(photo courtesy of @AndrewMBogut on twitter)

Unfortunate news for Andrew Bogut and the Milwaukee Bucks as the star big man went down with an ankle injury nine minutes into their victory over the Houston Rockets yesterday.

Our hearts go out to Bogey. Ankle injuries are one of the most unavoidable aspects of basketball -- they can happen even when you're not in a highly tense contest. This one has put Bogut out "indefinitely". The most likely beneficiary of additional minutes will be Drew Gooden.

You can see how it happened 20 seconds into this match recap:

Inexplicably, Bogut is reporting receiving hated-filled negativity via twitter following the injury. The wonders of the cranially-bereft on the internet will never cease, will they?

The fracture to his ankle puts Bogut's preparations for the London 2012 Olympics with the Australian Boomers in doubt. A key focal point of the Boomers offence and defence, along with point guard Patty Mills, the absence of Bogut would mean a huge drop in the projected rankings for the Aussies. That said, with six months today until the Games start, there is time for recovery.

There is always going to be some rivalry when the Clippers and Lakers match up in a Los Angeles cross-town duel. And of course, there is always that thing that a lot of American players seem to have against Spaniards and other "Euro floppers". So, when things got heated at the end of this Lakers victory, it's no wonder that Chris Paul over-reacted to a good natured Pau Gasol rub on the head.

Watch the video and see what you think...

And this is what the two players had to say after the game, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times:

What do you think? Did CP3 over-react, or did he have a right to be angry about this gesture?

Note: Sometimes life gets a bit busy and it takes a while to get things posted. But here it is!

Friday night saw the Perth Wildcats visit the Kingdome in Sydney. The Sydney Kings team that met them was different to that which has appeared in other lacklustre performances earlier in the season, going down by a mere point in what was an impressive encounter.

What did we learn from this game?

If you know Japanese manga or anime, you've heard of SLAM DUNK. The manga (comics) were serialised in Japan from 1990 to 1996 and focus on the story of the high school basketball team in Shohoku. The series, which was also adapted into an anime (animated) series, has been immensely popular, both in Japan and worldwide.

The author, Takehiko Inoue, was even awarded a special commendation by the Japan Basketball Association for helping to popularise basketball in Japan.

Due to my love for both art and basketball (and my secret devotion to manga/anime), I've long intended to write about SLAM DUNK here. Now my hand has been forced by this awesome effort made by students at the National Taiwan University of Arts, who put together a frame-by-frame remaking of the opening sequences of the SLAM DUNK anime series.

Check out the video:

(h/t: Kotaku and Jose Tanako)

Former NBA and FIBA great, Vlade Divac is currently in Australia and today visited the Sydney Kings. A great humanitarian, Divac is spreading the word about his charity "Fondacija Ana i Vlade Divac" which seeks to alleviate the plight of refugees who have lost their homes due to war. You can read more about the foundation at the official website. 

In this video, the former Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Hornets star talks to Sydney Kings GM David Wolf about his time in the NBA, how he felt when he was traded for Kobe Bryant, his late friend Drazen Petrovic and the fact that he will be visiting Andrew Gaze in Melbourne.

More photos from the visit on the Sydney Kings Facebook page.

BONUS: Here is the photo from when I met Vlade at Istanbul airport in 2010, after he had been inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame... he was looking slightly more tired at this point. But he still posed for a photo, poor fella!

• Boti Nagy of the Adelaide Advertiser describes how the Adelaide 36ers killed off their slim Finals hopes in one play:
  
  Import Andrew Warren, who had carved up the Sixers in Cairns' previous 72-67 win in Adelaide, had been well contained to two points when he saw daylight with 3:43 left.
  
  Daniel Johnson and Everard Bartlett rushed at him and fouled as his three-point basket swished, giving him a bonus free throw.
  
  Sixers coach Marty Clarke remonstrated with the officials, only to have his team smacked with a bench technical foul.
  
  That meant an additional two free throws to the Taipans, plus a sideline possession.
  
  Warren calmly potted his bonus free throw, then Jamar Wilson - who killed the 36ers with 25 points and four assists - stepped up to stick two more.
  
  On the additional possession, Aaron Grabau swished a three-point basket at 3:22 left, meaning effectively, in 21 seconds, Cairns had gone from 66-66 to 75-66.
  
  Ball game.
  
  It was an unforgivable moment of ill discipline which leaves the 36ers' season languishing on a 5-12 record and the team currently arguably the worst in the league.
   
• So, somewhat unsurprisngly, Ayinde Ubaka has joined the Wollongong Hawks after his axing by the Melbourne Tigers. Asa Schuster caught up with the new import in the Gong to see what he thinks of his new home and their upcoming matchup with the Tigers:
  
  
  
  As Ubaka tweeted, it's #TimeForTheGong.
  
  
• NBA, International and European basketball legend Vlade Divac visited the Sydney Kings today to pass on some words of wisdom. Check out the pictures here on facebook.
  
   

Due to popular demand, the PostScript Podcast is back for 2012.

That's right -- all of you basketball junkies and fans of inane laughter and nerdy tangential discussion can get your fix once again, with Episode 7 - "Rebounding".  Click the link to check out the episode. You can either stream it directly from the site, download the MP3 file, or even better, subscribe on iTunes, so that you never miss an episode again. It's free!

If you do the whole iTunes thing, we'd really appreciate a positive review on there (keep the negativity on the down low)... and if you can tell your friends about the podcast, even better! 

As mentioned here previously, import guard Ayinde Ubaka has parted ways with the Melbourne Tigers, putting the squad in a tough situation after already losing point guard Patty Mills earlier in the season.

I've written a piece on NBL.com.au which has gone live today, asking where the Tigers head next in this scenario. And today we have some indication of that direction, with the signing of Shane McDonald to a short-term contract to help out at the point. McDonald previously played for the Singapore Slingers and briefly for the Perth Wildcats.

Head coach Trevor Gleeson got on the air with SEN Radio's Andy Maher and Andrew Gaze to talk about the situation. He was diplomatic in many respects, as you would imagine, but we could glean the following from what he had to say:

• The decision to sack Ubaka was McPeake's and happened in the locker room after the game, as previously recounted by Ubaka and the press.
• Gleeson indicated that he was happy with the work that Ubaka had done for the club and that he had performed to the best of his ability.
• Gleeson made the point that the decision had been forced upon them and that the team just had to move on and do the best with what they had.
• There is a replacement import in the final stages of negotiations who has won a couple of championships in China. They hope to have him in Australia by the weekend. The player is a friend of former NBL player, Donta Smith. UPDATE: see below, the import is Myron Allen.

UPDATE: The new import has been announced as 6'0" Myron Allen, formerly of the NBA D-League. See video highlights:

Myron Allen: D-League profile.

Here is an interview with Allen about his time in China:

The Team USA squad that will compete for the 12 roster positions at the London 2012 Olympic Games has been named.

There are no particular surprises, with Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge the two newcomers pushing for selection this time around.

USA Olympic basketball squad: LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland), Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks), Chauncey Billups (Los Angeles Clippers), Chris Bosh (Miami), Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City), Rudy Gay (Memphis), Eric Gordon (New Orleans), Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers), Dwight Howard (Orlando), Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia), LeBron James (Miami), Kevin Love (Minnesota), Lamar Odom (Dallas), Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers), Derrick Rose (Chicago), Dwyane Wade (Miami), Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City), Deron Williams (New Jersey).

One huge benefit of a condensed NBA season, with back-to-backs and more games in less time, is that we get more opportunities for massive dunks (and slackened defence to allow them). The Hoop Doctors put together these Top 10 Dunks of the Week: