Monday 30 July 2012

Australia loses to Brazil 75-71


In a game that ended up going down to the wire Brazil came up triumphant 71-75. Channel 9 did a terrible job on the broadcast as usual but at least showed the last quarter which unfortunately was all I got a chance to catch. Brazil took control in the third quarter of the game after a close first two halves the had an early 10 point lead. Australia's 3 point shooting was woeful in those first 3 quarters but managed to hit a few in the fourth, combined with some fast transition plays got us back to a manageable figure. Some big shots and plays from Anderson continued the trend till we were down by 2 with 28 seconds left on the Clock. From here some good defence held Brazil from scoring till a foot fault from Australia restarted the Shot clock to 14 second with 9 seconds left in the game. On the inbound pass Patty Mills nearly made a miracle interception but missed and had to foul the Brazil player who made both shots to finish the game 71-75. It was good effort to get back into game and took it to the wire but just fell short. I was surprised they did not play Peter Crawford he would be their best three point shooter and when they needed some big shots to go in Brett Brown didn't give him the nod. I Was dissapointed in his coaching their, the boomers really looked liked they needed an offensive presence that could drain the long ball. Their were some questionable technical foul calls through the game but it was a good close game that in the end could have gone either way and was a great effort from the Boomers who were playing a strong Brazil line up with a couple of NBA players.

Brazil
Barbosa 16pts, 4 rebounds
Huertas 15pts, 4 rebounds
Varejao 12pts, 7 rebounds
Nene 10 points, 7 rebounds
Splitter 7 pts, 7 rebounds

Australia
Mills 18pts, 7 rebounds
Ingles 15pts, 3 rebounds
Andersen 14pts, 8 rebounds
Baynes 10pts, 5 rebounds
Dellavedova 6pts, 3 rebounds

Thursday 26 July 2012

NBL all stars game, North vs South


The National basketball League has announced today that they will bring back the all stars competition this year to be held on the 23 of December this year. This competition is back by popular demand after a poll was held on the NBL website. It was also decided that the All star format would be north vs south from a Poll on the NBL website where by 45% of basketball fans voted for the return of the North vs South all star league. This will split the league into two conferences whereby players from the Cairns Taipans, Townsville Crocodiles, Sydney Kings and Wollongong Hawks will make up the North and the the New Zealand Breakers, Melbourne Tigers, Perth Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers will make up the South. Two teams of ten players will be chosen from these two conferences with viewers getting to be involved in the selection of the players in these teams with details yet to be announced. The coaches will be those with the best win percentage from the two conferences. The venue for the All star even is yet to be announced.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Adelaide 36ers sign Boomers star Adam Gibson




The Adelaide 36ers have announced that they have signed current boomers team member and former Blaze player Adam Gibson for a 1 year deal with the team with the option of a second year. Rumours had been circulating for a while that this deal was going to go through but today it has become official the Adelaide 36ers have now recruited 3 of the Blaze' top players, Adam Gibson, Anthony Petrie and Jason Cadee. Last season Gibson averaged 11.4 points, 4.7 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game with the Gold Coast blaze and won the best defensive player award for the 2008/09 season. 36ers CEO Leanne Grantham was very excited with the signing and said,
“We have been in discussion with Adam since the demise of the Blaze and only today did he finally sign with us.  Adam is an aggressive player who demands attention in offense, he is the type of player who will take control and finish off those close games we know the team will experience this coming season”

Head coach of the Adelaide 36ers Marty Clark said,
“Having Gibbo in the team adds that excitement and aggression we need.  He can now focus heavily on his Olympic campaign and look forward to a really exciting season in the NBL with the 36ers”. 

The Adelaide 36ers start their preseason on August 4th when they take on the Nicholls State Colonels a Division 1 College team from the USA. Gibson however will not be able to join the team untill August 20th as he is playing for Australia with the Boomers at the Olympics. 
The Adelaide 36ers also do a 4 team tour through China as part of their preseason in September.  

Adelaide arena reposessed by CBA

Rumours have spread with little to no media attention that the Adelaide Arena has been reposessed by the Commenwealth bank. This is due to massive >$8mill debt Eddy Groves (Adelaide Arena owner) owes to the Commenwealth Bank. It is unclear what this will mean for the Adelaide 36ers as this is their home court. However with such instability through the league with the Gold Coast blaze going under it could mean dark days for the National Basketball League. The Arena is a purpose built facility for basketball and should mean that it will remain as the 36ers home gym and whoever buys will continue to allow them to use it. At a marked up rent cost though would be likely.

Update: The Adelaide 36ers released this statement about the situation:
Today we were advised by Ferrier Hodgson that they have taken possession of the Adelaide Arena on behalf of the Commonwealth Bank, from former owner Eddy Groves.  This has surprised all of us at the Adelaide 36ers and Basketball SA.
Over the next week we will be working closely with Ferrier Hodgson to determine what this means for the future of basketball in South Australia, including the Adelaide 36ers, the Adelaide Lightning, Basketball SA and SA Country Basketball.
We will keep our members, the public and other key groups informed as soon as we have further information and better understand what the repercussions are for our sport.
The Adelaide 36ers CEO Leanne Grantham stated that they have been looking into alternatives should the Adelaide Arena be taken off of the team. Locations such as the ETSA Park (Netball SA Stadium) & the Adelaide Entertainment Centre may be viable alternatives.

Anthony Petrie signs with the Adelaid 36ers


Anthony Petrie has signed a deal to play for the adelaide 36ers for 2 years. Petrie joins former Blaze player Jason Cadee with the Adelaide 36ers and it is rumoured that Adam Gibson may also end up in Adelaide. The 36ers have done a good job in recruiting this offseason having now nearly completed a strong all Aussie line up. It is unclear at this stage whether the coaches will stick with an all aussie line up if they manage to get Gibson or if they will go for a strong import instead. The import shot can be tricky not knowing what your going to get when they play in our league. The 36ers experienced this first hand with their import recuit last year Showron Glover, who did not stack up and ended up getting sent home. In my opinion Petrie is one of the most underated players in the league and his contribution to the 36ers line up has formed a very strong front court, combining with Daniel johnson last years most improved player and the big red Luke Schencher as the centre. As it stands the Adelaide 36ers line up looks like:
Center: Schenscher, possibly a Backup Big to be recruited
Forwards: Johnson, Petrie, Weigh, Creek
Guards:, Cadee, Crosswell, (possibly Gibson and back up shooter)
A strong recruiting season and hopefully a strong season will be ahead for the Adelaide 36ers.

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Spain defeats Australia in a close pre olympic game


Before you read ahead and find out the score if you would like to catch a replay here is the link (its only in Spanish however but still enjoyable. Think of it as a spanish lesson:

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/baloncesto/

Its a great game if you get a chance to watch it.

Spain the current number 2 team in the world this morning defeated the Australian Boomers 75-69. This is a big statement for the Boomers it shows that they can run with the big boys even without Andrew Bogut and that Brett Brown was not full of shit when he said he thinks they can win a medal. Many expected The boomers to go down by 30. Spain was led to the victory by NBA star Pau Gasol from the LA lakers who was the game leading scorer finishing with 22 points. It was a close game with scores tied at half time 35-35. The Patty Mills and Mathew Dellevadova guard match worked well with Mills scoring 14. Brad Newley was the top Scorer for the Boomers with 16. It was a team effort from the Boomers with 4 players in double figures. Australian NBL players Mark Worthington and Adam Gibson got a decent amount of minutes and made some big plays, Peter Crawford however did not get to see the court. You could see why Worthington would be going overseas next year, he really has some skills and ball smarts, Excluding one airball in the last quarter. Going into the final break Spain was up by 1, but played better in the final quarter winning it 21-16 and winning the game 75-69. The Boomers can take a lot of confidence from this game as it was close and either team could have gotten the W. The Boomers may well be the Dark horse of the Olympics this year and do better then anyone expected.
Iv included a game boxscore at the bottom of the page as well. if you would like to see individual players points.

75 - España (19+16+19+21): Calderón (4), Rudy (9), Navarro (-), Reyes (12), Pau Gasol (22) -cinco inicial- Rodríguez (3), Llull (9), Claver (7), San Emeterio (4), Ibaka (5) y Sada (-).

69 - Australia (16+19+18+16): Mills (14), Worthington (-), Ingles (10), Andersen (12), Maric (1) -cinco inicial- Crawford (-), Gibson (4), Newley (16), Dellavedova (5), Barlow (3), Baynes (4), Nielsen (-).

Blaze finally burn out

The gold Coast Blaze owners the Tomlinsons have withdrawn the submissions for the Blaze to stay in the competition late last night. It has dragged on over several weeks as to if the Blaze will manage to stay in the league for the 2012/13 NBL season. The blaze have gone under as they were not able to produce the $1 mill bank guarantee for the league. Not all teams have had to pay this guarantee, however due to the Blaze's unstable funding situation it was imperative for the Blaze to do so should the team go under mid season and not be able to play its players and employees. Below is the media release from the director Owen Tomlinson. Its a sad day for the Blaze fans who have been waiting to see if they would still have a team to go for next season.
The contracted players Adam gibson, Anthony Petrie and Chris Goulding from the Blaze have been left in limbo and must now try to find a new place in the league late in the off season. Their is rumors that Adam Gibson may find a place in the melbourne tigers, Anthony Petrie will be with the Woollongong Hawks and and Chris Goulding may find a place with the Adelaide 36ers but at this stage it is all up the air. Personally I'm hoping to see at least two of them end up with the 36ers which would give something the blaze fans could get behind having 3 of the core blaze team members. Or else the NBL might just lose a lot more viewers and will still likely lose a lot since basketball is a sport most enjoyed live.

Media Release

It is with much regret that we announce that we have decided to withdraw our submission to Basketball Australia to be included in the 2012/13 NBL season.

We have been asked to provide further information and given an extension until 31 July 2012 to do so. We feel that we have already done enough to satisfy all requirements and the drawing out of this process has gone on long enough.

We are proud of the contribution we have made to basketball in South East Queensland over the past five seasons and we feel that the Blaze has contributed in a very meaningful way to the community.

The company administration period has been a terrible strain on our loyal coaches, players and staff and their families. They, along with our Pyromaniacs and Corporate Sponsors, have supported us throughout this difficult time and we deeply regret that we have had to make this decision.

We thank everyone for their unwavering support.

Owen Tomlinson

Director

Gold Coast Blaze

Sunday 15 July 2012

Gold Coast Blaze update

The Gold Coast Blaze may still be in the NBL next season. They were given until friday the 13th of July to find the funds to maintain the team and propose a business plan to basketball Australia. At the eleventh hour on friday a mystery investor appeared and supplied the final $500,000. Late on Friday a Community based plan was put forward to Basketball Australia and is pending a decision to made on Monday the 16th of July. Tomorrow a final decision should be made concerning the Blaze and I shall try to update the site promptly. 

Saturday 14 July 2012

Will Hudson signs with the New Zealand Breakers


Will Hudson has signed on with the New Zealand Breakers for the 2012/13 NBL season. Will Hudson played for the Gold Coast Blaze as one of their two imports last season and its said he was a rather cheap import for the Blaze so the Breakers may have saved some money and can spend big for their second import/guard. The New Zealand Breakers are attempting to win the NBL championship for a third time in a row. The Breakers already have their starting five planned out excluding the point guard spot and the signing of Hudson looks to be as a back up big for a the two big starters Mika Vukona and Alex Pledger. Gary Wilkinson was the import forward for the New Zealand Breakers for the last two years however he has signed on to team in europe for a larger salary. Hudson is a proven entity in the NBL who can bring in some rebounds and some points in the paint. Its thought that the New Zealand breakers are planning on waiting to try to re-sign Cedric Jackson or  sign on Adam Gibson as their starting point guard. However they must wait to see if the Blaze stay in the competition as Gibson is hoping to stay with the Blaze and Cedric Jackson is trying out with the San Antonio Spurs. 

Sunday 8 July 2012

USA defeats Australia to win the under 17 World Championships


Australia was handedly defeated by team USA today 95-62 to take home the silver medal ar the FIBA Under 17 World Championships. Conner Frankamp for the USA was the leading scorer of the game finishing with 22 points followed by Australia's Dante Exum who finished with 21 points and 6 rebounds and was also named in the all tournament team at the official medal cermony. Australia's shooting was not what it was against Croatia at only 32% field Goals and 21% three pointers. Australia looked to rely to heavily on the three point shot hitting 9 from 42 and were decimated on rebounds 43 to 23. Australia could not get into the keyway with team USA's zone defence being to strong with points in the paint at 46 -18. It shows the strength USA have on the Basketball world with the second placed team going down to such a deficit to the Under 17 World Champions, Team USA. It is still a great result for these young players and I can see Dante Exum having a bright future in basketball.

Adelaide 36ers to play US college team Nicholls State Colonels

The Adelaide 36ers are going to play the touring US state college team the Nicholls State Colonels as a pre season game on sat August 4th at the Adelaide arena. NBL Rookie of the year Anatoly Bose played for the Colonels and competed in the Southland Conference in the NCAA divison one tournament. This will start out the pre season games for the Adelaide 36ers as they train for the 2012/13 NBL season starting October 5th

Australian Under 17 mens team play for Gold


The Australian under 17 mens basketball team have defeated the number 1 ranked European team, Croatia to continue on to the Finals in the FIBA Under 17 World Championships. Australia defeated Coratia 83-71 and was led by the sharp shooting of Mirko Djeric who finished with 7 from 11 three pointers and finished the game with 21 points followed closely by the other half of the back court Dante Exum who finished with 18.
The Australians shot exceptionally and proved to be the difference in the teams, shooting at 47% from the field, 42% from the 3 point line and knocking down 71% from the foul line. The defensive intesnity was also very high with Australia forcing 19 turnovers slowing the Coratians offensive opportunities.
Croatia had a quick start and led by 10 with some outstanding plays by their star player Mario Hezonja who led all scoring finishing with 28 points. Australia fought back and managed to lead 42-35 going into half time and held the lead for the win. Australia will play Team USA in the Final and it is turning out to be a great opportunity for a chance at a gold medal for these young players. And with international exposure like this a great opportunity for their careers.

Thursday 5 July 2012

Gold Coast blaze offered a lifeline to play at Carrara



The Gold Coast Blaze have been handed a lifeline by the local council and may move there games to the Carrara indoor stadium. The Gold Coast City Council have agreed to give the Blaze free use of office space and training facilities at Carrara stadum next season. This will cut a 6 figure sum from the Clubs budget next season. Currently the Blaze play exorbitant fees for their plush office space in Broadbeach, training facilities throughout the coast and use of the Broadbeach convention centre. From here it will only cost the Blaze another $500,000 to participate in the 2012/13 NBL season.
The blaze are transforming into a community based model similar to that for the Cairns taipans and Woolongong Hawks. Owner Owen Tomlinson is feeling confident that they can stay in the league.
"I'm feeling a lot more hopeful now that maybe there is some agreement we can reach to ensure the club is here next year." However the Blaze are still very much on life support. The Blaze still have till the 13th of this month to pay league costs to participate in the 2012/13 season however it is unknown how much of the players cap the Blaze will spend or if they will manage to keep any of their old players.
The Carrara stadium was the home to the Gold Coast Rollers while they were in the NBL during the 90's however went under due to finances and poor stadium facilities. The prices will have to be cheaper having games at a smaller and downgraded arena and it will be intersting to see if they manage to improve the facilities at all coming into the 2012/13 season, as their were talks of improving the stadium for the 2018 commenwealth games. Carrara is a lot further from the main strip of the Gold Coast and attendances may drop substantially. Broadbeach was ideally located, close to public transport, pubs and restaurants and still could not manage big audience turn outs. Lets hope the Blaze manage to stay a float and that people still attend the games