Phil Smyth - Canberra Cannons

Our feature Canberra Cannons legend today is "The General", Phil Smyth.

Phil Smyth signed with the Canberra Cannons for the 1983 season and stayed for 10 seasons. During that time he enhanced his reputation as one of the best ever Australian basketball players and helped transform the Cannons into a championship winning team. Smyth would win three championships with Canberra in ‘83, ‘84 and ’88. The latter would also see him named Grand Final MVP.

Phil’s best season was 1998 when he averaged 23 points, 5.4 assists, 5.4 rebounds, 2.9 steals, 3 triples per game and shot 47% from the field, 47% from deep and 87% from the line.
http://classicbasketballtees.spreadshirt.com/phil-smyth-cannon-A13920754/customize/color/5

 

 

Tad Dufelmeier - Canberra Cannons

Our first Canberra Cannons feature Legend is Tad Dufelmeier (snr).

Dufelmeier played six seasons for the Canberra Cannons helping them win the title in ’88. The name may soon be better known for his son, Tad Jnr, who is one of the best up...-and-coming point guards in the country.

Tad’s best season was in ’87 when he averaged almost 17 points per game, 4.5 assists and shot over 50% from the field.
 

To grab your very own Tad Dufelmeier t-shirt:
 http://classicbasketballtees.spreadshirt.com/tad-dufelmeier-logo-A13920764/customize/color/5

 

 

 

In The Game Tees on Twitter

My day has been made ... randomly just received the tick of approval for our Legends t-shirts from the greatest Australian basketballer ever!

You can now follow In The Game Tees on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/InTheGameTees

Canberra Cannons t-shirts

Gather round and let me tell you about a time when the NBL was booming, so much so there was a team in (almost) every capital city, even Canberra! That’s right kids, at one time it wasn’t just politicians, porn and fireworks in our capital.

The Cannons were one of the original ten NBL clubs competing in the league's very first season in 1979. Canberra dominated the league in the 80’s winning the championship in ’83, ’84 and ’88.

Representing Canberra in our “Legends” series are Phil “The General” Smyth, Herb “The Snake” McEachin, Emery Atkinson, Tad Dufelmeier, Simon Dwight, Rob Rose and Willie Simmons.

For the Cannons range we have two different styles. The white early style logo tee and the black later style pirate version (both pictured below). 

Canberra, its time to represent and show your support for your once great team. Like, share and shop!

Check out our store for team seven of the "Legends" range:

http://classicbasketballtees.spreadshirt.com/

Steph Curry at The Garden

I got an e-mail from my best friend asking me to look in to some accommodation in San Fransisco for his 40th birthday next year. He mentioned a few of the things that we might get up to around the area and I said surely we'll be seeing a Golden State Warriors game. My friend isn't a basketball fan as such but knows a bit about the NBA as he loves sports and we used to have epic NBA Jam battles back in the day. I'm sure he wouldn't know that Aussie Andrew Bogut is now playing for the Warriors but I thought I should introduce him to Steph Curry ...

In The Game Tees - 20% off sale!

Seven weeks until Christmas, what do you get for the NBL fan that has everything? Well our partners at Spreadshirt have just announced a TWENTY percent off sale to answer that question for you! Loggins, Rucker, Rillie, D-Mac tees all now 20% off!
http://classicbasketballtees.spreadshirt.com/

Use coupon code: EARLY20.

(Run time Nov 5 - 12 US EST time)

Shane Heal vs The Dream Team

One of my mates sent me this article last week and its a good look back at a famous moment in Australian basketball history.

The forgotten story of ... Shane Heal v the Dream Team

The Boomers guard was a thorn in the side of the NBA's biggest stars as Australia punched above their weight at the Olympics

The Dream Team III enforcer Charles Barkley was clear from the outset. “We’re here to prove we are the best country in the world. We’re the best at basketball. We have got to kill them all.”

Heading into Australia’s 1996 exhibition match against the reigning Olympic champions, peroxide-blond guard Shane ‘The Hammer’ Heal and his Boomers team-mates were excited but not daunted by the prospect of taking on the NBA’s best.

“I think it was a defining sort of a moment,” Heal tells Guardian Australia 17 years after a fiery confrontation that remains the first thing basketball fans want to discuss when they meet the veteran of four Olympic campaigns.

The Australians, a blue-collar line-up by international standards, approached the game with respect for their opponents but didn’t fear them. Heal recalls “we’d seen other teams getting photos taken with them and autographs before and after games and things like that. We said that wasn’t the Australian way and we certainly weren’t handling the game like that.”

Heal would finish the Olympic tune-up with 28 points and shoot a remarkable 8-from-13 from three-point range, many of them a remarkable distance out from the line, but it was his confrontation with the notorious Barkley that captured the attention of the media and fans alike.

Click here to read the full article.