Basketball On The Internet.

HERE we go, your moment of truth if you yesterday had a crack at our first annual "Great Australian Basketball Quiz" WITHOUT consulting any search engines or other sources beyond your own knowledge and memory. It wasn't an easy quiz, although some of the questions should have been relatively manageable. One of them was a stumper though.

Questions 1 and 2 tripped up current NBL followers, no surprise with even the league promoting the fact Chris Goulding's 50-point game is the "most in the 40-minute era". Seasoned watchers know when the NBL says that, it completely overlooks the fact that from when the league launched in 1979 through to 1983, it played 40-minute games ... and there was no 3-point line either.

Those records still stand. (Whether the current admin likes it or not!)

Questions 3 and 4 were for those who know their WNBL stuff. Consider yourself unlucky if you had Julie Nykiel, whose 53-point game stood for 23 years from 1982 until 2005.

Question 5 was our "stumper". If anyone other than Ray himself knew that one, we'd be surprised. Terry Dozier and Darnell Mee had some fan love but nup, they never cracked the 40.

Maybe #6 should have been easy because every time Kelly plays, the games-played record grows!

But #7 will have stumped many. No shock if you went for Luc Longley or if you recalled Eddie Palubinskas was drafted even before him. Well done. But even better if you knew of Carl's 1969 NBA drafting.

Question 8 may have been the easiest, although many said they were able to get three of the four of Question 9 so that's a good effort too.

Question 10 would have caught a few out, thinking it had to be Lauren Jackson. Well LJ captained that World Champion Opals team ... but Penny was the tournament MVP.

Finally, kudos to former NBL stalwart Luke Gribble (Hobart, Brisbaane), the first (and one of very few) to recognise Dave from the bonus photograph. Without further ado, here's all the correct answers for you to compare with yours.

Q1 What is the highest score by an individual in an NBL 40-minute game?
A1 63 points

Q2 Who was the player who scored it?
A2 Reg “Sir Reginald” Biddings for Forestville Eagles (right) against Bankstown Bruins in 1981.

Q3 What is the highest score by an individual in a WNBL game?
A3 54 points

Q4 Who was the individual who scored it?
A4 Belinda Snell (below) playing for Sydney Uni Flames in 2005 against Perth Lynx.

Q5 Who is the first player to win the NBL’s Best Defensive Player award and also have a 40-point scoring game?

A5 Raymon Wood (West Adelaide Bearcats). Best Defensive Player in 1980, 1981, scored 41 against Adelaide 36ers in 1984. Below, that's Ray shown scoring and left, defending Brendan Joyce.

Q6 Who has played the most number of WNBL games?
A6 Kelly Wilson (Bendigo Spirit) 411 games played and still active, and #1, as indicating below.

Q7 Who was the first Australian drafted into the NBA?
A7 Carl Rodwell (right), Australian Olympian in 1964, drafted in the 20th round by Atlanta Hawks in 1969.

Q8 Who was the first Australian signed into the WNBA?
A8 Michele Timms (below), assigned to Phoenix Mercury on January 22, 1997.

Q9 Name the four Australian Boomers who have top scored at an Olympic Games?

A9  Eddie Palubinskas (1976) below, Ian Davies (1980), Andrew Gaze (2000), Patty Mills (2012).

Q10 Which player was named tournament MVP when the Australian Opals won FIBA World Championship Gold in 2006?
A10 Penny Taylor (below with the award)

Bonus question: Who is this former NBL coach dribbling the ball playing at the Australian Championships in the 60s?
David Claxton (Brisbane Bullets, Gold Coast Rollers, Adelaide 36ers) - above AND below.

There you go. Hope you found that challenging and, maybe more importantly, informative. Thank you for playing!