Tag Archives: matthew-dellavadova

Weekend musing – Journalists, Lindsay Thomas, LeBron James….

June 25, 2016 sportzfan Leave a comment

Chris Barwin Hills The biggest story this week in sport again had nothing really to do with sport and those that play it. I passed comment a few weeks ago about journalists creating stories around themselves and this week maguire it has gone to a whole new level. I am not going to give a view on the rights and wrongs of the whole debate, but it is time we moved on and concentrated on the sport. Richmond’s decision to ban Triple M seems somewhat hypocritical given the Dustin Martin situation earlier this year. Their response would be that the allegations were unfounded but let’s have some consistency in the way these matters are treated.

It was not really a surprise to see Lindsay Thomas not paid free kicks in last Friday nights game against Hawthorn. While Brad Scott’s thomas comments about the umpires was proved to be factually incorrect and he and North paid a hefty price, I have no doubt that the umpires saw the vision and heard the ongoing commentary of and about Thomas in the game against Sydney and were always going to react. No one likes being made a fool of. I harken back to 1999/2000 when Matthew Lloyd was highlighted for diving in a game against Richmond where he received three free kicks. Lloyd got a reputation for diving on the back of that game and while he did take it out of his repertoire, he very rarely received a free kick for being pushed in the back in a marking contest after that game. James Sicily could be next on the list!

An amazing performance by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA and I think it does emphasise that LeBron James is one of the greatest Unknown-1 players of all time and probably the best since Michael Jordan. What has been missed in this is that in culminates in a hat trick of NBA wins by Australian players. Mills & Baynes in 2014, Bogut in 2015 and Dellavedova this year. It is great to see Australians playing on the big stage and hopefully they can all be fit for the Olympics because they have a genuine medal chance.

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Australia’s McCarron has NBA trial

June 24, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

He might just be the best Australian basketball player that you haven’t heard of yet, but Australian guard Mitch McCarron has a very bright future ahead for himself after completing his first NBA workouts with the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.

As the basketball public get over the 2015 NBA Finals that featured two Australians, Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova, competing against each other for the first time in a championship series, the teams around the league have already well kickstarted their campaigns for next season with waves of player workouts.

“I think it went really well,” explained McCarron after his first experience on court with the Nuggets. “I’m not going into these workouts expecting anything to come from them, rather I just want to go in and give it everything I have and hopefully I get another opportunity to impress. I got some great feedback from the coaches about how to make the most out of my future workouts and my future playing career.”McCarron, a 6’3″ guard, just finished his college career at Metro State University and was the 2015 Division II National Player of The Year after an outstanding season in which he averaged 20.2 points, 6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game as a Senior.

On top of his outstanding year on the basketball court, McCarron had a very impressive 3.8 grade point average in the classroom.

Playing college basketball in Denver, McCarron did not have to venture far for his first pro-workout with an NBA team and the young kid from Brisbane believes he didn’t disappoint in front of the Nuggets hierarchy. “I did pretty well,” noted McCarron of his time on the floor with the Nuggets coaching staff, “I could have been a lot more vocal, and I still need to work on some aspects of my game but overall I thought I did a good job.”

The Nuggets have the 7th and 57th pick in the upcoming NBA Draft and McCarron will be a candidate for the Nuggets with their second round selection, although the Nuggets kept their cards close to their chest.”I didn’t get any indication from them about future plans, they just gave some immediate feedback on what to work on and asked questions about my future plans,” said McCarron.”I would love the opportunity to play with any NBA team, that’s been a dream since I was a child. I don’t know what a lot of the other cities are like but having lived here for the past four years, I know Denver would be a very enjoyable place to stay long-term.”

By Daniel Eade

Sports

Friday musing – A-League final, AFL, Mick Malthouse, NBA Playoffs, Andrew Bogut…..

May 22, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

The biggest thing in local sport in the last week was the A-League grand final and what a comprehensive result for the Melbourne Victory. They were aggressive and positive from the start and played almost the complete game. Sydney FC only had two real shots on goal and both went straight to the keeper. Speaking of the keeper, Lawrence Thomas, in my far from expert opinion, he is better than
the injured Nathan Coe so they didn’t lose anything there. I think in the previous week Melbourne City put more pressure on the Victory defence for the same score line. This is perhaps the most complete side to take out the title and while they lost and drew a few games during the year that they should have won, it was evident that if they clicked no other side in the competition could beat them. Mark Milligan was a deserved winner of the Joe Marston Medal and it is surprising that he has not find greater success overseas.

In the AFL it is interesting to see the issue about the head high tackles and the tactics employed by the likes of Lindsay Thomas in drawing free kicks. I raised this issue earlier in the year and players that drop their knees and dip/raise their shoulders are almost impossible for the umpires to detect even though it is the equivalent of ducking the head. I think it is unfair to be critical of the likes of Thomas, the Selwoods, Shoey and Puopolo when coaches from all teams should be teaching the players the same tricks. Every supporter hates when these frees are paid against them, but delight when they go in their favour.

The heat on Mick Malthouse continues and it reminded me of when Ron Barassi went back to Melbourne. He had been successful at two clubs, but could not work his magic a third time. I think the main issue at Carlton is their atrocious disposal. They win the ball in contested situations and then give it straight back to the opposition. I think they could be a sneaky chance tonight against Geelong, but I am still not prepared to pick them. My upset for the round is the Saints to topple West Coast.

The NBA finals are entering the final phases and wouldn’t it be great if the Golden State Warriors played off against the Cleveland Cavaliers so we could be guaranteed an Australian was on the winning side. Andrew Bogut v Matthew Dellavadova. From a personal point of view I would like to see the Golden State Warriors win the title for Andrew Bogut given his constant battles with injury he deserves the reward.

Have a great weekend!