Gold Coast Blaze vs Wollongong Hawks

It had been a few weeks since I'd seen a Gold Coast Blaze game live and with the Wollongong Hawks in town, the top of the table clash seemed like the perfect opportunity.

With their Brisbane Bullets and Northside Wizards connections, a number of my friends were also at the game and thankfully we weren't the only ones and there was a decent crowd in attendance. They still have a long way to go before the stadium is full but it was probably the best crowd I've seen so far this season.

Here are my thoughts from the game:

• I'm not sure why Ayinde Ubaka (pictured right) came off the bench and didn't enter the game until a minute left in the first quarter. Check news articles in the next day or so as I'm sure the real story will come out.
• There were again times early in the game when the Blaze defence looked awful
• Erron Maxey has noticably cooled off from his hot start in the NBL
• Tywain McKee is very similar to Corey Williams in that when they want they really want to score, its extremely tough to stop them
• Cameron Tragardh is an offensive machine
• The game came down to a battle between Ubaka (28 points including 6 triples, 5 assists) and McKee (24 points, 5 assists)

The 88 - 84 win now moves the Blaze to top of the NBL ladder which is great considering they still have so much upside/room for improvement.

Hawks starting to falter

Don't look now but the Cinderella-Wollongong Hawks are starting to falter. Despite being tipped to finish last in the comp by many experts the Hawks jumped out of the gates early and have led the NBL over the opening rounds.

After their hot start tho, Wollongong are starting to come back to the field and tonight they crashed back to earth losing at home to the 36'ers, 59 - 82. They got thumped in 3 of the quarters and only won the 3rd term by 2 points. A convincing loss considering how strong the home-court advantage has been this season.

Hopefully it was just one of those nights that the team can put behind them and move on from. Other than Tywain McKee the rest of the team struggled to hit the broadside of a barn. Larry Davidson was 1 of 10 from the field, Tim Coenraad was 0 of 8 and Cameron Tragardh was just 1 of 6 from the free-throw line.

This is the team's 3rd loss in their last 4 games. Can they rebound or was their hot-start just an abberation? Things dont get much easier as they fly to New Zealand to take on a Breakers outfit that should have their superstar Kirk Penney back in action.

Hawks clean up monthly awards

Congratulations to the Wollongong Hawks for taking home both the NBL Player on the Month and NBL Coach of the Month for October.

Hawks' import Tywain McKee (pictured below) won the Player of the Month for averaging 21 points, 4.6 boards, 4 assists and over 2 steals per game. Gordie McLeod won Coach of the Month for guiding his team to 5 wins 2 losses to star the season.

Its great to see the Hawks getting recognised in this way ... especially considering that they were originally tipped to finish bottom of the league by a fair margin. After they won the pre-season tournament I had higher expectations for them but there aren't too many people outside of the 'Gong that would have picked them to get off to such a good start.

Hawks swoop on monthly honours

Wollongong’s surprising fast start to the2009/10 National Basketball League season has seen them scoop the pool in the NBL monthly awards, with Hawks’ star Tywain McKee named Player of the Month for September/October and Gordie McLeod honoured as Coach of the Month.

During the Hawks’ seven games in September and October, McKee averaged 21.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.1 steals. The Hawks’ import shot 52% (47-91) from the field and knocked down 17-of-33 shots (52%) from behind the three-point arc.

The exciting new American import had two 23-point contests against Gold Coast (Round 2) and New Zealand (Round 4) and his lowest score in the first six rounds was 19 points. McKee received 36 overall votes for Player of the Month, just edging out another star import in Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams from Townsville, who received 33 votes. Melbourne Tigers’ forward Mark Worthington came in third with 14 votes.

Hawks coach McLeod took home the Coach of the Month award after guiding his team to an undefeated 5-0 home record and an overall 5-2 record in seven contests. McLeod’s team averaged 82.1 points per game while holding opponents to 75.9. During September/October, his squad posted a points differential of +44 points over their opponents and was on top of the NBL ladder virtually the entire time.

Brisbane Bullets ... 1987

When I was on the Wollongong Hawk's YouTube page grabbing the link for the Hammer Drill, I noticed they had some Brisbane Bullets footage from WAY back in the day. It would be remiss of me not to share it as it truly is historical gold.

Key points from the footage:

• I saw Glenn Palmer at the Gold Coast Blaze game on Friday night, I'm not really sure he's aged!
• Darren "Spank" Perry ... ha ha ha, need I say more
• A very young Brian Kerle!
• "The Mushroom" working the Boondall crowd, which by the looks of it is pretty close to full. Kids, that's well over 10,000 fans and listen to them really getting in to it ... ahhhh, those were the days

Basketball shooting

As well as reporting on the NBL and the NBA, the focus of this blog is basketball shooting. Today we have two shooting related stories from the NBL. The first is from the team at the Wollongong Hawks interviewing Larry Davidson about a basketball shooting drill they use. Full credit to Asa and Joel for the video work they've been doing with the team.



And just reward for one of the best shooters in the league, CJ Bruton from the New Zealand Breakers picked up the Player of the Week award for the display he put on in the first game of the season against the Cairns Taipans. CJ was a red-hot 10 of 11 from the field and 8 of 9 from downtown on his way to 28 points. After off-season surgery I expected CJ to ease back in to form on court but he's come out with a bang!!

Bruton wins Player of the Week

New Zealand Breakers star CJ Bruton has ridden a hot shooting streak to capture the National Basketball League’s Player of the Week award for Round One.

Opening the Breaker’s quest to become the first Kiwi team ever to capture a championship in a major Australian professional league, Bruton was instrumental in guiding New Zealand to their season-opening 95-75 win over the Cairns Taipans at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland on Thursday.

The popular point guard scored 28 points and added five rebounds, two assists and one steal but it was his sizzling shooting performance that really caught people’s attention. Bruton went 10-of-11 from the field, including an amazing 8-of-9 from three-point territory, to form a lethal one-two punch with backcourt partner Kirk Penney.

NBL predictions

With the NBL season kicking off tonight, its time to take that step and make predictions on the final standings of the league. There are only 8 teams in the competition so how badly can you get it wrong? (famous last words)

There's been so much change on and off-court during the off-season that its a fairly close, open competition ... or at least it would seem to be. There's no defending champions so we start this season (and the process of reform) with a relatively clean slate.

Here are the current odds fresh from Centrebet:

Championship 2009/10

MELBOURNE TIGERS 4.00
NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 4.00
PERTH WILDCATS 5.00
TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 5.50
ADELAIDE 36ERS 9.50
GOLD COAST BLAZE 11.00
CAIRNS TAIPANS 13.00
WOLLONGONG HAWKS 23.00

At those prices, I think the Crocs are a little over-rated and the Blaze and Hawks look good value. Sure, I don't expect the Hawks to win but I don't think they're clearly the worst.

Here's my rankings:

New Zealand Breakers
Melbourne Tigers
Perth Wildcats
Gold Coast Blaze
Townsville Crocs
Adelaide 36ers
Wollongong Hawks
Cairns Taipans

How did I go? Let me know your thoughts in the comments and what you think the final standings will look like.

Tim Coenraad signs with the Hawks

I've mentioned him a couple of times over the last few weeks but yesterday I got the news from Tux that Tim Coenraad (pictured right, from his college days in the US) had signed a contract with the Wollongong Hawks to play in the NBL. The news came to Tux from Tim's mum who he works with so I had the scoop a little earlier than most and it was a good chance to post on the OzHoops boards.

Tim has been averaging 24 points, 9.5 boards per game for the Northside Wizards in the QABL and had a great college career in the US so its great to see him get a shot in the NBL. I actually knew of Tim from his pre-US days as he was a development player with the Brisbane Bullets.

Coenraad should fit in nicely down in Wollongong as he's playing with old friends Rhys Martin and fellow Wizard Cameron Tragardh. All the best Tim, I hope you have a great season.

Wollongong ahm Hawks sign rookie Tim Coenraad

Rookie Tim Coenraad (pronounced Con-rad) has today been signed by the Wollongong ahm Hawks for the 2009/10 NBL Season.

After arriving into Wollongong this week for a three day trial with the team, Coenraad showed he has the skills, versatility and maturity to make his mark on the NBL this season.

“We’re very pleased to have Tim Coenraad join the Wollongong ahm Hawks this season, he is a promising talent who we believe can really develop under the guidance of our coaching staff and veteran players” Wollongong ahm Hawks CEO Wayne Morris said.

“He’s a mature young individual who has all the tools to make it at this level. He has had a standout college career and I believe he will definitely be one of the top rookies of this season.”

“We were all very impressed during his trial with the team this week. He came in with a focused and positive attitude and is very keen to learn from our coaching staff and on court leaders Mat Campbell and Glen Saville.” Morris added.

The 200cm Guard/Forward from Brisbane, Queensland has just returned from a stellar four year career at Nova South Eastern University (Florida, USA) where he led the team in scoring in his junior and senior year, while also gaining selection in the First team All Sunshine State Conference in his senior year.

Coenraad is currently playing with the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League alongside fellow Hawks Cameron Tragardh, currently averaging 24.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

“I’m very excited to be joining the Wollongong ahm Hawks for my rookie season in the NBL. I’m really looking forward to being part of the program this year, there’s so much I can learn from our coaching staff and matching up against guys like Mat and Sav every day of the week.” Tim Coenraad said.

“While on trial I was able to get a sneak peak of Wollongong this week. The vibe around the club is very positive and the support from the community I hear is going to be fantastic this year.” “It’s great to be joining a club that is so rich in history and community support. Gordie took us through the history of the Hawks earlier this week and really made each of us feel a part of the club. We’ve got a great group of guys this season and we’re all ready to go to put on a good performance on court this season.” Coenraad added.

Cameron Tragardh & the QABL

Since there's no action yet in the NBL and the NBA has just started summer league games, it seems appropriate to report on the QABL that is in season at the moment.

One of my friends (Tux) work with Tim Coenraad's mum and so we have taken an interest in how he's been playing since he returned from college in the US. Tim used to be a development player for the Brisbane Bullets and has been putting up good numbers over the last few games for the Northside Wizards.

Looking at one of their boxscores, the Wizards team is STACKED with quality players. Adam Gibson (just back from China with the Boomers), Cameron Tragardh, Tim Coenraad, Shane Davis, Toby Zaremba and Josh Darragh (younger brother of one of our Shooters, Adam Darragh).

While there are a number of "names" on the squad, the star is Cameron Tragardh. Cameron was a development player for the Townsville Crocodiles before joining the Brisbane Bullets briefly. He really came in to his own in '08 when he became one of the main offensive weapons for the Wollongong Hawks and earned himself the Most Improved award for that season.

Tragardh is now definitely a player at the NBL level but in the QABL he is a SUPERSTAR. The numbers he puts up are ridiculous! This season he is averaging a league-leading 42.4 points per game, 14.5 rebounds per game (2nd in the league) and shooting at over 60% from the field. Last month he scored 70 points vs Toowoomba on an amazing 29 of 34 from the field and 12 of 13 from the line. In four other games this season so far he has has broken the 50 point mark!

The knock on Cameron at an NBL level is that he's defensively challenged ... but the name of the game is to outscore your opponent. Tragardh has NO problem doing that!

Hawks saved

I woke up this morning to a number of posts on Facebook from some excited Wollongong Hawks fans. Here's why (click on the title below to read the full story):

Indian magnate Arun Jagatramka saves the Wollongong Hawks - Local News - News - General - Illawarra Mercury

By Tim Keeble

The Wollongong Hawks are back from the brink after miraculously securing a million-dollar bank guarantee with moments to spare.

As the seconds wound down towards a 3pm deadline yesterday, Indian businessman Arun Jagatramka answered the Hawks' SOS call for a white knight to rescue the club from oblivion.

The Illawarra mining magnate agreed to provide the all-important guarantee, leaving the NewNBL virtually no option but to include the Hawks in next season's restructured competition.

Yesterday's stunning turn of events came just 24 hours after the six-week Save the Hawks campaign had seemingly failed.

Save the Hawks spearhead Mat Campbell could barely believe the good news himself.

'There's a lot of relief there, but it's more excitement, because this is the last thing we needed to shore up our bid and it gives (the NewNBL) no excuses now to kick us out,' Campbell said.