Basketball On The Internet.

JOE Ingles could not be more delighted Patty Mills “stole the limelight” as his San Antonio Spurs last week emphatically clinched the NBA Championship 4-1 from Miami Heat.

Mills, Ingles’ Boomers teammate at Olympic Games in Beijing and London rightly captured nationwide and even international attention for his outstanding exploits in what turned out to be the series clinching Game 5 win of the best-of-seven series.

“Just the circumstances of the game, the series, what Patty did in taking that game, he really broke it open,” Ingles said.

“It wasn’t only Patty – Manu Ginobili was great – but what Patty did was pretty special and he deserves all the limelight and I’m happy for him to have it.

“I was rapt for him.”

Triple crown

In any other year, Adelaide-born Ingles, 26, would have been feted in the basketball community for his own outstanding international season, sweeping the triple-crown of the Israeli Cup, the Euroleague Championship and the Israeli Championship with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The Euroleague only rates behind the NBA in prestige.

“I said it in my first interview in Israel that I thought we had a team which could win everything,” Ingles said.

His words proved to be prophetic and anything but false bravado.

“After my time at Barca, I just thought that situation at Maccabi would be ideal. I wanted to go somewhere and play and be a big part of it,” Ingles said.

Maccabi and Ingles was a match made in heaven, initially at least.

Coach David Blatt, who had heavily recruited Ingles, cut into his court-time as the season wore on.

But in true Aussie team spirit, when your club is achieving success, you play your role in that, however lean it may become.

“We had a pretty special year and I didn’t want my (lack of) court-time to become any sort of distraction,” Ingles said.

“We (Ingles and Blatt) got along fine and during the last off-season, he was pushing me to join him at Maccabi.

“Maybe I should have taken the Memphis (NBA) deal but I don’t regret going to Maccabi.

“It was a great year to be part of and a pretty special one with what we achieved.”

The Grizzlies had offered Ingles a one-year guaranteed contract with a team option for the second year.

But Maccabi Tel Aviv was more attractive with the chance to be a contributor and also for the life experience.

Ingles conceded that with his court-time falling away, the decision may have hurt his longer term prospects of playing in The Show.

“I’ve never played NBA and I won’t retire disappointed if I don’t,” he said.

“At the same time, if an opportunity comes, I’d love to do it.”

Blatt at Cavs

It’s just not the be-all and end-all for the Euroleague champion.

Blatt, who first caught my eye during a time-out at the London Olympics where he was coaching Russia – he chewed out two of his players for having a private convo while he was addressing the team and benched the pair – has since been appointed coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I was a little bit surprised (by the appointment) but not at all because of his ability,” Ingles said.

“I just don’t recall a coach coming from Europe to (head) coach in the NBA before.

“Guys from Europe have gone into NBA programs but this might be the first time someone coaching in Europe has been appointed to coach an NBA team.”

It means Blatt will run into another Aussie Olympian in Matthew Dellavedova.

“Delly worked his arse off to make that team,” Ingles said.

“Mike Brown (the coach the Cavs axed in the off-season) loved him.

“Blatt is a very defensive-minded coach but Delly is one of those guys everyone who coaches him will love because of his work ethic.

“His work ethic is probably one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

NBL Marquee Player

Once again a free agent, Ingles is uncertain what the future may hold and “Europe is still up there.”

But he admits the NBL’s new marquee player rules have tweaked his interest.

He has even had a nibble already and not from the West.

“I’m definitely more interested in coming home now,” he admitted.

“I left five years ago and I love it over there; the competition is great and financially it really sets you up.

“But the other side of it is the long season, the grind on your body.

“It feels like I’ve played 15 years.”

Being away from his family and friends also has started to get old.

Not that he is ruling out playing overseas by any means. It is just he is now starting to look more favourably at returning.

Girlfriend Renae Hallinan has evolved into a netball superstar since joining Adelaide Thunderbirds and there’s nothing like watching The Footy Show live.

Home currently in Adelaide, last weekend was another whirlwind for him, starting out with watching his cousin playing Under-10s for his junior club Southern Tigers.

“Then I got on a plane after the game to Melbourne,” he said.

He caught up with Olympic teammate Mark Worthington at the footy, watching as his beloved Hawthorn iced Collingwood, much to the dismay of Magpies fan Dellavedova.

T-birds a good choice

Then it was on to the ANZ Netball Championship Grand Final with Renae.

“She has really done exceptionally well playing with the Thunderbirds,” Ingles said.

“Renae needed a change from Melbourne and I remember the first day we met (Adelaide Thunderbirds coach) Jane Woodlands-Thompson.

“After listening to Jane speak, Renae was like: ‘I’m coming here’.”

But that doesn’t mean Ingles has any plans to play NBL for Adelaide 36ers.

Not yet, anyway.

“Just playing back in Australia means we wouldn’t be that far apart, wherever I was playing,” he said.

“But I do plan to play for Adelaide one day.”

In the meantime, he is enjoying the bet he won with Dellavedova over the AFL clash which has meant Delly this week has had to run the Hawthorn club logo as his Twitter avatar.

“Delly had a bet with Gibbo (Adam Gibson) too and he now has to sing the Hawthorn club song,” Ingles said.

“I think he has to do it on youtube or something so we can see it.”

Hawks rule AFL

Ingles became a devout Hawthorn fan when he moved to Melbourne to play NBL with South Dragons at the same time as his good friend Luke McEntee was drafted by the Hawks.

“I also knew Roughie (Jarryd Roughhead) really well,” Ingles said.

“He was a Vic Country junior.”

But clearly, the camaraderie between the men who stared down Russia at the London Olympics is as resolute as ever.

Ingles and Mills were the pick of the Boomers in 2012, the latter leading all scorers at the Games with 21.2ppg.

“London was a terrific tournament,” Ingles said of his second Olympics.

“Patty and I felt unstoppable in that tournament.”

Never one to play an individual style – Ingles says that even hampered him in Israel – he is looking forward to the new Boomers under Andrej Lemanis.

“Coming from Spain to Maccabi, it was team offence and team defence,” he said.

“In Israel, we were playing switching and isolation stuff and I’m never going to beat people down with a hundred crossovers.

“That’s not my style.”

The Boomers systems are more to his liking, and he is promising to leave everything out on the court at the World Cup in Spain.

“Our (Australian) team has definitely changed but even in London, we thought we were on the right track.

“London was going to be a tough one to medal at but (coach) Brett (Brown) had a style and now Andrej has added his own touch.”

World Cup dais

Australia has drawn Slovenia, Lithuania, Mexico, Korea and Angola in Pool D for intragroup play in the Canary Islands.

It’s not a picnic by any stretch but it also isn’t impossible the Boomers – if the stars align – could win the group.

It’s still a longshot but it’s a shot. (And we have all seen the car get won at halftime by some lucky shmuck.)

“We definitely had some luck with our group but Slovenia and Lithuania will be tough,” Ingles said.

“But I’m very excited about it.

“These are exciting times with someone like Dante (Exum) coming through and every one (of the pro players) comes in from situations where they have been playing and playing well.”

So the European hat-trick wasn’t enough?

Ingles still has another “high” in mind for 2014?

“We’re going there to medal,” he said.

“We’re not afraid to say it.

“We want Australia to know and we want the world to know.”

 

TOMORROW: Go back to the last century as the 36ers find life tough at The Swamp in Townsville.