Monday 27 August 2012

NBL announce landmark television deal

The national basketball league announced today that they have signed a landmark television deal in which every game can be viewed live. Channel 10 shall play a Friday night game at 9.30 and have live game on Sunday at 2pm. All other games can be viewed on the nbl.tv website where you can view all games live or at a later date and time. A membership fee will be required for this nbl pass at the cost of $79.95 for the season or $59.95 for preregistered members. This membership is a landmark deal in Australia and the first professional sport to have all games available to watch live or whenever you have time online. To pre register for this NBL pass here is the link http://www.nbl.tv/earlyRegister

Wollongong Hawks sign import guard Adris "2hard2guard" Deleon

The Woollongong Hawks have signed import guard Adris Deleon for the 2012/13 NBL season. Deleon played for the gold coast Blaze last season in the NBL and was one of the most exciting players in the tournament. On any given night Deleon could blow the competition away with his excellent ball handling abilities and pin point shooting. Deleon is a know quantity in the NBL and is a good change from Geordie McLeod who often recruits unknowns to unearth a gem of a player. Deleon was a top 5 leading scorer for the league last season averaging 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Deleon was easily my favorite player last season and am looking forward to seeing his jaw droppingly awesome ball handling skills back on the court.
"We looked at our group and what we needed to go with this season and we know what we’re getting with Deleon and what he can bring to the NBL this season. We feel our fans are going to enjoy his style of play and the charisma he brings on court.” He added.  said head coach Geordie McLeod.

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Townsville Crocodiles complete playing roster


The Townsville have signed on their two import players for the season and have completed their playing roster.
The Townsville Crocodiles have signed new Power Forward Curtis Withers from the NBA d league for the 2012 NBL season. This is the final signing from the Townsville crocs having finalised their playing roster for the season. Curtis Withers is 28 yrs old 203cm and will play as a forward/center. Having graduated from North Carolina Withers played with Sioux Falls Skyforce in the NBA d league and averaged 9.5 points per game and 6.4 rebounds. “The league hasn’t seen many guys of Curtis’ mould in recent times, so we feel we have an angle that can be quite potent,” said crocs coach Paul Woolpert.
Withers averaged 55% shooting from the field in last season in the NBA d league and the Crocs will look to exploit this height and shooting advantage.




The second import in the roster is guard/forward Jason Forte. Forte is coming from the Alaska Aces from the Phillipines. Standing at 196cm and the age of 28 Jason Forte averaged 23.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
“Jason can play point guard through to power forward, he is very versatile and an explosive athlete. He takes it to the rack hard and he can set guys up,” said Head Coach Paul Woolpert.
Having completed their playing roster the Townsville Crocodiles have some time to mesh as a team and establish their player positions going into the 2012/13 NBL season.

The entire roster stands at 

#
Name
Position
Height
DOB
Birthplace
00
Jason Forte
Guard/Forward
196cm
07/02/1984
Laurel, Mississippi, USA
3
Guard
185 cm
18/10/1988
Townsville, QLD
6
Guard
180 cm
1/4/1993
Townsville, QLD
8
Curtis Withers
Forward/Centre
203 cm
02/08/1984
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
10
Forward/Centre
208 cm
10/07/1979
Sydney, NSW
12
Guard/Forward
200cm
7/11/1991
Mackay, QLD
17
Guard/Forward
193 cm
06/11/1979
Mt. Isa, QLD
24
Guard/Forward
190 cm
11/05/1986
Townsville, QLD
31
Forward
201 cm
14/08/1983
Adelaide, SA
41
Centre
211 cm
30/12/1987
Melbourne, VIC
 *
Guard/Forward
190 cm
Josh Myles *
Guard
178 cm


Wednesday 8 August 2012

USA defeat Australia 86-119


Team USA has defeated Australia by 33 points at the Olympic Quarter finals today. Australia were coming out of a win over Russia in the preliminary rounds only to face team U.S.A at the Quarter finals. The Boomers played well for 3 of the 4 quarters, not letting team U.S.A get to far out in front. The last quarter was where the Boomers fell and team U.S.A just surged ahead.

The first half saw a nervous Boomers squad miss many open opportunities, missing free throws and lay ups; but they still held a respectable 21-28 first quarter. The second quarter was very similar to the first with the U.S.A getting up by a further 7 points to take the lead to 14 going into the second half.
Starting the second half was some impressive play from Patty Mills who scores a 3 pointer and then makes a steal on the to finish a lay up within 25 seconds of the half beginning. The Boomers picked up their game and managed to get it back to 6 points, but some excellent 3 point shooting from team U.S.A; which saw that lead stretch back up to 12. The Boomers held on through the third quarter and it looked like they might win a quarter, but they managed to finish it 28-28 with team U.S.A still holding onto a 14 point lead 84-70. Through the game the ref's did a good job, but for many plays they were initimidated by the reputations of the U.S.A players and gave them several advantages in calls. As Newly stated to the ref, "He yells every time I touch him" (talking about Lebron James to the ref). Andrew Gaze on commentating tried to stay diplomatic, stating
"The players have lost confidence in the ref's ability not to be intimidated by the reputations of Team U.S.A. Not that I'm saying that the call was incorrect."

The final quarter saw the Boomers fall apart and team U.S.A capitalize. From 12 down Kobe Bryant hit his hot streak and sunk three 3 pointers in a row without any points made from the Boomers. From there it was all downhill. James Hardin made some huge alley oops and dunks. Every play became a show for team U.S.A displaying their incredible skill to finish the game up by 33 points, at 86-119. I was surprised that Brett Brown did not give the bench players a run in the dying minutes just to get to play against the best in the world. Adam Gibson and Peter Crawford were the only two players not to get any minutes on the court. Patty Mills was the top scorer for the night finishing with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists followed by Kobe Bryant who finished with 20 points. Kobe had a slow start to the game going 0 from 4 but was on fire later in the game. Joe Ingles played the full 40 minutes and was probably our best player for the game finishing with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Lebron James had a triple double with 11 points 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Aaron Baynes had a highlight in the dying seconds of the game, with a huge block on Anthony Davis to close out the game. Matthew Dellevadova played well for the majority of the game, but gave up a couple of turnovers in the last quarter. He is a strong point guard and the team looked better when he was playing the point and Patty was in the no. 2 spot.

It was a good game that should have been closer for how the Boomers played for the majority, but they were out classed in the final quarter. It was unfortunate we did so poorly in the preliminary rounds. If Australia had won one of those losses we would not have faced America so early and could have faced an easier team in the quarters finals. After Russia was defeated by the Boomers, they defeated Lithuania 83-74 and are now set to play Spain in the semis for a shot at the final.