So far this season

So far this season on the Aussie basketball scene, the NBL has proven to be a competitive competition with only 2 games separating the penthouse (top spot) from the outhouse (last place). Surprise packets, the Wollongong Hawks sit atop the table while early favorites New Zealand and Melbourne are struggling due to injuries after four rounds.

The top player so far this season is none other than Corey “Homicide” Williams of the Townsville Crocs. Adelaide import John Gilchrist has also proven to be a fan favorite so far this season.

In the coming weeks, look for a resurgence from New Zealand and Melbourne along with continued excitement from Townsville and Wollongong as the 2009-2010 season heads towards the half way point.

In the WNBL, Bulleen have put an early stamp on the competition by racing out to a 4-0 record. With names like Tom and Robyn Maher, Michelle Timms, Gary Fox and Gaylene Mackay associated with the team, success is as close to a given as you can get. On the floor the team has size, speed and power.

The Adelaide Lightning and Townsville Fire are also off to quick starts while defending champions the Canberra Capitals have broke even in their four matches so far this season.

Jawai Traded

Fresh from: basketball.net.au

MAVERICK JAWAI TRADED TO TIMBERWOLVES

Australian Boomers forward Nathan Jawai has been traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Minnesota Timberwolves less than a week before the start of the NBA's regular season.

The Mavericks received a conditional second round draft pick in 2012 and cash as part of the deal.

Jawai will get more opportunities for court time with the Timberwolves than he would have had at Dallas and is not worried about the frigid temperatures common in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”.

“I’m used to the cold weather after playing in Toronto,” Jawai told Basketball Australia.

“I’m finishing up a couple of games with Dallas and then heading to Minnesota at the end of the week.

“I’m looking forward to getting on court as the T’Wolves don’t have many big men and I’m excited about being in Minnesota.”

Jawai was the first indigenous Australian drafted into America’s NBA when he was chosen by the Indiana Pacers in the second round of last year’s draft.

He was subsequently sent to the Toronto Raptors where he overcame a health scare to appear in six games.

Jawai was then bundled into a four-team trade in July that took to him to Dallas along with All-Star forward Shawn Marion.

After representing Australia with distinction throughout the 2009 international program between June and August, Jawai returned to the US in September for the NBA pre-season where he received limited playing time at Dallas on a roster stacked with big men.

In Minnesota, injuries to Kevin Love (broken hand) and Al Jefferson (recovering from torn ACL) decimated the Timberwolves’ front line and opened the door for Jawai’s move north.

Minnesota’s President of basketball operations David Kahn said however that the Timberwolves were considering the Jawai trade before Love broke his hand.

"Nathan is a young project who likely will add depth to our roster at his position," Kahn said on the Timberwolves website.

"We were contemplating this trade prior to Kevin Love's hand injury, so this move is not intended to replace Kevin in the short term by any means. That would not be fair to Nathan. Rather, this move provided us an opportunity to work with a young player with size, and later determine if he could be a fit for us."

Australia has some history with the Timberwolves, with Basketball Australia and Sport Australia Hall of Famer Luc Longley drafted to the franchise with the seventh pick in the 1991 NBA Draft.

Longley was traded to the famed Chicago Bulls after two seasons with the Timberwolves and subsequently won three NBA Championships from 1996 to 1998 as a team mate of Michael Jordan.

In other NBA news, WA’s Luke Nevill was yesterday waived by Cleveland.

Nevill, a 7-foot-2 centre, averaged 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game over four games with the Cavaliers but received invaluable experience banging bodies at training with the legendary Shaquille O’Neal.

Nevill's departure leaves four Australians in the NBA: former number 1 draft pick Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks), power forward David Andersen (Houston Rockets), point guard Patty Mills (Portland Trailblazers) and Jawai.

The NBA regular season starts on October 28, Australian time, when Cleveland takes on Boston.

Houston opens its season on the road against Portland on October 28, Australian time, Minnesota hosts New Jersey on October 29 and Milwaukee opens its season on the road against Philadelphia on October 31.

Can you say Overwhelmed!!!!!

Ok, I have been furiously trying to do all things hoops since the inception of this blog but it is tough for a one man operation to fill so many niches so starting tomorrow I will do three or more features per week that will serve as a wrp-up/review type of offering.

Also, in the future I wil start to post interviews as I get them in the can along with featuring teams, associations and other basketball entities from around the world so I may be sending questions your way soon!!

WNBL Preview

Yep, I'm still waaaayyyyyy behind so here is the preview of this weeks WNBL action courtesy of: www.wnbl.com.au

WNBL: ROUND 3 PREVIEW

A mouth-watering clash between heavyweights Bulleen Boomers and Sydney Uni Flames is the highlight of Round 3 of the Women’s National Basketball League.

You can follow the WNBL action on www.wnbl.com.au, with LIVE STATS, on WNBL Radio, and on ABC TV.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 16

ACUVUE Sydney Uni Flames (5^th) v Global Metals Bulleen Boomers (1^st), 7.00pm* AEDT at ACUVUE Sports Hall, Sydney University Sports and Aquatic Centre. ABC TV GAME OF THE WEEK – will be broadcast on delay from 1.00pm AEDT Saturday October 17 on ABC1

In the most anticipated game of the round the two pre-season favourites finally meet.

The key match up here will be between Opals starting centre Suzy Batkovic-Brown and Australian basketball’s ‘next big thing’ Liz Cambage.

Cambage has made a smooth transition into the Bulleen lineup after graduating from the AIS in August but coming up against two-time Olympian Batkovic-Brown will be the 18-year-old’s toughest test yet.

This game will be broadcast with live audio commentary on WNBL Radio from 6.30pm.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Sydney Uni 29 – 21 Bulleen

Bendigo Bank Spirit (4^th) v BDS Logan Thunder (6^th), 7.30pm at Bendigo Stadium

While Bendigo easily accounted for Logan in two games last season, the Thunder came within two points of upsetting the Canberra Capitals last week.

Bendigo point guard Kristi Harrower was named Player of the Week in Round 2 and Logan will need to limit her influence on the game if they hope to get the win. Harrower and forward Lauren King have been the main destroyers for the Spirit but Logan has a greater contribution from across the team.

Logan will aim to travel better this season after claiming only three wins on the road in 2008/09. While two wins were over the 10^th-placed AIS, Logan’s first road win was an impressive victory over the Adelaide Lightning, and the Thunder became the only team to defeat Adelaide at home last season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Bendigo 2 – 0 Logan

SATURDAY OCTOBER 17

Australian Institute of Sport (10^th) v Global Metals Bulleen Boomers (1^st), 7.00pm at AIS Training Hall

After a 110-40 drubbing at the hands of Bulleen last week, the AIS will be hoping to reduce that margin on their home court.

Bulleen will have only 24 hours to recover from their ABC TV Game of the Week clash with the Flames on Friday night and will have their fitness tested by the young students.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Bulleen 35 – 26 AIS

Go for 2 and 5 Perth Lynx (9^th) v Adelaide Link Lightning (3^rd), 7.30pm at Albany Leisure Centre

A tough assignment for the Lynx as the Lightning have been ruthless in their first two outings.

Adelaide’s depth will be too much for Perth to handle.

The Lynx are still searching for their first win and while American import Takia Starks impressed in her debut, last week against Bendigo she managed only 1-of-9 from the floor for two points and will need to find her feet against the third-placed Lightning.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Adelaide 37 – 9 Perth

Dandenong Jayco Rangers (8^th) v BDS Logan Thunder (6^th), 8.30pm at Dandenong Basketball Stadium

Whilst Dandenong won the pair’s two meetings early in 2008/09 by 15 points, the Thunder should be a tougher opponent this time around.

Thunder’s Polish centre Marta Dydek and Dandenong’s imports all had quiet games in Round 2 after strong showings in the opening round and it will be the Rangers’ Casey Nash, Ashley Lindsey and Megan Moody who will need to stand up against the spirited Thunder.

Logan will need to bounce back quickly from their Friday night encounter against the Spirit in Bendigo in order to match the fresh Rangers side.

This game will be broadcast with live audio commentary on WNBL Radio from 8.00pm.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Dandenong 2 – 0 Logan

SUNDAY OCTOBER 18

Canberra TransACT Capitals (7^th) v Australian Institute of Sport (10^th), 5.00pm at Southern Cross Stadium, Canberra

A slow start to the season will have the Caps chomping at the bit to get back on the winner’s list and should do so in this Canberra derby.

It would have been an uphill struggle for the AIS regardless but it will be made more difficult by meeting the Capitals after playing top-of-the-table Bulleen on Saturday night.

A Canberra side boasting Opals Carly Wilson, Marianna Tolo, Natalie Hurst and Jessica Bibby will aim to assert their dominance and get their season back on track.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Canberra 45 – 13 AIS

Blaze Find Glory, upset Tigers

The Gold Coast Blaze pulled off a huge win last night over the visiting Melbourne Tigers. I am still inundated with uni work so here is the game report from www.nbl.com.au.

Blaze tame Tigers

BOXSCORE

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

An energetic Gold Coast Blaze have climbed off the bottom of the NBL ladder with a 98-86 win over Melbourne Tigers at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on Wednesday night.

The victory marked the first time the Blaze had defeated the Tigers in five attempts since their inception three years ago.

Gold Coast were dominant in the first and fourth quarters to take the points from a Tigers squad who was already without Chris Anstey and lost Ben Knight to a knee injury in the opening minutes.

Chris Goulding had a career-high 17 points for the Blaze and import Erron Maxey had 29 of his own as the men in blue pulled away from Melbourne in the final stages.

Mark Worthington was valiant for the Victorian side with a game-high 31 points, but ran out off legs with very little support from his weakened squad.

In an end-to-end battle the visitors only got on top for short periods of the match and lacked the potency to constantly threaten the Blaze once they locked down on Worthington midway through the third.

After going toe-to-toe for the opening three quarters, Joey Wright started the final term with four guards - Goulding, Ayinde Ubaka, Adam Gibson and Tyson Demos – and ran a zone defence.

The Blaze little men took the ball away from the tiring Tigers enabling the home side to establish an eight-point lead early in the term which Melbourne failed to breach.

James Harvey had an uncharacteristic night on his home court, tallying just 15 points but the emergence of Goulding as an attacking weapon is sure to ease some of the load on the superstar shooting guard.

Looking to break a two-match losing streak the Blaze fired out of the blocks with young-gun Goulding and new import Maxey firing at will to open a double digit lead.

But at the other end of the court the home-side struggled to get a handle on Worthington who was looking confident inside, outside and at the charity stripe.

Melbourne's passers quickly recognised the opportunity and fed the big-man who racked up 11 of his points by the first break.

The visitors rallied in the second term, Luke Kendall drilled a pair of bombs and Sam Mackinnon showed his skills by rounding his man, then beating two more on the way to the hoop for a circus-shot, and one.

By half-time the Tigers had taken a one-point lead.

Both teams tightened in the third term and went tit-for-tat until the Blaze exploded in the final seconds to grab a four-point lead.

Goulding drove the lane and dished for Greg Vanderjagt to finish before Mike Vukona got a steal and handed off to Gibson who was ice-cold under pressure to nail a jump-shot as the siren sounded.

The Blaze took a four-point lead into the final term and never looked back.

Looking ahead the Gold Coast (2-3) have the quick turnaround to face the Taipans in Cairns on Friday night while the struggling Tigers (1-3) have a week to prepare for their next assignment – a road-trip to Adelaide.

Gold Coast Blaze 98 (Maxey 29, Goulding 17, Harvey 15)
Melbourne Tigers 86 (Worthington 31, Corletto 17, Johnson 12)
@ Gold Coast Convention Centre, 14/10/09. Crowd: 2,823.

Wednesday night preview

Again, in lieu of my normal preview, here is the one from: nbl.com.au.

Melbourne @ Gold Coast Preview

October 13, 2009, 09:00 PM AEST

By: Sportal

Gold Coast Blaze v Melbourne Tigers

Where and When: Wednesday 14 October, Gold Coast Convention Centre, 6.30pm (local)

Pre-Season:
Blaze: 5-4
Tigers: 7-3

Season So Far:
Blaze: 1-3
Tigers: 1-2

Past Three Head-to Head:
Gold Coast Blaze 107-116 Melbourne Tigers, Round 18, 2009
Melbourne Tigers 123-111 Gold Coast Blaze, Round 7, 2008
Melbourne Tigers 92-76 Gold Coast Blaze, Round 1, 2008

Season Series:
First match

Current Standings:
Blaze: 8th
Tigers: 7th

While we are still only a few weeks into the season, life has become a little uncomfortable for both Gold Coast and Melbourne.

The Blaze and Tigers have only one win each so far and this match is a good opportunity for either team to get back on track.

The stakes are a little higher for the hosts, who are on the bottom of the ladder with a 1-3 record.

A loss to Melbourne on Wednesday would generate genuine concern for Gold Coast, who would be stuck with a 20 percent winning rate from five matches.

But the Tigers are staring at a 1-3 record if unsuccessful against the Blaze and last year's grand finalists will be keen to get its season back on an even keel.

Unfortunately for the Blaze, history is against them as they have never beaten Melbourne since they were admitted into the competition two years ago.

And if an overall 0-5 record against the Tigers wasn't bad enough, Nathan Crosswell and Tommy Greer are expected back for the clash.

Gold Coast has been competitive in most of its matches so far this season, with James Harvey and imported duo Ayinde Ubaka and Erron Maxey all starring, but it has lacked that killer instinct.

Conversely, Melbourne started the campaign with a bang in beating title favourite New Zealand and almost beating the Breakers again on their home turf eight days later.

But the Tigers came crashing down on the weekend with one of their worst-ever performances that saw them humiliated by Townsville 103-68.

An aggressive response from Melbourne should be expected.

Luke Kendall is in fine touch and it would be extremely surprising if the likes of Mark Worthington, Sam Mackinnon and Daryl Corletto didn't respond positively to their quiet individual performances against the Crocs.

The inclusions of Crosswell and Greer will bolster the Melbourne line-up and the Tigers should continue their flawless record against the Blaze.

Sportal Tip: Tigers by 9

The weeks News & Reviews/Previews

Allo All,

Unfortunately this week is a busy one for me so I am not doing much original content. In the meantime, here are some of the recent happenings courtesy of: basketball.net.au.

HARROWER NAMED ROUND 2 PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Opals point guard Kristi Harrower has been named the Women’s National Basketball League Player of the Week after two outstanding performances on the road in Round 2 of the competition.

Harrower led the Bendigo Spirit to one win and one loss on a two-game road trip, nearly single-handedly reigning in the Adelaide Lightning on Friday before top-scoring against the Go for 2 and 5 Perth Lynx on Sunday.

In the 76-62 loss to the Lightning Harrower led all scorers with 28 points including 3-of-6 from 3-point range and dominated all areas of the court with an equal team-best eight rebounds to go with four assists and two steals.

The 163cm guard said despite the loss Bendigo is on the way up.

“We thought that we lost the game against Adelaide in a five or six minute spurt in the second quarter and then we had to play catch up basketball for the rest of the game so it made it difficult. Against a quality team like Adelaide you can’t have those little lapses because they play too well to be able to get it back,” Harrower said.

“I think our team needs to take some positives away from the loss which is that we’ve only had two sessions together as a team. Moving forward I think there’s a lot of positives to come for the Spirit.”

Just over 24 hours later the 163cm on-court general posted 27 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals in a 85-58 victory over Perth.

Fresh from signing a two-year deal with the Spirit, where she will also fill a role as General Manager of the club, Harrower said the all-round contribution against Perth is a goal for Bendigo.

“We came out of the blocks really fast against Perth, we started really well as a team and everyone was involved straight away. We weren’t relying on one or two people to score for us,” she said.

“Everyone was doing what they had to do and it started with our defence; we played great defence in the first quarter, forced them into turnovers and we got the chance to get out and run.

“Everyone contributed in the game, we had four people in double figures and that’s what we need to have every week. There’s a lot of work to be done but we’re quite happy sitting with 2 wins and 1 loss at the moment.”

Coming off a season with the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA, Harrower is re-adjusting to Australia’s elite female competition.

“I’ve been a little bit tired after the WNBA season but I feel okay when I’m out there on the floor. I feel like I need to get fitter to be able to sustain the fitness and play forty minutes.”

“There are times when I’ll get tired maybe in the second quarter; for me it’s just a matter of getting back in shape after being in America.”

Harrower and the Spirit take the floor again on Friday night when they host the Logan Thunder at Bendigo Stadium.

Opal centres Suzy Batkovic-Brown and Liz Cambage also led their teams to victory in Round 2.

Cambage top-scored with 31 points and grabbed a game high 10 rebounds to steer Bulleen over her former club, the Australian Institute of Sport, 110-40 on Saturday.

Batkovic-Brown also bagged a double-double to post game high numbers for the Sydney Uni Flames with 23 points and 11 rebounds in a 73-65 win over the Dandenong Rangers.

Other noteworthy performances from Round 2 included:

Adelaide Lightning: Sam Woosnam led the Lightning with 18 points, 11 boards, and 3 assists, captain Jessica Foley added a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Cayla Francis posted 13 points and 13 rebounds. Point guard Angela Marino matched Woosnam’s tally with 18 points, adding 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

AIS: Alice Kunek led the AIS with 8 points and 4 assists against Bulleen.

Bendigo Spirit: Lauren King supported Harrower with 16 points and 3 rebounds against Adelaide and recovered to add 17 points and 4 rebounds against the Lynx.

Bulleen Boomers: Liz Cambage stood tall for Bulleen with a game high 31 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Hanna Zavecz backed up from a 19-point performance in Round 1 to scored 15 points including 6-of-7 from the field, and added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. AIS graduate Rachel Jarry bagged 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Canberra Capitals: Jess Bibby led the Caps in a tough road double. She led all scorers with 23 points and 3 rebounds against Logan on Friday night, then posted 16 points and 2 rebounds against Townsville on Saturday. Tracey Beatty put in some great defensive work against the Thunder with 9 rebounds and 3 blocks before bagging 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists against Townsville.

Dandenong Rangers: AIS graduate Stephanie Cumming led the Rangers with 16 points, adding 3 boards and 3 assists. Veteran Caitlin Ryan added 15 points and 5 rebounds.

Logan Thunder: Captain Kristen Veal steered Logan on court with 11 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks.

Perth Lynx: Ashley Gilmore bagged her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, with 4 assists. 176cm guard Kate Malpass stepped up in with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Sydney Uni Flames: Opal Suzy Batkovic-Brown once again led the Flames with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 2 steals. Eva Afeaki tallied a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Off-season recruit Deanne Butler went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to score 11 points, and also grabbed 4 rebounds to go with 4 assists and 2 steals.

Townsville Fire: Amy Lewis and Aneka Davis led Townsville’s fightback over Canberra. Lewis posted 8 points in the final four minutes to score a team high 15 points with 4 assists. Davis notched up 14 points with an equal game high 11 rebounds and 4 assists.

WNBL Player of the Week 2009/10

Round 1: Elyse Penaluna (Bulleen Boomers)

HOMICIDE WINS NBL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

The Townsville Crocodiles’ enigmatic import Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams has taken out the National Basketball League Player of the Week award for Round 3.

For the week Williams averaged 25.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists as he helped his team to a 1-1 record on the road.

Williams came tantalisingly close to a rare triple-double (double-figures in three major statistical categories) in the opening game of the Crocs’ road trip against Adelaide, a 90-89 loss on Friday night.

Going head-to-head with 36ers import guard John Gilchrist, Homicide scored 32 points as well as adding 11 rebounds and nine assists. It took a clutch shot from Gilchrist (himself a leading contender for the weekly award after his 21-point, five-rebound, three-assist performance) to deny Williams and the Crocs the win.

Despite the heart breaker in Adelaide, Williams helped his team bounce back in style when they visited Melbourne the following night with a 103-68 walloping of the Tigers. Williams scored 19 points and added six rebounds and seven assists in the win.

The mercurial Hawks’ point guard had 20 points, six rebounds, two assists and five steals for the Hawks in their impressive 71-59 home win over the Cairns Taipans on Saturday.

New Gold Coast import Erron Maxey also received consideration after two games in Round Three. Maxey opened his NBL career with a 16-point, eight-rebound performance in his team’s 83-66 loss to Perth on Wednesday night. Against Perth on Saturday, Maxey scored 23 points and added 11 rebounds to show he will be a player to watch this season.

There were a plethora of strong performances in Round Three, and New Zealand’s CJ Bruton (32 points in a victory against Melbourne) and Perth’s Shawn Redhage (32 points in a win over Gold Coast) also staked their claims for the weekly honour.

Other leading contenders for the NBL Player of the Week in Round Three included Julien ‘Skip’ Mills (Cairns), Rick Rickert (New Zealand), Adam Ballinger (Adelaide), Luke Kendall (Melbourne).

NBL PLAYER OF THE WEEK 2009/10

Round 1 – CJ Bruton (New Zealand)

Round 2 – Rich Melzer (Cairns)

Round 3 – Corey Williams (Townsville)