Basketball On The Internet.

MELBOURNE Boomers and WNBL stalwart Cayla George is enjoying an MVP season and should join contemporaries such as Suzy Batkovic and Abby Bishop as a winner of the coveted individual award this season. And I must confess, I slouch corrected as the soon-to-be 34-year-old is playing career-best basketball.

In a post-Asia Cup review and look ahead entitled "Time Now For Opals to Move Forward" published here at the website on October 7, 2021, I (obviously in hindsight, boldly) declared George should be a casualty of the national program going forward.

On the back of a less-than-imposing Tokyo Olympic Games campaign, I had George amid a trio of veterans I believed it was time to replace.

All three had been great players at every level but, I mused then; "what they bring comes in steadily diminishing returns. For example, great tournaments slowly reduce to great games, then to great halves, a great quarter to eventually a couple of great plays."

In hindsight - which is ALWAYS 20-20 - the debilitating effect of Liz Cambage's pre-Games behaviour on the Opals, most notably the veterans, was something many underestimated, myself included.

It was a factor in then-captain Jenna O'Hea hanging up her boots. That's no small impact.

One thing I've always liked about Cayla (and several other notable players, coaches and a couple of referees I could name), is when they read something with which they disagree, instead of moaning, groaning and bad-mouthing you privately, they get in touch.

I respect that.

Naturally, she was far from thrilled but I explained my position and left it at if she felt she still could be a worthwhile Opals contributor at the Paris Games next year, then more power to her.

Basically, it was a challenge to put up or shut up.

Let's see now how she did.

First, she led Melbourne Boomers to the 2022 WNBL championship from a 0-1 best-of-three deficit.

Next she showed she still had international cred by averaging 8.6ppg at 43 per cent, 5.6rpg, 1.8apg playing 20 minutes a night in an Opals team which set the game alight again in Australia by winning the Bronze Medal at the FIBA World Cup in Sydney.

Move on to the launch of the 2022-23 WNBL season where Melbourne, as defending champ, starts out with a new coach in Chris Lucas, starters Lindsay Allen and Ezi Magbegor, and bench micro-wave scorer Carley Ernst all already gone. 

Additionally, Opals captain and Boomers starter Tess Madgen had knee issues from the World Cup which initially kept her out of the team and ultimately cost her the season.

All the ingredients were in place for Melbourne to crash and burn.

Instead, Cayla George has not only shown leadership qualities above and beyond, but produced a triple-double, a 37-point game and ensured the Boomers would be in the Final Four to defend their title.

She currently is second in WNBL scoring with 18.8ppg behind only Boomers teammate Tiffany Mitchell's 20.0ppg. She is leading the rebounding, snaring 11.5rpg.

George is top 10 in assists, dishing 4.6apg per outing, while also boasting 1.8 steals, another top 10 ranking.

She blocks at least one shot per game (3rd in WNBL), and her 2.7 makes from beyond the 3-point arc is second in the comp. In 3-point and free throw percentages, George also is top 10.

Almost indispensible, George's 37.4 minutes per game leads the league. It's not difficult to see why.

Oh, and along the way she also became a mother after her sister-in-law gifted her a baby in a Torres Strait Islander practice known as Kupai Omasker. And she also won a WNBA contract at Las Vegas Aces for the 2023 season.

The Aces will be George's fourth spell in the WNBA after a five-year absence. She previously played with the Phoenix Mercury in 2015 and 2017, and the Dallas Wings in 2018.

I doff my toupee to her in a Shakespearean bow. Priding myself on usually delivering accurate analysis, Cayla George has certainly risen far and away above anything I imagined she still had left.

She has "put up" so now I will shut up. Except to say the 2023 MVP award should already have her name engraved upon it.