Patty Putting In Work For Spurs

Patty Mills has exploded with 27 points in their 2nd last regular season game against the Phoenix Suns. San Antonio will cap off an extraordinary season tomorrow when they play the Golden State Warriors. The Spurs have only lost 16 games all season and will tie with the Chicago Bulls if both teams win tomorrow.

Mills has burst onto the scene in the latter half of the season and provided a great backup to Tony Parker. He has a renewed confidence and seems to have the green light to shoot. Spurs coach Greg Popovich must have assistant coach, and Australian Boomers head coach Brett Brown, in his ear telling him good things. If so Patty is living up to it! He has done contract extensions no harm. In a team that is so stacked it must make Mills feel so good.

All it takes is something to spark some confidence. After coming to the NBL this season and not having produced the best stats he headed to China where he put up some heavy numbers. As a player when you see the ball continually going through that hoop, confidence is sky high. Patty is probably seeing the basket as a hoola hoop right now.

 I wonder if Mills will see many minutes in the playoffs. Mr Popovich has his favourites and will be tough to crack. There is no reason not to have faith in one of the deadliest benches the league has seen in a long time.

Western Conference finals are live on ESPN. It would be great to see an Aussie running around in one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar. It could give basketball some more exposure and get everyone ready for the Olympic Games.

I don't see too many teams beating the Spurs in this years playoffs, especially if Tim Duncan is on song. We all know Parker and Manu Ginobili are going to do their thing. Hopefully Patty can play a big part in the Spurs getting an NBA Championship.

5 Games Please??

Unless your a die hard NBL fan you would have had no idea the Perth Wildcats are trying to even up the three game Grand Final Series tomorrow night against the New Zealand Breakers. You probably had no idea the season had even begun!

However I'm one of those fans that wish the series would last a little longer than the three games (or two if NZ win tomorrow night). I say bring back the 5 games series. It lets the fans see the best of the best going at it. The NBL would be kicking themselves right now. They could have had 5 sellout games which would have been great for the newspapers and the delayed telecast. Instead Perth sell their game out in no time and the fans who missed out don't get another chance to see their team in the GF. A little disappointing if you ask me. The NBL are always claiming that attendance has grown over the last few years, so why not add a few extra games to a superb final series. I don't think too many people will complain.

Tomorrow night Perth have to hold home court to send this series into a deciding game back in NZ. The way Perth played the GC at home over the last couple of weeks was incredible. If they can replicate that style of play, their will be a third game. I think they will be a little disappointed in not bringing home the win last week, especially without Thomas Abercrombie missing the game. You can never be too confident with Perth no matter where they have played this season. The Wildcats have squandered many a lead over the last six months. In the end it cost them top spot.

I think Abercrombie rests this game and plays in the third. If that's the case I believe Perth win and take lots of confidence back across the Tasman. Who wants to see the NBL trophy back in NZ again? I certainly DO NOT!

LBJ 17 Points in 3 Minutes

I don't know if everyone has caught up with today's NBA happenings but I thought I'd fill you in on LeBron's 17 point final three minutes! I'm not a big fan of LBJ but this was impressive. If he had performed it against the Bulls and not the Nets I may have even crossed over to the dark side. I know that will never happen so I'm safe.

Here is the clip of him taking over the game and the Nets choking dramatically.

What are your favourite all time comebacks from your NBA heroes? Here is an incredible one by T-Mac. Spurs fans would have been furious that day!

Shoot 8 Million In Our Basket

Today the Australian Government funded a new Western Sydney A-League team 8 million dollars. I have nothing against this what so ever but, if they are able to throw 8 million around like that, why can't they throw Basketball Australia some too?

I think soccer in the west of Sydney will be great. I think it's what's been missing in the A-League for a long time. It will bring a great rivalry to our state. You only have to watch the Melbourne Victory v Melbourne Heart games to see what passion and excitement it brings to the fans of the game. However, should the Government be throwing 8 million dollars into a sport which they blew 45 million on to try and get our country the World Cup. It seems like a bad gamble to me, especially when we only just witnessed our Olyroos not score a single goal in their Olympic campaign. The sport really seems to be going places, so why not throw another 8 million their way?

On the other hand, Basketball Australia can't even get their product live on National TV. It has ruined one of the most popular sports in this country, let alone the world. Why doesn't the Government do something about that? The Government should be buying into something that is growing. The NBL reported that crowd growth has continued for the third season running. You may not think 4100 people attending a game is many, but this is the problem. The NBL doesn't have the funds to go and buy big stadiums. The Government needs to take a long look at their allocation of funds to sporting codes around our country. It just doesn't seem right. I'm glad the new chairman of Basketball Australia, Kristina Keneally, stood up for our code today. Basketball players and fans across Australia needed to hear someone stick up for the sport.

I'm hoping something gets done about this and the Government come to their senses. It just seems that the only way Basketball Australia is going to take off is if the Aussie men medal at the Olympics. I do say the Aussie men only because the women always do well and it's no surprise. However the men are carrying some big name players, such as Andrew Bogut and Patty Mills, who people have become familiar with over the years with their stints in the NBA. It will create a big buzz and hopefully gain some exposure across the country. No-one knew who Tim Cahill was before he scored those two goals in the World Cup match against Japan. Why can't it be the same if Patty Mills hits the buzzer beater to sink the DreamTeam(USA)? Will the Government show their faces then?