Sydney Kings take down the Melbourne Tigers behind some big plays from NBA swingman Sam Young

Melbourne defeated Sydney 63-67 in what was a physical battle in Melbourne. Sam Young summed up the game well “They beat me up out there today,” Young said. The Kings went on t huge 24 point run in the fist and second quarters but Melbourne kept bringing them back in to keep it competitive going into the final minutes. Sam Young had a big second game in the league with a double double, scoring 27 points and 10 rebounds.

First play of the game play and Sydney get it into AJ Ogilvy twice but he wasn’t able complete getting the first points of the game from the foul line. On the other end Chris Goulding made a nice little fade away jump shot to get the Tigers on the board. Sam Young hit a jumper for the Kings, and Scott Morrison got a jam for the Tigers and both teams were off and it already looked to be a good game.

Chris Goulding got on fire early and hit his first 3 shots getting the Tigers an early lead 9-6. with 7:30 left in the first quarter.

Scott Morrison got a nice alley-oop jam off a Lucas Walker fast break and for Sydney Sam Young is looking unstoppable.

Half way into the first quarter the score is 11 all. Sam Young has been playing great ball on both ends of the floor and the Tigers have been on fire with Chris Goulding knocking down some tough shots.

Lucas walker got a nice block on Sam Young as he tried to be a one man fast break and then Young got his first big dunk of the game at 4 minutes left in the first quarter for the Kings to take the lead after a dry patch 11-13.

Sydney went on a 16 point run closing out the quarter 11-22.

Charles Carmouche opened the scoring in the second quarter with a drive and 3 point play. And then followed it up with a 3 over Scott Morrison and it's a jumped out to a 24 point run. Goulding finally broke the drought with a nice drive for the Tigers and its 13-30 with 8 minutes left to go in the second quarter.

Melbourne are worked their way back with some more hot shooting by Chris Gouldingg and it was 20-30 with 5 minutes left in the 2^nd.

Sam Young flew above the crowd around him with a big tip in Jam. Then recieved his second hit in the face on the other end on defense. Young was matched up on Goulding to try to slow his offense as the defensive specialist in the Kings line up. Sam Young has a lot of talent and may be able to dominate this league.  He has a lot of ball control for a big man.

Nate Tomlinson hit a 3 and Melbourne had a 7-0 run to get the deficit to under 10 with only 2 minutes left in the half. Tom Garlepp got a shot off on the buzzer to keep the Kings up by 10 at the end of the first half 30-40.

At half time Sam young was on 12 points with 6 from 11 shooting and a couple of nice jams.

Opening the second half Nate Tomlinson hit a 15ft jumper and some good ball movement got Morrison an easy shot inside and the Tigers are on a come back.  

Sam Young gots the Kings fist points of the half with a fast break drive and a 3 point play.

With 4 minutes left in the 3^rd the Tigers are back 41-43 and Sam Young and Mark Worthington having some words and were getting frustrated by the 3 minute mark the scores are tied 43-43. Shane Heal looks also to be getting frustrated and wasn't getting many call his way. The game is getting physical with MacMillan hitting the floor and had to take a seat.

Closing out the quarter the Kings held onto the lead 44-47 and in the final play Goulding made a nice drive but AJ Ogilvy knocked it off the rim.

4^th quarter:

Mark Worthington opened scoring with a nice little shot under the basket for the Tigers and Charles Carmouch hits a 3 to start scoring for the Kings. Ogilvy is doing a good job blocking Goulding as he has been drove to the hole with another blocked shot.

Young hit a nice 3 which was nothing but net as the Kings get out to a 7 point lead with 6:30 to go, 50-57.

Goulding got a nice lay in going at the body of Sam Young bringing the deficit back to 3, 54-57.

Madgen hit a long 3 banked from the corner but Goulding hit a 3 and the Tigers will not go away as he tries to take the responsibilty of the offense on his shoulders.

With the Tigers only down by 2 Goulding got a steal and Farrakhan got Morrison the ball to flush it through the ring and the scores are tied again 62-62 with only 2 minutes to go.

In what was probably the play of the game to secure the Kings the win, Sam young got the Kings back the lead with a strong drive against Chris Goulding and did it again up against Mark Worthington taking the Kings lead to 4 points with only 19 seconds left in the game. Young then hit a couple of free throws and the Kings win the game 63-67.

The difference in the game came down to rebounds in a stat that has dominated most wins of the season with the Kings getting the majority, 38-32. The Tigers dominated on the assists 14-6 in a stat line that the will be difficult for the Kings to pick up without a strong point guard on the roster.

Shane Heal had a few great in game reffing quotes"

"He came out from the NBA to get bashed like that. This game has been reffed differently then the last 8 games. Both teams it's a wrestle."

Sam Young agreed with him in a post game interview saying,

“They beat me up out there today,”
“Every day is a learning process for me. It’s just something I have to get used to [the physicality] because it’s not like that in the NBA.”

 Sydney Kings 67 (Young 27, Carmouche 14, Ogilvy 10)
Melbourne Tigers 63 (Morrison 20, Goulding 20)

NBL Round 8 weekend preview

Sorry for the late post didn't realize it was a Thursday night game. After missing a couple of prediction last week with the Wollongong Hawks getting a win over Cairns even without Larry Davidson and the Perth Wildcats destroying the Sydney Kings hopefully ill get more right this week.

The first game of the round see's the Melbourne Tigers playing the New Zealand Breakers in New Zealand. This should be a good game and with the Breakers having the home court advantage its a lot tougher to pick the winner. The Melbourne Tigers came off a loss last week and the Breakers finally got a win on their home court, they will be hoping to keep that win streak going. The Tigers will be hoping their new import point guard will have a better game and lead the team to a win by getting Goulding some open shots. Mark Worthington has a had a few slow games and I'm sure he will be working hard to get his shot going. Apparently Kerron Johnson had to sit out the Breakers training session yesterday and may not be able to play tonight. If that is the case the Tigers should be able to get a win in the Breakers home court. If Johnson is out for the game, Corey Webster may have to step up as the starting point guard. He has played some big games for the Breakers in the last couple of rounds but i think he may be too much too keep the Breakers alive with more minutes. Mika Vukona may be carrying a small shoulder injury as well and if even some of these rumours are true, it will be a tough night for the Breakers in front of their fans. Im picking the Tigers to win by 8. Hopefully a couple of the Tigers will help out in scoring tonight and dont have to rely on Goulding for every offense. With the two injuries the Breakers may be carrying this is the bet of the week with the Tigers to win at $2.75 and the Breakers at $1.45.

Friday night we get to see the Adelaide 36ers host the Wollongong Hawks. Both teams are coming

off wins last week, but noticeable the 36ers are coming away as the first team to beat the Perth Wildcats and will be looking to keep that hot streak alive. The Wollongong Hawks are being lead by import guard Rotnei Clark who has been one of the best offensive players in the league so far this season. Unfortunatel for the Hawks he has been only consistent player on the roster. Gary Erving has had a very good start to the season and would certainly be in MVP contention. The Hawks will likely still be missing their starting centre Larry Davidson and will lack size in the paint. The 36ers two 7" players should be able to dominate inside the keyway. The Hawks 3 point shooting will have to be hot for them to be able to keep up to the 36ers. Im expecting the Hawks to go down by 10 due to their lack of rebounders. Adelaide should win this after their win last week and as favourites at $1.16 isnt really worth a bet also.

The Cairns Taipans are the unlucky team to take on the Perth Wildcats this round. A tough game for the Taipans after last rounds destruction of the Sydney Kings by the Wildcats. Last week after being defeated by the Adeliade 36ers in what is likely to be the grand final match up, the Wildcats followed it up with a 40 point difference in their win over the Sydney Kings on their home court. Cairns have struggled early in the season and last time these two teams met the Wildcats defense was too much for the Taipans on average a tall team. Im expecting the Perth Wildcats to continue their good form with the win over a team that hasn't yet seemed to get their form together. Watch out for James Ennis to dominate with his incredible athleticism over the Taipans weaker defense and the Wildcats to win by 9.The Wildcats should get the win and are obviouse favourties so probably not worth a bet.

The Final game of the round see's the Melbourne Tigers host the Sydney Kings on Sunday night.

Sydney will be looking to have a big game after their massive loss to the Wildcats last weak. Hopefully with a weak of training behind them the Kings will have learn't to work better within their team. Charles Carmouche looked to struggle at the point guard position not utilising AJ Ogilvy the way Jesse Sanders was able to earlier in the season. This should be a good game with both teams having a relatively new player in the roster. But for the Sydney Kings that player is 4 year NBA veteran Sam Young, who if they can get him the ball where he want it, should dominate. For the Kings to get the win carmouche will have to look for the pass first as a guard and to change his style away from how he was to play early in the season. Its a tough ask for several of the players on the Kings line up but they will have to learn quick to stay in the hunt for the championship. Fatigue could be an issue for the Melbourne tigers who played the the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday. This should be a close one and if Sydney still had Sanders I'd say the Kings by 10 but since its Carmouche at the point it will be a tough game and ill pick the the Tigers to win by 1. But if Sam Young picks up his performance from last week Sydney may be able to dominate on the inside. Tough one to call on for the last game.
Since the Kings are paying at $2.30 for the win it could be worth a punt but im going to miss this one.
A good pick for a three game bet this week and one im going to place is for the Melbourne tigers to beat the Breakers, the wildcats to beat the Taipans and 36ers to beat the Hawks. This is in my opinion the best multi bet you could place. Good luck to anyone having a bet this week and i hope my tips work out as my money is running on them.

Spurs vs Cavaliers: Mathew Dellavedova starts in a game that features 3 Aussies

Mathew Dellavedova again is starting for the Cavaliers playing against the San Antonio Spurs.

In the first second of the game Delly draws the foul on the game high scorer Danny Green and the Cavaliers get possession. Delly opens playing D on Parker and obviously its a huge start to a rookie season for the un-drafted Aussie and he hits his first shot of the game, a 3 pointer to keep the Cavs alive early 5-9.

Patty Mills comes off the bench and matches up against Delly at the 6 min mark in the first quarter. Mills drains a 3 taking it out to a 10 point lead at the 5 min mark 11-21. Later in the game we got to see all 3 Aussie's on the floor at the same time. Mills had a good game getting steals and a couple of 3’s by midway in the second.

With the Spurs up 29 points Aaron Baynes gets some court time. Delly and Mills were off though. Closing the half Baynes gets a rebounds and a lays it up on the buzzer but wasn't counted. 65-32 with the Spurs having a commanding lead already

Delly started the second half and a Tim Duncan dunk open the scoring. By the 10min 21sec mark the cavs were already down by 40, 32-72. With the huge lead San Antonios head Coach Popovich sends out the bench and Aaron Baynes gets on the floor .

Jarred Jack hurt his neck and Delly is back on to shoot his free throws and gets both 58-91 2:48. From here Jack wasnt allowed to come back on the Delly played out the rest of the game. Popovich got to choose Delly to shoot the free throws. Delly got a steal and makes the basket in the fast break for his 5^th point in the game and the last point in the quarter going into the last quarter 67-96.

Opening the last quarter their are 3 aussies on the floor Baynes Mills and Delly.

Delly made another intercept and Baynes made a tough shot driving into the inside. In one play Mills

stops Delly driving to the hole with the help of Baynes but the cavs miss an open Delly as the d switched back. They need to work out some smarter basketball and hit the open player. Cav's have a long way to go till they are well rounded team. With the game in the bag for the Spurs Mathew Dellavedova has been able to show off some of his offensive talent nailing a few little mid range floaters and finally got to show some of his best plays with the on ball screen. Mills made a few triples to close out the game and the spurs win 126-96. Baynes and Delly have a hug and talk after the Buzzer and its awesome to see so many Aussies in the NBA again.

Mathew Dellavadova in 34 minutes had 14 points, 4 steals, 2 assists and 2 rebounds

Patty Mills in 23 minutes had 15 points, 1 steal, 3 assists and 3 rebounds

Aaron Baynes in 21 minutes had 6 points, 2 assists and 5 rebounds

Danny Green top scored the game with 17 points. 

Mathew Dellavadova working his way into good minutes for the Cavaliers

Mathew Dellavadova is dominating with the time he gets on the court. In the last two games against the Washington Wizards he has played 30min and 20min and both in the closing quarters and over time. Also in both games the Cavaliers have come back from a defecit to to take it to overtime and the win or get them back in the hunt from a huge deficit of 26 in game 2. In game two against the wizards in Cleveland Dellavadova dominated on D and made some huge 3 pointers. Kyrie Irving got hot on offense and from 26 points down Delly's hustle and Kyrie’s offence got them within 4 with 2:36 left in the game. Unfortunately a loose ball foul on a rebound contest with 1:46 to go sent Gortat to the line for the wizards in what could have been a play that brought them within 2 and they held the lead. Despite a long 3 on the buzzer by Kyrie Irving the Wizards got the win 98-91.The Cavaliers look like a much stronger team when Delly is on the floor as they can let Kyrie Irving go himself on offense or he can use Dellavedova to move the ball around the floor and get himself or someone else an open look through good ball movement. Irving and Delly really seem to gain energy off each other Delly on D and Kyrie on offense.

In his rookie year out of college Mathew Dellavadova has worked his way onto an NBA roster through a camp invite and good summer league performance and now he is working himself into minutes for the Cav's. The same way he worked his way on to the starting line up for the Boomers at the 2012 Olympics, he is creating a niche in the NBA. Mathew Dellavadova is a workhorse with a very high basketball IQ. I hope we get to continue seeing him on the floor.

With the introduction of players with NBA potential (James Ennis) and NBA players (Sam young) in the NBL as well as more Australian's in the NBA it seems like more respect is being given to Australian basketballer’s. Apparently Chris Goulding has been getting on the NBA scouts radar with his huge start to the season and its obvious Australian basketball is on the rise. I can only hope the Australian media finally catch onto it and give the the NBL some air time in the sports news. 

Check out the game report and highlights here:

http://www.nba.com/video/games/cavaliers/2013/11/20/0021300162-was-cle-recap.nba/ 

Unfortunately all it shows is offense but Delly had a huge impact on Defense probably more then his 9 points even had for the come back. 

Round 7 weekend preview

This is probably the most anticipated round of basketball so far this season as its the first game in the competition for two new players. The Melbourne Tigers have recruited Mustapha Farrakhan from the NBA D league and the Sydney Kings have welcomed their new import from 4 years in the NBA.

Friday night has a game that everyone in the league has been looking forward to since round 1, when the Perth Wildcats pulled off a close win over the Adelaide 36ers. The 36ers were probably the team to come the closest to defeating the Perth Wildcats but weren't able to pull it off on the Wildcats home court. Both teams probably have the deepest bench in league its going to fast paced and exciting game. With the Wildcats welcoming Matt Knight back into the line up and Tom Jervis playing better then expected they will be able to counter Adelaide's two big men Luke Schencher and Daniel Johnson who managed to play very well against the Wildcats in round 1. Jermaine Beal has also picked up his game from early in the season when he couldn't knock down a shot to the hot streak of shooting he has been on lately and has top scored for the Wildcats in the last few rounds. Gary Ervin has shown what a star player he is with some game winning plays for the 36ers. Damian Martin will also have his hands full coming up against the second best defender in the league in Adam Gibson. In all positions these two teams are the best to match up against each other. With both teams sitting at the no. 1 and 2 spot on the ladder it will be the game of the night and  hopefully we will see a sell out arena in Adelaide. Centrebet have pretty even odds with the Perth wildcats to win at $1.85 and the Adelaide 36ers to win at $1.95. This is tough game to predict especially with the 36ers playing at home but i'm going to give it to the Wildcats to win by 1 so really could go either way.

Although the 36ers vs wildcats game is the best to watch on Friday the first game up is the New Zealand Breakers hosting the Townsville Crocodiles. The Breakers have played Townsville twice already this season and were beaten both times in Townsville. However this time its on the Breakers home ground and after their last loss to the 36ers on their home ground on the buzzer they will be hoping desperately for a win. The only wins the Crocodiles have had this season has been against the New Zealand Breakers so they must know how to play them. The key match up looks to be at the centre position with Townsvilles Brian Conklin up against the Breakers Alex pledger. Last game time they played Conklin racked up 33 points and Pledger was kept to single figures. However with the home ground advantage and how hard i'm expecting the Breakers to play to get this win for their fans I'm picking them for the win by 6. Watch out for a tough fight from both teams though. Centrebet have the Breakers to win at $1.20 and the crocodiles at $4.60. This is a pretty good bet if your looking for a rough win to make some dough. The breakers have not yet been able to beat the Crocodiles and they must just know what it takes to get a win over them. At those odds its worth a few dollars.

Saturday night will see the Cairns Taipans hosting the cellar dwellers the Wollongong Hawks. This will be a good match up as both teams play off excellent execution on their offence. Rotnei Clark for the Hawks has been one of the best players of the competition and has shown he can do it all on offence however if the Hawks are still missing their centre Larry Davidson they will be missing a key piece in the team. The Hawks in the last few games have played some great basketball but have been severely lacking in height since the Davidson has been injured. The Cairns Taipans are on average a tall team and should dominate on the boards and this is where the game should be won. As in the game against Perth, Wollongong couldn't get enough rebounds and with all the seconds chances PErth got it was almost too easy to work out a win over the course of the game. Im picking Cairns to win by 8 if Davidson is still injured however if he isnt expect it to be a lot closer. No confirmation has yet been sent out from the hawks as to if Davidson will play or not and therefore is tough game to bet on. Centrebet have the Taipans to win at $1.37 and the Hawks at $3.10. Ill try to let you know if Davidson is healthy and it could be worth a bet on the Hawks if he is.

Sunday has two games to watch with the first being aired live on channel Ten in Melbourne with the Tigers taking on the Townsville Crocodiles. This is the second game of the round for the Crocodiles and fatigue may be an issue for a team that is not as deep as other in the league. Look for Chris Goulding to have a big game and Mark Worthington to come out looking for points after some quiet games in the last couple of rounds. The Melbourne Tigers have their new recruit Mustapha Farrakhan playing in their line up for the first time and if he can pick up his game over how Ayinde Ubaka was playing they should be an even more well rounded team. Watch for him to try to stamp his style on the team and get Goulding open for some jump shots. Iv got the Tigers to win by 12 over a fatigued Townsville squad.

The last game of the round is probably the most anticipated game of the season with the Sydney Kings new recruit NBA player Sam Young coming up against the Perth Wildcats NBA hopeful James Ennis.
With it being the second game of the round for the Wildcats and after playing a very strong team in the 36ers fatigue may be an issue but with a team as deep as the Wildcats it really shouldn't. Sam Young was a huge pick up not only for the Kings but for the NBL and look for him to dominate early both defensively and offensively looking to get the Kings shooters open. He is said to be a defensive specialist who can stop athletic wingmen like James Ennis. With the Kings releasing their point guard Jesse Sanders this is probably where the game will hang in the balance. Damian Martin has shown why he was the best defensive player in the league last year and has continued that form this season. Depending on how Charles Carmouche can adjust to the point guard position will decide the game. Martin may just be too much for him in the back court and the game may be won due to the Kings lack of depth in the point guard position. This should be the game of the week with two explosive athletes in Sam young for the Kings and James Ennis for the Wildcats going at each other. Centrebet have the Kings to win at $4.00 and the Wildcats at $1.25. Im picking the Kings to possibly get the first win of the season over the Wildcats with AJ Ogilvy to have a big game on the inside and Sam Young to contain James Ennis enough for them to get a hard fought win by 4. This is really going to be a tough game for the kings, as the PErth Arena is the hardest shooting stadium in the league and with the home court advantage it will tough to scrape out a win. But hopefully the fatigue from Fridays game against Adelaide will be enough for the Kings to scrape across the line. Enjoy the Exciting games on offer this weekend and hopefully my prediction will be as accurate as last week.

Round 6 weekend wrap up sort of

For a weekend wrap up of this round you might as well check out my weekend preview for the round. I managed to predict every game correctly and made some money with a 5 game bet.

The only comment ill give is on the Breakers vs Adelaide game where the Adelaide 36ers managed to pull off a win with 4 seconds left on the clock and down by 1 Gary Ervin got a steal on the inbound pass and break away drive making the lay up on the buzzer to win the game by 1. It was a great game and one that the Breakers were unlucky not to win. Their losing streak at home continues this season lets hope they can turn their form around soon before the season gets away from them. Check out the highlights from the game to see the play it should be on the NBL website. The Adelaide 36ers are looking like a whole new team with a new coach and a couple of new imports. Joey likes a team that goes 10 deep and this team easily does. At one point in the game no starters were on the floor and they still looked dangerous.

The top four teams at the end of the season look like it will be the Perth Wildcats, Adelaide 36ers, Melbourne Tigers and the Sydney Kings, with the new signings that the Kings and Tigers announced. It's looking like a great season ahead and plenty of time for the other teams to make a move and get their game together. But with NBA player and future NBA player like Sam Young and James Ennis in the line ups it will be a tough night for any team coming up agains the Kings or Wildcats. And thats without mentioning the 10 deep team Adelaide has and the exceptional form Tigers guard Chris Goulding has been displaying as the league high scorer at 26.6ppg. These are definitly the teams to watch and will be the most exciting for any team coming up against them they will be hungry for a win. Keep an eye out and i hope your enjoying this season of the Australian National Basketball league as much as I am.

Sydney Kings new import NBA player Sam Young in his first fox sports interview

Sam Young interview with Fox Sports. Pretty decent interview for his introduction into the NBL and good to see the NBL actually getting some exposure. It has some highlights from the Kings training sessions and from the NBA as well. You can find it here:
http://www.foxsports.com.au/video?v=young-to-fire-for-kings_1226762855885&vc=519

Hers a highlight dunk while he was with the Memphis Grizzlies:

If you took my advice and got an early bet on the Sydney Kings to win the Championship they were paying $10, without the Kings playing a single game the odds have gone down to $6.50. I made a quick bet hopefully some of you out there did as well when the odds were at their best.