On Saturday I saw an NBL preseason game. Boring right? WRONG!
It was the perfect way to start my NBL Season. Melbourne Tigers v Crazy John South Dragons.
Although it was a preseason game, and very, very scrappy. I loved it.
If you have seen 'The Perfect Catch', you'll know what I'm talking about. I'm THAT into it.
Here are a few observations and comments from the afternoon:
Firstly Vodaphone Arena or "The Phone Box" is no more. It is now the HiSense Arena, of which I'm yet to hear the new nickname.
They have made their mark at the Stadium in a number of ways, the most notable painting the outside area of the court and other surrounding areas in what I assume is "HiSense Aqua" colour. For a second I thought it was '95 again and I half expected Pat Reidy, Paul "the Mailman" Maley and the "Booze Less, Be Your Best" Giants run out.
Unfortunately, my plea to have the Dragons announcer sacked last season obviously fell on deaf ears, as he's back again, with his ability to get the crowd so pumped up we nearly broke into a 'Mexican Yawn'. Although credit to the Dragons, after losing Glenn Manton as his sidekick from last year, they introduced Andrew "The Toaster" Parkinson, as the new guy. He did a great first up job. Although it's funny how 'the Rattler' (the Tigers Announcer) can handle it all himself just fine over at the Cage?
Another pre game extravaganza from the Dragons Cheerleaders. They still haven't quite figured this all out yet. The 'DragonFlies' (girls) and the 'D-Boys' (guys), both bring something different to the table. The girls are more like a caberet show than cheerleaders, and the guys are very impressive break dancers, but don't really get the crowd pumped up. Once again, I can't help but think the Tigers Dancers can provide the same fun, dancing, cheering and the athletic side of things on their own. The Dragons have gone for a different style, and that's fine too.
The game itself didn't really sustain my interest for the whole 4 quarters, but there were some great signs for NBL in Victoria this season.
For the Tigers:
Chris Anstey - just toyed with the Dragons for a half, and then put the Q in the rack for the second. 20pts on 5/6 Three Point shots in the FIRST quarter alone, pretty much summed up his intentions.
Rod Grizzard - played every minute for his new side and impressed with some huge dunks.
Sammy Mac - played his first minutes as a Tiger, and had me pumped when he overpowered Nick Horvath for the And 1 on his very first play. But from then on he seemed to be moving slower and looking older than Andrew Gaze right now.
Dmac - who came out of retirement to help the undermanned Tigers was even grumpier than ever.
For the Dragons:
Things didn't start well. Guy Molloy was doing the coaching as Goorj sat back on the bench and just observed.
Not sure if he appreciated the heckle heard through the stadium at an early interval "Take a seat Guy Molloy, we have a real coach this year!"
New import Tremmell Darden started well, and looks to be a bit of a Dave Thomas style player.
Reece Carter caught fire from 3 in the third quarter and finished very strongly. He'll be great off the bench this season. I like his game.
Overall, I think the signs are pretty great for both teams with the Tigers core for 08/09 looking like this:
Anstey, Mackinnon, Barlow, Grizzard, Hoare, Crosswell, Corletto (and possibly Ebi Ere!)
and the Dragons core looking like this:
Horvath, Worthington, Ingles, Darden, Groves, Gibson, Carter and Burston - Quack Quack!
Feel free to post any comments.
Ryan Mobilia.
Posts
