NBA

[lion heart]

Bogut a game high 31 pts and a whopping 18 rebounds leading the bucks to an away win against the Pacers

[Swooper16]

He must be some chance to be the first ever Aussie in the all star game. Lopez from the nets has been good but his teams record is dismal.

[RoosterMarty]

What a massive choke by the Bulls.

[brod]

What im seeing in the NBA

- BOGUT EXPLOSION leads the Bucks to their first road win in more than a month. Bogut and Redd 19-31 FG, the rest 16-52FG
- Cavs blowout the Suns, even with the poor play of Shaq (2-9 FG, 8 points, 6 turnovers, 6 fouls) in last two games
- The Bulls score 38 in the first...10 in the last, as the Kings outscore them by 22 in the final quarter to win 102-98 (IN CHICAGO)
- The Spurs keep being able to limit the minutes of Duncan and Parker, 25 and 27 respectivley in easy win over the Clippers with 7 players scoring in double figures
- The Magic shoot 41 free thows...not surprising they win 104-99 against the Jazz
- The AI show in Philly is stuck to the bench now, as he misses again with a knee injury


AUSSIE WATCH
- Andrew Bogut (Win 84-81 v Pacers)
40 min, 14-19 FG, 3-7 FT, 18 reb (3 off, 15 def), 3 ast, 3 blocks, 1 steal, 31 points (CAREER HIGH)

[brod]

He must be some chance to be the first ever Aussie in the all star game. Lopez from the nets has been good but his teams record is dismal.

Eastern Backup centres??

Bogut (Milwaukee)
16.0 ppg
10.0 rpg
.513 FG%
2.0 bpg

Lee (New York)
18.0 ppg
10.3 rpg
.563 FG%
0.37 bpg

Lopez (New Jersey)

19.5 ppg
9.6 rpg
.483 FG%
2.0 bpg

Close between all three, at least the Bucks are close to .500

[CK]

Golden State hosting Phoenix today...could easily see both teams topping 125 in this one, should be at All-Star pace with general lack of defences.

[CK]

Phoenix lead 71-70 at half time . Won't go close to the all time record for regulation time of 320 points, but still very high scoring.

[Pup]

What a massive choke by the Bulls.

[brod]

What Im seeing in the NBA

- Toronto (15-17) approaching .500, behind the play of Chris Bosh (25pts, 8-14FG, 16 reb, 3 blocks in win over Pistons)
- Cavs smash the Rockets 108-83 as Houston shoot 32%
- The Pacers keep sliding, going down 80-114 in Miami, shooting 31% to Miami's 50% with Wade leading the way with 25pts
- Spurs keep getting balanced play and winning, this time a 95-88 victory in new York behind 22 from Parker and 17 from Ginobili
- Mavs get even scoring, with 7 players in double figures to win in Denver against the Billup-less Nuggets
- The Celtics go down in LA....but to the CLIPPERS 92-90 behind 27 points and 12 rebounds from Chris Kaman and 24 points ans 12 assists from Baron Davis


AUSSIE WATCH
- David Andersen (houston Loss 83-108 v Cleveland)
28 min, 2-10 FG, 1-4 3pFG, 2-4 FT, 3 reb, 2 ast, 3 st, 1 to, 7 pts

[brod]

What Im seeing in the NBA

- High flying teams crashing - Boston lose to Clippers then Warriors, Denver in free fall, Portland getting knocked over by the 76ers, Lakers getting smashed by the Suns
- Monta Ellis explodes for 37 points (15-26 FG) in a win against the Celtics that sees two Warrior starters not even score and Rajan Rondo earn his pay check 30 points (11-18 FG) and 15 assists
Andres Nocioni comes off the bench for the Kings and scores 21 (6-7 FG) in 25 minutes as Carmello takes his and the missing Billups share of shots (15-35 FG) for 34 points
- The 7-22 76ers go into Portland and shoot 58% to come away with a 104-93 win as Elton Brand takes everyone back with 25 points (11-16 FG) and 9 boards, AI even gets 19 on 7-11 shooting
- Steve Nash continues his push for MVP with a 16 point, 13 assist (the same as the LA team) game in the Suns 118-103 win over the Lakers
- My tip for Player of the month...ZACH RANDOLPH. His December stats are 23.3ppg, 13.9rpg, 1.2spg, 9 double doubles in 11 games, but in the last five games he has taken it even further. The Griz have won 4 of them with Randolph getting 28.2 ppg at just under 60%, 18.2rpg, 1 bpg
- New Jersey lost..no surprise but Kevin Durant went off for 40 points
- Bogut, Redd, Delfino..3 starters 6 points, no surprise the Bucks lost as all three were benched for the entire second half

AUSSIE WATCH
- Andrew Bogut (loss 84-94 v Charlotte)
19 min 1-6 FG 0-2 FT, 5 reb, 1 ast, 2 block, 2 points
- Luke Neville (Utah Flash loss 96-97 v Idaho)
24 min 11 pts, 8 reb, 5 TO
- Luke Neville (Utah Flash win 112-109 v Idaho)
27 min 14 pts, 5 reb, 4 blocks, 5 TO

[brod]

Not quite the NBA, but

Joe Ingles has had his Christmas wishes answered as he played big today. Ingles played all 40 minutes for his Spanish team Granada and rewarded his coach with a 23pt, 13reb and 6assist performance.

- St Mary's Gaels have been dubbed "AIS 2" and the argument can only get stronger. On Christmas Day the Gaels were in Hawaii eating turkey and taking on the locals.

The interesting story to me is, the Gaels played seven players in this game and five of them were Aussies. I doubt any USA college can lay claim to this type of stat.

Word out of Canberra is Gaels Head Coach Randy Bennett is asking AIS Head Coach Marty Clark to build the first ocean tunnel build from the nation's capital through to the Bay Area just to make the school's recruiting trips a little easier.

Back to the game, the best Aussie in the game was Ben Allen with 15pts and 3rebs as the Gaels got a victory over the Warriors.

[brod]

Great article about Patrick Mills and his impending debut in the Pros

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?STORY_ID=14746

[brod]

Patrick Mills Assigned To Idaho Stampede
NEW YORK, Dec. 29, 2009 – PPortland Trail Blazers guard Patrick Mills was assigned to the Idaho Stampede, Portland’s NBA D-League affiliate, it was announced today. Mills is the 10th NBA player and the 12th assignment to an NBA D-League affiliate this season.
http://www.nba.com/dleague/idaho/mills_091228.html

[brod]

Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton reportedly drew guns on each other during a locker-room argument over a gambling debt.

[brod]

AUSSIE WATCH

- Patrick Mills (NBADL debut win 123-109 Idaho v Reno)
36 min, 13-25 FG, 7-10 3p FG, 5-6 FT, 3 reb, 12 ast, 3 ste, 1 to, 38 points

Shall we start a sweep to see how long Mills will stay in Idaho after a debut game like that

[saintal]

The way Portland is going with injuries (cant take a trick atm), he could be getting a game sooner than later.

[Swooper16]

The way Portland is going with injuries (cant take a trick atm), he could be getting a game sooner than later.

Steve Blake (one of their point guards) just contracted pneumonia....he could be called up this week.

[cripple]

Bryant aces a triple with 0.1 on the clock for lakers to complete 20 point comeback against sacramento in LA. Can't say i was overly shocked with it to be honest, he does it all the time.

[brod]

What Im seeing in the NBA

- Kobe ices a third game in a month, as the Lakers come back from 20 down to beat the Kings 109-108. Kobe is averaging 35.7 in his last 10 games. Spencer Hawe had a career night for Sacramento with 30 points and 11 boards
- Nate Robinson comes off the bench (after not playing the last 14 games) and torches the Hawks for 41 points, including personally outscoring Atlanta 11-9 in OT

AUSSIE WATCH
- Nathan Jawai (loss 94-106 v Orlando)
14 min, 2-5 FG, 6 reb, 2 ast, 5 fouls, 4 points
- Luke Nevill (NBADL win 105-94 v Abq)
29 min, 9-13 FG, 6 reb, 4 ast, 20 points
both career highs

[brod]

AUSSIE WATCH

- Patrick Mills (NBADL debut win 123-109 Idaho v Reno)
36 min, 13-25 FG, 7-10 3p FG, 5-6 FT, 3 reb, 12 ast, 3 ste, 1 to, 38 points

Shall we start a sweep to see how long Mills will stay in Idaho after a debut game like that

Second game for Idaho (win 109-108 v Reno)
32 min, 8-12FG, 4-5 3P FG, 2-2 FT, 2 reb, 3 ast, 4 to, 22pts
And to top that off...he hit the game winning shot

These two games led to these comments from Blazers GM
“He looked fantastic last night. And that’s nice to see. He’s not shy. He’ll put it up.”

There’s also speculation that with Steve Blake hospitalized with pneumonia, Patty might get thrown a Blazers jersey sooner than we thought. “It’s probably the right thing to look at him coming up here the next couple days,” Pritchard said. Promising indeed and we’ll certainly keep an eye on the situation as it unfolds.

The next day he was called up to the Trailblazers