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ROUND ABOUT: NBL6/WNBL7
TweetMUSTAPHA Farrakhan, Sam Young ... the new names of quality basketball players just keep rolling out, changing the dynamic of what rapidly is becoming a brilliant NBL season.
Farrakhan, 25 and 193cm, played four years at Virginia, averaged 13.5 ppg as a senior and has bounced around in the NBA's D-League ahead of joining Melbourne Tigers officially today.
He spent preseason camp with Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers and his game follows a similar blueprint to Stephen Dennis, who the Tigers lost before tip-off.
"He's probably a slightly better outside shooter than Stephen," Melbourne coach Chris Anstey said, Farrakhan replacing Ayinde Ubaka who left the team for personal reasons after Saturday's win over Cairns.
Of course, Young is the man who has tongues wagging, a 249-game NBA veteran whose hops will impress you if you track him down on youtube.
He was going head-to-head with LeBron James earlier this year and is sure to have a huge impact in the NBL.
Young debuts on Sunday for Sydney Kings against Perth Wildcats at Perth Arena, running straight into 2013-14 sensation James Ennis.
Farrakhan debuts on Sunday for Melbourne against Townsville Crocodiles at The Cage.
The season just took another very interesting twist.
Basketball On The Internet’s Player of the Week
YOU had to like Chris Goulding's 22-point second half as Melbourne caught and passed Cairns, or the key work Damian Martin did for the Wildcats against Cairns and Wollongong.
Jermaine Beal also had a gem in Wollongong and AJ Ogilvy was a monster for Sydney.
But when you steal the ball with 4.6 seconds left and lay it up for a game-winner, finishing with 26 points at 50 per cent - including 7-of-7 from the stripe when it truly mattered - with six assists, three rebounds and three steals in your opponent's fortress, where they hadn't lost for 15 months, you've done enough.
So without further ado, Gary Ervin is this round's BOTI Player of the Week.
PotW Winners
Rd 1 Daniel Johnson
Rd 2 Shawn Redhage
Rd 3 Chris Goulding
Rd 4 Charles Carmouche
Rd 5 Brian Conklin
Rd 6 Gary Ervin
THE WNBL will reveal its PotW winner within hours but I lean toward Sydney's Rohanee Cox. She had 19 points at 50 per cent, six defensive rebounds, two assists and two blocks to underpin the Flames' excellent win over pacesetting Dandenong.
Reviews
Wildcats V Taipans (M)
THE Dark Knight was back for Perth as it turned back Cairns' desperate bid 75-68 at Perth Arena, Damo hitting big shots when they mattered and James Ennis producing a routine 22 point haul.
Alex Loughton had a big steal for a Cam Tragardh bucket, a three and another basket to draw the Taipans level at 60-60 but Damo stuck two big threes and like every other team so far this season, Cairns left empty-handed.
Breakers V 36ers (M)
GARY Ervin's steal and layup to pinch this game 95-94 for the 36ers was the talking point but the match was a cracker, Mika and Abers finally running into some form and New Zealand resembling the team it wants to be.
It still found a novel way to lose, or Adelaide found a novel way to win, depending on your viewpoint, Ervin terrific, DJ solid and the Sixers never giving up on sweeping the Breakers in Auckland this season.
Rangers V Thunder (W)
GETTING into another high-scoring game against Dandenong was suicidal for Logan which could not match the Rangers guns in a 95-82 shoot-out.
Jenna O'Hea led the way with 24 points and Leilani Mitchell had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Tegan Cunningham had 15 points at 64 per cent to lead Logan as the Thunder's "Lone Ranger". By the way, how crap was that movie?
Kings V Crocodiles (M)
AJ and The Madge took control of this one immediately and Sydney's 21-8 second quarter gave it a 21-point lead by the main interval.
Holding it was no great issue, the Kings winning 88-67 and Jesse Sanders showing his class to go out with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in his best game for Sydney.
Lightning V Fire (W)
STEPH Talbot's tie-breaking free throw at 68-68 still left Townsville enough time to try and find a winning shot but Kayla Standish caught iron and Adelaide, which had led all the way, escaped with the W.
Jess Foley and Rachael McCully both had huge last quarters as they tried to rally their respective teams and Steph Cumming was a star for Townsville. Nadeen Payne also made the most of her time.
Boomers V Capitals (W)
YOU just know Canberra has been coming and that this game would be one of the marquee matchups of the weekend. But who knew Bec Cole's big triple would be the shot to seal it 66-62 for Melbourne?
Starting to believe Melbourne is the 2013-14 version of Bendigo 2012-13 if that makes sense. The Boomers are legit but Canberra is still in this. Gallant, narrow losses though won't be enough.
Tigers V Taipans (M)
STILL in the Victorian capital and Melbourne's other national league team, the Tigers, followed Chris Goulding's hot hand - and Owen Odigie's hot palm - to a stunning 88-85 win over Cairns.
Why stunning? Because apart from being down Lucas Walker again, Melbourne also was down 36-52 at halftime, with Cairns shooting at a wicked 72 per cent. That couldn't last but Odigie still had to get up to block Alex Loughton's last three-point attempt to put this in the bag.
Flames V Rangers (W)
DANDENONG has so quickly lost its early air of invincibility that Sydney's terrific 76-67 win almost wasn't even a surprise, Ro Cox with 19 points leading five Flames in double figures, and Alicia Poto with nine.
O'Hea was held to nine points on 4-of-13 shooting and was 0-of-5 from long range, Alice Kunek 0-of-4 dialling long distance. Dandenong is back at the drawing board.
Hawks V Wildcats (M)
HAVING lost by 40 to Perth WITH Larry Davidson playing, few would have been tipping Wollongong to be alive in this game until Perth ran away with it in the home stretch.
At 78-70, Damo struck a three and James Ennis pulled out a dunk and two other nice moves to rush the score along to 87, en route to a comfortable 89-76 margin, Jermaine Beal red-hot from the perimeters.
Thunder V Spirit (W)
BENDIGO spanked Logan, sweeping from a 10-point halftime lead to an unassailable buffer with a 26-11 third period for a 30-point (89-59) rout.
Kristi Harrower with 10 points, 10 assists and Gabe Richards with 16 points, 12 rebounds, both had Spirit double-doubles while Logan's only saving grace was Kristen Veal getting some shots up for a change.
Waves V Fire (W)
WASTE Coats were never in this, Townsville opening with a 36-10 first quarter blitz which pretty much settled this straight away, the Fire eventually winning 95-61.
Olivia Thompson led the rout with 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting and Suzy Batkovic grabbed 15 rebounds, more than half of what We're Ghosts mustered as a team.
BEEF of the WEEK
I KNOW I've already had a fair crack at Sydney Kings management for its unbelievable treatment of its hardy and devoted fanbase over the whole Jesse Sanders/Sam Young development but it was right up there for complete obliviousness in terms of how to manage damage control.
"If we ignore it, it will go away," must have been the prevailing ostrich theory - you know, if we stick our heads in the sand, no-one will see us.
When the Young leak first hit, it is understandable the Kings were in panic mode behind closed doors.
But by Friday, when Sanders' name as the man to be cut was also in the public domain, to still not make a statement - ANY statement - was a major insult to those fans who hang on everything their beloved club does.
Friday night came and went and still nothing from the Kings management, just the evidence of our own eyes as Sanders shed a tear post-game and the players surrounded him in a genuine show of affection for his plight.
Coach Shane Heal spoke up in the post-game but why the Kings could not put out a release on Friday, even one which explained the club's embarrassment at having its hand tipped in the public before it was ready, and acknowledged the professionalism of Jesse Sanders, is a mystery. It would have done wonders for its reputation.
Instead, nothing.
Nothing Thursday. Nothing Friday. Nothing Saturday. Nothing Sunday, even though Heal has tweeted how well Young trained and will fit the bill for his ballclub.
Finally today - Monday and with all that has already gone before - the Kings say: "The Sydney Kings have announced the release of import point guard Jesse Sanders. In his place, former Indiana Pacer Sam Young has been signed."
Holy Hannah Batman! Really?
Good to see the Kings are treating their fans with the respect they deserve for sticking with the club through thick and thin.
BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS
ADELAIDE was this week's biggest NBL winner after pulling off a near impossible victory against the desperate Breakers at Vector Arena, though some believe the whole inbounds pass thing and layup was some sort of conspiracy to deny NZ a fourth championship.
IT'S up-and-down for Townsville on a weekly basis it seems, the Crocs the round's biggest losers after putting up a fairly ordinary performance against a team which had to be emotionally vulnerable.
MELBOURNE was the biggest WNBL winner, again producing the goods when the chips were down to see off an opponent in Canberra which has been looking like a contender again lately.
LOGAN was the round's big loser, beaten in a shoot-out by Dandenong, then trampled by Bendigo leaving the Thunder's season pretty much consigned to the role of spoilers.
Online
PS
Sydney Kings coach Shane Heal is on the record saying of import Jesse Sanders: “I think Jesse rebounds and defends like Damian Martin.” Did he maybe mean Dean Martin?
PPS
NZ guard Daryl Corletto says the new refereeing style is a deliberate Basketball Australia ploy to stop the Breakers' winning a record fourth straight NBL title. DC also suspects having to play Townsville again this week after already losing twice to the Crocs is part of a conspiracy to keep the Breakers from winning the championship.
