A Rose by any other name.

Derrick Rose has arrived.

Not just because of his outstanding effort in the opening game of the 2009 playoffs but because he is, like so many other NBA stars, in the 'Two Name' club.

I have noticed over the recent seasons an inordinate number of ‘Elite Level’ basketball players with what is commonly known as ‘two first names’, or the Craig David effect, where a person’s surname is recognised as also being a renowned first name.

Purely for fun, (ignoring all historical and sociological reasoning behind this)I have compiled a list of the current NBA players with ‘two first names’, with results suggesting a direct result between the league's current elite. Perhaps even the more common the last name used as a first name, the greater the players ability. I have not compiled any scientific evidence, I just thought it was interesting.

I have broken the players into levels according to ability and type of name.

Rose is currently slotted somewhere below Michael Jordan and Isaiah Thomas, but above Shaun Bradley. He is the namesake of the Womens Division.

What’s in a name?



Elite Michael Jordan Status

Carmelo Anthony
Tim Duncan
Dwight Howard
Lebron James
Chris Paul
Dwayne Wade





All stars Isiah Thomas Status

Ray Allen
Vince Carter
Josh Howard
Richard Jefferson
Rashard Lewis
Kevin Martin
Paul Pierce
Tyson Chandler
Brandon Roy
Rasheed Wallace
Ben Wallace
Gerald Wallace

Future Stars

Rudy Gay
Ben Gordon
Al Jefferson
David Lee
Jameer Nelson
Nate Robinson

Borderline
Stephen Jackson
Jason Terry


Womens or Derrick Rose Status

Rudy Gay
Shawn Marion
Derrick Rose
Sean May
Matt Carroll
Tony Parker* See Parker Posey (that’s a thing, right?)


Stretch Two Names (Too good to exclude)

Kobe Bryant* *See Bryant ‘Big Country’ Reeves.
Baron Davis* See Davis Love III
Steve Nash* See Nash Bridges

Shaun Bradley Status (Two names, but no one cares)

Alexander, Joe
Allen, Tony
Anderson, Ryan
Andersen, Chris
Anthony, Joel
Arthur, Darrell
Barry, Brent
Blake, Steve
Carter, Anthony
Chandler, Wilson
Davis, Glen
Davis, Ricky
Dudley, Jared
George, Devean
Gibson, Daniel
Gill, Eddie
Gordon, Eric
Graham, Joey
Graham, Stephen
Gray, Aaron
Hamilton, Rip
Harrington, Al
Harris, Devin
Herrmann, Walter
Howard, Juwan
Hunter, Lindsey
Hunter, Othello
Hunter, Steven
Jackson, Bobby
Jackson, Darnell
James, Jerome
James, Mike
Jamison, Antawn
Lee, Courtney
Marshall, Donyell
Martin, Cartier
Martin, Kenyon
Mason, Desmond
Mason, Roger
Morris, Randolph
Murphy, Troy
Murray, Ronald
Parker, Anthony
Randolph, Anthony
Randolph, Shavlik
Randolph, Zach
Rose, Malik
Ross, Quinton
Solomon, Will
Taylor, Mike
Thomas, Etan
Thomas, Kenny
Thomas, Kurt
Thomas, Tim
Thomas, Tyrus
Vaughn, Jacque

Homeless World Cup Comes to Town

I visited the Homeless World Cup yesterday. It is currently being held it Federation Square in the heart of Melbourne. I have to be honest, I don’t know a lot about it, but it sure does seem like an interesting concept.



From the official website.

There are one billion homeless people living in our world today.

The Homeless World Cup exists to end this, so we all have a home, a basic human need.
The Homeless World Cup is an annual, international football tournament, uniting teams of people who are homeless and excluded to take a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country and change their lives forever.

It has triggered and supports grass roots football projects in over 60 nations working with over 25,000 homeless and excluded people throughout the year.
The first tournament took place in Graz 2003 uniting 17 national teams. At the 5th Homeless World Cup in Copenhagen this summer, 48 nations, 500 players were united for a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country. Melbourne is the host city for the next tournament from 1-7 December 2008.

The impact is consistently significant year on year with 73% of players changing their lives for the better by coming off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families and even going on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams.


Anyhoo, it got me thinking about the fact I’ve never associated sport and the homeless together. Perhaps because I really don’t think about the homeless much at all. I acknowledge that is not great, but comparatively speaking, my little corner of the world is not as affected as much as most other places on the globe. I have seen them sporadically at home and abroad, but mostly I come across them in books, film and television. South Park was merciless in a recent episode.


There has only been one instance in my life where I have connected the homeless and sport, and that is through basketball. I love the game, as you know. The connection originates from one of my favourite movies growing up, Above The Rim. Say what you like about it, but it taught me a few things.



The moment in the film which will stay with me forever is when young up and coming street star Kyle, finally gets his chance against Ol’Shep. He tries to dribble the ball between his opponents legs, and it’s stolen straight up.

“I ain’t Flip” is all the wise old Shep says.



Flip Johnson (Played by the late Bernie Mac) is a homeless guy in the film who was a young star also, but turned to alcohol and ended up on the streets. Kyle and his friends would mock him and beat him up on and off the court. He was a sad, joke.

“I ain’t Flip.”

Do not underestimate me.

Who do you think I am?

I deserve respect.

I will not be fooled.

Which ever way you say it.

“I ain’t Flip.”

This statement is a motto (or saying) of mine, an obscure reference that I’d say in my head from time to time playing or in other situations. More so in times past, but honestly, it was also on the short list to be the title of my entire blog.

So yesterday as I sat amongst the homeless in the stands, watching other homeless men play soccer, I started thinking about Flip. The tournament has many detractors, but I see the it’s benefits, and possibilities it is providing. These guys ain’t Flip either.

Showing Spirit

"All I can say is build a bridge and get over it. If you want a basketball team in Sydney there is no excuse not to be at the remaining games left to be played in Sydney."
-Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks.



In case you hadn't noticed, the unthinkable almost happened. Something that would have been so costly for the sport of Basketball, currently at the tipping point of survival in this country, it may have been the end. Ok, that's a tad dramatic, but the reality is that the NBL almost lost a team due to financial reasons HALF WAY THROUGH THE SEASON! The Sydney Spirit were extinct, until a Jurassic Park type miracle brought them back. There are many problems with basketball in Sydney, here is how the latest is being addressed.

Here is the official NBL Statement on the situation:

The Sydney Spirit National Basketball League team has been saved, with players and coaching staff from the club voting overnight to accept an adjusted rescue package offered by the League.

The League met with the team on Tuesday morning to confirm their individual financial situations and subsequently adjusted the proposed salary component of the rescue package accordingly. Interim Chief Executive Officer of Basketball Scott Derwin said the decision by the players to accept the rescue package meant that the Spirit would now complete the 2008/09 season.

“Sydney sports fans are now assured the Spirit will play out the current NBL season, with the players and coaching staff courageously agreeing as a group to play on despite it being necessary for them to take significant pay cuts,” said Derwin. “They really are playing for the love of the game and have accepted the absolute bare minimum salary to cover their families’ living expenses. We are glad that we have managed to find a way for the Spirit to continue in the League, given their outlook just over a week ago was very bleak.”

“The issues facing the Spirit have been truly unique and therefore called for a unique solution,” Derwin added. “The League funding the on-going operations of a team in financial trouble is highly unusual, but we believe it was absolutely necessary in this case and we are pleased that the Spirit will now see out the season.”

Derwin said that gate receipts from all remaining Spirit home games will continue to go towards paying the players and coaching staff for their outstanding contractual salaries owed over and above those covered in the rescue package.

“We have made the commitment that, once basic operational costs are covered, all additional profits will be funnelled back to try to make up for what the players and coaching staff are owed under their contracts with the club. That means that by Sydney fans buying a ticket to a Spirit game, they are directly helping the players, coaches and their families through what has been a tremendously stressful period.”


Australia's number one player NBA Star Andrew Bogut, has thrown his support and CASH behind the struggling franchise, with the coach and many of the players being close friends of his from Junior Australia Teams. On ya Bogues.

Here is his comment on the situation, posted on his official web/blog site. Which is actually a fantastic read and is kept up to date by the big fella very well.

"Great news from Australia and the NBL. The Sydney Spirit lives on. This is great for the game in Australia, for now, as losing a team mid season would be simply and plainly unacceptable. I commend the players for being professional throughout this ordeal, with some even taking pay cuts. Click here for more information. The only other thing I would say is go and support the Spirit. There crowd numbers are around 1000 people. Now surely there are more basketball fans in Sydney then that. I do understand the bitterness some fans would have with the Kings going under, and the Razorbacks changing names to appeal to all fans in Sydney. All I can say is build a bridge and get over it. If you want a basketball team in Sydney, especially considering there is a reform coming next year there is no excuse not to be at the remaining games left to be played in Sydney. From what I hear the tickets are very affordable, so please Sydney fans put the past behind you and get out and support your only NBL team. If Sydney shows the NBL it can support a team now through all this turmoil, you can bet the NBL would think hard about having a team there next year. I am now officially backing the Spirit this year and I hope they win the NBL Championship. I am a Sydney Spirit fan, put it in the books."

Cleveland Rocks... OHIO!

One Man Weave is now officially global.


Carolyn from Cleveland.com's And One Blog recently dissected the article where I threw in a theory about High School Musical being able to help the state of basketball in this country. It was written somewhat tongue in cheek, which I think was eventually understood, but here is her take on it!

I believe she stumbled across the article through JR on Fire or ASternWarning, or maybe she just noticed the Drew Carey Show picture (a few posts back) and the fact that "Lewis" from the series is now playing for the South Dragons.

Either way, it gave me wonderful feeling when she professed, "I love this guy."

Thanks mate. I love you too.

Could Zac Efron Save Our Sport?

It is possible that High School Musical movies could possibly be doing more for the sport of basketball at the grassroots level in this country than the NBL and all other organisations combined?

I have been looking outside the box for signs that basketball is still alive beyond the hard core. I’m glad to announce there is a pulse, and it’s worth not pulling the plug just yet.

I have not seen any of the movies, but it seems that there is definitely a correlation with the amount of youngsters (especially young girls) enjoying basketball. With research now showing that basketball is the ‘coolest’ sport among the Under 10’s range*, an important demographic for the future of the sport. Thanks to this movie.

Obviously the connection has been made before, as this clip aired on Fox Sports for a time. I like the effort, but it seemed a bit B Grade.



The third movie is about to be released and the cast is in the country to promote. A Zac Efron poster was the centre page pull out of the Sunday Herald Sun. It was a plain poster with nothing more than a picture of the star in plain clothes and a blank background. The only thing that differentiates this picture from a driver’s license or mug shot (well he is a celeb) is the fact that he is holding a Top Flite Basketball. Something that most people wouldn’t think anything of, but for someone like myself who looks for anyway to promote the game, having the star of the biggest kids movie franchise in years hold a basketball (one that anyone can pick up an exact replica at REBEL Sport, $69.95 for xmas) is a big deal, and it got me thinking… They look up to the superdupersportstars!

Seamus or ‘Visy Guy’ should have moved fast to get this guy an NBL appearance! I guarantee HiSense Arena would have been packed last night if Zac was there in a Dragons Jersey! They already let Harry Potter slip through their grasp when he attended a game last season and no one really knew! It had to be done!


HSM is doing what ‘One Tree Hill’ did to the 16-22 yr range for basketball awareness amongst the (predominantly female) masses. It’s made a positive association with pop culture and basketball. I’ve seen a few episodes and all I remember from them are the basketball scenes of which there were many, Chad Michael Murray shoots a brick and hears the wrath of a sarcastic cheerleader, “Nice shot.” His response, “Nice Legs.” I remember some strange things.

It’s rare that a girl would say ‘I like basketball players’, growing up in Melbourne and witnessing firsthand the nightclub/footy player scene, maybe the next generation will have basketball competing for the affections of footy chicks with aspirations of celebrity and notoriety... and money.

This is more than Declan making the AFL in Neighbours. The AFL doesn’t really need much help. If only one of the locals shows would have a likable star that plays basketball… But let’s face it, who are the kids watching. Aussie shows or US shows. It really is no comparison.


Turtle from Entourage is wearing Jordan Brand all the time. And everywhere I look around the city Asian dudes are too. But you never see them at ‘The Cage’, or Vodaphone Arena, unless And 1 is in town! It really alls comes down to money, and how it’s spent to get this game going here.

With the new league starting in 09, and NBL wallets finally being reopened, things could get very interesting.

Andrew Bogut has failed to attract the masses to the sport. That is not necessarily his fault. (Although this hair cut certainly set him back a ways). Patrick Mills on the other hand has the potential to do something that no other Aussie Basketballer in memory has achieved. There aren’t many six foot eight and above models. Something about the lanky loping giants intimidates. Patty Mills has the charisma to really be the Michael Jordan for this country that Andrew Gaze could never really be. Sure everyone saw how good of a player he was, and certainly a great guy, but Mills could sell things ala Jordan. And that is really what is needed.



Kids will buy Patrick Mills Merchandise, they will come to see him play, he is exciting. He is cool. He is the Real Life Aussie CMM & Zac Effron. Get him in a movie.

Trust me.


*Statistics collected after consultation with two cousins and one Primary School Teacher sister who quotes “They all love it. Every second kid has HSM bag, pencil case or drink bottle!”