Basketball On The Internet.

WOMEN’S sport is its own worst enemy, a simple home truth reinforced so strongly last night at the match between Adelaide Lightning and China’s national team at Adelaide Arena.

I counted some 50 people at the game, another opportunity lost/wasted, call it what you will, to promote women’s basketball in South Australia.

Who is at fault? The Lightning? Basketball SA? Basketball Oz? The Scouts/Church Basketball owners of the venue?

Well, seriously, who cares who is at fault? The point is an international team was in town this week and unless you keep your ear very close to the ground, you would have had no clue.

For starters, the match was tucked away in Adelaide’s 5pm training time, because, well, hey, we can’t ask Woodville’s teams to come in earlier or have the night off.

The pre-publicity consisted of, well, nothing. Zero. Zip. Narda. SFA.

Before anyone jumps up to say the powers-that-be-indolent had it hard because there was only a week or so’s notice, give me a break.

For a start, what the hell does Basketball SA do on a daily basis?

What? CEO Mark Hubbard cannot sit down with Lightning people and see the merit in promoting the game, the sport, the WOMEN’s aspect of it?

Presume he can – he couldn’t, clearly – but let’s pretend he could.

So he sits down with Lightning and says: “How can we help?”

Here’s how. Send an email to every club in the BSA and offer them all 20 free tickets and put flyers in the stadia – yeah, places such as Wayville where it is tough during a weekday to get a halfcourt to shoot on because so many young Asian and Sudanese kids are actively playing 2-on-2 or 5-on-5.

Tell your clubs every kid who comes in club colors gets in free and any accompanying adult is just a gold coin entry.

Then throw a spread on in the Apollo restaurant for the Chinese team and its dignitaries, the way a half-decent host should.

SA Church and Scouts SA come to the party as venue owners by ousting Woodville until 9pm and have the game at 7, not 5 when people are heading home from work.

Lightning or BA extract the digit and pepper Chinatown with flyers/posters promoting the game.

You know, actually DO SOMETHING. It’s school holidays, not BSA holidays.

I saw Hubbard and refs guru Mike Gibson wander out of their offices early in the game and watch for a bit from the concourse. I wonder if they were looking at the game or noticing it was – yet again – a freaking empty stadium.

Well gents? It’s YOUR fault.

Maybe get onto some schools and PE departments and offer them 50 free tix apiece and see if they respond with kids showing up during school hols when parents are going nuts trying to find them something to do.

Maybe instead of a dance team rehearsing upstairs in the Apollo while the match is in progress, BSA, the Lightning and even the 36ers could be entertaining Chinese officials and doing a little something called networking?

Not that China is the current international hotbed for our sport at all…

Watching the Chinese team trudge out of the empty Arena as Woodville kids ran around chasing balls was witnessing opportunity lost, AS USUAL.

But wait. That’s not just women’s sport in general though is it? It’s basketball in South Australia where more effort is made finding excuses for indolence, indifference and ignorance than in ever actually getting in front of something with potential and then realising that potential.

When the scoreboard is showing Molly Lewis (not on the team) for Stephanie Talbot (WNBL Rookie of the Year) you know making any sort of effort is way too much like hard work.

And we can’t have that, can we?

You just want to scream at the frustration.

Here's the match report from News Ltd anyway: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/adelaide-lightning-smash-china-87-60-on-eve-of-wnbl-tip-off/story-fnii09ki-1226732874493

NBL preseason games have concluded with Melbourne Tigers last night beating Adelaide 36ers 104-100 in an overtime thriller in Mount Gambier and New Zealand Breakers stopping China’s Dongguan Leopards 86-80.

Breakers coach Dean Vickerman spread his minutes liberally, with six players finishing in double-digit scoring, led by Mika Vukona’s 12 and Alex Pledger grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds in just under 18 minutes

Donte Greene had 20 points and Quan Gu 17 for the Leopards.

The twin returns of Lucas Walker (19 points) and Mark Worthington (17 points) had a huge positive impact on the Tigers, Wortho’s basket to close regulation tying it at 93-93, Walker’s dunk near the end of overtime clinching it.

Considering the dreadful start to the week – losing star import Stephen Dennis (Achilles) for the season and captain Tommy Greer (pectoral tear) to Christmas … not to mention Chris Goulding already out (oops, guess I did mention it) – it was a hugely encouraging win for the Tigers.

Nate Tomlinson continued to shed last year’s disappointments with a 20-point haul.

The 36ers got a few minutes into Luke Schenscher, Daniel Johnson leading the scoring with 20 points, Gary Ervin with 18 in another solid all-around performance.

Jarrid Frye had a 14-point, 11-rebound double, Anthony Petrie with 16 points and Jason Cadee a further 13.

IN case you missed it, which I very much doubt, Wollongong Hawks’ second import Durrell Summers did a runner on the club yesterday.

It was definitely a case of “Hey hey, that’s not enough pay” for Summers, who dumped his agent after deciding he was worth more $$$ than the Hawks were paying.

Every SEABL import worth his salt, Lance Hurdle, Willie Farley – you name them, they are all emailing their resumes!

LOGAN Thunder are dirty they didn’t win the Spring Shield. Word on the eBay street is they could have sold it for $56.95 … and every little bit helps when you’re trying to keep Ruth Riley.