Here is the NBL news from around the traps. Happy Australia Day to everyone, as I enjoy a warm ale in cold England.
Deba shows them how to dunk: “Deba George sealed a second consecutive All Star dunk title when he soared over his teammate’s head to slam the ball down and register a perfect score from tournament judges.”
Rob Rose thinks 48 minutes is the go: ”You go to games where it’s 73-59, it’s kind of hard to take,” he said.
”For me, I never understood why they went to 40 minutes and five fouls for guys. For 30 years it’s been 48 minutes and guys had six fouls.
”I think it’s a little bit nutty and I really don’t get it.
”I know they’re doing some FIBA thing, I know they say change is good but I don’t know if this change is good.
”It’s a little bit boring at times . . . 73-59 – that’s a halftime score.”
”It doesn’t make it as exciting for the fans, something needs to be done.”
Can’t Buy A Basket weekly recap: “If Melbourne want to make the post season they really need to win every game from here on. Are the capable of it? Yes. Will they do it? We aren’t so sure. There are other teams looking on closing in on fourth place, all of them with more wins at the moment.”
“Julius ‘Sir Talks-a-lot’ Hodge we present you with the following sportsmanship award for you to place beside all your others in your trophy cabinet…. Next to all your championship rings maybe..?”
“But, this week the award Kirk Penney reigns supreme… or is that rains supreme? Dude was dropping bombs out there like it was raining. In 34 minutes of action Captain Kirk dropped 49 points shooting 16 form 23 points from the field including nine from fifteen from down town whilst making 8 from 11q from the charity stripe. Kirk even managed time to dish 4 dimes, steal the ball twice and grab 4 boards.
Kirk, your surname has been upgraded from Penney to Dollar.”
The BBall Scoop: ““Hey, look, there’s that fat guy from Neighbours!” Vertannes proudly exclaimed to his friends Alex Rice and Joseph Black, both new to the sport. “He’s the one stuffing his face with pie.”
Hoops Pro Stats (NBL): There is a new NBL stats site on the scene and it looks the goods. It’s incomplete in some parts at this stage, but it looks like it has a wide array of stuff, including shot charts. Nice. (via hoops.com.au)
