Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Spartans SEABL game

I sent ex-Brisbane Bullet Mick Hill a message on FaceBook to congratulate him on getting married the other week in Fiji. He hit me back and mentioned that he was in town on the weekend to play against the Spartans in the SEABL and I should come along.

I planned to get an interview with Mick prior to the game but unfortunately Carina only lights up centre court and is rather noisy so it wouldn't have worked. I did have a chat to Mick about a number of things ... the new NBL, the demise of the Bullets, his playing future, life in Melbourne, etc. Its unlikely Mick will make a return to the NBL, basically he's settled in Melbourne and enjoying life there and the uncertainty of the new league isn't worth the risk (financially, physically, emotionally, etc) at his age.

Mick was screwed over by the failed takeover bid for the Bullets and I can only imagine how frustrating it would be for him as a professional basketballer not to leave the game on his own terms.

It was the first time in ages I've been to Carina to see a game. I spent much of my early 20's playing at practicing out there, so it feels very much like home to me. Big Joe was in the house looking after the music and he was on point as usual. I got to check out the new look pink Spartans uniforms which sound strange but look great and are of course for a good cause.

The game itself was entertaining. A fairly even opening quarter before the Spartans dominated in the second. Knox fought back in the 3rd and it was a close final term before the Spartans pulled away at the end to get the win.

For the Spartans, Greg Vanderjagt (27 points, 11 boards) and Chris Goulding (27 points, 5 assists) were the standouts. They got good support from Ash Cannon (20 points, 15 boards) and Ben Arndt look-alike Thalo Green (17 points, 7 boards 6 offensive).

For the Raiders, Nick Payne was red-hot (36 points, 11 of 14 from the field and 10 of 11 from the line) and CJ Massingale impressive (28 points, 21 in the first half, 7 boards). Mick was not surprisingly a little rusty after 2 weeks in Fiji but finished with 13 points, 5 boards.

Here is the boxscore from the game:

Brisbane


Field Goals 3-Pointers Free Throws
Rebounds
Name MIN FGM-A FG% 3PM-A 3P% FTM-A FT% PFS BL AS ST TO OR DR TR Pts
Tyson Demos 33:10 3-10 30.0 1-5 20.0 6-7 85.7 1 0 7 1 5 4 0 4 13
Todd Meyerding 2:24 0-0 0.0 0-0 0.0 0-0 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Drew Williamson 30:26 5-8 62.5 2-4 50.0 3-4 75.0 2 0 2 2 3 0 3 3 15
Chris Goulding 42:05 11-20 55.0 2-7 28.6 3-4 75.0 4 1 5 0 1 1 2 3 27
Ash Cannan 38:27 7-11 63.6 0-0 0.0 6-9 66.7 2 2 1 1 6 3 12 15 20
Peni Nasalo 10:05 1-2 50.0 0-0 0.0 0-0 0.0 3 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 2
Greg Vanderjagt 40:01 10-18 55.6 0-1 0.0 7-12 58.3 3 2 3 0 1 4 7 11 27
Simon Taylor 12:29 0-4 0.0 0-1 0.0 0-0 0.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0
Thalo Green 31:03 5-13 38.5 1-5 20.0 6-6 100.0 2 0 0 0 1 6 1 7 17
TOTAL
42-86 48.8 6-23 26.1 31-42 73.8 20 5 20 5 18 18 27 45 121
Points in the paint:56 Points off Turnovers:6 Second chance points:22
Knox


Field Goals 3-Pointers Free Throws
Rebounds
Name MIN FGM-A FG% 3PM-A 3P% FTM-A FT% PFS BL AS ST TO OR DR TR Pts
Sean Carroll 28:22 4-8 50.0 0-0 0.0 0-0 0.0 2 0 7 1 1 0 1 1 8
Nick Payne 39:08 11-14 78.6 4-7 57.1 10-11 90.9 3 0 3 0 6 1 0 1 36
Alex Vanrenen 5:27 1-2 50.0 0-0 0.0 0-0 0.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 2
Michael Hill 30:21 5-13 38.5 0-4 0.0 3-4 75.0 4 0 2 0 1 2 3 5 13
Adam Kopttke 14:02 0-1 0.0 0-0 0.0 0-0 0.0 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
John Philip 17:19 5-8 62.5 0-1 0.0 1-2 50.0 4 0 0 1 2 2 3 5 11
Cameron Rigby 39:03 1-8 12.5 0-2 0.0 0-0 0.0 4 0 4 1 0 1 7 8 2
Cj Massingale 43:26 10-20 50.0 3-8 37.5 5-5 100.0 4 0 2 0 5 3 4 7 28
Lester Strong 26:18 6-11 54.5 0-0 0.0 0-0 0.0 5 0 1 1 4 2 5 7 12
TOTAL
43-85 50.6 7-22 31.8 19-22 86.4 31 0 20 4 21 11 25 36 112

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