5 September 2010

BOOMERS ELIMINATED FROM WORLD TITLES BY SLOVENIA

The Golden Star Boomers Australian men’s national basketball team have been eliminated from the 2010 FIBA World Championships after suffering an 87-58 defeat at the hands of hot shooting European power Slovenia at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey this morning.

Slovenia shot a scorching 16-of-33 (48%) from three-point range in the match to blow the Australians off the floor. 

Jaka Lakovic had 19 points to lead Slovenian, while Primoz Brezec added 12 and Goran Dragic 10 as all 12 of the Slovenian players scored.

Joe Ingles and Patrick Mills equal top scored for Australia with 13 points apiece while Matt Nielsen added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Despite Slovenia being one of Europe’s top four teams, the Boomers went into the match with confidence after having gone 1-1 in games against the Slovenians in lead-up matches.  A disastrous 12-0 run by the Europeans to start the game however as the Boomers missed their first 10 shots had Australia on the back foot from the start.

It took until Joe Ingles scored a two in transition with 3:24 remaining in the period for the Australians to trouble the scorers.  The Boomers worked hard and had reduced the margin slightly by quarter time but still trailed 16-8 at the first break.

Any thoughts of a quick comeback by the Boomers were crushed in the second period as the Slovenians, who finished second in Group B in the preliminary round with a 4-1 record, dominated the Australians on both ends of the court.  Australia was outscored 26-13 for the period, as the Europeans rained threes on the Boomers.  At the half, Slovenia led 42-21 and had made eight three-pointers while Australia had failed to connect from the perimeter on all seven of their attempts.  Nine first-half turnovers had also hurt the Boomers.

The poor perimeter shooting by the Boomers continued early on in the third as Australia missed another three triples.  It wasn’t until David Andersen connected from outside with 7:18 left in the period to make it 48-30 in Slovenia’s favour that Australia made their first three of the game.

The Slovenian march continued unabated however and by three-quarter time the Europeans led 71-45.  The Slovenians made five more three-pointers in the period and showed no signs of cooling off from outside.

Australia tried valiantly to work their way back into the game in the final period but the Slovenian offensive barrage was simply unstoppable as the Europeans ran out winners by 29-points. 

Slovenia now advance to the top eight to play the winner of the match between Turkey and France later tonight while the defeat ends the Boomers’ world championship campaign, as FIBA doesn’t play classification games for teams eliminated from competition prior to the top eight. 

When? The party kicks off at 7.00pm until midnight on Saturday 11th September

Where? Moonee Valley Racing Club  Celebrity Room, Mcpherson St, Moonee Ponds

How much? Tickets cost $90.00 per person or $900.00 for a table of 10! That covers a three course meal, beer, wine and soft drink!

Dress: Semi Formal

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State Championship Men: Ivan Platenik, Waverley Falcons

State Championship Women: Elyse Penaluna, Melbourne Tigers

Division One Men: Jason Reardon, Geelong Cats

Division One Women: Vanessa Power, Mildura Heat

Division Two Men: Jordan Canovan, Latrobe City Energy

Division Two Women: Rachale Wansbrough, Mornington Breakers

Division Three Men: Kevin Smith, Mildura Heat

Youth League One Men: Trent Zomer, Ringwood Hawks

Youth League Women:Isabella Brancatisano, Melbourne Tigers

Youth League Two Men: Shaun Phelan, Altona Gators

Rebounding Average Awards

State Championship Men: Ivan Platenik, Waverley Falcons

State Championship Women: Candice Rogers/Amanda Behnke, Geelong Cats, Ringwood Hawks.

Division One Men: Jason Reardon, Geelong Cats

Division One Women: Georgia Stott, Hawthorn Magic

Division Two Men: Vladimir Tankov, Mornington Breakers

Division Two Women: Rachael Wansbrough, Mornington Breakers

Division Three Men: Kevin Smith, Mildura Heat

Youth League One Men: Trent Zomer, Ringwood Hawks

Youth League Women: Charlotte Ross-Harris, Hawthorn Magic

Youth League Two Men: Kris Blicavs, Sunbury Jets

Golden Hands Awards

State Championship Men: Matthew Snowball, Ringwood Hawks.

State Championship Women: Katie Laviolette, Ringwood Hawks

Division One Men: Bobby Cunningham, Warrnambool Seahawks

Division One Women: Sharon Grieve, Altona Gators

Division Two Men: Jordan Canovan, Latrobe City Energy

Division Two Women: Kathryn Hay, Western Port Steelers

Division Three Men: Jordan Kirk, Melton Thoroughbreds

Youth League One Men: Brenton Charles, Ringwood Hawks

Youth League Women: Stephanie Perch, Hawthorn Magic

Youth League Two Men: Nathan Wapshott, Altona Gators

GEELONG Lady Cats' championship winning coach Grantley Bernard has confirmed he is stepping down after just one year in the job.

Work and family commitments have influenced his decision to step aside following the Lady Cats' historic Big V grand final victory over Hume City.

"There have been times when I've wanted to coach this team for 10 more years," Bernard said. "And there have been times when I've wanted to do it for 10 more minutes.

"I owe it to my family to give some time back to them."

Bernard leaves the program in better shape than he found it when appointed in late 2009, after a concerted effort to get local players back in a Geelong singlet, with the goal of making the playoffs.

"(But) even then it was more about not what we did on the court," Bernard said.

"A lot of it was establishing the program again off the court.

"We did the 'Girl's Day Out' clinic, (and) we did the 'Buddy' programme with our junior rep teams."

However, Bernard hasn't ruled out a return to coaching in the future, more than likely at junior level where he cut his teeth.

Bernard's exit coincides with the retirements of veteran duo Sarah De Grandi and Vicki King.

Captain De Grandi, 30, exits with more than 200 games at CVIBL, SEABL and Big V level with both the Lady Cats and Broadmeadows.

King, 28, departs with 115 matches next to her name.

MEANWHILE former Supercats' guard Paul Hutchison has also announced his retirement following Geelong's Big V division one grand final series loss to Melbourne University.

Hutchison played more than 350 games at CVIBL/VBL/Big V level, along with 82 games for the Supercats.

Patrick Mills top-scored for Australia with 11 points, while Matt Nielsen added nine.  Brad Newley, Mark Worthington and David Barlow all chimed in with eight points apiece for Australia.

The Boomers’ tight defence ensured that no Angolan player reached double-figures in scoring, with Miguel Lutonda and Vladimir Jeronimo the top scorers for the African champions with nine points each.

The win sees Australia finish the preliminary round of play at the world titles with a 3-2 record, setting up a clash with the second-placed team in Group B, Slovenia.  

Australia had lost to the Africans once before in major competition at the 1986 world championships and another upset seemed possible when Angola scored the first four points of the second term for a seven-point lead. 

The Boomers started slowly, making only two of their first seven field goal attempts, before eventually taking the lead in the second term and cruising home.

Coach Brett Brown rotated his players constantly trying to find the right line-up, but two early three-pointers gave Angola the lead and they reached quarter-time with a surprise 18-15 advantage.

But the Boomers responded, reeling off an 18-3 run to completely turn the game on its head and at halftime led 39-29.

The third quarter was then a totally one-sided affair, with the Boomers winning it 21-9 for a commanding 60-38 lead at the final change, with Brown giving his bench players extended minutes in the final quarter.

Boomers starting centre David Andersen missed the game due to a stomach problem that has swept through the Australian camp.

Australia now face Slovenia, who finished second behind the United States in Group B and will provide an extremely tough test.  

Australia and world No.20 Slovenia met twice just over four weeks ago at the Stankovic Cup in China, with Australia winning the opening fixture 77-63 before the Slovenians prevailed in the final 71-60.

The Slovenians knocked off highly-rated Brazil, Croatia and Tunisia in Group B, losing only to the US.

Australia  76 (Patrick Mills 11, Matt Nielsen 9, Brad Newley 8, Mark Worthington 8, David 8)

Defeated

Angola 55 (M. Lutonda 9, J Gomes 8, L. Paulo 7, H. H. Mbunga 7)

It’s always easy to get carried away straight after a game as big as a grand final and pass judgement, and let’s face it when it comes to big games it doesn’t get any bigger in the Big V than that last contest to decide a championship.

Some results were expected, others were anticipated, while at least one was an absolute shock, yet as I’ve been saying for weeks it is a totally new season when finals start and anything is possible.

Let’s start with the result that stumped everyone except for the champions, of course I’m talking about Waverley’s magical 2-1 win against the Ringwood Hawks.

I’m still struggling to believe that a team capable of topping 100pts on 12 occasions this season and hitting scores inside the 90s in nine games can come out, at home, and be held to 58pts and 63pts respectively.

But to question the Hawks would be taking the spotlight off Waverley. I wasn’t at the game so I dare not add fuel to the fire by guessing as to why or how the Hawks crumbled.

What I will say is that Waverley obviously closed down the offensive space previously allowed to the Hawks and turned the contest into a scrap, of sorts, raising the defensive bar and focusing on restricting Ringwood rather than trying to outscore them in a free for all.

Did Ringwood have an answer? Did they adapt to the game and come up with answers of their own. Again, don’t know as I wasn’t there, but whatever had worked for them so many times this season obviously had little impact this time around.

With the increased pressure came an alarming drop in shooting, the Hawks faltering miserably and falling to a season low 34% in both games, a stark contrast to what they had delivered on countless occasions this season.

I’ve heard tempers flared at times and this would only have added to Waverley’s belief it had the game plan and strength to upset the Hawks. Think about Jared Crouch and his bitter battles with Jason Akermanis – for those up with that long-running AFL battle you’ll know exactly where I’m coming from.

But it is how the scoreboard reads when the final whistle sounds that counts and to Waverley’s credit they delivered the upset of the season on the biggest stage. One game down, on the road and facing the unbackable heavyweights, yet they delivered in spades.

To some extent, I don’t mean this in a critical way, in fact quite the opposite, but deep down inside there’s every chance the Falcons even surprised themselves.

It doesn’t get much tougher than do what the Falcons did, nor much sweeter when you achieve everything that all others were expecting you not to achieve.

Possibly the biggest weekend in Waverley’s history? Possibly.

Also a great result for Geelong in SCW. Despite a drop in form towards the end of the season, which was probably exasperated by injuries to key players, the Cats rebounded when it most mattered and easily accounted for Hume City.

Some fantastic class on show at The Arena and finally we have a strong and performing women’s team coming out of Geelong. No doubt the Big V is all the better for it and hopefully the Cats won’t be one-year wonders.

I’m absolutely impressed with Anna Teague’s second half of the season, and I can’t speak highly enough of Maddy Taylor. Well done to the Cats.

One of the big performances over all four weeks of the finals belonged to Melbourne University in D1M. Let’s not forget that Warrnambool coughed-up a certain victory in the semi-finals against the Black Angels and the rest, as they say, is history.

My apologies to Geelong for the following statement, but it needs to be said and on this occasion I can be blunt in my opinion given I saw game one of this finals series – Geelong was a team of individuals and it showed against a team that absolutely, to a player, hit that court together.

I can’t speak for game two, but I saw more than enough in game one to know that one outfit was a unit and the other team just wasn’t in sync with each other.

Harsh criticism, but I know some very experienced people at Geelong deep down will agree with my summation. The Black Angels came with an inner belief and that belief was about the team, every single member from the point guard to the team manager. It was all about team, team, team.

In D1W it proved to be a great weekend down on the coast for Altona, but not before two games and an exciting final few minutes in a third and deciding contest.

After going through the regular season unbeaten the cracks started to show for Warrnambool when they lost a game to Warrandyte in the semi-finals and no doubt there was a significant change in the game plan adopted to unsettle the Mermaids.

Altona looked to do the same in the grand final series, attacking hard and forcing the Mermaids to play defence, clogging things up a bit and putting good players in awkward positions.

Two quality teams and no doubt some real coaching nous in an effort to gain the upper hand. Having coached against Sharon and Peter I can attest to the fact you can always expect the unexpected against both teams.

Personally, I think the best team won the contest. Altona’s second half of the season has been extraordinary and while this isn’t the time or place to get into the whole Werribee pre-season saga, Altona was the beneficiary of strong recruiting and is today boasting what (last year) looked an unlikely title given they were in D3W.

In D2M and D2W it’s all about Chelsea and good luck to them. Great club, good people and two very hard-working teams. The men did it in three against Mornington, while the women only needed two games against Western Port.

Can I just give some credit to the two losing teams – extraordinary effort by Mornington considering they lost their key player a month out from the finals, while I have nothing but admiration for the Steelers after their big run from fourth position.

Let’s not forget that had Western Port lost their last regular game of the season to Blackburn by 11pts or more they would have missed the finals.

Anyway, just on the Chelsea women’s team, and I know I’ve mentioned it a few times over the back half of the season, but if you’re looking for a reason why they were so damn good, look no further than Kate Mahoney.

Kate’s second half of the year was unbelievable. Not sure why the slow start, but man did she finish the job when it counted. Super season and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the Gulls pick up some awards next week.

I can’t wait to see Chelsea up in D1W next season. If they can keep the group together I think they’ll do really well.

In D3M huge accolades and congratulations to Mildura on winning the title without a loss. I tipped this result after the opening round of the season, not that it was a huge gamble when you look back across the year.

I watched Kevin Smith and his merry men smash my Venom in back-to-back games in round one and that was enough for me. The Heat had champions written all over them from day one.

As for Smith – well, the star averaged 44pts in the grand final series and has re-signed for next season. To all those teams in division two …. HAVE FUN!

In YLM, both divisions, the best team got up, no doubt about that. Well done to Melbourne in YL1M, a very solid team across the board, but they seemed to fall short when a genuine star was needed.

In no way is that a negative, not everyone can have a guy like Chris Arkell, or the likes of a Trent Zomer at Ringwood. Sometimes the star player in a quality team is capable of dragging his or her team across the line.

Really good to see Altona finish the season in style as well. I look forward to seeing them step up against better teams next season and really building a strong group for future years.

And then of course we have YLW – what a thrilling series, so much so that it took overtime to split Diamond Valley and Hawthorn in the deciding game.

Did the best team win the grand prize? I think so. The Eagles deserve the title after a fantastic season, but hats off to Hawthorn for a thrilling run down the stretch. An amazing performance and one that nearly delivered a perfect ending to the fairytale.

So that’s the season done and now the fun starts. New teams, perhaps some restructuring, no doubt plenty of recruiting, promotion and relegation, coaching changes, new rules, the all important fixture and, for all the players out there – another pre-season to contend with!

Good times ahead.

Of course before all of that we have the Big V awards next week and I’m looking forward to joining Matthew ‘Hammer’ Cowling and Sweet Cal up on stage where I’ll no doubt ride off the back of their coat-tails.

I know my place around two superstars. Should be fun.

Thanks to everyone for a great season, it truly was a year where we saw the Big V bounce back with a bang. Strong, vibrant and enjoyable. Quality all round.

Enjoy the off-season, see you all at the pre-season tournament.

Read the media release here.