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Monday meanderings
TweetCOME on now. "Fans" cannot already be seriously dismissing the chances of NBL teams on the basis of half-baked, half-lineup preseason games or "exceptional recruiting."
Yes, Melbourne Tigers, with about seven of their main rotation, picked up a couple of preseason wins over the Kings in NSW at the weekend but ... newsflash!! ... Sydney had a few key pieces missing also.
And we are still 5-6 weeks out from 2013-14 tip-off.
Newsflash #2. Don't think for a second that games in 2013-14 are going to resemble the past five years of dour defensive scragging and other illegal BS designed to "win ugly".
"Winning ugly" has become the old NBL's catch-phrase and the reason our elite basketball has been unable to capture the non-committed imagination - Perth and Vector Arenas exempted. (Not from the crime of playing ugly basketball - the Wildcat and Breaker pugilists are as guilty as hell - but they have still pulled crowds.
This year though, spectacular action will be pulling crowds because the NBL is completely committed to providing ENTERTAINMENT. So yeah, read what you want into the Tigers-Kings double but this year the game won't be resembling the show they put on.
By the time the Loggins-Bruton Cup Preseason Blitz is underway, teams will be adjusting to the game returning to basketball. You know, where it's about defence having to bust its butt to get into good position, not with hands on offensive players' hips, or with officials turning blind eyes to guys being held in bear-hugs before they attempt to lead to a wing.
Double-teams will need to be clean - you know, essentially they will have to be legal - so no defensive slapping, holding ... all the shite we have steadily been desensitised to while potential new fans stay away in droves.
I remember a time when you had to be "centimetre-perfect" defensively to get the benefit of taking a charge - try dead centre of the chest - and moving screens were an automatic foul.
So say sayonara to half-a$$ed flops and leg stick-outs drawing offensive fouls.
Every indication is those days are done-and-dastardly.
Finesse and fundamentals, not manhandling and thuggery will rule the day/night.
It will no longer be a case of pushing the legal boundaries but a case of "adjust or perish".
Until the Blitz, don't read too much into any games. And even at the Blitz, stay grounded. Last year the 36ers looked pretty good at the PreSeaSon Tournament and most projected the Kings coming last.
But check last season's results and you will find the Sixers were in the bomb shelter and Sydney playing finals.
And a quick word about the terrific imports the clubs have been introducing.
Not all of them will live up to their advance billing. No, none of them look anything like Scott Christopherson but some may find the transition here doesn't suit their game. Or homesickness will creep in. Or any of a zillion other reasons players don't work out.
Remember. When was the last time your club brought in an import and announced breathlessly: "Hey fans. We think we have found ourselves a terrific high-priced dud! Yee-har!"
Never.
Everyone hopes the guy(s) they have signed will be the next league MVP ... and you know how that works out.
The great thing though is just how much interest is being generated in the basketball community already. Can hardly wait for the Loggins-Bruton Cup to get underway, to be honest.
BRENDAN Teys got a Boomers invite this year and an NBL contract with the 36ers.
By anyone's reckoning, it's been a good couple of months for the Brisbane backcourter as we discussed today for NewsLtd at: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/new-adelaide-36ers-guard-brendan-teys-ready-to-step-up-to-the-next-level/story-fnii09ki-1226709329200
PERTH Wildcats have their eyes firmly on a sixth NBL championship and breaking the Breakers' deadlock if today's second import signing is anything to go by.
Trevor Gleeson's inaugural roster is still not fully finalised but signing Kevin Lisch-replacement Jermaine Beal means the bulk of the main rotation is in.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/wildcats-sign-vanderbilt-university-guard-jermaine-beal-to-partner-nba8217s-james-ennis-in-the-quest-for-perth8217s-sixth-nbl-championship/story-fnii0apz-1226709131080 It looks fairly formidable.
CONGRATULATIONS to Forestville Eagles men's SBL coach and former NBL guard Andrew Simons on yet another championship triumph.
Beating West Adelaide Bearcats 81-73 in Saturday's Grand Final at Adelaide Arena made it three championships in succession for the Eagles and five for Simons as head coach since 2003.
They also have contested the decider eight times since 2002.
Possibly the best news is though that this year, Eagles centre Neil Mottram had a genuine chance to celebrate instead of finishing in hospital as he did 12 months ago.
NORWOOD also went back-to-back with a rare women's 'clean sweep' of its 20-game season.
Simon Pritchard's loaded team was only genuinely threatened by North for a half, its depth and efficient execution leaving the Rockets very much grounded.
MELBOURNE Boomers’ London Olympian Rachael Jarry scored a WNBA career-high 14 points today as Minnesota routed Seattle 97-74 in Minnesota.
Jarry’s performance though got a little lost in Maya Moore’s first-half effort which saw her on fire for 25 points.
Moore finished with 30 points on 12-for-15 shooting, in a second half where everyone else joined in - including the Lynx bench.
“We want teams to understand they're going to have to play really well to come in here and beat us,” coach Cheryl Reeve said ahead of Thursday’s match-up with Los Angeles Sparks.
Moore, with a career-high 35 points in her previous home game, wasn't the whole story.
Seimone Augustus had 16 points, Dandenong’s championship import Monica Wright had 14 points and seven assists, and Jarry’s 14 points came on a wicked 5-of-6 shooting.
She also dished three assists, the Lynx bench scoring 31 points.
Augustus warmed up in the third quarter when she and Jarry helped lead a 19-5 run that turned a relatively close game into a route.
The Western Conference Player of the week after her 35-point game, in her past two home matches, Moore has scored 65 points on 27-for-36 shooting, building her MVP resume.
