We’ve never made it a secret at A Stern Warning that Patty Mills is a favourite here — it’s been that way since the beginning. So of course, any Patty Cakes news, we feed it to you.
There’s a nice little piece in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, where Patty talks “in his own words” about his career to date and the challenges that face him. More than anything, I guess it’s a way to let the broader Australian public know who he is, particularly for those non-hardcore basketball fans who may not be acquainted with one of our greatest Boomers.
Mills talks about his progression from childhood dreams, to the AIS, to St Marys and ultimately to the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers. There is even a call out there to his good mate Rudy Fernandez and the “three goggles” signal they created that has become so popular.
Patty points out that the Aussie Boomers are currently in camp, preparing to take on New Zealand in a three game Oceania qualifying series, which is vitally important for them to gain a spot in the 2012 London Olympics. Tickets have just gone on sale for the three games, to be played in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in September — so grab them quickly (more here on that series to come soon).
As the NBA Lockout continues to appear likely to progress into the scheduled season start, many players have looked to non-US based options to continue to play basketball in 2011-12. For his part, Mills has made it clear that he intends to play somewhere, whether that be in Europe, or possibly back home in Australia. This has obviously piqued the interest of many NBL clubs, with the likes of Wollongong and Adelaide being touted as possible destinations for the highly-sought after speedy guard. Only time will tell if Mills would truly consider a trip home over the riches that come with Euro contracts.
