Aussie Basketball Discussion

Non-basketball but topic-related question:

Are there even wild tigers in Australia or Melbourne for that matter?

Probably about as many as there are raptors in Toronto, truth be told.

2014 Sino-Australia Challenge – Australian Boomers v Team China
Game One
Thursday 29 May @ Challenge Stadium 8:30pm (local time)
TV: ABC2 at 10:30pm Nationally (LIVE into VIC, NSW, QLD, ACT &TAS)
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com.au, call 136 100 and Ticketmaster outlets

Game Two
Saturday 31 May @ Challenge Stadium 6:30pm
TV: ABC2 at 8:30pm Nationally (LIVE into VIC, NSW, QLD, ACT &TAS)
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com.au, call 136 100 and Ticketmaster outlets

Game Three
Friday 6 June @ Jiangsu Zhenjiang Sports and Exhibition Centre 7:30pm (9:30pm AEST)
TV: ABC2 at 10:30pm Nationally

Game Four
Sunday 8 June @ Liyang Tianmuhu Arena 7:30pm (9:30pm AEST)
TV: ABC2 at 10:30pm Nationally

http://www.basketball.net.au/abc2-broad ... challenge/

Meanwhile, on the NBL expansion front:

NBL Chief Executive Officer Fraser Neill is more than buoyed after meeting yesterday with a group keen to back a Brisbane-based team from 2015-16 onwards.

In fact, he was almost ecstatic.

“I met with some business people in Brisbane with good business acumen and we are working with them to put together a good plan,” he told me today.

“It will happen.

“Brisbane is a good, strong market, with sensible planning and strong management we believe it can work.”

Neill said whether the new Brisbane NBL club would retain the Bullets name or move to a new moniker was still to be determined.

NEILL remains extremely confident the NBL will swell to “at least” 12 teams by the 2015-16 season...“The way it looks right now, it could be a 13-team competition in 2015-16,” he said.

http://www.botinagy.com/blog/brisbane-b ... l-be-back/

http://www.basketball.net.au/abc2-broad ... pionships/

In a landmark agreement between FIBA – basketball’s governing body – and ABC Sport, all Boomers and Opals games will be televised LIVE* AND IN FULL, free-to-air on ABC2 starting from Sunday August 31.

Additionally ALL games from the quarter final stage through to the final of both the FIBA Basketball World Cup and FIBA World Championship for Women will be LIVE.

“In a huge coup, ABC2 will also broadcast LIVE all the men’s Team USA games on free-to-air television.”

FIBA World Cup LIVE from Spain, Sunday August 31 to Sunday September 14. Women’s Basketball World Championships LIVE from Turkey, Saturday September 27 to Monday, October 6.

That's great news. I tossed up the idea of going over there instead of going to Brazil. No money meant I missed both the FIFA World Cup and the FIBA World Cup.

At least it will be on TV.

The extended team will assemble in Canberra from 23-29 July at the Basketball Australia National Centre of Excellence (CoE). Lemanis and his coaching staff, including Perth Wildcats head coach Trevor Gleeson, will name the final 12-man team prior to the conclusion of the camp.

The FIBA World Cup begins Sunday August 31 to Sunday September 14. All of the Australian Boomers games will be broadcast LIVE (AEST) on ABC2. Click HERE for the full schedule.

Australian Boomers Extended Squad – 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup

David Andersen – Strasbourg (France)

Cameron Bairstow – Chicago Bulls (NBA)

Aron Baynes – San Antonio Spurs (NBA)


Angus Brandt – Sydney Kings (NBL)

Ryan Broekhoff – Besiktas (Turkey)

Matthew Dellavedova – Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)

Dante Exum – Utah Jazz (NBA)

Adam Gibson – Adelaide 36ers (NBL)

Chris Goulding – Melbourne United (NBL)

Joe Ingles – Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel)

Nathan Jawai – Galatasaray (Turkey)

Damian Martin – Perth Wildcats (NBL)

Brock Motum – Bologna (Italy)

Brad Newley – Gran Canaria (Spain)

Ben Simmons – Montverde Academy (USA)

Lucas Walker – Melbourne United (NBL)

Mark Worthington – Melbourne United (NBL)

http://www.nbl.com.au/article/id/mx0ws1 ... rtc3gnozx9

Sydney Kings sign Josh Childress

Meanwhile, ESPN is broadcasting Boomers World Cup warm-up games, starting Saturday (all times AEST):
ESPN2 Australia vs. Ukraine Aug 16 2am

ESPN Philippines vs. Australia Aug 17 2am

ESPN2 France vs. Australia Aug 18 4:30am

ESPN2 France vs. Australia Aug 25 1am

NBL pre-season tournament to take place in Brisbane, September 19-21

ABC TV schedule for the FIBA World Cup

Good stuff. I'll be out that evening at a 30th birthday party, but I'll be tuning in to the subsequent games.

Boomers might be better off losing their next game than winning it: http://downtownball.net/2014/09/to-win-or-not-to-win/

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/basketball/ ... 0k3zd.html

Brisbane will have a team in the NBL next season for the first time since 2008.

Chief executive Fraser Neill announced a team in Brisbane would return for the 2015-16 season at the NBL Blitz pre-season tournament which was held in the Queensland capital on the weekend.

Congrats to Brisbane, great to see them back in the league after all their efforts in making it happen.

The NBL, on a couple of hours notice at halftime of a pre-season game, put together a dunk contest:

phpBB [video]

Also, this happened.

Seriously, if you're not following the league this year, you're nuts.

Good old Auchenflower. They don't seem too cranky with Dunkers hanging on rims but never appreciated it in our Sunday social grades.

http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/257 ... ing/?cs=12

THE bid for a new Tasmanian NBL team is well advanced with an announcement believed to be imminent.

I think Tassie would be a great market given no other pro sports teams

I love the idea of Hobart getting their own team. The people in that "city" definitely need an extra thing or two to keep them entertained. As the X said, they would have basically no competition down there, with the exception of the cricket season. I'd probably cheer for them as a third team (behind the Brisbane team and Townsville, which is my current first team).

Adelaide

phpBB [video]

Cairns

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

Melbourne

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

New Zealand

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

Perth

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

Sydney

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

Townsville

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

Wollongong

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

Adelaide signs Brock Motum

NBL has been more fun to watch this season, although, it's mostly because of Josh Childress. I liked him back in his Atlanta days, so him being in Australia is a novelty I've been enjoying. Although, I'm sure it was interesting with Ennis last season (couldn't watch any games since I was in America).

Looking forward to Sydney V Adelaide. It'll be interesting to see what Motum can do against the rest of the league.

Was a fantastic game. Pity Adelaide fell short in the end; I tipped them and I always prefer comebacks be completed.

Can't really compare Ennis and Childress, since I saw Ennis every week so he was much less a special attraction, but he certainly never put together anything like Childress did this afternoon. 36/19/7/5 at 61% is just insane. I thought Damian Martin was a chance at having put forth the best individual effort for a season when he went for 2/9/8/9 against the Kings a couple of weeks ago, but since then Gibson's gone for 34/6/9/6 at 69% and then Childress today...wow. And Gibbo backed up with 30/9/5/1 at 69%, too.

I'm assuming you don't have NBL TV, since you're saying you couldn't watch games from the US, but Ekene Ibekwe was phenomenal on Friday night, too. I'm not even going to bother looking at the box score, since the statisticians were clearly asleep and awarded him significantly fewer blocks than he should've had. There was one play where he helped on a drive at the elbow, forced the pass to the other elbow which was immediately touch-passed to Ibekwe's man under the basket. Ibekwe somehow managed to recover and swat the shot out to halfcourt, where a Taipans player retrieved it and, with one second left on the shot clock, hoisted up a prayer...which was blocked by Ibekwe.

This season got off to a slow start compared to last year, but it's come on really strong in the past couple of weeks. Five teams within two games of .500, and essentially no predictability. It's a welcome change from the past four or five years where the top two have been set from the pre-season and never looked in any danger. Pity about the Hawks at 1-8, though.

Finally, some actual concrete information on the Bullets.