Finally, the Chuck is back blogging!!!

Hello All,

I am finally back on the blog scene after an abscence of a month or so for health and other commiittment reasons. I know there is a lot to catch up on so in the next few days I will be bombarding the blogWaves with info and such.

Glad to be back,

Chuck

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...

NCAA Conference Reports...

First up in my look through the NCAA Division 1 Conferences and teams is the America East Conference. The Conference is host to nine teams. Last season the Binghampton Bearcats ran the table and garnered the NCAA bid for the league but were overmatched in the first round of the NCAA tourney by ACC outfit Duke. The offseason for Binghamton has been tumultuous with six players being dismissed from the squad in September. The team opened the season with a 71-46 defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh. Kyrie Sutton was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal performance.

Boston University comes into the 2009-2010 campaign with an experienced squad that features four returning starters and nine seniors. The Terriers will be looking to better last seasons 17-13 record and finish near the top of the conference. Top returning players include John Holland and Corey Lowe. Thus far the team has failed to impress losing at Iona 82-73 and dropping their home opener to George Washington 69-59. Looming on the schedule after a trip to the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off is the local derby with Harvard.

Next we travel to Vermont, the home of the Catamounts, a perennial contender for the conference title. With two time Conference Player of the Year Marques Blakely leading the way the team hopes to return to NCAA action in March after last seasons 24-9 outing. With no home games until December 13, the team has split their first two games of the season losing at Loyola, MD 79-66 before a narrow 58-57 win at Buffalo.

Albany will be looking to improve on last seasons 15-16 record with a host of new faces as the team said goodbye to two starters and four lettermen. The team will look for steady play from guard Tim Ambrose and improvement from center Brett Gifford. After opening losses to Syracuse 75-43 and Morgan State 69-65, the ‘Danes pulled off a one point 51-50 win over American. The team will face Alcorn State, Detroit and Robert Morris when they hast the 2K Classic from November 20. On December 30 the team will get to measure its progress against defending NCAA Champs North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Stony Brook hopes to use last season’s 16-14 record as a building block for this year’s slate. The Sea Wolves look for improvement form the four returning starters from last year’s squad. The team has not disappointed thus far with wins over Maryland-Eastern Shore 75-57 on the road and an 87-53 thrashing of Mount St. Mary’s at home. A November 24 visit to Rhode Island will provide a chance to gauge the teams’ progress against quality opposition.

The University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) will not sneak up on anyone this season after last years surprise run to the final of the conference tourney. The team lost their two top scorers from last season but return three solid players in Chauncey Gilliam, Justin Fry and Matt Spadafora. The team has opened with home court setbacks, losing to Morgan State 72-57 and Loyola-Maryland 69-66 in local derbies. The Retrievers have tough road trips to Penn State and Virginia Tech in December before settling into conference play.

At New Hampshire, the Wildcats are coming off their best season in fifteen years and return steady guard Alvin Abreau to lead the way as three quality freshmen arrive on campus to complement the nine returning players. The team opens its season with a November 20 visit to ACC team Maryland.

The Hartford Hawks limped to a 7-26 record after losing top guard Joe Zeglinski to injury only ten games into last season. With a healthy Zeglinski, all of the Hawk starters return as the team is set to make amends for last season. The addition of three newcomers will help solidify the team. After a loss to Quinnipiac 84-76 to kick off the season the team ventured into Texas and nearly came away with an upset of highly fancied Baylor before losing in a 71-69 thriller. The teams’ morale was at a high for their home opener where they brutalized Marist 75-38. A future high exposure contest sees the team traveling to Kentucky in late December.

Although Maine returns four starters from last years sub par 9-21 squad, the Black Bears may find the going tough again this season in spite of a one win, one loss start. A narrow road win over Fordham 76-73 and a close 56-53 victory at Delaware State sandwiched a heart breaking 72-71 loss at Norfolk State. December visits to Connecticut, Syracuse and Boston College could get ugly as the Black Bears try to gain credibility.

As far as predictions go, look for Vermont and Boston University to finish at or near the top with Stony Brook as a possible surprise team.

NCAA Hoops in full swing!!

Even more hoop happenings are now a reality with the US college basketball season underway. While the first couple of weeks will inevitably produce a lot of Who are they?, Where are they from?, What is a top team doing playing them? There is always a close call or two for the big timers.

Early on, we have seen the return of Isiah Thomas to the coaching game at Florida International University. His welcoming gift was a visit to defending Champions North Carolina where they were promptly disposed of by a score of 88-72.

The early surprise of the season came last Friday when little Rider College upset #18 Ranked Mississippi St. on the Bulldogs home court88-74. The woes of the Southeastern Conference continued last weekend with Alabama going down to a solid Cornell team at home 71-67. It goes to show that on any given night in the college version of the game, a team can put it all together and surprise the "Bog Boys".

A Sunday highlight saw Harvard survive in a three overtime thriller with William&Mary 87-85. Monday had another beauty as #4 Kentucky beat Miami-Ohio 72-70 thanks to a clutch basket by highly touted freshman John Wall.

Overnight there were narrow escapes by #19 Georgetown, 46-45 over Temple, #12 Connecticut 76-67 over Hofstra and #2 Michigan State 75-71 over always tough Gonzaga.

In the next few days I will go from A-Z of the Division 1 Conferences and highlight a few top teams and players.

Aussies draw Pool B for Wheelchair Championships

courtesy of: basketball.net.au

Wheelies worlds draws announced

12.11.09

The Executive Council of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) has announced the draws for the men's and women's world championships in Birmingham, England that will take place in July next year.

Australia’s Paralympic Gold Medallist men’s wheelchair basketball team has been drawn in Pool B alongside Mexico, France, Turkey, Algeria and Beijing Silver Medallist Canada.

Great Britain and the United States, who ranked third and fourth in Beijing, are on the other side of the draw in Pool A along with Japan, Poland, Italy and Korea.

In the women’s competition, Beijing Paralympics Bronze Medallist Australia has been drawn in Pool A along with The Netherlands, Great Britain, Mexico and Canada.

The United States and Germany, who won Gold and Silver in Beijing, have been drawn in Pool B along with Brazil, Japan and China.

Rollers head coach Ben Ettridge was happy with Australia’s positioning in men’s Pool B.

“The two pools are fairly even but I’d have to say that our pool may be slightly less experienced,” Ettridge said.

“Our pool contains a few unknowns for us in Mexico, France, Turkey and Algeria but each team has obviously done well to get to the worlds so no game will be easy and we need to win the early games to set us up for the crossover matches.

“Mexico beat Brazil at the IWBF Americas, for example, and Brazil was nearly a bogey team for us in Beijing, so that should be a challenging match up.

“Six teams (Poland, Italy, Mexico, France, Turkey, Algeria and Korea) did not qualify for Beijing but have qualified for the world cup so there has been some changing of the guard in world wheelchair basketball and we’ll have to be ready for that.”

Gliders head coach John Triscari was pleased with the women’s draw but stressed the importance of a good start for the Gliders.

“With the US and Germany on the opposite side of the draw to us, we need to win our preliminary games and win them well to secure a good seed for the crossover rounds,” Triscari said.

“If we do that, we’ll be in good shape to push on and achieve great things.”

Men’s and Women’s Pools for the 2010 IWBF World Championships:

Men:

Pool A: Japan, Poland, Italy, Great Britain, USA and Korea
Pool B: Mexico, Australia, France, Turkey, Algeria, Canada

Women:

Pool A: The Netherlands, Great Britain, Australia, Mexico, Canada
Pool B: Brazil, Japan, Germany, USA, China.