Basketball On The Internet.

WATCHING Australia pick itself up off the World University Games canvas last night to deliver an 21-point turnaround against reigning champ Serbia was a wonderful revisit of patriotic pride.

Led by Jason Cadee heroics but with many memorable contributions – been waiting for this type of Todd Blanchfield breakout since he turned heads at the High Stakes Hoops tourney at Adelaide Arena a few years ago – Australia turned back a 6-24 quarter-time deficit to beat the Serbs 65-62 in the Uni Games semi final in Kazan, Russia.

It was epic, especially when the Aussies went six clear at 56-50, only to have it tied up again at 56-56 and 58-58.

Nail-biting stuff.

The Gold Medal game against a super Russian home team is at 3:30am AEST and win, lose or overtime, you just know these guys are going to give it a red-hot go.

Beating the USA – where are they now? - was something special but already achieving our best men’s result at a WUG is something of which coach Andrej Lemanis can be particularly proud.

I even enjoyed the commentary on the live feed of the match last night too, but especially the fact they did not appear to know – or, if they did, they wisely ignored – that Basketball Australia has lumbered our Uni Games kids with the awful name “Emerging Boomers”.

Seriously now, as someone on Twitter pointed out today, our cricket team is content to be known as Australia so what is wrong with our teams at the WUG being called by their national name?

Emerging Boomers sounds like some half-a$$ed kangaroo poking its tentative head out of a cave or something. "Is it safe?"

Pretty sure it doesn’t inspire fear in opponents or pride in its personnel.

Sounds like something some marketing guru at BA dreamt up after a long lunch.

Boomers, Emus, Opals, Gems … guessing most people can handle those.

But Emerging Opals too … doesn’t that name conjure images of some tawdry beads and trinkets appearing in the mud bubbles of the surfaces in Rotorua?

Ugh. (Or is it just me?)

Won’t stop tuning in. But when you are representing your country, you probably deserve better than those ill-conceived monikers.

Maybe someone found the names in the Suggestion Box at the Basketball Australia National Centre of Excellence…

THE Aussie men have been terrific, sweeping through the Stankovic Cup in China and only dropping one game en route to the Gold Medal game in Russia.

That follows Lemanis coaching the Boomers (you know, the fully emerged and standing tall Boomers, not the joeys … hey! wait!) to victory in the inaugural Sino-Australia Series.

Right about now, and with players such as Patty Mills, Brad Newley and Joe Ingles declaring their availability for the Oceania Games next month, Aussie basketball is looking fairly healthy.

Here was our semi final summary if you missed it: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/boomers-bounce-into-final-after-comeback-win-over-serbia/story-fnii09gt-1226679857122

CONGRATULATIONS also are due to our Australian women at the Uni Games who made Chinese Taipei look like Chinese Tapas, then snacked on them to the tune of a 99-58 bite-down.

No-one was hungry an hour later, either, what with those big Bronze Medals to chew on.

(Yeah. I know that wasn’t PC, so drop me an email I can delete.)

Tess Madgen and Steph Cumming had a night out but you can read all about that here: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/australias-womens-basketball-team-has-won-a-bonze-medal-at-the-world-university-games/story-fnii09gt-1226680140960

YOU really have to wonder about the forward-thinking of some people in our sport, don’t you?

For example, on a day when Australia’s future solicitors, doctors and captains of industry have won their way into the Gold Medal game at the World Uni Games AND our future biochemists, nuclear physicists and cancer-curers of the Australian women’s team have won Bronze at those very same Games, would you think it wise to announce your new NBL import?

See now, as someone in the media, my answer to that would be a resounding NO.

But hey, let’s not leave it there.

On an already full good news day for our sport, that’s what Adelaide did today, officially revealing Jarrid Frye would be the import for the 36ers.

Think that might have got lost in the shuffle a bit?

Not to worry. Just a couple of hours later, Adelaide revealed its new WNBL import to boot!!!

Azania Stewart will play for Lightning.

OMG.

Wouldn’t you just let the dust settle on the Uni Games, then make one announcement the next day and the other on the day after?

You know, as in maximising your daily info output in the media as opposed to watching it get lost, buried or condensed into one tiny story, as it will be in tomorrow’s Advertiser newspaper?

Oh wait, I just remembered. Social media is where it’s at for clubs these days – preaching to the converted along with no concept of how traditional media operates.

And then, of course, yes, complaining that “traditional media” doesn’t give a toss.

Live and learn for us traditionalists out here.

IN case you missed them, this was our online story on the 36ers’ new man: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/new-imports-jarrid-frye-and-gary-ervin-have-given-the-adelaide-36ers-new-attitude/story-fnii09ki-1226680136062

And here is the Lightning latest: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/new-import-azania-stewart-has-been-touted-as-a-huge-asset-for-the-adelaide-lightning/story-fnii09ki-1226680258026

ARON Baynes had a 19-point, 15-rebound output for San Antonio Spurs in their 96-87 summer league win over Atlanta in Las Vegas today.

Tom Abercrombie had a foul in 3:50 of court-time for Phoenix as it beat Minnesota 91-89.

Chris Goulding hit the court for 2:38 and got a shot up in Cleveland’s 62-66 loss to New Orleans, Matty Dellavedova playing 22:35 for six points and three assists, his stocks on the rise.

And Metta World Peace, who wandered along from LA to Vegas to watch a few games, decided he would put off China, hockey and arena football for now to sign instead with the New York Knicks.

There goes my marquee player plan!

THIS just in. Apparently Baron Davis also sees dead people.