Damn, shame.

Still, not a great loss.

Bairstow was good against China, but the way David Andersen's been playing, a 3 way big man rotation of Bogut/Baynes/Andersen means the loss of Bairstow won't be felt at all.

I wouldn't say it wont be felt at all. He has good hustle and gets a lot of putbacks and points from cutting at just the right time. I'd rather him in the rotation than Motum.

Looked like a dislocated shoulder. He was hurting bad and went straight to the locker room for attention.

Obviously we have decent coverage in the Boomers, but I was asking if there are repercussions for the Bullets. Is it a long-term injury?

But why do they even need 4 bigs in the rotation?

Sure, foul trouble could mean they'd want to throw Motum in. But David Andersen is an experienced campaigner and has been playing well, he starred against the USA. I would've expected him to be ahead of Bairstow in the rotation for the quarter final.

Bogut has been well rested and should be ready to play 30 minutes, Baynes and Andersen can share the remaining minutes in the 4 and 5 positions.

They will probably get by without him but he gives options to play small ball at center and he has played is role very well.

That is true- could have possibly been helpful against Argentina (who has a very good chance of finishing third and playing AUS). Could have helped us match Argentina's small ball- Scola's range at the 5 spot could prove difficult for Bogut or Baynes to defend.

Nocioni also went off yesterday from outside, and he plays 4 for Argentina, so it could have been helpful having an extra option to match small ball.

Still, I think Andersen can play that role- the mobile 5 spot. And Motum, while he hasn't been that great, is still a Euroleague player so I'm not that worried. I think Australia will actually beat Argentina down the other end- Bogut and Baynes will prove a mismatch for them too, as they're too big and strong for Scola and Nocioni, and are good enough passers to find Mills and Delly open once Argentina plays a zone and double teams. the post play. Argentina's other bigs- Delia, Acuna, Deck and Mainoldi- aren't that great. Playing big could be to Australia's advantage at our offensive end. Will be an interesting chess match that's for sure.

Sorry but here's no such thing as an interesting chess match

Bairstow will own the NBL.

Rebounds, putbacks, a nice little J, handoffs. This man can do it all.

Exactly what LV said.

I think this has the potential to help us if Lemanis uses his minutes to get Bogut, Baynes and Ando more time as well as Broekhoff / Ingles some minutes at the four; it will hurt us if he just slots Motum in.

Still unclear as to the damage to his shoulder Isaac, I hope it isn't bad as they can linger. He is very important to Brisbane one would think, this could hurt them but I am hopeful he will recover soon enough to play game one of the NBL...

Hopefully he will recover soon enough to play the Olympic quarter final ;)

Far an NBL goes, Bairstow will be crucial to Brisbane because he's easily their best player. Without him, they won’t have the class to compete with the better teams.

In terms of elite level players (top 10 or 15 in the NBL), he’s the only one I’d put in that category for Brisbane. Beal is at that level on his day, but isn’t consistent enough and Kickert is there on one end of the court. Bairstow is the one guy who I expect will have the all round game to be an elite star.

(Oh, and nobody tell me Kickert was an all NBL first teamer. He must be the most overrated all NBL first teamer ever)

I'd take him before Seth Scott.

Don't get me wrong, I'd take Kickert before most of the big guys in the NBL.

But would anyone in their right mind take him ahead of AJ Ogilvy, David Andersen? Not a chance.

Would you take Kickert ahead of Matt Knight, Mark Worthington, Nate Jawai? I wouldn't.

Take Wortho for instance. Kickert's clearly a far superior jump shooter. But Wortho is better at literally every other area of the game- defense, rebounding, passing, driving it at the hoop and drawing fouls, running the lanes on a fast break. And Wortho does all the little dirty work that Kickert doesn't.

I have always thought of Kickert as a very tall outside shooter who can be a miss-match given the right play against a smaller opponent and one who could use athleticism to drive on a bigger guy who may not be able to guard him outside the arc.

At Melbourne however, he was not able to establish much more than an outside presence, let's see if he can broaden his presence at Brisbane, with Bairstow providing that strong inside game and also a nice mid range, it could work in his favour.

Yet, Kickert made the all NBL first team because he looked good within United's offensive system. In reality it was a combination of Holt, Goulding and Kickert combined with Warrick on the inside who all played a major role in making that system work. United was also lucky in that they won the minor premiership after snatching a few close ones.

And when it came time to do some dirty work against an experienced, tough opponent, Kickert failed miserably because he proved unable to do what a big man should be able to do- compete on the rebounds. NZ grabbed 33 O boards on their way to a 90-68 rebounding massacre across the two semi final games. Kickert grabbed a paltry 5 rebounds in the whole series in 60 minutes of play (Vukona from NZ grabbed 22 rebounds in 47 minutes).

Kickert is a frustrating player to watch. Simply a brilliant jump shooter, one of the best outside shooting big man who has ever stepped foot on an NBL court. But soft as butter, and gets beaten up on the rebounds. The guy is 6 foot 10 and averages under 4 rebounds a game in 30 minutes last season. An incredibly good shooter bhut incredibly bad at another vital area of basketball...

Oh and I agree- with Bairstow doing the dirty work, throwing his body around Kickert could be the perfect side"kick". Jervis and Petrie are also tough, physical competitors with some size. So Kickert's weaknesses might not be exposed as much for Brisbane as they were in the semi finals against Vukona and NZ.

Melbourne United failed to recognise their rebounding weakness against NZ, agree, and yet when they decided to play Majook that weakness was less exposed. They just didn't get it right in the finals and Kickert was left exposed, perhaps a scapegoat to some degree...

John Casey:

Coach Lemanis reports #Boomers big man @cbairstow41 taken to hospital. Status of arm injury unknown

Ouch...

‏@BasketballAus

UPDATE | Cameron Bairstow suffered a dislocated shoulder that went back in itself.

Scans completed- will be managed on a day to day basis.

Some good news there...

Some good news there...

once you dislocate any joint the ligaments are stretched and prone to re dislocating. However this popped back in - so hopefully it wasnt a full dislocation but a partial one that relocated.
The medical tape rep will be on a first name basis.

Great news

Bairstow will own the NBL.

Rebounds, putbacks, a nice little J, handoffs. This man can do it all.

If the Bullets are smart, they'll send him for surgery early, get it cleaned out and tightened up. He could be back in a few months.
Even if he misses the start of the season, they could grab an import as a short-term injury replacement.

Did you see the part where he can do hand-offs though?

How is he an A-typical and undersized power forward?

Bairstow is a big guy, as big as any PF in the NBL and has a decent mid range game, I think he will be a top scorer and defend very well, he could dominate some opponents if he gets 100% fit, but shoulders are notoriously difficult injuries to deal with.