Basketball Test Matches: Australia vs New Zealand

well, we kicked Australia's arse last night....shame it came too little, too late....

my thoughts....

David Andersen: Had an absolute shocker....couldn't handle the beef of Pero Cameron....seems to be more of a face up, jump shooting PF than a post player....

Patrick Mills: I wasn't overly impressed....yes, he is very quick, yes, he has good energy, he is an alright shooter from the baseline (ala Bruce Bowen), but he's young....he can be good though....he's more your energy backup PG off the bench....he's not a starter yet....but could have a good future if he continues to develop....

Brad Newley: Looked good in flashes, but overly I wasn't too impressed about his NBA prospects....he doesn't seem to be a good outside shooter or have that consistent a stroke....he's at his best when he has the ball in his hands & he is slashing to the hoop, as he's a pro finisher....defensively, he needs work too....I think Europe will be good for him, I just don't know about him as an NBA player, that's all....

there wasn't anyone else worth mentioning for the Boomers, there team is honestly pretty weak, even with Bogut & others coming back....they have no chance to medal in Beijing IMHO unless they change their whole system & focal points....

as for NZ:

Phil Jones: He's always been the team's top scorer for the better part of a decade, so I don't see why the Aussies weren't guarding him. It was vintage Jones out there.

Pero Cameron: He's the heart & soul of the team & you just can't underestimate him. He seems like he wouldn't be effective, but everytime he touches the ball, he seems to make the right play & a lot can be said about that....made a few clutch plays down the stretch....

Craig Bradshaw: He has talent but is so skinny & timid that he will likely never play in NBA....he needs to hit weight room & develop more of a mean streak....solid 2nd half though, played well off the ball....

Kirk Penney: Didn't do much on the night, but that was due to him being the guy that the Aussies were keying on all game & not letting him get a chance to step up....his teammates should've been setting him more screens IMHO, but ahh well, we got the win, so it's all good. You can see why he's not an NBA calibre player. He just doesn't have the quickness to get free on the perimeter & might struggle defensively at the top level because of that. Great shooter, but he needs a lot of help to get his shots off.


Overall, a good game. Not a great game as was sloppy & Aussies weren't playing for anything. Hopefully we can make a run at qualifying for Olympics but it will be an uphill battle. 2-1 series loss wasn't good, but I saw some promise of better things last night.

A bit of a sloppy game with some atrocious shooting at times but congrats to the Kiwis for refusing to quit. It looked as though the third quarter curse might strike again but they overcame it, so kudos to them.

David Andersen: Had an absolute shocker....couldn't handle the beef of Pero Cameron....seems to be more of a face up, jump shooting PF than a post player....

As the series has gone on, I've been a bit less impressed with him. He's shown a couple of nice post moves but he seems to like the turnaround in the post, yet it didn't seem to be falling for him. Not to take anything away from New Zealand's defense but if that's his bread and butter move, it should be much more potent. That said, I hope he continues to improve and one day makes the jump to the NBA, if only for a season or two.

Patrick Mills: I wasn't overly impressed....yes, he is very quick, yes, he has good energy, he is an alright shooter from the baseline (ala Bruce Bowen), but he's young....he can be good though....he's more your energy backup PG off the bench....he's not a starter yet....but could have a good future if he continues to develop....

He wasn't as impressive in game three but I still like what I saw over the course of the series. His shooting was a bit streaky at times but he seems to have decent court vision and playmaking skills for a young player. He's still got a lot of development ahead of him before he's a bonafide star but he seems to have the tools.

Brad Newley: Looked good in flashes, but overly I wasn't too impressed about his NBA prospects....he doesn't seem to be a good outside shooter or have that consistent a stroke....he's at his best when he has the ball in his hands & he is slashing to the hoop, as he's a pro finisher....defensively, he needs work too....I think Europe will be good for him, I just don't know about him as an NBA player, that's all....

He had his moments in the third game but apart from that he's seemed a bit ordinary. I agree he's not ready for the NBA, but perhaps he'll have a better shot at making the cut after spending some time in Europe.

Phil Jones: He's always been the team's top scorer for the better part of a decade, so I don't see why the Aussies weren't guarding him. It was vintage Jones out there.

Penney seemed like more of a threat during the first two games so perhaps they forgot about Jones. Despite Heal's assertion that the Boomers have excellent defense I would suggest they're very much prone to defensive lapses and aren't that good at defending the paint (though they're pretty good at hounding the ballhandlers in a full court press) so the errors with Jones aren't that surprising in my opinion.

David Andersen: Had an absolute shocker....couldn't handle the beef of Pero Cameron....seems to be more of a face up, jump shooting PF than a post player....

- Goorijan made an excuse for him which was that the lack of back up bigs made the team rely on David inside which he didn't cope with too well after Game One. They said he was tired as the series wore on. Some might not use that excuse but I guess it does have its implications on why Anderson didn't play as well in all three games and looked out of gas by Game 3.

Perhaps with Anstey, Nielsen and Bogut, as Goorijan mentioned, Anderson would be more effective while the Aussies would have their size advantage back.

That said, I hope he continues to improve and one day makes the jump to the NBA, if only for a season or two.

- I'm pretty convinced he won't try to make the NBA and is settled with life in Europe.

Patrick Mills: I wasn't overly impressed....yes, he is very quick, yes, he has good energy, he is an alright shooter from the baseline (ala Bruce Bowen), but he's young....he can be good though....he's more your energy backup PG off the bench....he's not a starter yet....but could have a good future if he continues to develop....

- Just remember he's still only 19 so to have two good games and one flat one is still impressive. Good sparkplug off the bench for now and for Beijing. Depending on how he develops and how he does in the NCAA (If thats where he is going after this)... he could be the Aussie's future star PG. Right now, he's shown - as Andrew said, he's got the tools and raw talent along with the mental ability to succeed which is exciting for Aussie BBall...

Brad Newley: Looked good in flashes, but overly I wasn't too impressed about his NBA prospects....he doesn't seem to be a good outside shooter or have that consistent a stroke....he's at his best when he has the ball in his hands & he is slashing to the hoop, as he's a pro finisher....defensively, he needs work too....I think Europe will be good for him, I just don't know about him as an NBA player, that's all....

- That's the thing with Newley. He excels at the 'slashing aspect' of the game. We all knew that he would need to get stronger, better at defence (important since I don't think he's quick enough to keep up with the 2 and 3-men of the NBA), and develop a more consistent stroke to make the NBA. It's still encouraging that the Houston Rockets have asked him to try out again next season after a year in Europe. As I said before, the main reason why NBA teams wanted him was for his teamwork and off-ball play and they also knew he was a good slashing scorer.

As you both said, he's not ready for the NBA yet but I have faith that he will make the bench of a team sooner or later.

Craig Bradshaw: He has talent but is so skinny & timid that he will likely never play in NBA....he needs to hit weight room & develop more of a mean streak....solid 2nd half though, played well off the ball....

- Bradshaw should play in Europe. He'd make a good forward there. He'd have much more success there than he would in tyring to make the NBA and it would be better for him individually and for NZ if he played in Europe.

Goorijan made an excuse for him which was that the lack of back up bigs made the team rely on David inside which he didn't cope with too well after Game One. They said he was tired as the series wore on. Some might not use that excuse but I guess it does have its implications on why Anderson didn't play as well in all three games and looked out of gas by Game 3.

There's probably truth in that but in all fairness his turnaround in the post looked a bit shaky from the start of the series though. He did knock a few down and as I said he showed a couple of nice moves inside that I'd like to see more of in Australian basketball but his jumper didn't seem to be working for him, which you'd expect if it's his bread and butter.

I'm pretty convinced he won't try to make the NBA and is settled with life in Europe.

Quite probable, but then it looked as though Andrew Gaze would never give the NBA another shot after his brief stint with Washington in 1993/1994 and he played another season over there. Perhaps the NBA will pique Andersen's interest at some point, though I agree he's not in any hurry to pursue the NBA right now.

I caught highlights of NZ vs Venezuela on NBA TV. Is it just me or was NZ doing some chereographed dance before the game?? Sick jerseys though. I like the black but what's the grey design down the sides of the shorts?

Yeah that would be the Haka.. Or a different version of it.. Its like a traditional NZ war dance type thingy.. They do it before all the sporting events..

I caught highlights of NZ vs Venezuela on NBA TV. Is it just me or was NZ doing some chereographed dance before the game?? Sick jerseys though. I like the black but what's the grey design down the sides of the shorts?

as Dean said, it's called the Haka....it is a native Maori War Dance....there are many different variations of it depending on tribes....it's very important to the people of New Zealand, especially the native Maori....you can see it done by New Zealand men's sporting teams prior to the commencement of a game....it symbolises that they are putting out a challenge, calling for a battle so to speak....it is actually a sign of great respect to have it done against you & is often misunderstood....it works well to intimidate opponents as well

as I'm only a Pakeha (white/Anglo Saxen New Zealander), I wouldn't know as much about the true meaning of it as the Maori....I know that other Pacific Island nations (i.e. Fiji, Manu Samoa & Tonga) have their own forms of the Haka....


yep, they are nice jerseys, I was actually looking to buy a Kirk Penney one after the game (he wears #6, same as me, so would've been good), but unfortunately they weren't selling NZ merchandise at the game....the silver (not grey) design down the side are columns of silver ferns (similar to the emblem on the All Blacks rugby jerseys), which are New Zealand's national emblem so to speak, much like England has their red rose & Scotland has their thistle....

the silver (not grey) design down the side are columns of silver ferns (similar to the emblem on the All Blacks rugby jerseys), which are New Zealand's national emblem so to speak, much like England has their red rose & Scotland has their thistle....

And Australia has the Australia Post logo, which is apparently our new emblem.

Australia Post... wat a crappy postal system it is.

Nah... i dont really know any of the jokes associated with aussie post altho i think i recall hearing some.

I wonder how the Kiwis will do in that pre olympic qualifying tourney... only the top three will make it to Beijing... sounds intense!

Australia Post... wat a crappy postal system it is.

They delivered my neighbour's mail to me today, instead of taking the extra 4 steps to their letterbox. This particular letter was perfectly marked, and the name upon it clearly didnt match our name.

A small pointless gripe, but the only time it's been relevant all day.

We always get our neighbour's letters actually now that you mention it. We're number 4 and for the last year we been getting number 6's mail... then they did a flip and are giving us number 2's mail too... plus my brother's report card never got to our mailbox and was eventually returned to his school.

Small gripe too but only cause u reminded me.

Maybe the Boomers can help them bring in some money and fix the system

We're constantly getting the wrong mail in our post office box at work despite the letters being clearly marked and in many cases not even close to being our post office box number or street address. Mistakes happen of course, but when it happens so frequently you do wonder how much attention is being paid.

I think we're right at the end of the postie's run, because our mail doesnt come until the afternoon usually. By that stage, I would understand if they're feeling a little bit "who gives a fuck."

We get our mail at midday. So I'm guessing it doesn't make a difference. They're just incompetent.

I think we're right at the end of the postie's run, because our mail doesnt come until the afternoon usually. By that stage, I would understand if they're feeling a little bit "who gives a fuck."

We're just up the street from the post office and I know that's definitely their attitude towards our mail.

Never get angry at postmen. I'm sure you guys heard of the term "postal".