Whammo for Damo but time for Gliddon to glitter
TweetTRAGICALLY for Damian Martin, he ran out of time.
One of the NBL’s most popular players - arguably the ONLY popular Wildcat outside of Perth – Martin’s withdrawal today from the Oceania Series was just about getting his calf strain rehabilitated in time.
By early this morning, Damo knew the Boomers' medical staff would be ruling him out when he was unable to walk pain-free.
The SOS went out to Cairns Taipans captain Cameron Gliddon, who was part of the original 24-man squad, and now, fingers crossed no-one else goes down before tip-off at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday.
It is another blow for Damo (pictured above in the beloved green-and-gold), whose international career has had its share of ups and downs since he partnered Andrew Bogut, Brad Newley and a few other notables such as Matt Knight and Rhys Carter on Australia’s 2003 FIBA World Under-19 Gold Medal-winning team in Greece.
The NBL’s regular Best Defensive Player award winner, his breath-taking play for the Wildcats against Adelaide 36ers at Titanium Security Arena during a 2013-14 regular season game still sends shivers for its sheer tenacity and athleticism.
For mine, it was the NBL’s Play of the Year, a flying rejection of a Gary Ervin fast-break basket, then a horizontal leaping second-effort to keep the loose ball from going out of court, slapping it instead to a teammate.
Even hardened 36ers’ fans – who can only see red whenever Perth comes to town – begrudgingly acknowledged it was one hell of a play.
The door is ajar now for Gliddon to seize his opportunity in front of 15,000 at Rod Laver Arena.
And it will be interesting to see if Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare follows his mind game of earlier in the week – “will Patty Mills' late inclusion upset the Boomers’ chemistry” – by asking the same question of Gliddon’s presence?
Online
News Corp on Cammy in, Damo out: http://bit.ly/1PlYaly