Liam Santamaria

I like to think that I bring the all-important little man’s perspective to the Downtown crew. The rim may be 10-feet high folks but the court, itself, is at ground level. My one season playing ball on the national scene was back in 2001/02, when I played the vital role of 4th-string PG as a member of the Victoria Titans. Go back and watch the tapes, I’m confident that only Patty Mills outranks me worldwide as an end-of-the-bench towel-waver. This experience, however, gives me the kind of an insight into pro hoops that can only be gained by spending time ‘behind the curtain’. These days I spend most of my spare time squeezing every last cent out of my League Pass subscription. And when I’m not playing, watching, writing about or podcasting about basketball, you’ll find me soundly outplaying all-comers at the fantasy version of the game. Safe to say that if I had a tatoo it would say ‘mum’. But if I had two tatoos, the second one would definitely be of a basketball.

Follow me on twitter: @Downtownball

Damon Lowery: “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up”

Published by Liam Santamaria on March 20, 2014 | 1 Response

Damon Lowery is a legend of Australian Basketball. He hooped here for over 20 years and the free throws he hit against Adelaide in the 2001 Semi Finals will be remembered forever by those who watched them. I first met Lowery on a flight home from China in 2006. We had both been playing hoops on a tour over there… Read more →

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DOWNTOWN’S 2013/14 NBL AWARDS

Published by Liam Santamaria on March 16, 2014 | 2 Responses

With only one round remaining in the NBL’s regular season, it’s time to turn our attention towards the players and coaches who deserve special recognition for their on-court efforts over the past 6 months. I have been joined by three other members of the Downtown family and one special guest analyst to present a broad view on who should walk… Read more →

TBT: Bear Breaks Croatian Hearts

Published by Liam Santamaria on March 12, 2014 | Leave a response

For this week’s Throwback Thursday I’m taking you back to Friday August 2nd 1996. It was deep into the second week of the Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the Boomers and Croatia faced-off in a massive quarter-final matchup. That day delivered one of the biggest moments in Australian Basketball history and I can remember it as if it were yesterday…. Read more →

“This Ball is Racist”

Published by Liam Santamaria on March 12, 2014 | Leave a response

The Sydney Kings have experienced a fair amount of movement in terms of their import spots throughout the 2013/14 NBA season. At various times they have had three different combinations of Charles Carmouche, Jesse Sanders and Sam Young step out in the purple and gold together. And it seems, after a recent run of losses, they’re not done looking. Next… Read more →

Making His Mark

Published by Liam Santamaria on February 28, 2014 | Leave a response

The career of Townsville Crocodiles point guard Steven Marković has come full circle. After making a splash in the NBL as a teenager in 2004 and 2005, Marković spent almost 10 years playing in Europe before returning to Aussie shores last year to join the Crocs. One thing’s for sure, the dynamic playmaker is enjoying being home. “Yeah it‘s good… Read more →

The Rise and Fall of Lenny Cooke

Published by Liam Santamaria on February 26, 2014 | Leave a response

In 2001 Lenny Cooke was the top ranked high school basketball player in America. He was the reigning MVP of the ABCD All-America camp and the ‘experts’ had him pegged alongside names such as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudamire. The world at that time was Lenny Cooke’s oyster and what seemed like an open door to the NBA… Read more →

Throwback Thursday – Albert Park Stadium

Published by Liam Santamaria on February 19, 2014

Round 19 is Heritage Round in the NBL – a round of action dedicated to celebrating the league’s rich history. In the spirit of Heritage Round, I’ve decided to take a trip down my own basketballing memory lane for this week’s Throwback Thursday (#TBT). Come with me as I reminisce about the place in which I first fell in love… Read more →

Pharell Williams - Happy (All Star Edition)

Published by Liam Santamaria on February 17, 2014

A couple of weeks ago we posted the Golden State Warriors edition of the catchy Pharell Williams track ‘Happy’. Well, after Mr Williams brought the house down at the Smoothie King Center right before the NBA All Star Game yesterday, it seems only right that we follow that up with this fun clip from the 2014 All Star Weekend in… Read more →

#NBLcomps: Comparing NBL Players to their NBA Counterparts

Published by Liam Santamaria on February 17, 2014

He’s a high energy ball player, an animal on the boards, extremely active defensively and possesses impressive passing skills for a big man. Let’s face it…. Mika Vukona is to the NBL what Joakim Noah is to the NBA. Hoop-heads, here for your reading pleasure is Downtown’s list of 2014 NBL/NBA comparisons. This list of comps was super fun to… Read more →

My Favourite NBA All-Star Game of All Time

Published by Liam Santamaria on February 12, 2014

With the 2014 version of the NBA’s signature event fast approaching, I thought I’d take the opportunity to reminisce a little bit about my favourite NBA All-Star Game of all time – the classic that was played out in 2001. The 2001 edition was the league’s 50th All-Star Game and had everything you could ever want from the showcase, including… Read more →