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.

Patrick Mills off to the D League

Thanks to the guys at NBA Mate for bringing this one to my attention. It seems it will be a little while before we see Patty Mills in the NBA (I'm not giving up yet). He's off to the D League as per the story below. I did laugh at the last paragraph ... I don't think it will be Trail Blazers fans following his progress, it will basically just be his Aussie fans.

NBA Development League: Patrick Mills Assigned To Idaho Stampede

NEW YORK, Dec. 29, 2009 – PPortland Trail Blazers guard Patrick Mills was assigned to the Idaho Stampede, Portland’s NBA D-League affiliate, it was announced today. Mills is the 10th NBA player and the 12th assignment to an NBA D-League affiliate this season.

Originally selected by the Trail Blazers with the 55th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Mills has yet to see action this season having suffered a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot during an NBA Summer League practice session July 9. He underwent surgery on July 13 and recently completed a successful rehabilitation.

A two-year contributor at St. Mary’s (CA), Mills twice earned First Team All-West Coast Conference. Named West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year as a freshman, Mills was also selected to the Naismith Trophy Award Mid-Season Top-30 list during his sophomore season.

Mills averaged a team-high 14.2 points to go with 2.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals in 23 minutes for his native Australia at the Beijing Olympics becoming the youngest player in Australian history to compete in the Olympic Games in basketball.

Trail Blazers fans can stay in step with Mills, who will join the Stampede Wednesday and be available when the team travels to face the Reno Bighorns on Jan. 1, by logging onto nba.com/dleague to watch all of the Stampede's games live, online, for free.

Sound of music ... what the??

"... Brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things"

Now, to clarify (before my manhood comes in to question), I've never actually watched The Sound of Music ... sure I've seen parts but thankfully never the whole thing. It just seemed appropriate to use it today since there's a number of news articles and stories about a few of my all-time favourite players.

We'll start with my #1 player, Tim Hardaway. Thanks to the guys at NBA Mate for bringing it to my attention, the Miami Heat are going to retire Timmy's jersey just before their opening game against the New York Knicks. This is kind of fitting as the memories I have of Hardaway in Miami are him leading the Heat to victories in the playoffs against the Knicks.

Next up is my boy Steve Nash. I've mentioned previously that he leads a pretty good life and has had a colourful/entertaining off-season. Thanks to the crew at Ball Don't Lie, firstly here is his latest vitaminwater commercial and a few days ago they had pictures of Nash getting in to a pick-up game in China.

Finally, despite being almost 50, here's footage of Dominique Wilkins showing he can still dunk (just). Yes, you'll also see Tim Hardaway in action there as well.