Perth Wildcats have completed their playing roster for the upcoming NBL season by agreeing to terms with former Sydney and Singapore forward Ben Knight.
The 202cm veteran, who captained Singapore for the past two seasons, was set to play with the Slingers again this campaign before the club withdrew from the NBL.
Source : Foxsports
Discuss at : NBL Forum
Olympic rookie Patrick Mills – a smash hit in Beijing – is keeping his options open about nominating for the NBA Draft.
The baby of the Boomers squad, who turned 20 just two weeks ago, was still undecided whether he would opt to go into the NBA draft after his second year in college.
“It would be good to finish the four years and get a degree at the end of it, but if bigger and better things do come around, I’ll weigh the options,” Mills said.
Source : nbl.com.au
Discuss at: Australian Players Overseas Forum
It’s increasingly likely that Ater Majok will be cleared by first semester and a member of the Huskies for all of next season. Majok, a 6-10 forward thought to have NBA potential, has finished his school work in Australia and is only awaiting grades and for everything to be processed by the NCAA.
Much of the needed paper work has been handed over to the NCAA clearinghouse and things appear to be moving along smoothly. There was a fear that Majok’s matriculation could be delayed until December because of timing issues related to the Australian school system’s schedule and potential delays in dealing with a foreign transcript.
Some Majok footage here.
Source: http://blogs.courant.com/
Discuss at: Australian Players Overseas Forum
The Australian Opals women’s basketball team represented their country brilliantly on the world stage by winning a silver medal in Beijing, says NBL interim Chief Executive Officer Chuck Harmison.
Despite the Opals’ eventual loss in the gold medal game to defending Olympic champion the USA, who went undefeated through the tournament, Harmison said the magnitude of the Opals’ achievement should not go unrecognised.
Discuss at: Boomers & Opals Forum
After steamrolling the competition and charging into the final as huge favourites, Team USA had to put on an incredible shooting performance to win 118-107.
Mike Krzyzewski’s team hit a phenomenal 13 of 28 (46%) from three-point range with Dwyane Wade nailing four on the way to a game-high 27 points.
Discuss at: International Forum
The United States tore apart Australia 92-65 on Saturday to capture their fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
The Americans, who settled for a bronze at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, hit back with a vengeance this summer by routing all of their opponents at the Beijing Games.
The USA women have now won 33 games in a row at the Olympics with gold medal wins over Australia in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004).
Discuss at : Boomers & Opals Forum
Australia’s women’s basketball team will take on the United States for the gold medal after crushing China 90-56 in one of the most lop-sided semi-finals in Olympic history.
After a tight first term, the Opals blew the game open in the second quarter, outscoring the host nation 21-7 to take a 16-point lead into half-time.
Led by Belinda Snell (16 points), the Australians took the boisterous home crowd out of the equation in the second half, cruising to victory in the final term by outscoring China 33-17.
The Opals will tackle the United States in the final on Saturday night, hoping to claim Australia’s first ever Olympic gold medal in basketball.
The United States beat Russia 67-52 in the other semi-final.
Discuss at : Boomers & Opals Forum
It took just two minutes after half time for the USA to shatter the Boomers’ dream of an unthinkable upset in the men’s basketball quarter finals at the Beijing Olympics, with the unbackable gold medal favorites winning 116-85.
Australia did keep in touch with USA and were within 1 point at the 1st quarter, but it all went down hill from there. Kobe Bryant had 25 points to lead the USA, who grabbed 57 boards to just 28 for the Boomers.
Patrick Mills lead all Aussie scores with 20 and got some great comments from the USA coach Mike Krzyzewski, the legendary boss at Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouse Duke University.
“I’m glad my Duke team don’t play St Mary’s,” Krzyzewski said.
“He is a great guard and he will be an NBA guard.”
Discuss at : Boomers & Opals Forum
The Australia Opals Womens basketball team, has been rocked in the last 24 hours, with Penny Taylor and lauren Jackson both coming down with injuries. Reports say that Penny Taylor will sit out the semi final against China but hopes to return for the gold medal match. While Lauren Jackson will push through the pain barrier in order to realise her dream of a gold medal and undergo surgery after the Olympics .
This is not good for Australian fans, lets hope our stars can push through and bring home the gold. Either way (gold medal or no gold mdeal) there commitment to the Australian national team is evident.
Discuss at : Boomers & Opals Forum
While the Opals have conquered all before them, going unbeaten in all of their group games. The Boomers have had the harder path coming into the quarter finals with a 3-2 record.
The Opals will face the Czech Republic later today, a game they are widely picked to easily win. While the Boomers will face the USA “redeem team” tomorrow (20/8/2008) a game they are widely picked to lose.
Some people are wondering “if only the Boomers beat Croatia in group play, perhaps a medal would still be on the cards”. While the Opals train keeps on rolling towards a gold medal match up with the USA.
Discuss at : Boomers & Opals Forum
