Boomers finish tenth at World Champs

If you haven't been watching the World Championships, you're not alone. The time difference between us and Turkey plus the coverage only being on Foxtel, means that many Aussies haven't been following the tournament to closely. I am one of those, but have stayed up to date with the results on Twitter and Dime magazine. Full credit to guys like Mookie from A Stern Warning and DJ Rod for staying up till all hours to support the Boomers.


MEDIA RELEASE

9 September 2010

BOOMERS FINISH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH TOP TEN PLACING

Despite suffering the disappointment of being eliminated from the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey at the Eight-Final Round stage, the Golden Star Boomers Australian men’s national basketball team have finished the tournament with a top ten placing, FIBA has announced.

The Eight-Final Round of the 2010 FIBA World Championship came to a close on Tuesday night and, teams do not play classification games once eliminated from the tournament, the teams that did not advance to the Quarter-Finals have now been ranked by FIBA to provide a final placing.

Australia, who are currently ranked 11th in the world by FIBA, finished the tournament in 10th place, ahead of world basketball superpowers such as Greece, France and Croatia.

Australia’s highest ever finish at a world championship was fifth, achieved in 1982 and 1994.

The Boomers finished the 2010 FIBA World Championship with a 3-3 record after being defeated by Slovenia 87-58 on Monday morning Australian time.

During the course of their world titles campaign they recorded wins over Jordan, Germany and Angola. They lost games to Slovenia, Argentina and also Serbia. The Serbians subsequently have advanced to the top four Semi Finals overnight by scoring an upset 92-89 victory over reigning world champions Spain, while Argentina have also advanced to the top-eight Quarter Finals and will play Lithuania tomorrow morning for a Semi Final berth.

The final standings for the teams eliminated at the Eight Final Round stage are below.



Standings for 2010 FIBA World Championship (places 9-16):

9 Brazil

10 Australia

11 Greece

12 New Zealand

13 France

14 Croatia

15 Angola

16 China



2010 FIBA World Championship

Australian Boomers Results

28 Aug - Australia 76 defeated Jordan 75

29 Aug - Australia 72 defeated by Argentina 74

30 Aug - Australia 78 defeated Germany 43

1 Sept - Australia 79 defeated by Serbia 93

2 Sept - Australia 76 defeated Angola 55

5 Sept - Australia 58 defeated by Slovenia 87

David Anderson to Toronto Raptors

Thanks to Mookie from A Stern Warning, I've just found out that Aussie David Andersen has been traded to the Toronto Raptors. With Yao Ming likely to return to the Rockets this season, the trade is probably a good one for Andersen especially now that Hedo and Bosh are no longer in Toronto.

David could see some minutes in a young inexperienced Raptors team looking to make a fresh start. I was pleased for him with his production in Houston and while he didn't set the world on fire, he was never meant to and delivered liked a professional should.

For more perspective on the trade, check out Mookie's write-up here.

Houston Rockets trade center David Anderson to Toronto Raptors - ESPN

HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets have traded center David Andersen to the Toronto Raptors for cash and a future second-round draft pick.

The 6-foot-11 Australian averaged 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 63 games last season, his first in the NBA. Andersen helped fill the void for Houston while Yao Ming sat out last season with a foot injury. Yao is expected to return healthy this season, and the Rockets signed free-agent center Brad Miller to back him up.

The Rockets acquired Andersen's rights from the Atlanta Hawks last July, not long after Yao announced he would have foot surgery and probably miss the 2009-10 season.

Andersen was a second-round draft choice of the Hawks in 2002. He had previously played in Europe, most recently in the Spanish League with FC Barcelona.

Patrick Mills gets the call up

Its been a big week for Patrick Mills since my update about him last week. He played just two games in the D League but did enough to get the call-up to join the Portland Trailblazers in the NBA.

Game 1 for Mills playing with the Idaho Stampede so the young Aussie come off the bench. He exploded for 38 points including 7 triples, 12 assists, 3 boards and 3 steals.

Game 2 saw Mills again come off the bench for 22 points (8 of 12 from the field) including 4 triples, 3 assist and 2 boards. The real highlight of the game was the Stampedes come from behind win including a winning put-back from Patty himself.

For more in depth analysis of his time in the D League, check out A Stern Warning and NBA Mate.

Patrick should be ready/available to play for the Blazers tomorrow against the Clippers. Not sure if he will see any court-time in this game but it will be great to see him "suited up" rather than just sitting behind the bench like he was to start the season.

Julius Hodge back in the NBL

Thanks to Mookie from A Stern Warning for posting it on Twitter ... it seems the most hated man in Adelaide is returning to the NBL to "save" the Melbourne Tigers. I heard a rumour about it earlier in the week but was waiting to see if it was true or not.

Considering the way Julius Hodge left the NBL last season, it'll be interesting to see how he's received by fans around the league, especially against the 36ers. Melbourne are certainly not trying to win any popularity contests with some of the most hated players in the league. The controversial Hodge joins Anstey, Worthington and Kendall ... expect them to cop plenty of "heat" on the road.

Hodge returns to NBL with Tigers

By: Melbourne Tigers

In a major coup the Melbourne Tigers have secured the signature of 25 year old exciting import Julius Hodge.

With injuries to key players Chris Anstey, Ben Knight and Nathan Crosswell, the Tigers have been forced to find a player to bolster the squad and have been lucky enough to acquire the services of Julius.

After a promising college career with North Carolina State, Hodge was selected at pick 20 in the 2005 NBA draft. Hodge went on to play the second half of the 2007/08 NBL season with the Adelaide 36ers picking up 3 consecutive NBL player of the week awards. He re-joined the 36ers for 8 games during the 2008/09 NBL season before leaving on the advice of his manager due to a pay dispute.