| Matt Facts: Matthew dislikes drinking cold drinks from coffee mugs. He also hates plastic forks. | | Did you Know? Toothpicks are overrated. | | Words of Inspiration: "You can tell a lot about a fellow by the way he eats Jelly Beans" – R.Regan | | Did you know? There are no Pez Facts. Pez is, in fact, not factual. | | Matt Facts: Matthew's fortune cookies always predict success. | | Words of Inspiration: When I'm sad I stop being sad and be awesome instead - Barney Stinson | | Did you know? "Buf­falo buf­falo Buf­falo buf­falo buf­falo buf­falo Buf­falo buf­falo” is a gram­mat­i­cally valid sentence. | | Matt Facts: Matthew is best served on the rocks with a slice of lemon. | | Words of Inspiration: "Life is futile." | | Did you Know? Dinosaurs and Dandelions is the name of a popular blog that has been around since the 15 April 2010 | | Matt Facts: Unlike some people, Matthew only celebrates his birthday once a year. | | Words of Inspiration: "I'll be back" - The Terminator. | | Did you Know? The two modern breeds of Cocker Spaniel, American and English, are thought to have been descended from only two dogs? | | Matt Facts: On the second to last full moon of the year, Matthew develops an itch on his right shoulder. | | Words of Inspiration: “You can do it!” - Rob Schneider, in every Adam Sandler movie ever | | Did you know? Lettuce is often eaten raw. | | Words of Inspiration: "Science is always at work and never sleeps – just like Rust" | | Did you Know? When you dream, every­thing you see in that dream, you’ve seen before in real life. | | Matt Facts: Matthew officially endorses the Cadbury's Moro bar as being delicious | | Did You Know? A tadpole is also called a 'pollywog'. | | Matt Facts: Matthew has his own Facebook fan page. Creepy. | | Did You Know? Cats sleep for 70% of their lives. | | Words of Inspiration: "End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it." - Gandalf. | | Did you Know? This is the end. The journey ends here. Then it starts all over again. |

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Matthew tries to talk Basketball

Following the exciting news that Steven Adams has declared for the NBA draft, making Valerie the second most famous person in her family, I'm going to have a quick look at the best Tall Blacks line up of all time. I only really have a passing interest in Basketball so this will be heavily biased to the famous 2002 crop of Kiwis, enjoy!

Coach: Tab Baldwin

Lets start with the top. Coach Tab Baldwin was born in America and moved here to coach several of our domestic teams. In 2001 he was appointed coach of the Tall Blacks and really began making a name for himself. The team defeated Australia that year to qualify for the 2002 World Championships where they went on to defeat such names as Russia, China and Germany to finish fourth - two places higher than the United States. He later moved to the Middle East where he coached in the Turkish league and also the Lebanese and Jordan national teams before returning home, to New Zealand.

Centre: Steven Adams

Sure he's only 19 but last year he was being talked about as a top-10 NBA draft pick. Since then his stock may have fallen and he will likely end up around 19th, but 19th in the NBA is still good enough any day to walk onto my New Zealand starting five. Oh, and he is also 7 foot.

Power Forward: Sean Marks

The most NBA experienced Kiwi ever, Sean Marks played for six NBA clubs over fourteen seasons before retiring in 2011. A Mr fix-it man, he played in 230 games but only started eleven. He was part of the 2004-05 champion San Antonio Spurs, whose singlets look a little like the Tall Blacks. Coincidence? Probably.


Small Forward: Kirk Penney

A product of Westlake Boys' High School, Penney also spent some time in the NBA, for Miami and the Clippers. More recently he spent four seasons with the New Zealand Breakers but now ply's his trade in the Turkish league.

Shooting Guard: Thomas Abercrombie

Like the other three, Abercrombie attended college in America. He returned home in 2008 to join the Breakers, where he has remained since. Abercrombie is easily one of the best three players in the Australiasian league but, while there have been whispers now and then of scouts and trials, it doesn't appear as if he will ever make the pros in America.


Point Guard: Phill Jones

The highest New Zealand point scorer in the Australasian league, Jones was deadly with his three point shoot and was one of the stars of the Tall Blacks run in 2002. An original Breaker, Jones went on to have success with the Cairns Taipans.

Bench

Pero Cameron (Centre/Forward): More the size of a rugby union prop forward, Cameron didn't let that stop him and was the captain of the 2002 side.
Paul Henare (Guard): An original Breaker, Henare was the first player to have his number retired by the club when he retired in 2011.
Dillon Boucher (Foward): Proving that being hard working is more important than being talented, Boucher's will likely be the next number retired when he hangs it up at the end of this season.
Mika Vukona (Forward): The current captain of the Tall Blacks,Vukona played his 200th game for the Breakers this year.
Angela Marino (Guard): A former Tall Fern, Marino is mainly in the team because it allows me to leave you with these;