Basketball On The Internet.

BOB'S CORNER: Our US correspondent BOB CRAVEN has had a busy week, following the latest big WNBA news at Seattle, home of two Aussie Olympians, not to mention following Jock Landale and Aron Baynes in their updated NBA developments and more on the plight of Brittney Griner in Russia.

THE new two-headed centre program that the Seattle Storm have had going since the WNBA franchise secured future Hall of Famer, Tina Charles, is starting to pay dividends.

Two games ago, Ezi Magbegor, who leads the WNBA in blocked shots, grabbed seven boards and blocked four shots.  She was a bit hampered offensively, though, as the whole team’s offence played poorly. 

Charles also didn’t show much as she was still getting into game shape and didn’t play a lot.

However, in their most recent game, that two-headed monster came alive. Magbegor started but was limited to 22 minutes by foul trouble. Still, she scored 12 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, had 3 assists and another block.  Charles also logged 22 minutes, and had 13 points, eight rebounds and a couple of assists. 

Twenty-five points (10-of-14 from the floor), 19 rebounds and 5 assists is the kind of production any team would hope for out of their bigs. 

Steph Talbot complimented them nicely in 17 minutes with her nine points, four boards and two steals.

In another remarkable game, the NY Liberty defeated Las Vegas in Las Vegas, 116-107.  In that game, Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty point guard scored her third career triple double, tying her with Candace Parker for most in league history. 

Her last triple double, recorded on June 12, was historic in that she didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter, making her the first ever to record a triple double in less than four quarters.

Against Las Vegas, her line was 31-13-10, giving her the first ever 30-point triple double.  The two teams combined for a WNBA-record 31 3-pointers, 20 of those in the first half. 

The 116 points scored by the Liberty also set a franchise scoring record.

IN NBA news, big man, Jock Landale, traded last week from the San Antonio Spurs to the Atlanta Hawks, wasn’t with Atlanta long enough to be fitted for a uniform and warmups. 

On Wednesday, he was acquired by the Phoenix Suns for “cash considerations”.  Assuming he sticks with the Suns, he’s definitely now in the hunt for an NBA title as the Suns have been one of the top teams in the league the last couple of years.

Another Aussie big man, Aron Baynes, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a freak fall while playing for Australia in the Tokyo Olympics, announced that he’s resuming his career and will be working out for NBA teams in Las Vegas. 

The NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League started this week, so a lot of NBA coaches and execs will be there anyway.

Baynes, 35, has played nine seasons in the NBA, most recently with the Toronto Raptors during the 2020-21 season. 

He won an NBA title while with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014 and was part of the Aussie bronze-medal-winning team last summer.

BRITTNEY Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February 17, has pleaded guilty to drug possession. 

In court, she stated, “I’d like to plead guilty, your honour, but there was no intent.  I didn’t want to break the law.”  Her lawyer added: “She pleaded guilty, stressing that she was carrying substances prohibited in Russia unintentionally, because she was packing in a hurry”.  He claimed that the vape cartridges were in her luggage “because of carelessness”.

It is unclear from media reports how this plea to “possession” might relate to the part of the charges against her that claim she had a significant amount of illegal drugs with the intent to traffic.

If convicted of the original charges, she could face up to 10 years in prison in a Russian penal colony - they don’t call them “gulags” anymore. 

She still faces formal conviction and sentencing proceedings—her next day in court is scheduled for July 14.

Griner’s plea came hours after the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister ripped the US for trying to “foment hype” around her case, and that the publicity surrounding the case is not helping her. 

American officials have essentially said that Griner is a hostage taken by President Putin in the run-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

After her trial started last week, Griner sent a handwritten letter to President Biden asking that he “not forget about” her and other US detainees overseas.  Biden and VP Kamala Harris subsequently spoke by phone with Griner’s wife, and a letter from Biden to Griner was delivered to her.

The next step in this dance will be her formal conviction and sentencing, after which (presumably) the real back-channel negotiations will begin to see when she will come home and for whom she’ll be exchanged.