Power of the AFL catches baller Bass

Australian Basketball has let another big fish slip through their net. (these jokes could go all day)

It became known late today that basketball had lost yet another prospect to the AFL.

"The Power have recruited 198cm Daniel Bass, who returned to Australia in mid-2009 after a four-year stint playing for Metro State University in Denver.

"We keep a pretty close eye on basketball, especially some of the bigger blokes, given we've had some success there with Dean Brogan," Port Adelaide’s Rohde said.

"Daniel's certainly got some terrific athletic qualities and having been in an elite sporting environment in the States he's already had four years of physical development."

Players get poached all the time, Scott Pendlebury and Jack Watts are two current AFL players who could have easily played college ball. But this one is a little different for me.

I coached Daniel for one year, when he was just a junior. He played all five positions despite towering over all other kids his age.

His was always destined to make it to College basketball, he was just so dedicated to the sport, his craft.

I’ll never forget the final he won off his own bat for our team. His superior confidence and skill saw him call for the ball at the top of the key. Clearly the tallest player on the court, he proceeded to drive to the basket, with a first step reminiscent of Jerry Stack in his prime. As he faded away at the rim, his bank shot fell in while he bounced off the too late defence and slid on his butt for metres from the basket.

Ball game.

Now, the thing is, that was only one of 100’s of games in his life, of which I saw only a handful when he was 15-16 years old. But even at that age, it was clear to everyone. He was a baller.

What I mean is - Daniel was never a two, three sport kid, that gravitated in the end towards basketball because of his height. Basketball was his sport period. He was the kind of kid that would be playing and shooting every chance he got. His dad was a teacher at his high school, Eltham High, and Daniel would come every morning with his dad and would be shooting in the gym an hour before school started most days.

Now, he is lost to the sport.

Another one.

Another one who is without somewhere to earn money at home playing basketball. And not wanting to bounce around from Euro league to Euro league. He wants the financial stability, perhaps the notoriety, the celebrity, that basketball in this country cannot offer our best young players.

I interviewed Daniel on this blog from his College back in 2007, he’s a great guy and a really proud Aussie. You can read what he had to say here.

He attended Metro State in Colorado. The same college that NBL stars Mark Worthington, Dave Barlow and Luke Kendall among others attended.

Good luck to Daniel.

As his Facebook Profile Quote tells us;

“Will make the most of life. Going to take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.”

And if the opportunities to play make a living from basketball just aren’t there, who can blame him.

Ryan Mobilia for OneManWeave

Bulleen Boomers Round 3 Preview

The Bulleen Boomers will be looking to continue their faultless start to the 2009/10 season, when they embark on a road double header in Round Three.

They will face the Sydney Uni Flames on Friday night, before backing up to meet the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), for the second week in a row on Saturday evening.

The encounter between Bulleen and Sydney on Friday will capture the entire leagues attention, as two of the strongest teams in the WNBL meet for the first time this season.

Boomers Co-Captain Sharin Milner says she is excited about the upcoming challenge.

“They have a new look team, but they’ve had the same coach for a while, so I would expect the structure to be similar. Milner said.

“They are touted as a bit of a championship contender, so we’ll use the game as a bit of a yard stick for ourselves.”

Bulleen were too much for the inexperienced AIS to handle at the Veneto Club in Round Two, winning 110-40. While Sydney moved to a record of two wins, one loss in Round Two after accounting for Dandenong at home, 73-65.

Bulleen will be led by WNBL Round One ‘Player of the Week’ Elyse Penaluna, who after being hamstrung with foul trouble for much of her last game, will be looking to rebound with a strong Round Three showing. Picking up the slack on the scoreboard for the Boomers against the AIS was new recruit Liz Cambage, who led the way with 31 points, hitting 14 of 15 free throws.

Cambage, along with the rest of the Boomers, will have their work cut out for them, going up against a Sydney side headlined by Suzy Batkovic-Brown who, along with Natalie Porter, has been a dominant force for the Flames this year.

18-year-old Cambage knows she is outmatched in terms of experience, but is looking forward to the battle with Batkovic-Brown.

“I’ll probably be playing on her. Cambage said.

“She’s an Opal, she’s played all around the world, so it’s going to be a big game, I can’t wait.”

In Bulleen’s second game of Round Three, they meet the AIS. In last week’s one sided affair, it was the size, strength and shooting accuracy of the Boomers, spurred on by their home fans, which the players from the Institute could not find a way to overcome.

AIS Head Coach Phil Brown will be hoping for a more competitive showing this week from his team. However, despite playing back on their home floor, much the same is expected when they meet in Canberra on Saturday.

Bulleen v Sydney can be seen on ABC TV from 1.00pm Saturday.

Ryan Mobilia.

Bulleen Boomers 09/10 WNBL Preview

The Bulleen Boomers are only one day away from the start of their WNBL campaign for 2009/10, the 25th season for the club.

The arrival of Rachel Jarry to the Boomers squad last Saturday marked the completion of Bulleen’s roster.

It was the first training session the full team has had together, as they race to prepare for their first game on Saturday 3rd October.

Finishing Runners-Up last season, the team underwent some significant changes in the off season.

With the addition of Head Coach Tom Maher and a new look roster, Bulleen are looking to go one step further this year and bring home the Championship.

Despite limited preparation time together, both the coaching staff and players cannot wait for the season ahead.

“I’m feeling as excited as I have ever felt before a WNBL season.” said Head Coach Tom Maher.

“The team did wonderfully well last year, so it’s my job to make sure they continue at such a high standard.

“I believe we can do that, because we have recruited well and the whole team is really committed to Bulleen.”

Club stalwarts Sharin Milner, Desi Glaubitz, Kylie Reid, Elyse Penaluna, Anna Crosswhite and Lisa Pardon are back this season, and will be competing alongside the young and talented Boomers recruits.

Headlined by Opals squad members Elizabeth Cambage and Jenna O’Hea, other newcomers include Rachel Jarry, who was the Gems second leading scorer at the recent World Championships and Hanna Zavecz.

Co Captain Desi Glaubitz is thrilled about the way the team has come together.

“The depth we have been able to recruit, compliments the Grand Final talent of last year.

“I feel for the first time in many years we have a lot of depth.” she said.

Boomers and Opals representative, Elyse Penaluna is also looking forward to the new look attack.

“The biggest difference is that it’s going to be a lot more exciting to watch us play, with the likes of Cambage, Jarry, O’Hea and Zavecz joining the team.” she said.

The Boomers also have four young players in their squad, Olivia Deiana, Lauren Pearce, Nicole Goodridge and Lauren Jeffers, who have come up from the clubs Under 18 team, and have been playing in their Big V and Youth League teams.

Jessie Gourlay from the Nunawading Spectres, rounds out the Bulleen squad of 15 players.

Bulleen travel to Canberra for the Grand Final replay to take on the Capitals, in their first game of the season on Saturday 3rd October. You can catch all the action live on the ABC tip off 1:00pm.

The first home game for the Boomers is versus the AIS on Saturday 10th October, 7.30pm at The Veneto Club.

By Ryan Mobilia Boomer Media

If an NBL season kicks off in the woods…

Sorry, it has been a while since my last post. It is the off season I guess.

You may not know it, but yes the NBL is about to kick off for the 2009/10 season.

TOMORROW!

If you haven’t been swept up in the avalanche of coverage recognising its beginning (yeah, right), here’s a quick update…

Much has changed since the 2009 Champion South Dragons cut down the nets on their home floor. For starters, they are now G O W N. Gone.

Only Eight teams will compete for the title this season:

Melbourne Tigers

Townsville Crocs

Wollongong Hawks

New Zealand Breakers

Perth Wildcats

Adelaide 36ers

Cairns Taipans

Gold Coast Blaze

OAMPS is now the leagues major sponsor. Not quite as cool as “Hummer”, but hey, like Stephon Marbury would say, “Love is Love.” Well in the case of the NBL “Money is Money.”


The games will now be 40 minute contests (like everyone except the NBA already plays), rather than 48 minutes.

Tickets will not be 16.666% cheaper to make up for lost action.

Fox Sports is broadcasting games*

*Not many, but who could blame them, not exactly a secure financial investment.

Steve Carfino has gone the way of the Dragons and as of 2009 is no more.


Taking his place are two of AFL’s and FoxSports most sought after commentators.

Brian “Barge” Taylor and Dwayne “Pipe” Russell.

Two great characters who should bring a wider audience and some interesting calls to the commentary this season. They have taken the opposite route to the NBL, unlike Stephen Quartermain, Clinton Gribas and John Casey who all used the NBL as a stepping stone to the AFL.







They will be assisted by best mates, Andrew Gaze and Hammer Heal.

The Red Dragon Rolls On

By Ryan Mobilia

China was too strong for the Bulleen Boomers WNBL team in their match up last night, winning 78-60 in front of a packed Veneto Club crowd.

Above: Bulleen and Opals star Elyse Penaluna

In what was a physical and spirited encounter, the Boomers were unable to overcome the size and scoring power of the Chinese Women’s National Team.

It was the first game at the helm for Head Coach Tom Maher, coaching against the team he led to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Bulleen were playing without Captain Desi Glaubitz and star recruit Liz Cambage, so it was left to young Opal Elyse Penaluna to step up and lead the way for the home side.

“I think we still have a lot of learning to do.” Said Penaluna - of the Boomers preparation thus far for the upcoming season.

“We haven’t actually had a practice together, so… once we’ve trained together and got a few of our sets down, I think we’ll be a pretty tough team.”

Playing against such a professional outfit in China, Penaluna said she believed it could only benefit the younger Boomers to have experienced this game leading into the new season.

“Playing in an international game is so much harder - a lot more physical.” She said.

“Just having this practice match is going to make them see how much farther we have to go, and how we are going to have to play in the WNBL next season.”

The game program warned us of the deadly outside shooting of Chinese guard, Bian Lan, who had hit 21 points against the Opals only two nights previous.

Once more she ended with a game high 21 points, hitting five of nine from long range, one an off balance NBA range shot on the halftime buzzer.

Above: Chinese star guard Bian Lan

Lui Dan, one of six centre’s listed on the Chinese roster, was also impressive all game, scoring on numerous strong post moves on her way to 15 points and 11 rebounds.

But it was her battle with Bulleen and Australia Opals star Elyse Penaluna that was the highlight of the night, the two fighting on both ends of the floor throughout the second half.

Asked if she enjoyed the physicality, Penaluna was not backwards in declaring her love for a scrap.

“Yeah, absolutely. The Chinese love to dish out a few cheap shots, but we just take that on, you know and keep playing.

“Oh, and give it back a bit.”

In what was her third encounter with the travelling Chinese in a week, Penaluna could feel the benefits to her game personally.

“I think it’s really helped playing them once up in Canberra and then again down in Geelong on Monday.

“It’s definitely helped me to show the girls that I can lead a bit on the court.”

And things look good for Boomers off the court too, the stands of their home floor filled with young and old alike watching their heroes.

“It was awesome to see everyone get out and support us against China, so hopefully we get that [level of support] for the season, and have a great year.”

China's Wei Wei, at 207cm (closest to Camera) made a brief appearance late in the game

Match Report

Elyse Penaluna hit the Boomers first five points of the game, before both sides defensive pressure got on top. A scoring barrage by China gave them 16-7 lead, thanks to back to back triples from Bian Lan and a sweet assist from her on the basket after that. Sharin Milner (13 points) settled after an early spell on the bench, finding Lisa Pardon with a great pass for three points, bringing the Chinese lead back to 18-14 at quarter time.

The second term started with Lisa Pardon (12 points) hitting another long range basket, off a steal by Elyse Penaluna. Three straight baskets by Bulleen helped them take a 21-20 lead, before the Boomers had a few shots roll out, and the Chinese capitalised with three consecutive baskets of their own.

A three point play by Chinese centre, Lui Dan gave the visitors a 34-26 lead, followed by a terrific tip in by Lisa Pardon, sparking the crowd. But Bulleen’s momentum was halted after a jump ball with only three seconds left in the half gave possession to the Chinese. This led to yet another Bian Lan basket, as she scrambled to collect, shoot and hit a long range three ball on the buzzer. 40-28 China.

Both sides came out to start the second half with tough defence, including a terrific Elyse Penaluna block and takeaway. It was the great battle between the Boomers centre and the Chinese Centre Lui Dan that highlighted the third term. Both were going back and forth against each other, ripping down rebounds, clearing space for team mates in the paint, and making some body crunching post moves. At the end of three China held the same advantage as halftime, 57-45.

In the final term the Chinese lead grew. In what became a scrappy affair, the Bulleen side couldn’t get the deficit back under the 12 point margin. The final term saw the Chinese side hit with an offensive foul call that sent their head coach Sun Fengwu storming onto the court in protest, before his players were also hit with both a technical and unsportsmanlike foul in two separate incidents to finish of the game.

Kylie Reid continued her battle for rebounding inches in the paint, while Sharin Milner hit a couple of baskets, including a very nice drive off a hesitation dribble. The tallest player on the Chinese roster, Wei Wei (207cm) also made an appearance in the final term, but the lead was never really in doubt, as a Lauren Pearce Bulleen basket on the final buzzer saw the visiting team China take out the game 78-60.