Tigers, both the "Melbourne" and "Xinjiang Flying" species, have done an admirable job in recent times of showing us how not to treat your basketball players as employees.

One thing Australia has generally had going for it, as a place to play professional basketball amongst the global options, is the high standard of work conditions. Players usually can expect to get paid on time (Sydney Kings' 2008 disaster not withstanding), enjoy an English-speaking environment, a stable national political culture and are treated professionally by club management. Generally.

Contrastingly, there are numerous work locations for professional players the world around, where the salary may be tantalisingly attractive, but the risks of mistreatment and unprofessionalism are high. Patty Mills experienced one such scenario, in his recent stint with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.

Mills performed at a high level for the Chinese team, averaging 26.5ppg, 3.8apg. 3.8rpg and 2.3spg across 12 games. The team, which boasts former Phoenix Suns forward Gani Lawal and Chinese star Mengke Bateer, cut Mills unceremoniously via a scathing press release that claimed he was faking a well-documented and medically tested hamstring injury. 

The thing was, few were surprised at the treatment afforded by the Chinese team, who also parted ways with NBA star Kenyon Martin and American coach Bob Donewald late last year. Mills was reportedly offered a contract worth between $1.0m and $1.5m, whilst Martin was on a $2.6m deal. This type of money is what attracts players, allowing them to overlook the conditions in which they play and the lower standard of competition.

On the other hand, Australia's National Basketball League is viewed in a much higher regard and players ply their trade Downunder despite lower salaries, due to the positive factors mentioned above.

For that reason, the reported behaviour by Melbourne Tigers CEO and owner Seamus McPeake is simply "not cool", to put it in the vernacular.  Last night the Tigers' season record fell to 9-9 after a 73-60 home loss to the talented, yet inconsistent Gold Coast Blaze.

McPeake, well-known for his hands-on approach to the club that he purchased in 2002, did not appreciate the loss and saw fit to sack star off-season signing Ayinde Ubaka as a result. Roy Ward of The Age describes what unfolded:

A source close to the team told The Age McPeake stormed into the Tigers’ locker-room and unleashed a tirade on the players before firing Ubaka on the spot.

...

Ubaka confirmed the report last night via a text message but wouldn’t comment further until later today.

But he made it clear he was furious about his axing and the “unprofessional” manner in which it happened.

Ubaka’s sacking was believed to have happened without the knowledge of coach Trevor Gleeson and captain Tommy Greer who were facing a post game press conference.

Ubaka also confirmed his teammates and coaches knew nothing about the move until it had happened.

Ubaka’s sacking would contravene one of the key agreements of Gleeson’s agreement to join the club as he demanded final say on all player movements.

During Gleeson's first press conference with the club both McPeake and Gleeson himself confirmed the coach had final say on his players.

Ubaka's performance this season has been seen by many observers to be below his previous standards with the Cairns Taipans and Gold Coast Blaze. Undoubtedly, there is cause for concern with the Tigers placement on the ladder this season, given pre-season expectations and Ubaka could be seen as partially responsible for the situation. Regardless of this, a post-game, locker-room tirade and firing is not the way to deal with such a scenario. 

A review with coaching staff and the player during the week, where cooler heads can prevail, obviously is the more professional approach in any working environment. However, if reports are to be believed, this is not the first such case of unprofessionalism where McPeake and the Tigers are concerned. As Ward points out:

McPeake was reported to have made a similar move last season where he was said to have threatened to not pay his players due to their poor performance.

McPeake has repeatedly denied those reports.

Former Tigers centre Luke Nevill told The Age last season to “ask Seamus” when Nevill was asked about if McPeake had stormed into the locker-room.

Nevill left the team to take an offer from a Russian club soon after the reported confrontation.

Many also saw the treatment of former Tigers stalwart Daryl Corletto, now flourishing in New Zealand with the Breakers, as lacking class. On more than one off-season occasion, the loyal Corletto was left waiting to be re-signed by the Tigers, with the most recent instance seeing him outsted from the active roster so that the team could accomodate Mills' contract.

Are the Tigers an organisation that players will be rushing to play for? One would have to think that this type of alleged behaviour by their CEO and owner would place question marks in the minds of free agents who have more than one offer on the table.

As for where Ubaka lands next, it will be interesting to see whether he lands with a fourth NBL club.

James Harvey's injury woes continue this season, with the Gold Coast Blaze announcing that he is once again sidelined with calf problems that have troubled him for some weeks. 

Harvey returned to action last week, on the road against the Sydney Kings, scoring 10 points in 22 minutes. However he has only been active for eight of the team's 13 games this season and the continued injury comes as the Blaze face a double this weekend.

According to a release from the Blaze:

Harvey, who has been on a reduced training load all season and has been a week-to-week proposition for most of the season, re-injured his calf during training in Perth on Wednesday and has made the trip home to the Gold Coast.

Scans will reveal the full extent of the injury, and help give a timeline to him returning to the active list.

The injury opens up an opportunity for exciting young Development Player Brendan Teys, who has been very impressive in training and had a fantastic QBL season in 2011.

Teys has joined the playing group in Perth and is set to play in both road games this weekend.

Harvey recently became the first Blaze player to rack up 2,000 points for the club. He is a founding member of the team, who has been a top-notch scorer since his debut in the 1998/99 season with the Perth Wildcats.

However, the Blaze have struggled with consistency this season. Harvey realising this recently echoed his coach's thoughts after the Kings loss, telling the Gold Coast Bulletin:

"I think everyone's sick and tired of hearing about how talented we are," he said. "It's no longer about that, talent doesn't win games.

"On paper, I'm sure if you talk to opposition coaches and players they'd be saying this is the most talented team in the NBL and probably the most talented Blaze side we've had.

"But I think we're all over that now because at the moment our record isn't reflecting that."

News has just been released that Aaron Bruce (Sydney Kings) has broken his tibia, a season-ending injury. The point guard has been in fine, career-best form this season, averaging 13.9ppg and 4.4apg.

With Bruce pushing his way into the consciousness of Australian Boomers selectors and even reportedly NBA scouts, the very rare vertical fracture of his tibia could not come at a worse time.

“I can’t control what has happened but I can control my reaction and I intend to turn this event into a positive and get over the surgery and into in to rehabilitation as quickly as possible,” Aaron said.

“I will also be doing as much as I can to encourage and support the team from the bench during the games and from the sideline during training. It is the absolute least I can do to support the coaching team and the players who have been so supportive of me since I joined the Sydney Kings at the beginning of the season,” he added.

Coach Ian "Moose" Robilliard points out the return of Graeme Dann this week and the need for in-form Luke Cooper, Luke Martin and Kevin Ratzsch to step up as the way to try to cover for Bruce's loss.

Bruce's ability to set up the offence and create outside shots in tough situations has been key for the Sydney Kings this season and his loss will be felt greatly by the team and its fans.

One logical replacement for Bruce may be now-free agent Patty Mills, formerly of the Melbourne Tigers. Whilst Mills has been cut by his Chinese team, the Xinjiang Flying Tigers, he may not be available to any other clubs worldwide until after March. It is at that point that the Chinese season finishes and players will be released from contractual obligations, giving them FIBA waivers.

The Tigers have publicly discussed chasing Mills, but it is thought that they would not be able to access him unless one of their players sustained a season-ending injury. On the other hand, other NBL clubs would be able to pursue him, assuming he gets clearance from his Chinese club. Whether that happens, time will tell. Mills was today in Portland, supporting his Portland Trail Blazers at home against the Orlando Magic.

Bruce will undergo surgery tomorrow (Friday), which will be followed by extensive rehabilitation and physiotherapy. The Kings take on the Townsville Crocodiles, on the road, on Saturday (game to be televised on ONE at 10:30pm). 

(image: Benjamin Parker)

This week, my column at the official NBL website focuses on player efficiency and per-minute averages. You can read that article, and all of my other Fan Voice articles, here.

In conjunction with that article, I'm publishing below the Top 20 leaders for most statistical categories, per minute. I will refresh these numbers from week to week. These statistics are correct as at the end of Round 14 of the 2011/12 iiNet NBL Championship.

(photo: Joel Armstrong / hawks.com.au)

Townsville Crocodiles Head Coach, Paul Woolpert, has been fined and given a suspended four-game ban by the NBL Tribunal. Woolpert lashed out at referees during his team's victory over the Wollongong Hawks on the weekend.

Electing to have his hearing via phone, Woolpert pleaded guilty to the charges of Abusive Language and Unsportsmanlike Conduct. Unhappy with the calls his team was receiving during the game, he verbally challenged the referees, which resulted in a double-technical foul on Woolpert, his ejection and a fiery shouting performance by the Townsville coach.

ONE HD Television commentator and experienced NBL coach Brendan Joyce at the time sympathised with Woolpert's plight, implying that he was hard-done by, by the match officials and that they did not provide enough leeway for a coach to communicate with referees. 

The full finding of the Tribunal is below. no comments

(all images: Benjamin Parker)

Saturday night saw the Sydney Kings welcome the Gold Coast Blaze to the 'Kingdome' with much at stake. Both teams have reached a point in their season where they have proven that they have talent, but need to stamp consistency into their 2011/12 campaigns in order to instill a team character that is worthy of the NBL Finals.

The Kings eventually came away 101-96 victors in a high-powered, fast-moving battle. What did we learn from the game?

Luke Cooper: The Phantom Menace

This header is partly correct, partly false. Cooper has indeed become a complete menace to opposing teams in the past two rounds -- more than ever. However, The Phantom Menace was episode one of the Star Wars series (just ask Julian "Wookiee" Khazzouh*), but this is not the first chapter in the Luke Cooper story. 

Cooper's first chapter came with an extremely promising start to 2010/11, his rookie season. Unfortunately, that chapter came to a close with an unfortunate foot injury that ruled him out for the remainder of the season after four games where he averaged 11.5ppg, 4.3apg and 4.0rpg for the fledgling Kings.

Chapter two began at the start of this season, with less impressive results as Cooper returned to action for the Kings. He appeared to lack confidence and/or NBL-standard match practice and his performance on the court reflected this. During the first six games of the season, he averaged 2.3 turnovers, in less than 18 minutes per game. On a per minute basis, his turnover count was above those of fellow Kings point guards Aaron Bruce and Luke Martin. Around that point, his minutes began to be cut by coach Ian "Moose" Robilliard -- for six straight games, he was afforded only single-digit minutes. 

Then came chapter three. It began with the Kings woeful home performance against the Adelaide 36ers on 30 December. Sydney were shamed on their home court by the visitors, going down 96-77. The majority of the team performed dismally, but Cooper was the exception. He was all over the court, on both ends. He hassled the opposing ball-handlers and he managed 13 points on 4/7 field goals and 5/6 free throws in 22 minutes. 

Whilst his follow-up performance, the next night down in Wollongong, was not as impressive, it appeared that he had turned a corner. Against the Blaze, Cooper played arguably his best performance in Kings colours. Sure, he has put up bigger numbers in the past. He has played more minutes in the past -- although not this season. However he has never shown the composure, or made the impact that he did.

In 31 minutes, Cooper scored 10 points and created six assists (including a beautiful thread-the-needle on the break to Bruce early in the second quarter). In fact, he actually scored 13 points, though for some reason the scorers' bench (if you're out there) erroneously changed the stat sheet during the game to remove one of his three-point shots and awarded it to Kevin Ratzsch.

After the game, Blaze coach Joey Wright admitted that he may have underestimated Cooper's impact and failed to prepare his team sufficiently to defend him. Kings coach Robilliard said that he had seen an increase in confidence in the second-year guard and was pleased to see his hard work in training pay off, impressed with his game.

If Cooper can keep this production up, it will pay huge dividends for the Kings, as he provides a change of pace off the bench that can be hard for opponents to contend with. 

* whilst Jules did play a Wookiee in Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, alongside Aussie ballers Michael Kingma, David Stiff and Axel Dench, he does not count himself as a big Star Wars fan.

Adris Deleon: important

It might sound like a ridiculous understatement, but Adris "2Hard2Guard" Deleon is very important to the Blaze's fortunes. The NBL Player of the Week for Round 8, the import point guard has a silky smooth ability to get to the basket and create for his teammates. However, of late Deleon has been slumping, committing a high number of turnovers and shooting a poor percentage.

To begin the game against the Kings, the Blaze seemingly ran everything through Deleon. It appeared that coach Wright's strategy was to put pressure on the Kings defence (particularly Bruce) to prove that they could stop 2Hard2Guard. The extent to which the team looked to Deleon on offence saw even notorious shooter James Harvey (returning from a calf injury) to pass up shots in favour of looking for his floor general coming off back screens. And that strategy was working for the Blaze, as they got out to an early lead, with Deleon leading the way.

Then foul trouble struck. Deleon sat most of the middle stretch of the game with three fouls in 9 first half minutes. As Wright admitted after the game, as Deleon goes, the Blaze goes. Foul trouble like that can kill a team and did appear to throw the Blaze off their game.

Jerai Grant: excitement machine

People need to remember, this guy is only 22 years old. He may have NBA heritage running through his veins, he may indeed have the NBA in his future, but right now he is a young kid playing the professional game. And that is what makes his continually growing performances so impressive.

Grant put up 23 points (10/14 FG), 12 rebounds, four assists and made numerous key defensive plays during this game. The Sydney Entertainment Centre statisitcs crew once again must have been looking elsewhere, as they did not credit Grant with a single steal or block in this game, despite more than one of each being noted by the media bench.

Defensively, it is hard to quantify the number of plays that Grant and Khazzouh deter in the paint. The league-leading blocks duo are a huge presence in the interior and Grant's efforts ability to out-quick big opponents with his long arms slapping away at the ball started more than one Kings fast break in this game. 

The thing is, when a big man puts in that effort on D, he is supposed to be rewarded on the other end. However, on a number of occasions, Grant had isolated smaller opponents down low, and was begging for the ball, only to be spurned by his teammates. To keep him happy, he needs to see that ball to throw down the type of dunks that have set the Kingdome crowd alight. And he slammed down his fair share in this game, in front of the 4,915 fans.

More

The Kings currently sit at sixth on the NBL ladder, with an 8-9 record. With third-placed Townsville on 7-6, it is clear that every game is vitally important to the Kings' Finals hopes and that stronger performances earlier in the season would have seen them right up there in the hunt. 

For a full match report, check out Matt McQuade's account here.

Boxscore here.

Just when you thought you'd seen it all... 

Check out this video from the Melbourne Tigers Dinner Dance earlier this year as former Portland Trail Blazers guard and current Xinjiang Flying Tigers star Patty Mills performs the Spice Girls song 'Wannabe', alongside fellow Tigers Ayinde Ubaka, Ron Dorsey and Bennie Lewis.

Mills makes for an 'interesting' Ginger Spice. Meanwhile, I've never seen Scary Spice looking so scary!!

A massive piece of positive news for the Sydney Kings has arrived today in the 209cm form of Julian Khazzouh's return to the team. In a press release, the Kings have revealled that the NBL MVP contender was released from NBA try-outs with the Golden State Warriors, which should allow him to return to Sydney on Wednesday in time for their Friday home game against the Townsville Crocodiles.

Whilst Khazzouh had the support of many in his NBA quest, there will conversely be plenty breathing a sigh of relief in his NBL return, which comes on the back of some very solid local form of late. He has always contended that this trip was merely a stepping stone in his career and that he will have another shot at the NBA down the track -- potentially next off-season.

From the press release:

Head Coach Ian Robilliard is confident that his time in the Bay Area will help both Khazzouh and the Kings.

“Julian’s achievements should not be understated, it’s nothing short of sensational and I believe this is the next step towards achieving his NBA dream. He has now seen first-hand what it takes to make it in the NBA and I have no doubt he will now take his game to yet another level,” Coach Robilliard said.

“Julian’s arrival back in Sydney will give us a real shot in the arm as we head into Friday night’s game, and we also look forward to hearing about his experiences to see what we can incorporate into our own systems. In the spirit of cooperation we expect that the NBA will clear Julian immediately so there are no issues with him suiting up on Friday.” he added.  

During his time with the Warriors, Khazzouh played in one pre-season game against the Sacramento Kings where he scored two points in limited minutes. In NBL games so far this season Khazzouh is a clear MVP favourite, leading the league in both rebounds (11 per game) and blocks (2.1 per game) and second in scoring (18.6 points per game) over the first 13 games of the season.

Boxscore from Khazzouh's exhibition match trial.

Last week at NBL.com.au, I dedicated my weekly column to the path of other great Aussie bigs Khazzouh was following in flirting with the NBA.

In a stunning piece of news for Basketball Australia, today they announce that former New South Wales Premier, Kristina Keneally will become Chair of the board. 

Originally from the USA, Keneally grew up playing basketball through high school. She was the first female Premier of NSW from 2009-2011. Her influence in the Labor party may be highly effective in pushing for federal funding for basketball -- a sport that typically struggles to get the money that the football codes attract.

Currently serving as the member for Heffron in State Parliament, Ms. Keneally said she saw huge opportunities for basketball to build on its recent gains.

“As a sport, basketball in Australia has some unique advantages that we are only just starting to capitalise on,” Ms. Keneally said. “Our incredible strength in terms of mass participation numbers, with over one million people regularly playing basketball, is largely untapped thus far. The continued excellence of our national teams and competitions in what is a truly global sport is not just a source of immense pride, but also a source of significant potential corporate opportunities.

“I am passionate about sports in general and basketball in particular,” Ms. Keneally added.  “I look forward to working with the rest of the Board to build further upon all the good work already done over the past few years.  I am genuinely excited to have been entrusted with this role.”