 27% from the field and their ER points look like a phone number – 1,4,-2,7,0,3,1,-4,10,5,0.  Cameron Tragardh was the only player in double digits and that was only the minimum.  Things don’t get any better for the Taipans as they play the upstart Hawks next season in Wollongong but they would have to get more than 25 points, right?

NBL Dream Team selections

It’s that time of year again when would be fantasy kings kick off their season, pouring over every game and every depth chart like they were running the club.  With the NBL Dream Team opening up, it’s time to put your fantasy money where your mouth is for another year.  If anyone is interested I have a public league open so anyone can join, the code is 460678.

Here are my picks for good value as well as players you might want to steer clear of for various reasons.

Forwards

Good value

Matthew Knight, Perth Wildcats ($130,300) – He can also put selected as a C but having him here will open up money for a top notch five.  Knight is the only player on their roster that can give the Wildcats substantial minutes at centre so he will see plenty of court time.  If he goes down with injury he has enough value to get someone of similar status.

Shawn Redhage, Perth Wildcats ($127,900) – Redhage may have had a poor last season which is why his price is lower than usual but he looks ready to go this campaign.  He has his fire back and going by the games in the pre-season tournament he will again be a force in the league.

Oscar Forman, Wollongong Hawks ($126,100) – The lanky perimeter shooter caught fire at the end of last season and a lot of Wollongong supporters will be hoping it continues into this one.  He can fill up the bucket with very good efficiency even with his outside shooter which makes his Dream Team score look much better than it should be.  With Adris DeLeon and Lance Hurdle kicking him the ball Forman should be in for a massive season.

Not so good value

Will Hudson, New Zealand Breakers ($121,200) – A standout for the Gold Coast Blaze last season he jumps to a team filled to the brim with talent.  Coming off the bench behind Mika Vukona and Alex Pledger will see his minutes reduced making his output less than someone of his status.  His price is a bit too much to warrant starting him on a Dream Team.

Curtis Withers, Townsville Crocodiles ($116,700) – He may have all the talent in the world but having a 203cm guy who will be playing a fair portion of his minutes at centre is not someone I want on my team.  Withers is a high risk, high reward kind of player so if you want to take the leap I won’t judge you, but don’t come crying to me when he gets out-rebounded by taller opponents.

Dillon Boucher, New Zealand Breakers ($68,200) – Boucher is someone every team wants and every team doesn’t want to play against.  He does all the dirty work: takes charges, gets into opponents heads and is just a nuisance to the other team.  Unfortunately for Dream Teamers none of what he does great shows up on the scoresheet so his DT scores are usually low.

Centres

Good value

Alex Pledger, New Zealand Breakers ($114,100) – The biggest man in the league is also one of the best bargains.  He will be starting for the Breakers which will give him ample minutes to produce and his growth as a player will continue into this season.  At only $114,100 he is a great, cheap starting player so you can splurge on others in your team.

Ben Allen, Townsville Crocodiles ($43,500) – When someone who is valued at forty three and a half thousand puts up 13 points and 14 rebounds in a game he is sure to be a bargain.  Sure it was only in the pre-season tournament but his form continued back into the off-season playing for Ipswich.  I hope he can continue his form because he is on my Dream Team.

Daniel Johnson, Adelaide 36ers ($180,200) – He may be super expensive and he doesn’t do enough on the defensive end but he puts up points in a hurry and he grabs rebounds.  With Luke Schenscher helping him out I’m sure DJ will again be up the top of the efficiency ratings.

Not so good value

Cameron Tragardh, Cairns Taipans ($151,200) – With a new team and a new coach Trigger is going to have some trouble adjusting to a squad that he isn’t the top dog.  This Taipans team is all about defence and Tragardh wasn’t the best defender at Melbourne.  He won’t get as many touches either which puts the $151,200 price tag out of most people’s budgets.

Luke Schenscher, Adelaide 36ers ($126,300) – On paper he should be at the top of the list but he just doesn’t do enough with the skills and height he has been given.  Maybe Johnson can bring out the best in the Big Red.

Pero Vasiljevic, Adelaide 36ers ($72,500) – Similar to Will Hudson’s situation he is placed behind two good front court players and won’t get enough playing time to produce.  Even worse for Pero is that he is no way near as good as Hudson so even when he gets minutes he won’t give the numbers as Hudson would.  Steer clear.

Guards

Good value

 Adris Deleon, Wollongong Hawks ($157,900) – 2Hard2Guard may have started poorly with the Blaze last season but when he get it together he was fantastic.  Wollongong will be looking to Deleon to lead from the front which means he will have the ball in his hands a lot.  Not as expensive as he should be so snatch him up quickly before the price rise.

Jason Cadee, Adelaide 36ers ($62,500) – Even though he won’t be starting for the 36ers I can picture that the team will be running with Cadee at PG and Adam Gibson at SG for a good portion of games which will give Cadee an excellent opportunity to put up some nice numbers.

Jamar Wilson, Cairns Taipans ($151,000) – He may have some more help this season but Wilson definitely still has the green light to take this team and carry it to the finish line.  I can see Deleon and Wilson being quite similar so Wilson is a better buy, being $6,900 cheaper.

Not so good value

Kerry Williams, Cairns Taipans ($43,500) – Williams is probably the league’s biggest enigma.  He shows some flashes of potential but really isn’t much of anything.  He may be one of the cheapest around but don’t look for him to be a bargain, he won’t make you happy.

Cedric Jackson, New Zealand Breakers ($191,300) – It may be hypocritical to place the best player in the league in the ‘don’t buy’ category but look at his price!  That is just too steep a price to pay, even if he doesn’t produce at MVP levels.

Corin Henry, Sydney Kings ($116,700) – It is only early as the season hasn’t started yet but the pre-season games he has been in he has stunk it up.  Having a short PG that doesn’t pass much and is a chucker is not someone you want on a Dream Team.  It may be a adjustment time for him and he may turn the corner but right now do not buy.

So they are my picks for bargains and don’t buy players so if you think you can beat me join my league and we can have some fun.  Only two weeks until the season starts!

Get aboard the NBL.tv train

I haven’t been around for a while with other commitments, mainly wedding stuff, and as there hasn’t been much happening in the world of the National Basketball League I didn’t have much to say but about a week and a half ago there was some amazing news that I just couldn’t resist.  That’s right, NBL.tv.

Like many NBA fans I bought the League Pass subscription service last season and it was a blast.  Every game from every team whenever I wanted.  I could go home from work for some lunch and watch the Knicks play Sacramento or Charlotte face off against the Warriors and it was awesome.  For a basketball fan to have every single NBA game available in high definition was a dream come true and I will definitely be purchasing it again this season.

Now just imagine this service for the NBL, oh wait you don’t have to imagine because it is actually happening with NBL.tv!  As the article says on the NBL’s website “every NBL game will be broadcast live via an NBL.TV subscription service for mobile, tablets, PCs and IPTV”, which means no more waiting for One HD, no more sitting in front of a computer refreshing box scores this is truly a fantastic decision by the league.  If my memory is correct this is the first ever live online broadcasting service for sports in Australia, ever.  In before the money bag sports like the AFL and NRL as well as the A-League and the various cricket competitions. 

The only downside would be the quality of the broadcasting but it is too early to tell what kind of picture the customers will be getting from the games.  If it can delivery different levels of quality that uses different levels of bandwidth so people that don’t have massive download levels on their internet provider can still enjoy this service it’s a big tick in my book.  I just hope that there is a high definition quality so I can hook my laptop up to my television and sit back on a Friday night with a great game of basketball.

The best news is that a full season will only cost $79.  That’s right, even if you only watch your favourite team it comes out to only $2.82 per game and that doesn’t include all the other games that you will most likely watch.  The even better news is if you pre-register before September 23^rd (which is two and a half weeks away) you get $20 off the price, lowering it to only $59!  What a bargain.  Please, please if you enjoy the NBL get aboard this train so the league sees that there is a demand for stuff like this and hopefully they will embrace the online section of the world.  Go to http://www.nbl.tv/earlyRegister to pre-register and get $20 off.

This post sure sounds like a massive advertisement for NBL.tv and it kind of is, I’m that excited about this idea.  If they can pull off something similar to the NBA’s League Pass I will be a very happy camper and One HD will not be seen on my TV screen.

The Gold Coast Blaze fiasco

On the 18^th of July it was officially announced that the Gold Coast Blaze would be withdrawing from the NBL competition.  The club went into voluntary administration earlier in the year and from the outset things didn’t look good and the Blaze was facing an uphill battle.  Everyone knows all this information but how did the team get to this stage?  What happened to the new kid on the block that made them go belly up?  Let us delve deeper...

First of all the team was second last in attendance during the 2011/12 season, only ahead of Melbourne*.  There should be a disclaimer on this statistic as The Cage only holds 3,500 people and averaged 3,234 which is pretty close to selling out on each occasion (92.4%).  Comparing that to The Furnace, the team averaged only 3,495 attendants but had a maximum capacity of a massive 5,269 (66.3%).  They also had two games the Brisbane Convention Centre, averaging a paltry 2,386 for a total season average of only 3,337.  This just isn’t enough supporters attending games to sustain a basketball club and a massive reason why the team has folded.

Stemming from this the team couldn’t cough up the mandatory $1 million to be in the league before the deadline.  Strangely enough the team argued that the NBL should drop this mandatory figure to as low as $200,000 which is frankly absurd.  If the South Dragons dropped out of the competition because they didn’t agree with the million dollar guarantee and they had just won the championship with a decent support base what kind of arrogant head office thought that they were exempt from the rule.  Adding that they were losing money on the back of low attendance records this situation is the exact reason why teams need to have collateral assets and money so they don’t go into voluntary administration.  The team had said that they “projected revenue lines from sponsors and other sources of over $1 million” but could not be verified at the deadline screams desperate to me.

A short note but what is up with Mark Worthington being on three disbanded teams in the past five years or so?  First he was on the Sydney Kings squad when they went belly up for a little time in 2008, was a main component of the championship South Dragons team who folded in 2009 and was this blog writer’s favourite team when they existed and now played for the Gold Coast Blaze.  Luckily for the remaining teams in the league Worthington has been linked to teams in Europe, sparing any other club of doom.  Adam Gibson hasn’t been much better as he also played on that South Dragons team.

Not is all lost for the players though as many are looking elsewhere.  As stated before Mark Worthington has been linked to Europe, import Will Hudson has signed with New Zealand while Adam Gibson, Anthony Petrie and Chris Goulding have been courted by numerous teams with Adelaide the top candidate for Gibson.

Hopefully this episode has galvanized the rest of the clubs in the league and given a massive life lesson to future teams.  If the Eastern Melbourne and Brisbane teams can gain a big time financial backer and more importantly have a sound financial model this league can get back to the greatness of having ten teams again.  I guess for the short term eight is enough.

*http://www.hoops.com.au/forum/28015-nbl-average-attendances-2011-12-regular-season/

NBL Free Agency Update

With the NBL free agency slowing down and most of the top tier players staying put of finding a new home I thought it would be a good idea to sum up how each team has fared in the free for all.

Adelaide

Additions – Jason Cadee (Gold Coast), Luke Schenscher (Townsville)

Subtractions – Adam Ballinger (Melbourne), Everard Bartlett (Perth), Wade Helliwell (Retired), Diamon Simpson (NBA)

The addition of Cadee is a shrewd one as I believe that with more minutes he can be a quality point guard in this league but I am less optimistic of the Schenscher signing.  He has all the tools to be a top flight big man and even though his name is in the conversation for that group it is more to do with the lack of top flight centres than his on court performances.  It will be interesting to see how he fits next to budding star Daniel Johnson.

Helliwell was practically retired last season so that doesn’t change much to the team and Ballinger was the odd one out in the frontcourt.  Bartlett will be missed as he was a decent wing player but losing Simpson would hit them the hardest.

Grade – B.  Lost a few rotation guys, picked up a few rotation guys so a solid offseason.

Cairns

Additions – Cameron Tragardh (Melbourne), Cameron Gliddon (NCAA), Clint Steindl (NCAA)

Subtractions – Ian Crosswhite (Sydney)

This offseason cannot be judged fully just yet as the two college guys are untested in this league.  The swap of Tragardh for Crosswhite looks like a win for the Taipans and if the Gliddon and Steindl can pick up the slack from the so far unsigned Andrew Warren then it is a big step forward for the almost championship contender.

Grade – B.  If the two C’s can step up bump this up a grade or two.

Gold Coast

Additions –

Subtractions – James Harvey (Sydney), Jason Cadee (Adelaide), Stephen Hoare (Retired), Tom Garlepp (Sydney), Mark Worthington (Unknown)

With their future balancing on a tight rope getting thinner and thinner everyday it was no surprise that players would leave for some stability which is a massive shame.  The world will find out if there is even a Gold Coast Blaze tomorrow but looking at their offseason so far in a vacuum it is very poor.  Let’s just hope that the team can survive but it doesn’t look promising.

Grade – Incomplete.  If they had a guarantee that they were playing next season the grade would be a D-.

Melbourne

Additions – Adam Ballinger (Adelaide), Nate Tomlinson (NCAA)

Subtractions – Cameron Tragardh (Cairns)

I really hope that Ballinger can get back to his best in Melbourne because he was a superstar of the league a couple of years ago before injury and Daniel Johnson took over.  He will get a lot of touches as the best big man on the squad so far with captain Tragardh jumping ship.  As with the Cairns college players Tomlinson could be good, average or a project at the moment and we won’t really know how he adapts to the league until the season rolls around.

Grade – C+.  This all depends (like many other teams) on the quality of imports they bring in but so far trading Tragardh for Ballinger is a negative output.

New Zealand

Additions –

Subtractions – Gary Wilkinson (Europe), BJ Anthony (Released)

The reigning champions have their squad pretty much set up losing Wilkinson is going to be a big loss.  He came up big all season and was wonderful in the playoffs so they will need to find a new import to fill his shoes.  Other than that they really didn’t need to do much other than re-sign their imports or get new ones.

Grade – C.  Wilkinson is a fairly big loss but I have no doubt that the team will be looking long and hard for an import of his quality.

Perth

Additions – Everard Bartlett (Adelaide)

Subtractions – Luke Nevill (Released), Drew Williamson (Released)

Another team that didn’t need to do much to still be a contender and losing Nevill will not be as big a loss as losing Wilkinson.  Matthew Knight has outplayed Nevill on numerous occasions and will get his chance to shine in the starting line-up.  Bartlett will be a great spark plug on the second unit when league MVP Kevin Lisch gets a rest.

Grade – B.  Neither super awesome nor utter disappointment, they only had to make minor adjustments and they did just that.

Sydney

Additions – James Harvey (Gold Coast), Tom Garlepp (Gold Coast), Ian Crosswhite (Cairns), Corin Henry (Denmark), Darnell Lazare (D-League), Kevin Smith (NZNBL)

Subtractions – Julian Khazzouh (Europe), Anatoly Bose (Europe), Jerai Grant (Released)

Losing their three best players is really a kick in the pants and I don’t know if they have recovered enough for them.  Right now Harvey seems to be a poor man’s Bose and Crosswhite a poor man’s Khazzouh while Lazare has similar qualities to Grant.  Henry’s highlight video is fairly impressive but Denmark isn’t known for producing high level leagues, evidenced by their tiny stadiums and crowds.  Kevin Smith is also someone that will not light the world on fire but Garlepp should fit right in with this team.

Grade – D.  Losing their three best players is always going to be hard but the team hasn’t brought in the quality to make a push for the playoffs.

Townsville

Additions –

Subtractions – Luke Schenscher (Adelaide)

Schenscher was a massive disappointment last season so losing him will not be a big deal but if they can’t find another big man to be his replacement they are going to be very thin on top.  Another team that needs to be judged when the whole squad has been finalised as they still need to fill their import quota to really see how this team fits together.

Grade – C.  At the moment with one loss and no gains it isn’t an offseason to write home about.

Wollongong

Additions –

Subtractions – Mat Campbell (Retired)

The Hawks are in the same boat as Townsville as they haven’t made any splashes in the free agency pool other than re-signing their own players.  Joevan Catron will not be back so there is at least one import slot to be filled.  Check back on the team in a few more months when the squad has been completed.

Grade – C.  Copy Townsville’s grade, paste here.

A History of the Australian Boomers

With the Olympics only a couple of weeks away I thought I would look at the evolving nature of the Australian Boomers basketball team.  Going all the way back to the 1996 Games in Atlanta, USA to this month’s London 2012 Olympics it’s interesting to see how the team has changed and where the players are coming from.  Let’s start 16 years ago...

1996 Atlanta Olympic Games

This team was the highlight of the last twenty years as they blasted nearly everyone in Group B, winning four out of their five games, putting them second in the group and scoring over 100 points in those four wins.  They got pounded by Yugoslavia but everyone in the group did.  In the quarter finals they were matched up with Croatia and on the back of a last second three pointer by Tony Ronaldson they escaped by two points to move on to the semi finals, where they would be against the mighty USA.  Losing 101-73 put them in the Bronze medal game which they lost by a heartbreaking six points against Lithuania.

The squad was made entirely of NBL players –

Andrew Gaze (captain) – Melbourne Tigers

Tony Ronaldson – South East Melbourne Magic

Sam Mackinnon – South East Melbourne Magic

Scott Fisher – Perth Wildcats

Pat Reidy – North Melbourne Giants

Brett Maher – Adelaide 36ers

Tonny Jensen – North Melbourne Giants

Shane Heal – Sydney Kings

Mark Bradtke – Melbourne Tigers

John Dorge – South East Melbourne Magic

Andrew Vlahov – Perth Wildcats

Ray Borner – Canberra Cannons

Some massive names from the history books of Australian basketball and it was no wonder that the team came so close to winning a medal.  Things would change with time.

2000 Sydney Olympic Games

With only six players returning from the 96 games there was a lot of pressure on the younger guys to step up and produce.  Luckily for the team Luc Longley put his hand up to play which helped immensely.  In group B the team was average, winning three out of their five games and interestingly finished with a measly +1 in points difference.  The team lost their first two games, going down to the Steve Nash led Canadians by 11 and losing again to Yugoslavia by 14.  That would mean they have to win their next three games, which they did.  Four points did it against Russia, eleven against Angola and in the final game of the group they beat Spain by eleven.  That would mean they came up against Italy in the quarter finals, beating them by one shot, 65-62 but lost again in the semi finals, this time to France 76-52.  In a severe case of déjà vu they squared off against Lithuania again for Bronze where they faltered and lost by a massive 18 points, 89-71.

Again this time all but one player on the squad was playing in the NBL –

Andrew Gaze (captain) – Melbourne Tigers

Chris Anstey – Victoria Titans

Mark Bradtke – Melbourne Tigers

Martin Cattalini – Adelaide 36ers

Ricky Grace – Perth Wildcats

Shane Heal – Sydney Kings

Luc Longley – Phoenix Suns (USA)

Sam Mackinnon – Townsville Crocodiles

Brett Maher – Adelaide 36ers

Paul Rogers – Perth Wildcats

Jason Smith – Victoria Titans

Andrew Vlahov – Perth Wildcats

Still the big names but some up and comers like Chris Anstey and Jason Smith.  What is great about this squad is that Longley played, showing that Australians can play overseas and play well, which will be a continuing trend in the next few games.

2004 Athens Olympic Games

There were five returning players from the Sydney games but the heavy hitters, like Andrew Gaze, Luc Longley and Andrew Vlahov had retired.  And it showed, as the team wallowed to a 1-4 record and second last in the group.  What makes matters worse is that their only win was against bottom placed Angola who had an average losing margin of 20 points a game.  That put us in the 9^th place classification match against New Zealand where we beat the Tall Blacks 98-80, a small victory when it made us 9^th instead of 10^th.  The less said about this campaign the better.

There were now three players playing overseas, up from the one at Sydney –

Shane Heal (captain) – Sydney Kings

Tony Ronaldson – Perth Wildcats

Brett Maher – Adelaide 36ers

Andrew Bogut – University of Utah (USA)

Martin Cattalini – Adelaide 36ers

John Rillie – West Sydney Razorbacks

CJ Bruton – Sydney Kings

Jason Smith – Sydney Kings

Glen Saville – Wollongong Hawks

David Anderson – Montepaschi Siena (Italy)

Matthew Nielsen – Sydney Kings

Paul Rogers – Casademont Girona (Spain)

As you can see all of the legendary players had left except for Shane Heal and Andrew Bogut was a 19 year old college player, this was very much a rebuilding year and it showed on the standings.  However, there were triple the amount of players playing overseas than the last Olympics which is a good sign for Australian basketball.

2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Six past players took part in the China games but it seemed there was a youth initiative happening, with six players 25 years or younger.  Similar to the Sydney Olympics, the team lost their first two games but went on to win their next three to come fourth in the group.  It was the young brigade who led the way, with one of those six under 25 players leading the scoring in all but one game.  Unfortunately coming fourth put them square against the  ‘Redeem Team’ Americans where they were handsomely thrashed 116-85 but put up a fight in the first half, only being down by 12 but were blown out of the water in the second half.  As there was no seeding playoff game the team finished seventh but were equal fifth on win/loss which was a great turnaround.

There were now five players playing overseas, nearly half the team –

Matthew Nielsen (captain) – BC Lietuvos Rytas (Lithuania)

Chris Anstey – Melbourne Tigers

Patrick Mills – Saint Mary’s (USA)

Andrew Bogut – Milwaukee Bucks (USA)

Joe Ingles – South Dragons

Brad Newley – Panellinios (Greece)

CJ Bruton – New Zealand Breakers

David Barlow – Melbourne Tigers

Mark Worthington – South Dragons

Glen Saville – Wollongong Hawks

David Andersen – FC Barcelona (Spain)

Shawn Redhage – Perth Wildcats

As Australians are getting more and more recognition throughout the basketball world they are getting snapped up by talent hungry teams, shown by the five foreigners out of the twelve.  But that is nothing compared to this year’s squad.

2012 London Olympic Games

As the games haven’t been played yet I can’t give a recap so here is the team –

Matthew Nielsen (captain) – BC Khimki (Russia)

Peter Crawford – Townsville Crocodiles

Patrick Mills – San Antonio Spurs (USA)

Adam Gibson – Gold Coast Blaze

Joe Ingles – FC Barcelona Regal (Spain)

Brad Newley – Valencia BC (Spain)

Matthew Dellavedova – Saint Mary’s (USA)

David Barlow – CB Murcia (Spain)

Mark Worthington – Gold Coast Blaze

Aron Baynes – Ikaros Kallitheas BC (Greece)

Daniel Kickert – Turow Zgorzelec (Poland)

Aleks Maric – Panathinaikos BC (Greece)

David Andersen – Mens Sana Basket (Italy)

As you can see, all but three players are from the NBL and in my opinion is a great showing of Australian basketball.  Sure the NBL suffers as the league would like to have all of these players competing in the Australian league but it just goes to show that the world is sitting up and taking notice of the Aussies in the world and I would love to see all of the players competing in the Olympics be from overseas teams as it shows that this country exports so great talent.

How will the team go?  Who knows but I’m pumped to find out, only three weeks to go!

What is happening to the Tigers?

 (Sorry for the late posting, wedding preparation comes before the blog)

Back in the 1990s when basketball was at its highest there was a heated battle by three NBL teams for Melbourne’s heart – my North Melbourne Giants, the cool South East Melbourne Magic and the stalwart Melbourne Tigers.  These teams went head to head many times and the fans loved it.  The rivalry was almost as intense as AFL supporters and if you supported one team the others were less than scum.  Unfortunately as the interest in basketball waned in Australia the Magic and the Giants merged to form the Victoria Titans and then Titans that rivalry just wasn’t there.  It was the Tigers as THE Melbourne team with the Titans/Giants being on the backburner a little.  As we all know the Giants folded as well, leaving the Tigers as the sole owner of Melbourne.  This was a decent position for the fans to have as many Giants/Magic fans moved to the Tigers and were happy.  Regrettably this monopoly bred apathy from the club towards its fans and that all came to a head in the previous season.

Daryl Corletto

A lot has been said about the former owner Seamus McPeake and his antics but the two main incidents from the previous year were the Corletto and Ubaka scandals.  Daryl Corletto had been with the club since he was 16 years old and was a part of the culture for 10 years.  He was always the guy who came up with a big shot and was a genuinely nice guy when I met him quite a long time ago.   That all changed when NBA player Patrick Mills decided to sign with the Tigers and the team needed to cut someone.  So they went to Corletto and gave him a choice of being released and playing down in lower levels until Mills went back to the NBA or leave the club. 

How is that for loyalty?  He put a decade into the team and they turn around and kick him out for half a season of something better.  Not only that but Corletto told the Herald Sun that "It's got to do with the players when they leave ... they (Tigers officials) try to cover their own backs and make it look like it was the players that were in the wrong and wanted to leave” after the club claimed that he walked out after he wanted more money.  This kind of back stabbery will rear its ugly head later in this piece but to try and smear and a guy like Corletto is very poor work.  I thought that Corletto would have been an excellent companion piece to Mills with Mills’ driving ability opening up more shots for Corletto but I don’t think he minds much anymore as Daryl has since won the NBL Championship with the New Zealand Breakers.

Ayinde Ubaka

There is professionalism and unprofessionalism and then there is what Seamus McPeake did after the Tigers lost to the Gold Coast in January.  The story goes that after the Tigers lost by 13 points McPeake stormed into the players change rooms and furiously cussed at the players about how they were an “embarrassment” while pointing fingers at the team.  He then told Ubaka “to leave and go and find another job” effectively sacking the import on the spot without coach Trevor Gleeson’s and captain Tommy Greer’s knowledge.  After a while Ubaka went to see if he still had a job and unfortunately he had been officially terminated.  I don’t know about you but that is a terrible way to run a business.  The Herald Sun article goes to on to say that Ubaka has the support of the coach and players group but the players were afraid to speak up because they didn’t want to have McPeake’s wrath rain down of them.  Imagine at your workplace where the boss is so unprofessional that if something goes wrong he goes into a rage and sacks people on the spot without any consultation from other players and especially the coach and that the rest of the team were too scared to say anything because they might get sacked as well.  That boggles my mind that he was able to stay on as long as he did because I would hate to work in that environment and it must have put enormous strain on not only the on court team but all the employees of the Tigers from that point onwards.

Trevor Gleeson/Chris Anstey

I get that coaches are fired when the team aren’t going very well and are usually the first person to be blame for a team’s poor performance.  I get that.  What I don’t get is how the Tigers went about removing Trevor Gleeson from his position.  The off season started well with Chris Anstey being named the new Director of Basketball to work with Gleeson in making a competitive team.  So far so good, even if I dislike Anstey with a burning passion but that was mainly for his playing style and attitude so hopefully he can turn a new page in this new role.  He was even quoted in saying “I look forward to working with Trevor”.  Sure, that works. 

Then came the news that Anstey and Gleeson had not spoken at all and something was in the works.  What followed was eerily similar to what happened with Daryl Corletto.  The club started an investigation into Trevor Gleeson to see if he had committed any wrongdoings.  It was becoming clearer and clearer that the Tigers were trying to remove Gleeson from his multiyear contract without having to pay him the remainder of his money.  This went on for some time and it seemed inevitable that Anstey would become the new coach when this business was taken care of.  Luckily for Gleeson no infractions were to be found and were bought out of his contract, ushering in the reign of Anstey in the worst possible way.  What a backwards way to removing a coach and at the same time tarnishing their image even further.  So much for loyalty, stability and all those words that get bandied about but here they are just words and not something that gets put into action very often at The Cage.

What is funny is that all of this could have been solved at the start by sitting Gleeson down and telling him “unfortunately Trevor the club has decided to move in a different direction and we are going to have to let you go.  We thank you for what you have done with this team and we wish you luck in your future endeavours.”  Is that so hard?

The New Logo

This is a very small problem I have with the team but I couldn’t find anywhere else to put it so I’m putting it here.  What is up with the new logo?  It looks like something that could have been done in Microsoft Paint and put together with some clip art lettering.  What was wrong with the old one?  That was good and looked MUCH more professional than this one.  Two thumbs down from this blog.

Old Logo

New Logo

This team needs to pull itself together and quick before the second Melbourne team comes in a steals a fair chunk of their supporters.  If the Tigers do not right their wrongs before the Eastern suburbs team comes into the league don’t look for me at The Cage anytime soon.