Countdown to High Stakes Hoops

Its Saturday night and not long to go before the Footlocker Elite Classic - High Stakes Hoops which begins on Tuesday.

I booked my flights last week and I arrive in Adelaide early on Monday morning and fly back the following Monday night. My role for the week is basically Jeff Van Groningen's right hand man ... what exactly that involves is really anyone's guess right now! Basically, I'll be helping Jeff take care of business and no doubt doing a lot of the running around and organising that he won't have time for.

I'll take the video camera down with me and try to do a few player interviews and give a behind the scenes look at the tournament and everything that's going on. I'll do my best to regularly blog about what's happening and you can follow me on Twitter here.

I cannot wait!!

The Foot Locker Elite Classic - Overseas Player Draft

Just announced at the Adelaide Dome:

‘Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops’ Set To Attract Overseas Stars

Revolutionary ‘Overseas Player Draft’ Unveiled

Elite Classic Basketball (ECB) today unveiled a revolutionary ‘Overseas Player Draft’ which will see up to twenty-four high-calibre international players join the ranks of the ‘Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops’.

‘The Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops’, airing on ONE and running from April 6th to 11th at the Adelaide Dome, has already secured a star-studded cast of Team Rights Owners, Coaches, and committed players.

The Overseas Player Draft (OPD), though, is ECB’s most unique announcement yet.

The three-round OPD will see each of the 8 ECB Teams eligible to choose three players – one selection per round. Players will be flown in from international destinations, with most expected to come from the game’s spiritual home, the United States.

The first eight picks in the OPD will be determined by random chance, while the two following rounds will be determined based on the first round, giving each ECB team roughly the same quality of choice over the three rounds. Team Rights Owners will watch a simulated ‘ball drop’ program on March 3rd and make their selections once the order is decided.

Players will nominate by contacting ECB officials at info@eliteclassicbasketball.com. Any interested professional international player is eligible to nominate, and the nominated players will be listed on the highstakeshoops.com website as their nominations are approved. Players must be at least 18 years of age, must have a valid passport, and have no pre-existing injuries or immigration complications in order to nominate. Players can nominate from today until midnight March 2nd.

Nominating players must be able to travel from the United States on April 2nd arriving in Adelaide on April 4th. They will return on April 12th. Players from non-US destinations will be consulted regarding alternative plans if drafted.

“This Overseas Player Draft announcement is amazingly unique. Over the last month we have been approached by a large number of overseas players looking to be involved in the Foot Locker Elite Classic event. The OPD will ensure that the spread of this international playing talent is systematic” ECB Managing Director Jeff Van Groningen said today. “With each team able to claim up to three players in the Draft, rosters will start to take on a very international, exciting feel”, Van Groningen added.

NBL Hall-of-Famer Cal Bruton, involved in the ‘Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops’, has spent recent weeks ascertaining potential interest from international players. “There are players who have played here in Australia before who would love to be a part of this. Then there are players who have heard so much about Australia who will nominate. There are recently graduated college players at that time of year, some of whom will be very, very good. And of course there will be seasoned professionals that just want to be a part of this event. Players know that this is a great concept – it’s only a week of their lives, its great television exposure on ONE, and they come and join one of the eight teams, stay at the Stamford Plaza, and have a chance to help their team win the money. What’s not to like?” Bruton stated.

‘The Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops’ continues to innovate, and has gained the support of major names in the sport.

Australian coaching legend Brian Goorjian, currently coaching in China, is one who has offered his support of the event and is impressed by today’s announcement. “The depth of talent is out there, there are just so many good players looking for an involvement at that time of the year, particularly out of the U.S. This event has captured players’ imaginations, both here and overseas, and the crowds are going to benefit. They’ll see stars they‘re familiar with, players they’ve never seen, big names, new names. I’ve said before, I really like this format”, Goorjian said today. “I’m sure Australian players want to be a part of this. International guys do too, and the Draft is a nice way to ensure a good spread of those overseas guys across the teams”, Goorjian added.

ECB - $10,000 Game Breaker Challenge

ECB Announcement - For Immediate Release:


‘The $10,000 Game Breaker Challenge’

ECB officials are proud to announce the first annual ‘$10,000 Game Breaker Challenge’ that will be held during the Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops event broadcast live on ONE from 6-11 April, 2010.

The ‘$10,000 Game Breaker Challenge’ is a three-point-shooting competition that will be conducted throughout the Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops, resulting in the winner taking home a cheque for $10,000. Heats will be held during the first three days of pool play to determine the finalists, who will compete at halftime of the Grand Final on Sunday 11 April.

The preliminary rounds will consist of each player shooting four Spalding basketballs from three racks located outside the three point line on the Brett Maher Court in the Adelaide Dome. The final round will consist of each qualifying player shooting four Spalding basketballs from five racks. Three of the four Spalding basketballs on each rack will count for three points when successfully scored. The fourth Spalding basketball on each rack will be designated as the ‘Game Breaker’ ball and will be worth four points, in line with the ‘Game Breaker’ rules in the Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops.

All players who are part of a Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops roster are automatically eligible to compete in the ‘$10,000 Game Breaker Challenge’.

The Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops event continues to build momentum with today’s news, the first of several key announcements that will be rolled out regarding this creative basketball entertainment event. “We want each player at the Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops event to have a great, entertaining week. For many, it will also be a lucrative time. We have the $250,000 prize pool of course, but there are other ‘games within the game’ that will be part of the event” ECB Managing Director Jeff Van Groningen said today. “The $10,000 Game Breaker Challenge is a great example of this. The ‘Game Breaker’ rule is creating a lot of interest and discussion, and this $10,000 contest based around that rule is going to be great for the fans at the event, as well as those viewing it on ONE.”

A further announcement, which Van Groningen will only describe as “major” will be made in the course of the next week.

The Foot Locker Elite Classic - High Stakes Hoops

After the big announcement yesterday the Australian basketball world has been a buzz! Twitter conversations were all about it yesterday, people were talking about it on message boards and everyone was wondering what was going on and how it effects the NBL and its players.

If you missed the actual announcement, here's a clip from Sports Tonight:



A lot of people jumped to conclusions one way or the other despite only limited information being released about the event. Here are the main conversations about it:

OzHoops
Hoops SA

The press conference and the announcement were covered in most papers this morning and here are some of them:

Brisbane Times
Adelaide Now

And the first comment from an NBL player:
Townsville Bulletin
Its a pity they continue to spell Corey's nickname wrong (check the title).

I've just found that Jeff Van Groningen will be on Inside The Game TV with Kevin Brooks and Team Owner Brett Maher. The show is on from 6 - 7pm (I assume SA time) and they will no doubt be discussing the event, answering some of the questions that have been raised and dispelling some of the myths that are already out there.

Keep checking in here for more announcement regarding The Foot Locker Elite Classic - High Stakes Hoops.

Elsewhere in the bball blogosphere

Its been a slow month for me as far as blogging by the looks of it. I really don't like April, its a very slow month as far as business goes and there are just so many public holidays that effect things.

Anyway, here's a quick look around the blogosphere to see what's going on:

1. John Rillie has now written back-to-back posts about my mate JVG (Jeff Van Groningen) and his ties with Eddie Groves and the Adelaide 36ers. Here's the first and here's the follow-up. Nice to see JR also giving up love to The Machine earlier in the week.
   
   
2. Congratulations to one of my idol's, Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA) for chalking up 5 years of blogging. Here is his post marking the achievement and some of his favourite and most popular stories during that time. I have really enjoyed his "success & motivation" series of posts and reading about his early years in business.
   
   
3. With all the love that Mr Bigshot, Chauncey Billups has been getting for his performance in the first round against CP3 and the Hornets, it was only a matter of time before someone compared Billups to AI's playoff performance this season. Dime give their thoughts on it here.

And one final NBA note from today, Adam (my colleague) was watching Dr Phill at lunch today and the topic was about "Deadbeat Dads" and the dad in question on the show was ex-NBA player Jason Caffey. My friends and I used to pay out on Shawn Kemp for fathering 7 kids to 6 different women, it seems Caffey has taken it one step further with 10 kids to 8 different women.

Chauncey, showing why they call him Mr Bigshot