WNBL Landscape to Change!! Ms. Jackson Returns!!

LAUREN JACKSON RETURNS TO WNBL

Basketball Australia (BA) can confirm that four time Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) Most Valuable Player Lauren Jackson has signed a contract with the Canberra Capitals to play out the remainder of the 2009/10 season.

The Capitals announced Jackson’s signature this morning at ActewAGL House in Canberra alongside ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and ActewAGL Chairman John Mackay.

Chief Minister Stanhope and Mackay played vital roles alongside Capitals CEO Mark Cartwright in providing and generating the funds necessary to secure Jackson’s services.

Jackson became the hottest free agent in women’s basketball when she signaled her intention to opt out of a two year deal with Russian club side Spartak Moscow in the aftermath of the assassination of team owner Shabtai von Kalmanovich.

The Capitals were quick to swoop and Jackson’s international clearance to join the Capitals was received overnight, just hours before a league deadline for player registration.

Under Rule 3.3 (e) of the WNBL Operations Manual, “A club can register no further players after half the regular season games for that Club in that season has been played.” In the Capitals’ case, that “half the regular season” date is today, November 25^th.

“This is terrific news for the WNBL and basketball,” BA Chief Executive Larry Sengstock said.

“It is a rare chance for basketball fans to see the best player in the world playing in our WNBL and we urge the people of Australia to take that opportunity.

“We have a number of Olympians in the league already this year and the competition has been first class but adding Lauren to the mix will undoubtedly be a huge boost.

“Spectator numbers will increase dramatically as will media interest and they are just a couple of indicative positives we’ll see from having Lauren back in the WNBL.”

Jackson has played 154 WNBL games since her rookie season with the Australian Institute of Sport in 1998/99 and has won five WNBL Championships; one with the AIS and four with Canberra.

She last played in the WNBL in the 2006 Grand Final where she led Canberra to victory and was named Most Valuable Player of the Grand Final.

The Capitals have indicated that Jackson is not expected to suit up for the Capitals this week as her rehabilitation from a back injury continues.

Her return to the WNBL is tentatively slated for Saturday December 5^th, when the Bendigo Spirit hosts the Canberra Capitals at Bendigo Stadium. That clash is the ABC TV Game of the Week, televised nationally on ABC1 at 1:00pm AET.

If Jackson was not ready for action on that date her next available opportunity would be the Capitals’ round 11 clash with Perth on December 12. That would allow Jackson to play 13 games for Canberra if it makes the Grand Final.

After eight rounds of competition, Canberra is running fifth of 10 teams with a 6 win, 4 loss record.

A bit of Aussie stuff...

from: www.nbl.com.au

RECORD BREAKING YEAR FOR THE NBL

A survey of the rosters of the eight National Basketball League teams has revealed that the current season is a record-breaker for the NBL, with Perth’s Sam Harris and Wollongong’s Zac Delaney respectively earning the mantles of the tallest and shortest players ever to compete in the league.

Wildcats’ centre Harris currently towers over everyone else in the league at an astounding 221cm and is in fact taller than any other player in NBL history. The previous mark was shared by Canberra Cannons’ centre Andy Campbell and Glen Sudhop of the St. Kilda Saints, who both measured up at 218cm.

Harris’ Wildcats teammate Luke Schenscher comes in second amongst current NBL players at 216cm while there are currently five different players who are 213cm playing in the league - Tony Rampton (Cains), Greg Vanderjagt (Gold Coast), Chris Anstey (Melbourne), Alex Pledger (New Zealand – 215cm), and Paul Rogers (Perth).

While Harris is the tallest athlete to ever play in the NBL, the 169cm Zac Delaney of the Wollongong Hawks is officially the shortest. The previous mark for the shortest player in NBL history was a three-way tie at 172cm between Wayne Larkins (St. Kilda, Westside, Eastside Geelong, Brisbane, Gold Coast), Peter Stacker (Nunawading), and Dean Draper (Launceston).

Delaney’s height is 11cm less then the next shortest player currently in the league. Townsville’s Kelvin Robertson comes in second at 180cm, while Joel Wagner (Perth) and Kerry Williams (Cairns) both measure at 181cm.

Even though the Wildcats have the tallest two players in the league, they only have the third highest average height at 199.2 cm, while the Melbourne Tigers have the tallest overall roster with an average height of 200cm. Coming in on the short end of the stick, and well below the league average of 198cm, are the Townsville Crocodiles, whose average height is 195.3cm.

Along with analysing the height of the teams, Basketball Australia also did a study of the players’ ages, with the average age in the league this season coming to 26.3 years.

The New Zealand Breakers are the veterans in the league this year with a combined average age of 28.5 years. This is mainly due to the fact that they currently roster the two oldest players in the league, in the newly-acquired John Rillie (38 years) and the league’s most experienced player ever in terms of games played, Tony Ronaldson (37 years).

A full three years younger than the Breakers are the Wollongong Hawks who are this year’s youngest team in the league with an average age of just 25.3. The gap this year between the youngest and oldest players in the league is 20 years. Michael Chitham of the Taipans is the youngest player at 18 years old. He just edges out Todd Blanchfield of the Crocs, also 18, by six months.

Full rankings are listed below, including the tallest/shortest and youngest/oldest players on each team’s roster.

Average Height of Players per Team

Melbourne Tigers 200.00cm

Chris Anstey 213cm

Robbie Stone 188cm

Adelaide 36ers 199.27cm

Matthew Burston 211cm

Darren Ng 189cm

Perth Wildcats 199.21cm

Sam Harris 221cm

Joel Wagner 181cm

New Zealand Breakers 198.25cm

Alex Pledger 215cm

Paul Henare 183cm

Cains Taipans 197.50 cm

Tony Rampton 213 cm

Kerry Williams 181 cm

Wollongong Hawks 197.08cm

Tim Behrendorff 211cm

Zac Delaney 169cm

Gold Coast Blaze 196.38cm

Greg Vanderjagt 213cm

Adam Gibson 188cm

Townsville Crocodiles 195.36cm

Russell Hinder 208cm

Kelvin Robertson 180cm

League Average 197.997 cm

Average Age of Players per Team

New Zealand Breakers 28.25

John Rillie 38

Corey Webster 20

Adelaide 36ers 26.8

David Cooper 33

Chris Molitor 21

Melbourne Tigers 25.8

Chris Anstey 34

Tom Stephens 20

Perth Wildcats 25.8

Paul Rogers 36

Joel Wagner 22

Cains Taipans 25.7

Tony Rampton 33

Michael Chitham 18

Townsville Crocodiles 25.7

Stephen Hoare 34

Todd Blanchfield 18

Gold Coast Blaze 25.5

Pero Cameron 35

Brenden Teys 19

Wollongong Hawks 25.3

Glen Saville 33

Zac Delaney 19

League Average 26.3

Catching up again!!!

Yep, I'm a little behind as usual but here are a few things to start getting me caught up. Firstly here is a continuation of my NCAA look at Conferences.

ACC Still Gold Standard of NCAA Hoops

Entering the 2009-2010 NCAA season, the ACC once again hosts the defending national champions, the North Carolina Tarheels. While the Heels lost a lot of talent from last years squad, the cupboards are not bare by any means. Don’t be surprised by a return to the Final Four by the Roy Williams coached outfit. Duke returns a solid nucleus and should also contend. Clemson, Maryland and Wake Forest will be dangerous both in and out of conference play as will Georgia Tech and Florida State.

Here is a rundown of the teams:

First we go to Chapel Hill for a look at the North Carolina Tarheels who are looking to defend their NCAA crown. Returning forward Ed Davis is seen as a lock for the NBA Lottery once he decides to leave or graduate from UNC. This season he looks to become more aggressive in the Tarheel attack along with continued hard work on the glass. Marcus Ginyard returns for his senior season after being declared a medical redshirt last season. He will provide leadership and toughness for this bunch of young players with the support of Deon Thompson. The team also hopes for continued improvement from center Ty Zeller.

The team got off to a three win start where they were hardly troubled before heading to New York for the Semi Finals of the Coaches versus Cancer Classic where they survived a close one 77-73 over Ohio State before being overwhelmed by a stifling Syracuse zone defense in an 88-71 loss. The Orangemen used a 22-1 start to the second half to turn the game around against the young squad. Overall look for the Heels to be near the Final Four again this year. They will be tested in the first week of December with games against Michigan State and Kentucky.

Down the road in Durham, the Duke Blue Devils are looking to go farther into the post season and improve on last seasons 30-7 record. After the early departure of Gerald Henderson to the NBA and surprising transfer of Elliot Williams left the Blue Devils thin in the back court but all everything forward Kyle Singler returns for his junior season raring to go.

Duke is hungry to return to the upper echelon of the NCAA and tired of hearing it from Tarheel fans as UNC has won two titles since Duke’s last visit to the Final Four in 2004. The team has been rarely troubled in winning its first four games of the season with Nolan Smith, Singler and Miles Plumlee leading the way. Additional help has come from shooting guard Jon Sheyer and improving freshman Andre Dawkins. On the horizon for the Blue Devils is Arizona State in the semi finals of the NIT Tip-Off tourney with a matchup against either UConn or LSU after that. From there the team will travel to Madison to face always tough Wisconsin in the Big 10 – ACC Challenge.

This team has most of the pieces in place to go far into the post season but will need to get solid play at the point guard spot as the season progresses.

Now, we will stay in the Carolina’s but venture to South Carolina for a look at the Clemson Tigers who are coming off of a 23-9 season but hungry after a bitter first round NCAA loss to Michigan. The Tigers will look to further their school record streak of three straight twenty win seasons and set a new school record for consecutive NCAA trips at four. The team returns workhorse forward Trevor Booker and add highly touted freshman Milton Jennings to the mix.

Thus far, the Tigers are off to a roaring start with easy wins in their first four outings. The team heads to California for the 76 Classic this week with a first round meeting with Texas A&M followed by a matchup with either Long Beach St. or West Virginia. After the trip, Clemson returns home to face Illinois and state rival South Carolina in the first week of December.

You can safely expect another twenty win year from Clemson and the complimentary NCAA bid where the team hopes to advance through the first round at the least.

Going back into North Carolina, we head to Winston-Salem where Wake Forest is also looking for redemption for last seasons early exit from the NCAA tourney at the hands of Cleveland State. The Deacs were 24-7 for the season last year and briefly held the top spot in the national rankings. The team lost two Top 20 NBA picks from last years roster but the cupboards are far from bare as forward Al-Farouq Aminu returns along with incoming freshman Ari Stewart who has been compared favorably to former Deac Josh Howard.

Currently the Deacs sit at 3-0 for the season after easy wins. On the horizon looms a tough Purdue team along with a visit to Gonzaga. At the end of December is a test against a tricky Richmond team before starting the New Year with a game against the always rugged Xavier-Ohio team.

The Deacons will have their moments of inexperience but come March, they should be dancing.

to be continued...