Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Last Man Standing May Win

One look at the NBL standings and you will see that it is close. (Sure, I will excuse Sydney and Melbourne for now.) The team that gets its hands on the trophy at the end of the year may be the team with the most healthy bodies remaining on its roster come season's end.

Lets go down the line. Tigers are Thomasless for another month, Bullets are without the Big Mac...his return date is...well whenever Sam wants back, Adelaide are with out their inspiration...Maher, the Pigs sure wish they had Damien Martin somewhere in their sights..but he is done like pork crackling till next year, the Snakes have every body part covered on their roster, the Kiwi's have Turner out with a dicky knee, even the Hawks have been grounded with Campbell and Tait, head out west and Fisher has half his roster under an injury cloud, the Dragons even had their player/coach miss a few games, and the Crocs..well we have had our share of injuries to boot.

That leaves the Kings, Blaze and Slingers to battle with full rosters or is their turn coming.

Injuries are just part sport and the teams that handle this the best will be the ones that forge ahead as the season continues. Sure, you need to lick your wounds, but the sooner you get of the disappointment, the sooner the team will regroup and make the most of what it has.

Just two weeks ago we played with eight guys for two games. This is a players dream. The coach looks down the bench and the options are thin. A player should be licking his chops as he can play till his heart is content, and the coach has no other option but to play them. What a great situation.

It is disappointing when someone misses through injury, but opportunity is then presented to someone else to make the most of it.

The NBL champion this year may just be the team that takes that opportunity and runs with it.

NCAA News:

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3118945&name=glockner_andy Pat Mills and Gaels http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3118221&name=ncbexperts quick word on Bruce


NBL Articles:
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22782508-5006371,00.html boti's wrap
http://www.sportsaustralia.com/articles/news.php?id=2606 POW
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4281605a12155.html bradshaw injury
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Crocs-pumped-for-Tigers-rematch/2007/11/20/1195321775321.html
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=16&ContentID=47665 vlahov to be boss?
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22792405-5001023,00.html done catt
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10477140 breakers injury
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22788332-12428,00.html luke to replace maher?

NBA Top Ten Plays:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMZLUwREHIk&feature=user No 2..rudy gay..again

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey jr see Patty Mills stared 2day in the usa.lil video on espn.com.Would u put him in the aussie team?seein we dont have any other pgs?

John Rillie said...

Ryan,

Mills has come on the scene strong. Going to college was a great decision on his behalf. Time will tell, but if he continues to develop he will help the Boomers in the near future.

Anonymous said...

JR, tell me how a half court or 3/4 court shot beats a massive dunk in top 10 plays all of the time. serioulsly. Rudy Gay's dunk was huge, he rocked the cradle... then windmilled it!!!