box score says he scored 37pts,
sounds like he was nailing never the less

That there is a very strong showing!

Oops, posted my topic at the same time:

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St Mary's has upset the 11th seeded Oregon 99 - 87. Led by Aussie Patrick Mills who came of the bench to score 37 points and grab 4 rebounds.

Mills shot 10-20 from the field and 13-14 from the line.

Box Scores

Could Mills make it to the NBA?

According to the Wrap up for the game....

"A capacity crowd of 3,500 turned out at McKeon Pavilion with the same kind of energy typical of a rivalry game with Gonzaga. Seven pro scouts were on the list to attend the game, along with former Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings coach Eric Musselman.

Cal star DeVon Hardin and former Santa Clara coach Dick Davey also were among those in the attendance. "

Quite a few pro scouts in attendance, I imagine the Mills is high on the radar now.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/recap?gid=200711200538

If Earl Boykins can make it then Pat has to be in with a chance... 4 games into his NCAA career that is a stellar performance... Have we found our starting point for Beijing??? (BTW that was a rhetorical question)...

BA are excited. Press release just came through:

Mills the man in America



19-year old Patrick Mills scored 37 points to lead St. Mary's College to a 99-87 victory over Oregon this afternoon.

With the Ducks ranked number 11 of all men's college basketball teams in America, the victory was one of epic proportions for St. Mary's, a small college located in California.

Mills, who starred for the Australia Post Boomers in their 2-1 Oceania Championship victory over New Zealand in August, shot 10-20 from the field, 4-13 from three-point territory and 13-14 from the free throw line.

"I'm real excited for Patrick," Australia Post Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian said.

"After the qualifying series against New Zealand we felt that he was going to have a huge impact for St. Mary's right off the bat.

"That performance against a quality team is great for Patrick, big for St Mary's, and huge for the Boomers.

"He's off to a great, great start and his development in the next six months is key for the Boomers in Beijing."

The twelve point victory was St. Mary's fourth win in four games; their best start since they went 5-0 in 1993.

Mills' previous college career high score was a 17-point performance against Sonoma State on November 9.

Catch Patrick's remarkable performance in a full replay of the game on ESPN at 0500 tomorrow morning.

I know this is a Pat Mills thread but... a few of the Aussie boys are doing well so far this season... AJ for Vandy, Weigh had a decent game last week for the Utes, Maric picked up where he finished last season, and finally Sam Harris (yes Sam Harris - the 7-3 monster (and i mean that as a term of endearment) from Tassie) is getting decent PT this season and is accumulating some very nice rebounding and block games (in only circa 20 mpg)...

Anyone else getting sick of seeing quotes from Goorj ALL the time? What makes it worse it most of the comments are the same, state the obvious stuff. I mean, why does Brian have to comment on how someone does over in college, FFS....

Anyway, awesome start for Pat. Lets just hope he doesn't pull a Bruce and steadily decline from here....

only dissapointing stat seems to be 4 from 13 from down town?

twentyfour, well, he is the Boomers coach and Mills is earmarked to play for Australia in Beijing! Sure, they're pretty fluffy comments, but so is pretty much everything in basketball in AU.

Crazy24, I thought it was impressive that he racked up the points without relying just on outside luck. 6/7 from inside the arc is good stuff. I reckon you can forgive the 4/13 in the scheme of things.

P Mills 37 10-20 13-14 1 3 5 1 37

it says here he only got 5 assists and 3 rebounds, still pretty good coming from 37 minutes and being a tiny guard

Just saw it on Sportscenter. Looked pretty good out there. If he stays in college his full four years, he can come in to the NBA a complete Point Guard.

Yea 3, i saw that too. It's good to see him getting some love from ESPN, after all, he is a great player.
He certainly does rank at least in the top 50 for freshman in the Country. Hell, he is soo good he deserves to be in the Top 25.

I just hope he sticks at it in college. Sure, he's not at a major big-time program like a UNC or Duke or anything, but if he sticks around for 4 years, he has a chance to really make a name for himself and the St. Mary's program on a national level, in the same way Jammer Nelson did at St. Joe's a couple of years ago. With all the guys from what would be his college graduation class (Class of 2011) that will probably leave for the NBA before their time is up, he can stay around and become a very, very good point guard, and one of the undisputed top players in his class. IMO, that would guarantee a long-term future for him in the NBA.

The replay of the St. Mary's vs. Oregon game runs from 4:30am-6:25am (Adelaide Time) Thursday on ESPN (Foxtel 508).

Nobody has mentioned he had 5 assists to lead the game in that category (yay John Casey inclusion). I doubt he came off the bench for 37 minutes but it sure does look promising for the young man. Just imagine how he is going to go against the lower ranked colleges if they are 11th best. From what ive seen he has the skills, the endeavour, the talent and the opportunity to become one of the best players we've ever produced. Go Patty Go.

Yahoo have a good write up on the game.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/recap?gid=200711200538&prov=ap

Best part of the article:

"Mills, Carlin Hughes and Walker are three of Australians making an immediate impact -- and they have become instant fan favorites, with students cheering "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!" when they score. Men at Work's tune "Down Under" blares during timeouts."

"Jammer" (???) Nelson - I bet that John Amaechi wishes he still played for the Magic...

I don't see why he should stick around in college 4 years if he is ready for the NBA earlier and a team is willing to take him in the 1st round (pref. lottery)... Fact of the matter is he might already be more advanced than his freshman status indicates due to his AIS and Nat. team duties... 4 years just for the sake of it is admirable but potentially a wrong (if not foolhardy) and costly decision (cue Randy Livingston and Rodney Dent violins)...

Apologies, I meant Jameer Nelson.

Sure, it might not be the right decision for everyone. But I don't see him as a lock for the lottery this year, or even next year for that matter.

The 2008 draft is loaded with good PG's. Mayo, Collision, Rose, Bayless, Lawson, Gordon, Weaver, and Singletary. Potentially two of the first three picks will be PG's.

2009 isn't looking so hot.

Yeh Mills was a starter in this game..

On Foxsports.com today:

"AUSTRALIAN teenager Patrick Mills set a college record for most points by a freshman in leading St Mary's to an upset 99-87 victory over Oregon.

In just the 19-year-old's fourth NCAA game, the Canberra point guard dominated with 37 points - the sixth best return in St Mary's history."

Huge game.

He was the Play of the Day on Sports Tonight last night.
The crowd all stormed the court at the end of the game to surround him. Looked awesome.

Anyone got footage of that off of sports tonight? Would really love to see it.

ESPN.com's highlights will do the trick.