online at www.atdhe.net/ for those of us who don't have pay tv.

Good link thaks...

thanks for the link.

There is a very small crowd!

Like a comment from Gaze: "This rims are very tight, very tight!" - that's because there has been no basketball played in Sydney for nearly 2 years!

audio sync is out on the stream - but its better than any other option

thanks

1/2 time Boomers up 43 - 42.

Ingles has 16 points & Jawai 11 points. It is good to see the Boomers pump the ball inside as we hardly ever saw that when Goorj was coach!

Boomers getting spanked on the glass though, we need to pick up the hustle.

At the half time summary, Gaze's head looks about twice the size as the other dude!

NZ up 51 - 50 6 minutes left in the third.

End of the third NZ up 64 - 61. Boomers were getting killed on the boards. Lacking urgency.

Boomers up 77 - 68 2 minutes to go.

Final score Boomers 84 En Zud 77.

no help defence by the boomers as the TBs ran a rotating curl cut offence.

were the kiwis serious when the put the towel over the camera or just mucking ?

Out standing effort from the Tall Blacks. Got too Penney oriented down stretch but great games from Pledger and Benny Anthony. We did a poor job defending the high pick and roll so some work to do there for Nenad.If it wasn't for individual brilliance of Ingles then Newley we would have been right in it at the end. Brett Brown has a lot to learn. Oscar will give up penetration all night. How does he get so many minutes? Delevodova was brilliant at annoying Penney and effectively took him out of the game. Jawai C+ only. Other Aussie bigs major disappointments. Pledger B+, like to see Abercrombie do a little more.

yes delladova's defence was envigorating!

- Ingles ability to hit J's tonight was great. His defence was his greatest weakness
- Delly's defence and ball handling was outstanding- no turnovers in 21min - great for the future of the team
- The Boomers looked good when pumping the ball into the post, but Jawai tried to do too much at times and made himself look a bit silly. We also need rotations in from the weak wing for rebounds whe they fail to drop
- Rebounding was terrible - not enough boxing out or urgency
- Newley's class showed towards the end
- Forman played little if any defence
- Boomers D on a whole had plenty of holes
- Ogilvy has not spent much time with the team before and hence he looked out of it at times.
- Baynes looked solid, but only had 1 rebound which is pathetic

In any case, a new coach with a new team. The Boomers won. Remember it takes time to instill agame plan and philosphy over a team let alone a national team thatdon;t get to play together that often

I went to game, there was one person selling tickets and giving out prepaid tickets so half the crowd missed the first quarter.

Half time, time out, quarter time entertainment was deploreable as expected. Crowd was likely around 3500. Sydney people can't be entirely blamed for not going, anyone who knows sydney geographically knows the stadium is geographically the centre of sydney, however the suburb itself has nothing going for it. Transport to the game is non-existent and parking cost 16 dollars for under 3 hours. It's also a sunday night and there was no publicity for the game at all.

There is a huge station at homebush - olympic park, however it is not on the regular train line and only operates regularly when there is a big football (afl/nrl/union) game or concert there. Homebush station which is on the regular line is approximately 15-20 minutes walk from olympic park station. Maybe when more apartments, shops, restaurants etc are put out there it will be a more lively area, there is literally nothing there except a hotel in which a round of 3 extra drys costs $27, add $16 for parking plus tickets and it's not a cheap or convenient night out. Here is game report:

http://linky.com.au/y6wkw

2178 people there, that's pathetic.

Courtside "Hollywood" seats was my highlight of the night.

was interesting to see the new kids in action, big nate is a p/f internationly and had no options offensively other than to shoot against nz, in saying that,with no double coming he really needed to take it at the D a bit harder.
schenser would have been a better combination with nate last night.
i really liked what i saw of baynes,also looking a bit p/f ish. good court sense,great timing,and a potential future boomer who looked comfortable out there.
aj didnt look comfortable,maybe that will change.
delly looked good,be great if he was a few inches taller.

Jawai was throwing bricks most of the night.. a big worry. A lot of times, his shots looked like prayers. 6 to 10 feet from basket with his body, he should be looking at dunks as his first option, if he had the good touch I would say otherwise, but at the moment he doesn't have it.
I sense a little arrogrance from him at times to, he could be a liability with the kind of shooting percentage he ended up with.
I thought Ogilvy had an unfortunate start and never really got in the game. I think he can improve on that performance.
Delladova looked good, nice potential there.
Baynes also played alright, has nice timing and good to have a shot blocker in the team.
Brown is the new coach, and i couldn't see any particular rythm to the boomers play, that is a concern. I think Newley could have seen more of the ball in the first half to get him going and I would like to see the Australian team play a more uptempo game at times.

Basketball Australia stuffed up big time, little marketing of the game in Sydney, the importance of this series etc, also the historical nature of this series, it should be held in the same regard as the Bledislo and could have been billed as part of a massive weekend of sport Vs the Kiwi's. Why was Sydney chosen? Basketball is dead here. I got free tickets and couldn't even get the game. It doesn't do much for the Mojo of the Australian players to have so little support in a big game.

No Ater Majok?

Cheaper for Foxtel to cover in Sydney .
Should have gone to Cairns , would of packed it out and created some decent atmosphere .

I would have thought it would be cheaper for Foxtel to cover the game in Melbourne now that the production of basketball has moved to Foxtel's Melbourne office.

I agree that the Bledisoe Cup, Australia vs New Zealand rivalry could have been built up and promoted.

This game would have attracted 5000+ if played in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth.

Terrible decision to play the game in Sydney, as born out by the pathetic attendance. BA, please play the games ANYWHERE but Sydney until they prove they deserve to watch our nation's premier basketball team.

Wish I'd known it was on last night, because I would have packed the Ashes in and gone out to watch at the pub! Sadly, with our sport being locked into Foxtel, its all too easy to miss what little advertising there is.

Good to see Ingles continue his good intl form and that Delly did a good job late on Penney. Bit concerning that we were behind for so long at home, and were out-rebounded and out-hustled. What happens if we lose to NZ across the ditch? Is there a third game, or will seedings be decided pretty arbitrarily by the points differential? Pretty poor if it is decided this way IMO.

Disappointing that Luke is not in the Boomers squad as well. He proved he can be a force last season, but I think he was still not match fit when the team was picked? If he is training well with the Sixers right now, might be a good idea to rush him in for the next game - but doubt it will happen because Brown will want to show confidence in his young bigs.

Sounds like losing Wortho really hurt Brown's team plan. Hopefully we can compensate in NZ. Can someone tell me if the idea was to use him at PF to allow Ingles and Newley to fill the two wing spots?

How did we compensate for losing Wortho on the night? Did Brown just slot Baynes or Ogilvy in to the PF slot alongside Jawai and go with Ingles and Newley at the wings as I guessed above? Or was there some other combo?

Seems to be a bit of criticism about Jawai's game, but looking at the box score, he was our only good rebounder with 11 and its pleasing to see he can get to the line and make shots with 7/8 FTs. Perhaps getting killed on the boards was more the fault of Jawai's frontcourt partners?

If the series is 1-1, it will be decided on margin, yes. So the Boomers need to win or lose by less than 7 in NZ.

Worthington would've started at PF, yes. Instead, they started: Gibson, Ingles, Newley, Forman, Ogilvy. Wonder how Jawai handled coming off the bench?

At one point, Brown went small (Ogilvy, plus four guards) and was getting smashed on the boards. However, that combo (with Dellavedova and Gibson as the guards) was what seemed to have worked late in the game and was the type of finishing line-up until Damian Martin was inserted near the end.

When they went to Jawai, it seems like it was a specific plan to isolate him and give him room as everyone cleared out. However, if he missed, there wasn't really a second chance given that any other potential rebounders were too far out.

Thanks Isaac, had a feeling we might go with a small lineup like that. Am very surprised to hear that AJ started ahead of Jawai though. I guess Brown must have seen something he liked about AJ's game to elevate him like that. Anyone know why? Perhaps better defence/ picking up the team offence better?

Think I'll try to get to the pub tomorrow to watch the game and see if Brown adjusts to our rebounding problem by starting Jawai and Ogilvy, or if he feels that was an abberation and sticks with the shooting of Oscar.

Hope they stick with Jawai and keep getting him the ball in the paint. From the video clip I saw it certainly looked like Jawai has the size to exploit the Kiwis.

Ogilvy was terrible, as he was last year for the Boomers.

I think they need to start Jawai and Baynes and use them in pick and roll situations. NZ are running Vukona and Anthony at the 4, and they both do their best work close to the basket - so going big will make it harder for them. Rotate Forman and Ogilvy in reserve for about 3 mins per quarter each.

But the offence needs to focus on Newley and Ingles, with opportunities for other players opening up off the attention they draw.

Might've penalised Jawai for something? From what someone said (here or on OzHoops), Jawai wasn't that impressed about being on the bench at the end of the game.

IMO the offense didn't really give Harvey or Newley or Forman the usual chances - was more about going to the bigs or Ingles freelancing. I think they could use more of a mixture.

Newley looked like he'd come in as an outsider (which he had) whereas he might be the most capable player in that roster and could've been driving that team.

Paul, Brown indicated in the press that he wouldn't play Jawai and Baynes together as they 'crowd' each other. Maybe he will keep Ogilvy starting (had him in there for the bulk of the fourth last night) and swap Jawai in for Forman at PF?

Yeah I read that, but I differ, especially if one is setting a pick for Ingles or Newley on the wing and the other is ready to pounce along the baseline Rogers style. Or if it's Oscar having him sitting in the corner ready to fire or as a pick and popper.

Ogilvy isn’t a low post threat, even with a 6’6 guy guarding him, best to have him as a screener, as he seems to operate a lot better when he gets the ball going toward the basket.

hi guys.What's your prediction for today game?bookmakers offer an handicap of -6 for Australia and a total of 163 points.What do you say?

Paul - Ogilvy is not a low-post threat? Are you kidding me? He has a very polished low-post game and I would argue has more moves than anyone else in the team at that spot. Jawai has more size and weight to use in comparison, but Ogilvy does have the moves and the touch.

I'm not defending the fact he didn't play well on ther night, but after having watched quite a few of AJ's games for Vandy I can honestly say he is a low-post weapon. I feel it is a lack of experience with the national team combined with a lack of confidence that has led to him looking out of sorts.

Not saying that Ogilvy doesnt have a low post game, I am saying he is not a low post threat internationally at this stage - and potentially at any stage given his lack of physicality (see Dave Andersen).

In Australia, we have a tendency to overrate our players who are overseas.

So when AJ is widely considered a likely first round NBA draft pick in 2010 by Americans, it means we overrate his ability?

He dominated the U19 World Champs a few years ago with Mills in the same side. AJ was the got to player on that team and was the best inside scoring player in that tourney. He is not being overrated for the international stage. The difference is AJ is young and has a bright future ahead of him.

AJ can post up a lot better than Ando, and can also pick and pop whcih is where Andersen comes into his own.

Ogilvy has potential - we will see where he goes in the draft, but that is only a narrow definition of basketball talent. He has shown that he is not up to senior international level yet. Last night he could not score against Alex Pledger and BJ Anthony, enough said. Tragardh and Hinder scored big on him in praccy games.

Until he can prove that he is up to the level, giving him the ball in the low block is poor offence. Anyone who watched the game on Sunday night can see that, as can anyone who watched the games against Iran last year.

Hi,

I went to this game in Sydney. I only found out about it by chance when I looked at the basketball.net.au website for another reason.

The game itself was quite entertaining. Nathan Jawai played well - dominated the boards. His shot selection and touch around the basket left a lot to be desired though. At his size he should be backing people down and dunking, not trying running hook shots.

Joe Ingles was by far the best offensive player on the court. They knew he was going left every time, yet they couldn't stop him. His shooting in the last 5 minutes was the difference.

It's a shame Patty Mills wasn't playing - he was on the bench with crutches.

But I agree with earlier posts - basketball in Sydney is dead. The stadium is in the middle of no where. It cost about $12 to park for the night. There was no signage as to which line to get into to pickup your tickets. I got there an hour before the game and snuck in just before opening tip off. There was only 2 dis-interested girls handing out Ticketek tickets for pretty much everyone there. I understand that a whole heap of people missed the first quarter because they couldn't get into the venue, which is completely unnacceptable.

The silly thing is that basketball in Sydney (in the inner city anyway) is huge. There are a few public courts around the place that are constantly full of kids shooting around. On a Sunday arvo at the courts near central station there'd be close to 100 people shooting around and playing pickup games. Social basketball comps in the inner city are hugely popular. Our mixed team just got booted from a 28 team comp that filled up in 2 mins after signups opened.

What lets Sydney down is the complete lack of grass roots competition. There is no district / club basketball competition (unless you play ABA). Kids can get a game at school if they're lucky, otherwise there's nothing. Adelaide definately has a huge advantage here.

Anyway enough whinging about the sorry state of basketball in NSW. If the kings were still around and playing in the city (not homebush) I would buy 2 season tickets tomorrow.

Matt, thanks for your report - good to have another first-hand write-up.

If they plugged the game ahead of time to the streetballers and provided a bus to and from the venue, would those guys have gone? Or do you think they'd write off the talent on show as not worth watching?

To be honest I reckon a few of them would have gone. Basketball seems to be huge in the Chinese community here, and i'm sure some of those guys would appreciate watching a decent game of basketball.

Even just some flyers on the notice boards at the stadiums around the city, along with some posters at the streetball courts would have helped.

If they played on the NBA level talent that was present they would have got a few people out there (Jawai, Mills, Ingles, etc).