Last night Owen, Ollie, and I attended the Adriatic Basketball Association game between our favorite Red Star and Budućnost of Montenegro. It was an important game for both teams as they are in 7th and 6th place in the league standings respectively.

The superior guard play of Montenegrins and the weak defense of Red Star contributed to the 88-77 win by Budućnost. I was very impressed with the backcourt tandem of Goran Jeretin (26 points) and Nikola Otasevic (a 6 foot guard who can reverse dunk). They really controlled the game. Red Star did make a run and tied the game with 4 minutes left in the third quarter at 56 apiece behind a couple of nice plays by Red Star import Mike Taylor.

Budućnost pulled away from that point outscoring Red Star 32-21 the rest of the way. Red Star has several problems. Number one is they don’t play defense with intensity. The two guards for the Montenegrins kept penetrating and passing effectively the whole game. Second, Red Star has no guards and play makers. The team is heavy on tall, stiffs with few ball skills. Our favorite player, Vladimir Štimac played little and was constantly being yelled at by the coach. I would find a new coach ASAP if I was Red Star management. I would also find a slasher/scorer at the 2 or 3 position as well as a solid point guard.

We got to stay for the whole game. Ollie most loved the popcorn and running around the stadium. It is a great night out for the kids. I bought a ticket for 200 RSD ($3) , the kids were free, and the boys had popcorn and pop for another 200 RSD. The crowd was enthusiastic, but not violent or rude. Serbians love basketball (košarka) and play it well. Serbs are a tall, athletic race in general, and it shows with the quality of basketball. There are many Serbs in the NBA and US universities. They also play all over Europe and Partizan, the defending champion of the NBL, went far in the Euroleague Basketball last season.

We also had a final day in the snow. The weather was above freezing yesterday and much of the snow melted. We took advantage of the snow again yesterday morning, and went to Banavo Brdo (Ban’s Hill) a suburb of Belgrade. They have a big sledding hill and boys loved it. I promised no more snow videos or pictures but I couldn’t resist. Here is Owen heading down Ban’s Hill. As I update this late on Wednesday evening, the snow is almost gone.

Yo ballers, what up?  Let us know who your pick is for the Hops Sportswear Round 12 Player of the Week and you could win a FREE pair of Hops Basketball or Streetwear shoes.

All you need to do is a “Leave a Comment” here and include your name, your Round 12 Player of the Week pick and why they deserve your vote and we will announce the winner on Friday December 18th episode of ‘Inside the Game’ from 6-7pm (CST) on AustraliaLiveTV.com.

You have up until 6pm Friday (CST) to enter.

I realize that this may be difficult to do….especially after Bodacious Boti’s blistering article today, but may I quote a prominent figure in the African-American community; “Keep Hope Alive”!

There’s a lot of basketball yet to be played.  The Sixers are 7-8, New Zealand 8-8, Wollongong 9-5, Gold Coast 9-6, Perth 9-6 and Townsville 9-8.  That’s only two games out of the top 4 people!

You cannot predict when and if a team will suddenly CLICK!  It can happen that fast and we all know that the Sixers haven’t ’CLICKED’ yet.  Why, well I have my suspicions but hey, they’re not the only team in the league who hasn’t!

Next up, Gold Coast, then back-to-back Perth games, throw in the Gong, PERTH AGAIN (great piece of scheduling), then the ‘giant killing’ Taipans!  Whew!  Not easy but what has been this season?

Gold Coast are coming into town like the ‘Young Guns’, with loads of fire-power, swagger and confidence on the back of the NBL’s longest current winning streak at 5 games.  They lost to the Sixers in Round 7 by 3 points after a huge road win in Kiwi-Land and now it’s payback time!

The Sixers are wounded and you better believe the Blaze smell blood!

Bodacious Boti declared that the Sixers could be 10-5 if Burston was healthy earlier and hadn’t missed so much playing time and I would have to agree.  But…..every team is dealing with some type of adversity!  Get behind your team, for better or for worse!  I know that all of you want the Sixers to play to their potential and kick ass, but you really need to check yourselves about how you personally go about supporting your team.

You hired Ninny and his staff to do a job…….let them do it!  You signed Gilchrist and Groves to put in work, let them do it!

At the end of the day if people aren’t doing their jobs, than do what has to be done.  But in the meantime, support your bloody team!  I don’t think the negative stress and pressure that we  put our boys under is conducive to their performances!  Do you?  And don’t give me that ‘BULLSHIT’ about how I just want the Sixers to win!

If there’s one thing I learned from Phil and S.J. (and I learned many) , it’s the importance of staying positive, staying together and supporting one another.  Make no mistake about it, YOU have an enormous impact on the psych and performance of your Sixers!

Use it, but STOP abusing it.  One day, that may be your kid, your brother, your boyfriend or mate down there and lets see how it feels then.  You’re sitting there watching the game and the guy(s) two rows behind you is bagging the ’living shit’ out of your baby-boy or your pookie!

For example, don’t fricking groan every time Cooper touches the ball or takes a shot.  This guy is one of the smartest, most unselfish and hardest working guys in the league!   What he brings to the table doesn’t always make it to the stat sheets.  Get behind him and watch his play improve!

Am I saying to accept or embrace mediocrity, HELL NO!  But what I am saying is if your kid underachieves, lacks a bit of direction or fortitude or evens comes home after doing something mind-blowingly dumb……do you give up on them?  Or do you continue to support them?

The dictionary on my iphone defines the term ‘Support’ (noun) as ”something providing immaterial assistance to a person or cause or interest”.  E.g. “the team enjoyed the support of their fans”!

It pains me to say this…………….but I can no longer in good faith claim that the Adelaide 36ers have the BEST & most SUPPORTIVE fans in the NBL!

NO, well prove it!  Wednesday night sounds good to me!

Yours truly,

‘Pissed-off to the highest point of Pisstivity’!

D.U.B.

Yo, what up ballers?  If you didn’t see Friday’s episode of Inside the Game, damn you missed a good one!

Our show opener, for starters, was quite unique……..than again, most of you have already seen it!

We covered the latest haps in the NBL’s Round 11 and Round 12 mid-week results.  Congratulated the Fresh Prince on his POTW nomination.  Announced Daniel Eade as the winner of the first Hops Sportswear POTW Fan Award, (Double Whooo-Hahhh).

Respects were paid to one of the NBL’s greats, David Colbert.

We interviewed the NBL’s General Manager, Chuck Harmison as promised and Mazzee had more than a few questions for him.  We even passed on a few questions to Chuck from you, our fans…..so thanks for the emails and tweets!!  Keep’em coming!

As for our tips of the week….well let’s just say we sucked!!  I’m about to start choosing winners by the color of their uniforms…..that’s what the chicks do and it seems to work for them.

The Blaze’s Anthony ‘Peach’ Petrie joined us on ITG and we advised him of a new and exciting career path after basketball  including a quite flattering photo of what he might look like in 10 years (hilarious).

We covered the Round 11 results in the WNBL, congrats to Liz Cambage, Suzy Batkovic-Brown and Karen Dalton (Whooo-Hahhh) on their POTW and Player & Coach of the Month nominations.

And last but certainly not least, we recognized Basketball Australia CEO Larry Sengstock, NBL Legend Leapin Leroy Loggins, Sandy Brondello and Brian Kerle on their induction into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.  Whooo-Hahhh!

Check it out for yourself, why don’t cha!

At the only place for free, live interactive internet tv (whew!)………….AustraliaLiveTV.com, where else!!

Holla,

Down Unda Brotha

National Basketball League Round 11

Yo ballers, what up?  Let us know who your pick is for the Hops Sportswear Round 11 Player of the Week and you could win a FREE pair of Hops Basketball or Streetwear shoes.

All you need to do is a “Leave a Comment” here and include your name, your Round 11 Player of the Week pick and why they deserve your vote and we will announce the winner on tonights episode of ‘Inside the Game’ from 6-7pm on Australialivetv.com. 

You have up until 6pm today (Adelaide time) to enter. 

Holla!

Yo ballers, sorry but no!  I do not think that Hodge should have been and Chuck Harmison and the NBL got this one right!  Now…..I’ve already stated for the record how I felt about Hodge’s behavior, however, in my opinion it did not warrant a fine or suspension by the NBL.

If anyone was going to be fined and/or suspended…..I thought that it might have been Fitzy or a few fans.  But I don’t think that will happen either.

Now, I’m well aware how many of you devout Brettholics feel about what took place Saturday night and I’m also aware of how Brett feels himself, and admittedly there are at least two occasions during our playing days when I actually witnessed Mazzee ‘walk on water’, but nevertheless, Hodge did not strike or spit on Brett, an official, any of the Sixers, nor any fan(s).

Ok KB, did he or did he not bring the game into disrepute?  And if he did…..why isn’t that a punishable offence?  Now that’s the ‘million dollar’ question!  Lets see, the dictionary defines disreputable, as “lacking respectability in character or behavior or appearance”.

Ummm, GUILTY!  But it still doesn’t command a fine and/or suspension!  Than what does?  (See above paragraph)

I don’t think the league really had a leg to stand on because Chuck stated it clearly, “Whilst it is clear that Hodge’s actions on Saturday night were ill-conceived and juvenile, we do not consider them to be a breach of the AFL’s Code of Conduct”.  Oops, my bad, he would have gotten two-games easy in footy if not more, but we’re talking about the NBL’s Code of Conduct and that’s obviously a bit different.

Yo, you didn’t know that I could read minds, did you……well I can!  “Well for the love of Pete, why don’t the NBL rewrite their damn Codes of Conduct and bring them up to the level of the AFL?”

Maybe they will, but let’s say that the NBL did fine and/or suspend Hodge.  Could they have been sued for enforcing that which does not exist in their own codes?

Or did the NBL simply not have the BALLS?  I mean they did just fine Seamus McPeake $15,000, suspended the Tigers court announcer for two games and fined both the Wildcats and the Blaze $1500 each.  So I just can’t see them passing up another opportunity to add to their end of the season, ‘How To Be A Player Fund’!!  Which by the way, Tiger has invested heavily in!

You tell me?

Klutch-man

P.S. Sorry Woo, I couldn’t resist.  Rule #1…..don’t text or leave messages on the fricking answering machines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On last week’s show, former Adelaide 36er Brad Davidson joined Kevin Brooks and Brett Maher in studio to talk about his controversial remarks made on his blog about former teammate and current Melbourne Tigers player Julius Hodge.

Also on the show, Tim Keeble, sport writer at the Illawarra Mercury talked about whether the Wollongong Hawks have what it takes to be in the top 4.

The boys also discussed the performances of Aussies abroad including Houston Rockets player David Andersen and Portland Trail Blazers player Patty Mills. As well as the latest results from the National Basketball League and the Women’s National Basketball League, KB and Marzy’s Tips of the Week, Scoozi Cafe’s Player Spotlight of the Week and new segment NBL & WNBL Headline News.

KB and Marzy also gave a shout out to Detroit Pistons player Allen Iverson who recently retired from the NBA after 13 seasons.

Watch the show anytime at AustraliaLiveTV.com.

Watch last week’s show whenever it suits you at http://www.AustraliaLiveTV.com/InsidetheGame.

Guests included:

• Pat Tilden a Referee Manager for the NBL and the WNBL who spoke to the boys about how they put the referees through fitness tests to ensure they are at a level to be able to referee the matches.

• Dr Creig Christensen and Damien Maynard from the Fast Twitch Training Centres joined the boys on set to talk about their style of training athletes.

Regular Features included:

• All thats happening in the NBL

• Injury Bug report from the  NBL

• KB and Marzys’ tips for the NBL and WNBL

• WNBL Round 7 results and Round 8 fixtures

• Scoozi Cafes’ Player Spotlight Ashley Arnott

• Mail Time

• Last Second Shots

While the relationship between sport and television is typically a reciprocal one, it is the broadcast networks that usually wear the pants.

Sporting bodies around the world are pressured into scheduling games at the behest of their broadcast partner’s demands, with the lure of rights fees and advertising exposure usurping the convenience of those who still like to sit in the stands.

In the National Basketball League’s case, the Wednesday night timeslot on Fox Sports has been a necessary evil. Necessary because it allows the league to escape the competition of other summer sports such as soccer, evil because a mid-week clash is hardly family-friendly during the chunk of the season before and after school holidays.

It’s also particularly evil for those in Queensland, who have been expected to be in their seats by 6.30pm so Fox can maintain its regular 7.30pm timeslot in New South Wales and Victoria. The effect that this can have on attendances was evident in the Round Eight meeting between Cairns and Townsville. While no official crowd figure was given, the number of empty seats was embarrassing for a FNQ Derby which could have sold out the convention centre had it been played on a weekend.

It is appears, however, that common sense has prevailed. Just weeks after the Gold Coast Blaze happily announced that Fox had agreed to push back their remaining Wednesday night games to 7.30pm local time, the Townsville Crocs have struck a similar deal. This is a win-win situation. Fans now have ample opportunity to be in their seats by tip-off, while a larger crowd makes for an enhanced atmosphere and television product for the broadcaster.

This decision bucks the aforementioned trend of networks wielding their power to the detriment of fans, and symbolises a gradual turning point in Fox’s treatment of the NBL. The number of games being shown this year is a significant improvement on last season’s coverage, which didn’t commence until Round Six and included just one live game each week.

There has also been the introduction of regular “every second counts” promos filmed during the pre-season tournament in Darwin, and the decision to replace Steve Carfino with football commentators Brian Taylor and Dwayne Russell has assisted the league in its efforts to “Australianise” the product. Taylor’s wittiness has proven incredibly popular in the AFL and will attract the curiosity of mainstream viewers, although his lack of research and occasional inaccuracies must make some purists cringe.

Fox’s relationship with the NBL still has plenty of room for improvement, however, as all basketball fans will realise on Saturday 5 December. That’s when Melbourne Tigers recruit Julius Hodge makes his much-anticipated return to the Distinctive Homes Dome after walking out on Adelaide last season due to a pay dispute. Sixers fans are known for their passion and hostility at the best of times, meaning Hodge’s reception will make for a compelling spectacle in front of what will surely be a near-capacity crowd.

Compelling for those that can see it, at least.

As it stands now, the clash will only be shown on Rivus TV, a pay-per-view streaming service marred by technical difficulties.

The NBL should have done everything in its power to ensure this game would be accessible to the masses. If Fox refused to increase its broadcast schedule on economic grounds, the league could have asked to swap a future Saturday night broadcast for next week’s showdown. For example, the January 16 clash between Perth and Cairns is hardly going to have fans salivating in their living rooms and could have been sacrificed for the good of the game.

Instead, the only thing being sacrificed is another opportunity to showcase the best the NBL has to offer to a national audience.

Despite Fox’s improvements, it remains an all-too familiar story of neglect for Australian hoops fans.

Fox Sports' improved coverage has been a pleasant surprise, unlike the surprise Shane Heal received when he commentated a recent Snakes game.

By ASHLEY BROWNE

Clive Palmer is showing early signs of being as clueless about the sports business as another well known Gold Coast businessman, Christopher Skase.

Palmer wants to cap home game attendances at Skilled Park for his Gold Coast United A-League team at 5000 people because he wants to save $100,000 in operating costs. This from a bloke reportedly worth a lazy $5.5 billion.

It led to a virtual boycott of the side from Gold Coast fans last Saturday night with just 2616 people attending the 2-0 loss to North Queensland Fury. It made for a shocking spectacle on TV, with all the fans on the same side of the stadium as the TV cameras, meaning empty stands for those of us watching at home.

Wonder what Robbie Fowler, the Fury skipper and former EPL star, used to massive crowds at Anfield, Old Trafford and Wembley, made of all this?

Palmer is now at loggerheads with the league and in particular, A-League boss Archie Fraser, who as his time at St Kilda would attest, is a gruff Scot who is never backwards in coming forward. This battle of wills will be intriguing.

Palmer’s sporting naivete reminds us of Skase, the disgraced (and now dead) former Qintex boss, who ran the Brisbane Bears shortly after their creation and entry into what was then the VFL. Together with Paul Cronin, one decision was made after another in the early days of the Bears to the stage where beleaguered coach Peter Knights was being told who to play in the side. It was a circus and the poor decisions at start-up were still hurting the club close to a decade later.

If Palmer thinks that the embarrassing TV pictures from Saturday night show his club and his sport in a good light, then we would have to question whether he is smart enough to run a major sporting team.

Thankfully for Gold Coast sports fans, the NRL’s Titans are in better hands, as is the fledgling AFL club, whose first competition match is a little more than a year away.

And while on the subject of summer sports leagues, we were also intrigued by some news footage of last week’s Melbourne-Gold Coast NBL clash. Unlike the soccer, there was a large enough crowd in the attendance, but the TV footage looked as though it had been shot by an iPhone. Once again, not a particularly good look.

After a ferry ride from CT to Long Island we pulled into the hotel friday night around 8:30, and were up for 7 a.m. practice saturday morning. The track was  loooong and Renato went down in a gust of wind over the double on the first straight in practice and was pretty banged up. Brian had a rough day with a 5th in the regional championship. After sitting around for what seemed like all day, Renato came back after his hard fall and pulled a 1st and 3rd in the 2 moto transfer system the NBL was using for the regional race. In the main he had a good gate and first straight and did the best he could with the long track and crossed the line with a 4th place. Not bad.

Watch Cartel team rider Jose Catano win his 19-25 Expert semi at 4:51 and team riders Renato Da Silva and Brian Santos in 3rd and 4th in their 26-34 expert semi at 4:07.

The National Basketball League’s publicity machine has been in overdrive during the early part of season 2009/10, churning out press releases in the hope of repairing the sport’s battered image. First to arrive in the inbox was a release titled “BA chief hails NBL rule changes as a success”, in which Larry Sengstock credited the new ten-minute quarters and limit of five fouls per player as the reason for closer games. That theory has since been blown out of the water by a spate of shellackings, including Adelaide’s 37-point whitewash over Cairns last Saturday night. Nevertheless, the propaganda didn’t stop there, with the league’s PR man, Marc Howard, using the result of an online poll to declare: “Fans give NBL’s summer season thumbs-up”, after 80 per cent of respondents voted in favour of the current September-March timeslot.

One story which hasn’t been spun out of Coward Street, however, is perhaps the most heart-warming narrative that Australian sport currently has to offer. It’s a story which script-writers can only dream of and doomsayers say will never happen. It’s the story of the Wollongong Hawks. The league’s only remaining foundation club was dead and buried at the conclusion of last season, as 5,674 fans packed the WIN Entertainment Centre on February 13th 2009 to farewell a team which many of them had deserted. While the Hawks’ obituary had been written, an important precedent was being set in North Queensland. The folk of Cairns were opening their wallets to save the Taipans, who were also knocking on heaven’s door after big-spending owner John O’Brien decided to pull the pin.

Clearly inspired by the goodwill and generosity which had been generated by the Save the Taipans group, Hawks skipper Mat Campbell embarked on a similar campaign, in which the club would seek $500,000 in public donations and a $1m bank guarantee from a benefactor to remain in the league under community ownership. A band named Grinspoon will tell you “It’s hardly a comeback if you’ve never gone,” and, as it turned out, the Hawks were never gone. The team meant too much to the Illawarra region to collapse after 31 years of existence, and when mining magnate Arun Jagatramka answered an 11^th hour plea from Campbell to offer the guarantee, the Hawks had done Lazarus proud and risen from the ashes.

Don’t roll the credits just yet though, the fairytale hasn’t quite finished.  Even the most ardent Hawks supporter wouldn’t have been getting too excited about their team’s prospects this season. A shoestring budget means they are paying about 75 per cent of the salary cap, and names such as Dave Gruber, Rhys Martin and Tim Coenraad are hardly going to have opposition coaches shaking in their boots. The Top End Challenge in Darwin suggested otherwise, with the Hawks upsetting New Zealand to claim the inaugural pre-season title, but this was surely a fluke, onlookers thought. The onlookers clearly didn’t read the script, however, for the Hawks have continued their merry ways with four wins from their first five games to sit at the league’s summit.  

Crowds have been impressive, too, with the current average of 3,528 marking a whopping 40 per cent increase on last season’s figures. The front-office has done an excellent job of maintaining the buzz through innovatory use of social networking tools and high definition highlight videos (embedded below), while the Illawarra Mercury has heavily promoted star import Tywain McKee and his battles with opposition guards CJ Bruton and Corey Williams.  Therefore, enough promotional work is being done to keep the locals entertained in the event that the team’s on-court performances begin to decline. However, that’s an event sentimentalists would rather not contemplate, for the fairytale may still have another chapter to offer. 

Let’s just hope the league tells the world all about it.

A small Cartel crew will be at Shoreham BMX on Long Island, NY for the regional championship this weekend 10/31-11/1.

Check back for updates/results.

“Professional Athletes or Professional Embarrassments” The underbelly of “Professional Athletes” and what most Americans really think. From the “RoRo Raw Show” in West LA. (a Maximus-T Production)

Note: the views expressed are strictly those of the commentator and as such are protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. GO USA!!!

Last year I went to North Bound Leather’s yearly fashion/goth/fetish show and it awesome!

This year, I get to be in the show, called Tribe! They’ve made me a custom, one of a kind leather trench coat and I get to be a vampire along with a few others for one of the scenes on stage.  The show is this Sat Oct 24th and I’m so excited. This is Toronto’s largest show of this kind.

I will likely pick up the coat in lieu of payment (as well as the pants). It’s nice and tailored specifically to me, is floor length and is quite fitted. Other then that the design is pretty straight forward and clean with one buckle in the back.

When and if I can get pics, I’ll post em!

Exciting!

Tribe: http://www.northbound.com/index.php?target=pages&page_id=tribe

Basketball Australia is set to fire a salvo in the fight for Australia’s top sporting young guns with the introduction of a national development league.

The governing body met this week to thrash out plans for the new competition, aimed at providing a clear pathway for talented players currently being lured to other sports.

While BA high performance manager Wayne Carroll remains tight-lipped over its format and possible age-limit, the competition is set to fill the void as a second-tier feeder system to the elite National Basketball League.

“The Basketball Australia board (discussed) the proposed development league this week,” Carroll said.

“The product of those discussions will give a clearer direction regarding this league.”

A key to those discussions will be how the new competition should work with the various state leagues, which are seen as incapable of working together to offer young players a direct springboard into a professional career.

Victoria’s state league, the Big V, has already presented its case, seeking greater clarification of its position in the sport’s pecking order.

“Right now there is some confusion about what is the direct pathway at the senior level beneath the NBL,” Big V media manager Davin Sgargetta said.

“There isn’t a clear step or sequence of steps that lead to the top level of the sport.”

While the Big V was rocked last year by the loss of powerhouse clubs Dandenong and Sandringham to the rival South East Australian Basketball League, it remains open to the prospect of its teams switching to the new development competition.

“They could, but they should only qualify by winning a state championship,” Sgargetta said.

“There should be a cap of teams per state and the lowest finishers from each state in this new competition should be relegated in place of teams that go on to win their respective state championships.”

Sgargetta said the new competition should run simultaneously with the NBL, allowing young players to remain in their state league during the winter off-season.

The opportunity to come under the watchful eyes of NBL coaches is seen as an incentive for juniors to resist lucrative offers from other sports, with Scott Pendlebury and Jack Watts headlining a growing list of players who have quit the game in favour of AFL careers.

“There are a lot of kids my age playing footy now that were top basketballers growing up,” 21-year-old Andrew Kelly said.

“Basketball really needs to work hard to stem the flow of talented players turning their backs on the sport, and if a second-tier league will help, then I’m definitely all for it.”

Kelly stepped up to the Waverley Falcons’ State Championship team this season after honing his skills in the Big V’s own youth league, winning the 2008 Most Valuable Player award with 17.4 points and 12.4 rebounds per game.

However, he fears the competition is no longer strong enough to produce stars of the future after many of its clubs were poached by the SEABL, which created its own youth competition, the D-League.

“The D-League has done more harm than good,” Kelly said.

“They’ve created nearly an identical competition to the Big V’s, which has watered down the standard for both their own clubs and ours. Young players no longer have the same chance to play against all the best players from their age group as they did when all youth teams were in the Big V.”

SEABL General Manager Mark Chivers was contacted but declined to comment until BA makes its recommendations.

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-Michael Scibilia

Two Documentary sources:
“Plan for a Number 2 tier”
Big V Media Guide 2009