Woollongong Hawks release import Durrell Summers

The Woollongong hawks have released their import Durrell Summers from his contract with the team. Summers had been working through matters with his agent as well as the contract with the Hawks when he arrieved last month. He admitted that their had been a significant miscommunication between him and his agent in regards to his contract. Summers has since fired his Agent and has decided to return home to Review his situation. It would have been good to see Summers play in the NBL as he put up some decent avaerages across his college career but has opted not to play in the NBL and to seek more money elswhere. Rumours have it that he is headed to Europe.

2013 NBL offseason recruitment and team guide

Since its been so long since i have posted here i will go into the teams playing in the 2013-14 preseason blitz tournament prior to the start of the season. During the off season their were some big changes to teams across the board. The biggest would probably have been the two best teams in the league last season have lost their starting point guard (breakers) and starting shooting guard (Wildcats). This is a big blow to these two organisations losing their go to player and probably the best players in the league both taking out an MVP award in the last two years. This has forced the two strongest teams to reassess the team make up and work at gaining some new imports. Every other team in the league seems to have decided to do a similar thing as their aren't to many imports that have managed to stay in the league or with their old team. Its a big loss to the league to lose some amazing players in not only Kevin Lisch and Cedric Jackson we also won't be seeing the return of Adris "to hard to guard" Deleon or Lance Hurdle who in my opinion were two of the most entertaining players i have watched in the NBL. However as we see every year each team has done a very good effort at scouting for more up and coming talents with several players straight out of College. Ill go over a few of the big picks for imports for a few teams this season.

Woollongong has had a history of being able to pick some absolute standout imports like Lance Hurdle and Gary Ervin and bring them to the league and this year we hope it wont be any different. They have recruited a star shooting guard in Rotnei Clark who gained a lot of attention in college scoring a 65 point game and hopefully he can bring that firepower to the professional level. They also just announced the signing of import swingman Durrel Summers who looks like he can shoot which the Hawks have needed since Glenn Saville retiring last year.





Adelaide are looking very strong with a similar team to last year which now contains 3 players who have put on a Boomers Jersey and played at the international level. Not only that but they have taken Gary Ervin from Townsville to combine with Adam Gibson for a very strong backcourt combo. Not to mention Jason Cadee on the bench this should be a strong team if Joey Wright can do a better job of coaching then Marty Clack could, who in my opinion took a championship team to take the wooden spoon.

New Zealand has a huge gap to fill with the loss of Cedric Jackson who hopes to make it to the NBA and have opted for a player straight from college. Kerron Johnson was picked up from the Breakers scouting and looks to be perfect fit. Standing 6'1" Kerron has an impressive resume from college In both 2012 and 2013 Kerron was named to the All Conference 1st Team and won All Conference Tournament MVP ahead of fellow Belmont guard Ian Clarke (NBA Summer League MVP) and Isaiah Canaan, who both recently signed NBA contracts with the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets respectively. This could be play out to be a great pick up if he can bring his skills to the professional level.


The Cairns Taipans have held onto Jamar Wilson as their point guard import and with several of their players getting some international experience in the world university games they look to be a tall and strong looking team. Townsville recuited their imports early and I have not heard too much as to what to expect but hopefully it will be a better pick up then their first two last year who were sent home before their first game.

The Perth Wildcats probably had the best pick up during the offseason securing James Ennis who was drafter at no. 50 in the 2013 NBA draft. Ennis was traded to the Miami Heat and the Wildcats have him rostered until the Heat require him in case of an injury. Ennis is an athletic 6'7" forward who has an impressive leap and can play in open space. This is a great pick up for the wildcats and will bring more NBA scouting eyes on the NBL with a potential future NBA player in the league. Look forward to seeing some exciting plays coming from the Wildcats with some big dunks hopefully to be seen.




The Melbourne Tigers have been looking dangerous in the preseason matches so far and have gone unbeaten. The impressive playing from Chris Goulding has reached a new level. I think his stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers summer league may have given him some confidence and since joining the Tigers he has improved in leaps and bounds from the streaky confidence player we saw with the Blaze. The Tigers have managed to recruit Mark Worthington back to the NBL and with his impressive skills to combine with Adam Ballinger's veteran shooting ability they are team to watch out for. They have recruited import US guard Stephen Dennis from the NBA D league. Standing 6'6" he may have the height and strength to be a competitive guard in the NBL.

From the the offseason recruiting and player advancement i have seen in the offseason i think it will bring the NBL back to more level playing field. But my predictions for the Top 4 for a large portion of the season to be..
New Zealand Breakers
Perth Wildcats
Melbourne Tigers
Adelaide 36ers.

If the Damien Martin can get healthy and the Hawks can adjust to playing in Geodie McLeod's system they may be up amongst the top four also. Having said, I am impressed with all teams this season and look forward to a closer matched league then last season. 

2012/13 NBL season round 2

The basketball has kicked off and i have not made one post. It has been a great start to the season especially for all those with NBL.tv. Every game to watch on demand is awesome, since channel ten has dropped down to 2 games a week.

The Perth Wildcats are looking unbeatable to start off the season having one their first two games by over 15 points. Round 1 saw the Wildcats face up against the New Zealand Breakers which was a big game for round 1 as it was a rematch of the NBL finals from last season. But the Wildcats trampled over the Breakers winning by 22 points. The Breakers are missing their inside outside threat Gary wilkinson this season and looks like they will feel the impact starting out the season. Round 2 saw them face off against the Finally full strength Townsville Crocodiles and pulled off a 16 point victory after a close first 3 quarters. The wildcats did not re-sign their 7 foot centre from last year Luke Neville but have remained a powerhouse team in the league. Since departing from the Perth wildcats Luke has signed on to the Indiana Pacers in the NBA. The Wildcats may feel that departure having a harder time on the rebounds. Will Hudson from the breakers had a big game against the Wildcats taking full advantage from Lukes absence. Through the season we will see if teams can get a handle on the Wildcats and take some advantage of the hieght advantage that some teams will have.

The Adelaide 36ers were looking like a new team to take the championship at the start of the season having heavily recruited from the Gold Coast Blaze, signing Jason Cadee, Anthony Petrie and Olympian Adam gibson, they also picked up the big 7 foot tall Luke Schencher and look like a strong team. Round 1 saw them comfortable defeat the Melbourne tigers. Anthony Petrie and Chris Goulding were ejected from the game after a scuffle that saw both teams get mixed up in some pushing and shoving. After the game it sounded like that's what Petrie was signed on for, with Marty Clark happy with his passion. After this incident the 36ers blew away the tigers limiting them to just 5 points in the final quarter.
Round 2 saw them face off against the New Zealand Breakers in the match up of the week. The Breakers however were to good and defeated the 36ers 73-59. Cedric jackson lead the breakers with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals. He could be someone to put down for league MVP i was surprised he didnt get it last year.

Woollongong are looking like a strong team having picked up some good import guards this year in Adris "2hard2guard" Deleon and Lance Hurdle. This is a massive improvement over their imports from last year and having gone 2 from 2 to start this season I think will be the dark horse of the competition.

Melbourne and Sydney are looking to be in the fight for the wooden spoon this season as many people have not rated their teams. Both had losses in the first round and came up against each other in round 2. Sydney pulled off a come back victory lead by player of the week Corin Henry. Sydney's imports look to be a couple of very good new additions from Shane Heal in a smart pass first point guard in Corin Henry who can nail the jump shot and a strong forward in Darnell Lazare who has had over 20 points in his first 2 games. Sydney could come good later in the season if James Harvey starts hitting that jump shot of his to go with these scoring imports. Melbourne however still havent shown that can compete with the best in the league. But we will see next week when they face up against the Perth Wildcats how well they can compete agains the best at the moment.

Townsville and Cairns both seem to be adjusting to their team and may get better over the season. Townsville only just had their imports for round 2 but look to be a couple of good players in Gary Ervin (NBL league MVP from 2010/11) and "the birdman" Larry Abney. Abney was renouned for his athleticism when he last played in the NBL and looks like he has added a nice jump shot to that arsenel. But we will see if he can keep up for the rest of the season. Cairns have retained Jamar Wilson the league MVP runner up from last year and I think they will come good after they get used to the NBL pace.

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.

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