The best of the rest … who’s got next? There has been a long history of successful European players in the NBA including Drazen Petrovic, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, Arvydas Sabonis and Rik Smits. However, ever since Don and Donnie Nelson struck gold with a skinny shooting forward out of Wurzburg, Germany, and Gregg Popovich turned an unknown 19 year… Read more →
This week I am going Downtown with the help of my good friend Candace Parker. We are going to compare the three things we could not live without while we are at home, with the three things we could not live without while we are abroad. It is very common for professional women’s basketball players to spend half of the… Read more →
NBA Fantasy: The return of Kobe Bryant made the biggest headlines in NBA circles this past week. After his first game where he struggled, I was asked if he was currently unplayable in Fantasy teams. My response was that he could be great or terrible or anything in between - it is just too early to know. I added that… Read more →
They call it ‘The Joey Factor’. It’s the ability of current Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Joey Wright to get guys to play for him. Not many coaches can do it, but Joey can. Even after he was forced to spend a year in the wilderness, teaching young kids how to play at the Runaway Bay Seahawks in Queensland, Wright still… Read more →
Ten years, several career threatening injuries and more trainings, flights, buses and ball games than the rest of us mere mortals can imagine have paved the way for Jenna O’Hea to reach a major career milestone. The 26 year old Dandenong Rangers guard will play her 200th WNBL game when her side faces Sydney University Flames at Dandenong Stadium on… Read more →
After watching this James Ennis throwdown, we here at Downtown couldn’t help but feel like we’d seen this kind of reaction before. It felt like the entire crowd stopped for a second and said ‘DAMN”! Perth Wildcats fans around Australia were wondering why they were suddenly so aroused and I am convinced that the referees called that timeout to… Read more →
TBT: Trash talking is, for the most part, a lost art amongst modern day NBA players. Gone are the days where players would spend possession after possession jawing at each other, going back and forth up and down the court. The league has worked hard to stamp it out. Only last week Andrea Bargnani was ejected from the Brooklyn Nets/New… Read more →
At the conclusion of his last Holy Hoops column for Downtown, Joe Ingles asked for readers to tweet their choice for this week’s edition. The options: an interview with somebody high-profile or a Twitter Q & A with Joe. Well, the people made their choice loud and clear and our man Joe has delivered in spades. Ladies and Gentlemen….. Ricky… Read more →
The Inside word: Sunday’s game against the New Zealand Breakers could yet prove to be a season defining win for us Melbourne Tigers. The Breakers were breathing down our necks on the standings and have come into form over the past couple of weeks. It was the proverbial danger game as a loss would have seen us plummeting towards the… Read more →
This is one of the legends of Larry Bird that that I heard repeatedly growing up. High school basketball is a huge deal in Indiana (if you don’t believe me refer to the movie Hoosiers). Being chosen for the state all-star team is just about the highest honor you can receive so it is no surprise that not playing much… Read more →