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2006 Blitz Champions! Brisbane Bullets!

As many of you already know since I have been lazy getting my journal updated that we have taken out the 2006 Pre-season Blitz Championship. I must say that is was exciting to see the potential that we have as a team and still win the whole thing with out myself, Blacky and Bradtke. The Blitz is an exciting time because teams like to hype themselves up on the nbl.com website or in the newspaper really never knowing how good they are and this gives us a chance to really see how much bull shit they are feeding people. From my view sitting on the bench the whole weekend because of severe tendonitis under my right foot allowed me to look at other games while ours was going on. The South Dragons look like a team that has potential but need to play some team defense and it seems that they aren’t used to each other yet but that will take some time. The team that I think will struggle is the Singapore Slingers as they didn’t look good at all when playing the Kings. Maybe they played better Vs. other teams there but this one game that I caught they looked like a bunch of guys there for a paycheck and dis-interested. They could prove me wrong but just my observation. Overall it was another great weekend to get all the boys together from all the teams in an atmosphere that is competitive but still allowing us to have some fun.

The league looks strong this year with more young aussie talent which will make it more competitive. Joe Ingles is one of the young guns that will make an impact in the NBL. There are a few others that I don’t know the names of but will make a similar impact. Half the imports are about the same but there are some new ones. The Dragons center looks slow as hell and shoots a set shot but when he is close to the rim he has some outstanding post moves. Looking like it will be a good year in the NBL.

It always hurts to sit out while you watch your teammates go to work out on the court but there isn’t much you can do. One thing that I noticed about the 2006 Bullets is we have some talent on this team and could do some damage if we all gel together. Sam is one amazing athlete and did some crazy athletic stuff over the weekend. CJ is going to be exciting to play with because he can create is own shot as well as create for others. Along with Ebi it should give us 2 guys that can to the lane and create. I can’t wait to get back on the court and run with these guys. Until next time… Before I forget Mick Hill has just launched his new website at www.MickHill9.com

 

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1st game of 2006-2007

The 2006-2007 season has finally started for us as it didn’t go as planned! After winning the NBL Blitz we had some hi expectations and figured that it would flow into the regular season. Going into the game Vs. Sydney we knew that it was going to be tough and never easy beating Sydney on their home court. Everything for me was new such as the travel, pre-game practice to warm-ups as every team is different. Leading into the game I felt confident that it would turn out good but things didn’t happen that way. It seemed to me during the game we couldn’t get a momentum going because we would go down and it would be one pass then shoot. You cant win games like that because you have wear out the other team by making them play some defense. As badly as we played we were ahead by a few points going into halftime but that lead quickly changed and was handed over to Sydney. Once we were behind we couldn’t fight back to gain back the lead but we were within a few points the rest of the game until the end. It was one of those feelings where we had plenty of chances to gain the lead but couldn’t convert any of our shots mostly due to poor offensive execution. In the end we played some shitty ball and we didn’t deserve to win. For me it was one of the worst games that I have played due to being in foul trouble early then not hitting any of my shots within 15 feet. I just didn’t have the touch for this game which is frustrating as hell but nothing you can do. The style that we run here in Brisbane is a lot different to the free flowing style of Adelaide. I am struggling to figure out how each of my teammates plays so I can learn to feed off of them. I mean figuring out what Ebi, Sam, CJ, etc will do when they penetrate so I can either know in my head that when they have the ball they will shoot, pass or drive to the lane to get others a better shot. Chemistry is a little off but its something that you perfect throughout the year. I would be a little worried if we came out and played our best ball right away since we really haven’t been playing together for that long. Chemistry will come and when it does watch out as we will be very tough and exciting to watch. First home game of the year will be this Tuesday October 3rd so I expect to see a full house or at least some passionate Bullets fans…

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The Road

We just finished our 5 game in nine day week and a half with a 3-2 record. I think that looking at the schedule we were hoping to go 5-0 but things don’t always go as planned. We started out the games with a game dedicated to Steve Irwin Foundation which saw us take some pics with a cheetah. We did play the Crocs which saw us take our games to another level smashing them by more than 15. This game was important to us because we had a disappointing loss to Sydney and then beat the Tigers but we still didn’t seem to be playing at our highest level. The Crocs put up a fight early in the game but couldn’t keep up with the fire power that we have. It seemed that someone different stepped up during the game when they tried to shut down the person with the hot hand. There was also a rare sighting and most of you know what that is…. Yeah me dunking was the highlight of night with a break away dunk while Rice and Newely tried blocking it. I think that I surprised myself on this one as I would usually just try to lay the ball up high on the glass but then just decided to throw it down as those two were eyeing up the block form half court so I just said Dusty get up like you can and the mind said and the body followed. The bench got on their feet and I even had a little celebration once the whistle blew and a timeout was called. The Crocs went down but we still had the unbeaten Wildcats coming to town and Adelaide on the road.

Adelaide has been struggling this year but they are always tough at home but without Brett Maher they will have a hard time winning some games because he brings so much to the table for that team. As for me I was really nervous because this was the first time back to Adelaide since I left last season. A part of me was excited and wanted to see everyone but then you are there to win some games and go about my business as usual. I was thinking the whole time that when my name was going to get called that I would get the loudest boo’s in the building but it wasn’t that bad at all. The Adelaide crows was always good to me and I will always cherish that and hope that they can appreciate me for what I did for the 36er’s. Now to the game and this one was like the others starting off slow again going down by 10 points early in the 1st. This has been a trademark for us because we seem to come out slow and it takes a few quarters to catch up. This game wasn’t any different because once we started to press we got some easy lay ups. The game was ours with Adelaide throwing the ball away on lazy passes. I was happy to be back and get a win because you always want to beat your old team but still had mixed emotions. I am looking to play there in the off-season with North Adelaide Rockets so hopefully that will happen and I can once again be back in the city of churches. Next up the Wildcats……

The Cats are playing some good ball at the moment as they are unbeaten and sitting at the top of the league. They have a talented team with good players all around with some height and depth. We knew it was going to be a struggle beating a team that is on high like these guys were. Before the game you could tell that we didn’t have the energy because of the travel and this was our 3rd game in 5 days. It happened again as we started out slow and found ourselves in a hole that we would have to dig out of again. Once we got rolling we clawed our way to a 15 point lead late in the 3rd and it looked like we had this one. The Wildcats didn’t give up and took advantage of our lack of putting the ball in the hoop. It came down to the final minutes and Mick Hill was driving to the middle and was going to shoot but was contested by some Wildcats so he passed off to me but as I was shooting I heard someone screaming behind me as if they were wide naked open so in mid shot I turned around to throw it behind me and no one was there but the ref and it went out of bounds. A costly turnover that ended up with the Wildcats going up by three points as the time ran out on us.

The Breakers and Hawks are our last two games of the week as both are on the road with give us a good test early in the season. The Breakers have been struggling losing most games late in the game even if they do have the lead but it’s tough to win on the road no matter who you are playing. The game started out like the rest slow as hell for us and once again we were down at half but looking good. The 3rd show us claw back into the game and down by 3 with 1 quarter to go. The 4th was back and forth which saw us take the lead by 1 or 2 points but that was as close to winning as we would get. Pauli Henare played a great game and really took charge for the Breakers giving us another loss on the road. We are now 3-3 and looking like trouble but we are still learning strengths and weaknesses of each other so don’t hit the panic button just yet.

Our last game was Vs. the Hawks who is always tough at home no matter what their record shows. The game started off good for both teams and we didn’t start the 2nd quarter down by 10 so that was a good relief. The game was tight all the way to half time with us leading by 3 points going into the second half. In the locker room we knew we had to start the 3rd strong or we could be in for a fight. Well to make a long story short we ended up playing some good d-fence and holding the Hawks to just 33 points and winning by 20+. I was surprised that Coach Joyce didn’t do his usual screaming when his team gets down by so many. He was calm on the sidelines and just let his team play which had my blown away. Overall it was a good win and we have the week off but have a tough schedule the following week so better rest up and get ready to win some games…

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This is how we roll and been rolling and hope to keep rolling…

Yes it has been another month or so since I last put in a journal entry but as I sit down from a hard day at the office it’s sometimes hard to concentrate and give you something to read. Things are a lot different here at the Brisbane Bullets then they were a month ago. It seemed that everyone was hitting the panic button when we were off to a slow start and then losing to bottom feeder New Zealand. It still amazes me how fast people hit the panic button so early in the season when we are trying to find out what we are made of you are going to lose some and hopefully learn from your mistakes as we have. We learned a valuable lesson after the kiwi loss and that is don’t take anyone lightly because they are trying to prove to we are a bunch of spoiled brats and are coming for our heads. The next couple of weeks aren’t going to get any easier because we seem to be on the road for two weeks straight. Road wins are hard to come by but if we can get over 50% of them this year we will be happy with that effort. The next couple of rounds sees us on the road with some tough opponents first up West Sydney, Perth and then our back to back games Vs. Tigers and Dragons.

Looking at this schedule a betting man would say we could go 1-3 or 2-2 but no one especially NBL.com.au thought we could go 4-0. First up is West Sydney and this team is hard to play against because they do play extremely hard but they tend to lose games at the end. One might think that some point shaving is going on here or it could just be a case of bad luck but anyway that doesn’t matter. The atmosphere or the lack of atmosphere also makes playing there very difficult. Most places you can see filling up and you can feel the vibe in the air that a big game is about to be played but at the pigpen or whatever they call it you could drop a pin and scare off the mice it’s that dead. It does take a lot more concentration to get yourself up for this type of game but its also a dangerous one because you don’t know who is going to be on their “A” game or not. We didn’t happen to start the game out relatively well but it seemed once we got the lead we took our foot off of the accelerator and let West Sydney back into the game. This went for the whole game til the end and wouldn’t you know West Sydney had plenty of chance to bet us down the stretch. Scoot McGregor had a few easy missed lay-ups and some missed free-throws that would have easily iced us but bad luck was once again on their side or maybe Scotty had a few grand on the point spread haha kidding. We luckily came out with the win but it wasn’t as easy as we or everyone thought it would or should have been. Anyway you draw it it’s a win and we’ll take that to the bank any day of the week! Next we have 3 games in 4 days on the road so this will be our first test of the year! Gut check time!

Perth has been in great form as of lately sitting at the top of the ladder and are always tough when heading across the country to play them and on top of that arguably the best home court crowd in the league. We owe Perth for coming into our house and beating us while we had a 13 point lead going into the 4th. We were determined not to let this happen again! The game started out competitive as usual but we got the early lead and never looked back. Perth would make their mini runs but we would respond by putting on some great full court defense or hitting some tough shots. Heading into the 4th we were holding a good lead of 16 points thinking that we had this one easily but we should have learned our lesson from the last time we played because little did we know that Perth had something for us. The 4th started and slowly but surely Perth ate at the lead cutting it down to 8 points with 10 minutes, then to 4 with 8 and tied the ball game up at the 5 minute mark. I was thinking damn we are in trouble again if we can’t get some shots to fall. It went back and forth for the rest of the game and then Perth got the lead and momentum with about 40 seconds to play up by 5. Praying for someone to step up and our prayers were answered first Ebi hits a massive step back “3” followed shortly by CJ cutting the defense up and slashing down the middle for a and1! This silenced the crowd as CJ made the free throw putting us up by one with 5 seconds left. Perth still had one more chance with the ball being in bounded at half court. They got the ball into Redhage and he put up a shot from about 10 feet out that hit every piece of rim that it could and fell out giving us another win! Next up the back to back Melbourne clash.

The first of the double header are the South Dragons then the Tigers on Saturday night. This isn’t going to be an easy series for us as the Dragons who just fired their head coach and import trying to prove that they belong and the Tigers coming off a thrashing by the New Zealand breakers so no easy picnic for us again. We’ll just skip the Dragon basketball game and talk about the Hammer Vs. The Claw. Through out this game the Dragons were complaining that we play to physical and Hammer finally snapped as Slammin Sam was face guarding him at full court after he had scored a lay-up Hammer couldn’t get around Sam so he decided that he would just grab Sam and put him in a head lock and to the ground they went. I didn’t catch it all from the bench but from where I was at I thought it was Hogie that was in the mix and wondered why the hell he would be pressing full court but then I realized it was Sammy. The players started pulling players apart trying to split the pair of WWE stars but Sammy A.K.A The Claw was not getting let out of the head lock that Hammer had on him. It was very interesting as to why Hammer would do this because the game was close then he and Sam get ejected and the game turns into our favor. I guess he wanted to spark his team by showing them his WWE moves. The game quickly moved into our favor and we ended up winning the game by 16 points. Another good win for the Bullets and now the real test the defending NBL Champs the Melbourne Tigers.

The Tigers coming off of a disappointing loss to the New Zealand Breakers a few days earlier were hungry and ready for revenge. Going into this game you could tell that it was going to be tough since it was our 3 game in 4 days many wondered what we had left in the tank. What they didn’t see coming was one of the best double over time games in NBL history. Personally I would like to throw this game out of the record books but it was one to remember. The game started off great two teams going head to head showing the league what’s to come when either team comes their way. There were times during the game especially in the 3rd where I thought we were in trouble going down by as many as 13 but always finding someway to get back in either with some great defense or someone catching fire. Either way it went down to the end forcing overtime then this is where the magic happens. The Tigers took a commanding 7 point lead into the first overtime but give us some credit for never giving up and cutting that lead down with seconds to spare forcing yet another overtime. In the second overtime we took the momentum away from the Tigers and pulled a comfortable lead that the Tigers could take away from us. By the end of it all we were exhausted but very happy to go the week 3-0 totally not what people had predicted (0-3). We now have the season split on the Tigers and play them again a week later back down in Melbourne followed by the Adelaide 36er’s at home Sunday.

We’ve had about a week off since we last played the Tigers in the double overtime thriller at the cage and knew we would be up for a dog fight. The Tigers came out with a lot to prove not very happy about losing 2 games to us already. The game was a lot more physical and intense than the previous two had been so things were going to be tough. I heard from talking to players through the week Al Westover was not happy with his club calling them weak and little girls that need to bring something to the table or their season might be hitting the fan. His players responded because I personally have never been hit as hard as I was in this game. They came out to prove something and that is what they did totally dominating us in patches but we never gave up always hanging around like that bugger in ya nose that just bothers the hell out of you but you cant do anything about. We would fight back to within 4 points but then they would just step up their intensity and push the lead out to 10. This game was meant for the Tigers and they earned it giving us our first loss in 5 or so games. Now we had to back up again taking on the Adelaide 36er’s the next night in Brisbane.

Adelaide is always fun to play against because they allow you to play an up-temp game. This is the second game that we have played the 36er’s this season and it was a lot easier to play the former team in Brisbane than it was down in Adelaide. I was happy to talk to some of the guys again asking them about the Brad Hill/larry Abney incident that occurred a few days earlier. Poor Brad Hill breaking his arm on a stupid foul by Abney but nothing you can do about it now. I just feel bad for Brad because he is a good kid that deserves a chance that he is not getting and not he wont get til next year. So without Hill that makes the 36er’s a little less deeper on the bench. The game was ours from the beginning as we raced out to a 10 point lead early and never looked back. The lead was up to 30 points in the 3rd and we cruised to a 21 point victory putting us at 9-4 for the season in 2nd place. Next up Perth Wildcats at Home in Brisbane hope to see you all at the game!

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Sitting at the top

We are almost half way through the season and we are sitting at the top of the NBL. It’s a good feeling especially after our slow start to the season but all is good if we keep winning. Personally I have been in a two week shooting slump and playing unlike I usually do. I think this has to do with me trying to adjust to a new system and less playing time. My time in Adelaide I could have a few bad minutes and work them out of my system because I played around 40 minutes a game but here we have too many good players that I cant afford to have times where I am not at my best. Kind of reminds of college when you had some much competition at each position. Competition brings out the best of me because it makes you work that much harder to be the best. Having said that I have to talk about last night game against the Singapore Slingers here in Brisbane. Going into this game was a bit of a scare because they are at the bottom of the ladder and you would think that some of us would let our guard down and instead of blowing them out we would make a game of it. Well that wasn’t the case at all because Ebi Ere and Brad Williamson came out with a bang. In the first half Ebi was on fire hitting from everywhere including where he went 8-10 from behind the arc. I was playing but at the same time had to be a fan because someone with that hot of a hand doesn’t come around that often. The first half belonged to Ebi and everyone thought that he would be player of the game and be talked about for years to come but wait, hold on for one second. Sitting on the bench was a young gun named Brad Williamson who isn’t that bad of a three point shooter either. Brad had 6 points going into the 4th quarter and was injected into the 4th with 6 or so minutes left to play. That was all that brad needed because all he saw was a very bright green light to shot from anywhere on the court and that was what he did and he did well. Brad came on and hit 7 straight 3’s to end the game with 30 points and even added a rare 4 point play. It was amazing as each ball never looked like it was going to miss at all. I have played basketball for about 20 years and have never seen two guys go off the way Ebi and Brad did last night. I had to sit back and enjoy what was happening as it was like lightning striking twice and that never happens. The Slingers went down by 38 and Brad was the local hero for the night. Next up New Zealand on Saturday see ya there..

There hasn’t been much to talk about lately so I have been extremely bored so yes I resort to the net and the popular youtube.com. I was searching around and found something so funny that I had to post it on here. Dillion Boucher while playing for the New Zealand national team Vs. China stole the ball from Yao Ming and quickly dish it back to Sean Marks who threw it down on Yao and instead of talking shit to Yao Dillion decided to do it making Yao shove him to the ground. Take a look….

 

This next video is of me riding the FlowRider at DreamWorld Gold Coast November 2006....

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The Year of the Bullet…

Sorry about the delay to get something up again but it gets a little tough to write something when there isn’t much to write about but I think that I have to talk about the Bullets recent games. Thinking back to the start of the season everyone had big expectations of us when we won the blitz. We came out and lost our first game and I think that a lot of people started to panic right away because I know the biggest concern was how the hell are we going to get all these good players to gel on this team and play together? In our first few games I wasn’t scared of the opposition but I was scared of us as everyone was trying to find their role on this team and it seemed like a struggle for me personally. Guys are used to taking 20+ shots and being a main go to guy but on this team there are 6-7 go to guys at any time so getting used to playing less minutes and taking less shots was hard to swallow at first especially as an import. You do feel pressured as an import to put up good numbers as a lot of people judge you on your scoring average so as you can tell I was a little worried when we started out slow and the numbers are down for the year. My fears quickly disappeared on the road when we went to Perth to Melbourne for a 3 game road trip as many thought we would not win a game. This was a big bonding point for us losing to Perth at home a few weeks earlier after having a 13 point lead going into the 4th and then the same thing happens in Perth heading into the 4th with a 16 point lead and losing it with a minute left down by 5 but managed to pull this one out. Then it was onto Melbourne for the Tigers-Dragons double header finishing up with the Tigers was a big fear in the back of my mind. With 3 games in 5 days the 3rd game you don’t have much in the tank to compete so when we took the Tigers to double overtime and pulling that one out many were surprised! This was the road trip that started to build us up as a team as guys were figuring out their roles on the team.

So now we are about to say goodbye to 2006 and Hello to 2007 with a 16-5 record and coming off of two dominating wins over the South Dragons and Townsville Crocs. These two games really worried the hell out of me as both teams are playing extremely well over the last couple of weeks. The Dragons at home are always going to be tough but this was the first game that I really felt we clicked totally as a team and things felt like they flowed for a full 48 minutes. Guys were passing up good shots for great shots being unselfish throughout the whole game which saw us winning by 32. Our next game was going to be at home Vs. Townsville who are arguably the 3rd best team in the league with a 6 game winning streak. The Crocs have been winning without import Larry Abney which is impressive but according to John Riley the team is clicking even better and playing more as a team since his departure. He was right as they came out of the blocks with tons of energy, pushing the ball fast building up the lead in the early stages of the game. I have to admit they were tough to stop at first and extremely aggressive! I was thinking damn these guys are tough with new import Ej Rowland pushing the ball while Riley and Newely are on the wings. I was confident that it was going to be a war for 48 minutes but then Joey subbed the bench and they got it rolling establishing a nice little buffer for us late in the 1st. That is the best thing about this team our bench comes in and is as strong and capable of getting leads and beating teams themselves. Most teams that I have been on you start to cringe when you get towards the end of the bench with the 8th,9th and 10th player but not with this team! I feel as confident with the bench players in as I do with the starters but to be honest sometimes I worry about the starting 5 because we have a tendency to start slow and cruz but with the bench on there you know they are going to be giving it 110% hustling, fighting and making all the small plays to win. So when the bench came into the Townsville game I wasn’t surprised at all they were the jump start that we needed and we didn’t look back. Going into half time with the 11 point lead we quickly increased that in the 3rd with 3 straight 3’s that put them on their backs increasing the lead by 28 and eventually winning by 40 points. I don’t think that the win was the highlight of the game as someone on our team thought it would be good to sing “We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New year” so we all huddled and sang and too my amazement it sounded alright but I could be a little bias but the crown seemed to love it.

With some nice wins under our belt we have the Sydney Kinds on December 30th at home then we start the New Year hopefully we keep it rolling. My New Years Resolution is to keep better update of my website and blog or do something weekly. Slap me if I don’t keep up my end of the deal haha…

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Adelaide Vs. Brisbane

I was asked a few months ago by a fan about the differences between Brisbane and Adelaide and try to explain which one I like better. It’s hard to compare the two teams because I came to Adelaide on different terms than I did to Brisbane. I came to Adelaide on the verge of getting released by the Victoria Giants in December 2002 ironically my last game was against the Brisbane Bullets where I had a stat line of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Despite good numbers I was sacked in the Sydney airport while waiting for our connecting flight to Melbourne which kind of shocked me but I could see something was up because I used to go into the office people would talk to me while I was using the computer but for about two weeks no one would even say a word and sometime not even look at me. At the time I thought that was the end of the world for me because being cut in your first season doesn’t look good on the resume. When I got back to Melbourne I called up Phil Smyth and asked him if they could fit me in somewhere since they only had one import at the time (Charles Thomas) but was told that they didn’t have any money left therefore I was out of luck. I sat around Melbourne for about 3 weeks doing absolutely nothing thinking and wanting to get home as soon as possible but since the Giants where trying to be cheap they couldn’t get me a flight home until the end of January. It had come to the last couple of days before I was scheduled to fly home that I got a call from Phil Smyth saying that Paul Rogers had just hurt himself and they were going to put him on the injured reserve therefore the insurance would pay him and they had enough cap space to get me in. I flew out the following day and Phil picked me up from the airport. This was one defining moment in my career where I almost gave basketball up but luck was on my side. I finished out the year in Adelaide thinking that I would be back with them but was told by Phil and the coaching staff that they couldn’t fit me in the cap with Paul Rogers coming back so I was left in limbo again.
Then break #2 came the following year again on the good graces of Paul Rogers leaving for Europe. I was sitting in Slovenia from July 2003 – September 2003 heading to practice with the teams Gm when he turned and asked me “when are you going to step up and play?” I said “what do you mean step up and play?” then he hits me with “when are you going to start dunking on guys?” and from there I knew I was in trouble because dunking is not to be found in my game at all as I was actually thinking to myself and wanted to say “Are you crazy? Man I can’t dunk on anyone unless you have a trampoline under me!”. A few days later I was sent home once again thinking that my career was over this time for good. I got home and sat around for a month while not touching a ball once really telling myself I better get back to school because this is the end of the sporting career but right as I was about to throw in the towel I got a call from Phil Smyth again saying that Paul Rogers has headed for Europe and they wanted me to come play for the Sixers that 2003-2004 season. So once again I got a chance to resurrect my career off the fate of someone else getting hurt then leaving for Europe.

Game Day:

Now that I have explained the road to the Sixers I will talk about my time there and how I enjoyed the 4 seasons there and I do miss being a Sixer. I came onto a team that had previously won the title in 2002 so the crowds were good and the expectations were high. That first season was tough for me as I didn’t feel apart of the team because I had come in for the last 7 games of the season. The second year was better but still coming late because of some Visa issues but once that was cleared up I was happy to be playing again. In Adelaide I was fortunate to play with some great players such as Charles Thomas, Brett Maher, Willie Farely, Martin Cattalini and Paul Rees. I was one of the main players there that was depended on to score and rebound while playing 35 – 44 minutes a game which was good because you could get into the flow of the game and be consistent. Where as here in Brisbane I play anywhere from 21 – 27 minutes a game so you don’t have much time to do your thing out there but I am adjusting plus we are winning so that helps. One major difference between Brisbane and Adelaide is the game day vibe. In Adelaide you could feel the buzz in the air when we had home games and on the drive to the game I had this tingling feeling inside as you pull into the stadium seeing all the fans walking up or sitting out in the car park having a few before the tip off. In Brisbane I don’t get that same feeling or buzz about home games. I don’t know why that is but maybe it’s because when you drive to the game you don’t see people wearing Bullets jerseys or in the car park having a few before the game. The Adelaide Crowd is a lot more vocal than the Brisbane but that might be due to the lack of cheerleaders here. Brisbane does have some crazy ass fans that really get into the game but as a whole I think that they could get a little more vocal but to give Brisbane credit they are getting a lot better and louder as we head towards the end of the season.

Practice, Weights and Conditioning

This is one area where things are extremely different between the two clubs. In Adelaide Phil’s practices where great in my eyes as we played a lot of full court 5 on 5 or 4 on 4 and 3 on 3 half court. Practice timeline was written up every day on the white board and no matter what happened we didn’t go over the time of each game/drill. Once the time was up we then had a 2 minute water break allowing time for a little chat before the next drill. The practice was detailed and practice was competitive. We would come back in the after noon where we would shoot for 45 minutes which was nice so you don’t just go home and sit on your butt all day ha ha ha. Here in Brisbane Joey runs things a little different but similar in some ways. Practice is written on a sheet of paper and posted on the powerade tub and the walls giving us a little time frame but not always followed with some over laps on time but that doesn’t bother me one bit. At the beginning of practice we have Stewart Briggs from Acceleration Australia warming us up and getting us ready for practice with some speed and agility drills. Once warm we usually start with some 5 on 0 full court transitions and half court offense to get our minds ready. Practice is very competitive and sometimes gets little out of control with guys hacking each other but in a good way. Being apart of the Bullets this year has been a great experience for me on the court as we have a deep team and that results in some good shit talking on the court but the games are super intense. The last time that I was on a team that had as good a second unit as the first unit was in High School when we won the Section 8 Championship which is a good sign and it shows in our games so far this season. It’s a great feeling to know when you sub off any of the starters that you won’t lack in the talent or production department and it shows with great games from all 10 players this year. As you can see that practices are similar but different in the personal from Adelaide to Brisbane but the major difference are the facilities with Adelaide having 3 full courts compared to Brisbane’s on Court. You had your own locker and got your practice uniforms washed daily in Adelaide whereas here in Brisbane you don’t get a locker and you have to wash your practice uniforms. You do take that kind of stuff for granted but realize that Adelaide is the only club in Australia that has this luxury.

The major difference is the strength and conditioning program going from doing your own weights and conditioning at Adelaide to having a proper strength and conditioning coach here in Brisbane. Towards the end of each season in Adelaide I always had some soft tissue issues with my tendonitis in my knees or sore groining which I think was part due because of the lack of strengthening and conditioning. In Brisbane for the preseason we lifted 4 days a week and now during the season 2 times just trying to maintain and prevent soft tissue issues. For the first time in years I don’t have any tendonitis issues and feeling better on the court.

So there are some difference between Adelaide and Brisbane but I enjoyed my time in Adelaide but my life has moved to Brisbane as I hope to make the most of it for years to come.

Now to the present, the Brisbane Bullets have rolled up a 10 game winning streak at home and 11 game winning streak overall which is the best winning streak since the late 80’s. Up next are the West Sydney Razorbacks in Albury on Thursday and back home to play the Dragons on Saturday January, 20th. The crowds at home have been getting bigger and louder so keep it up and see you at the game… Below is a link to a youtube video created by Mick Hill…

 

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Semi Final’s 2007 Playoffs Vs. Kings

I know I know I have been lazy as hell getting this stuff updated for you guys but I have to blame that on my dad since he has arrived in mid January I have had to cater to his every need and wants. Ok maybe I can’t blame it all on my dad but sometimes people think that we have the most exciting lives but in reality exciting for me is sitting on myspace all day and looking at NBL and NBA stats and games so that really doesn’t give me much to talk about and I am sure that no one wants to hear about that. Enough of me rambling and lets talk about the 2007 NBL playoffs. Fist up for us are the Sydney Kings who totally destroyed and toyed with the Townsville Crocodiles defeating them by 30 points. The night of the Kings and Crocs game all of us Bullets got together and watched the game at a local pub here in Brisbane (Chalk Hotel) while eating some of the finest pub food around. Everyone was excited to watch the game and find out who we would have to play in the semi final round. Before the game I would say that most of us thought that Townsville were going to have a chance with their good play late in the season but that was far from the situation in Sydney. For those of us that thought the Crocs had a chance we forgot to factor in that they are arguably the worst road team in the NBL but since they took us to the wire a week before we thought that they had a chance to upset the Kings. The defensive pressure of the Kings were too much for the free flowing Crocs as they got into the chests of Newely and Rillie not allowing them to get their rhythm. The Crocs didn’t know what hit them as they couldn’t get anything to drop allowing for the Kings to play with less pressure and getting the momentum. As we all sat there watching the game we could see that Sydney came to the party and were going to be tough to beat. I was one of the guys that thought the Crocs would get the Kings but soon realized that the Kings were going to be the lucky winners to take us on. This kind of worried me because I know what its like to be in the playoffs for the past 4 years and to never win a game really hurts and in my mind you know that playoff basketball is so different than regular season ball. Guys tend to step it up to a higher level while some seem to disappear but the real players step it up and the Kings have plenty that take it up a notch. The Kings have been a thorn in the side of Brisbane for a few years as they knocked them out of the playoffs a few times and for guys like Mick, Blacky and Joey they wanted revenge and get that monkey of their back.

Game 1 Vs. Kings was at a different venue which is difficult, why change the venue when we have played at the Convention Center all year establishing our identity there but the change happened. Change is good but not when you are about to head into the playoffs. This scared the shit out of me because you get a feel for your surrounding environment and have your routine now what you know is out the door forcing you to start over at the end of the season. The rims, court and atmosphere are all going to be different and could mess with everyone’s mo-jo which may result in a loss for us. With only a couple of trainings at the new home court we got a little feel for everything so I felt comfortable that we have the players that are able to adjust and step it up. The hardest part about all of this is sitting there for 10 days watching other teams play it out and we have to sit there in anticipation wondering and waiting can kill a person. You only can do so much at practice to simulate a game but it is never the same especially playoff games. So when February 20th rolled around everyone was happy to get this party started. Shoot around on game day is something of a normality and guys rolled up looking and acting pretty calm doing what we usually doing cheating each other on shooting games while everyone tried to stop Blacky and B-Rad from winning. Leaving shoot around I felt confident and really relaxed but talk to me 4 hours later and anticipation and nerves were starting to get the best of me. I usually try to get home from shoot around eat some lunch sit on the net and then try to get 2 or more hours of sleep before a game. Well lets say that I tried to take a mid afternoon sleep but my heart beat was rapid and head racing with thoughts of the game not allowing for any kind of rest. Heading to the game I thought to myself that maybe I am the only one nervous or should I say anxious about the first game Vs. Kings but as I got there guys seemed a little different. Our team is unique in a way that guys tend to talk and really be relaxed before games but the night of Feb 20th was different. Over the year you walk into the locker-room and you hear guys telling jokes or stories about something but this time no one was talking everyone had serious looks on their faces. The feel of the room just wasn’t the same and I didn’t know what to do think but hoped that it would all change when the game started. The game was about to start and I had the most butter flies in my stomach it almost made me sick but it wasn’t because I was nervous instead the excitement to win my first playoff game every in the NBL. Once the game started you could see that we weren’t playing our usual style of relaxed ball as shoots were long and nothing was dropping for us. By the secone quarter you were down by as much as 10 points which hit the panic button somewhere on Joey as he called a time out and screamed loud as hell at us all. Joey says, “What the hell are you guys doing out there? Play some fucking basketball”! At this point I knew that not only the players were nervous Joey was too yelling at us while shaking and sweating Bullets. He wanted this as much as we did and knew that we weren’t playing our game but this open up Ebi’s eyes and he went on a one man mission getting us back into the game. At half it was a tie game and we didn’t play nearly as good as we could and we all knew that. Mean while Joey walked into the lock room at half time yelling and screaming again telling us to just play some ball and what do we have to lose. He is right! What did we have to lose and the answer was nothing and that really calmed the guys down resulting in more relaxed play and you could see that from the bench. We eventually captured game #1 and headed to Sydney to try and close the series with a 2-0 sweep of the Monkey’s that were on the Bullets backs.

Game #2 was two days later @ the Sydney Entertainment Center where the Bullets haven’t won in like 5 years so many thought that this game was going to the Kings. Guys weren’t as nervous for this game as they were for game #1 so that was a good sign. The pre-game warm up was different once again as we couldn’t get the court because the police were playing a fun game vs the fire department so instead of running and stretching the court we had to do it in the locker room. We moved all the tables and chairs starting to run then someone grabbed a basketball which started in some rugby/Afl warm up drills. Guys were laughing and joking while tossing the ball around as you had to be there to see this but some good warm up material. Guys were loose and ready to rock and roll. Mean while Joey decided to add a new word to the English language (PWYFBO) Pwiff-bow – which stands for Play With Your F#$@ing Balls Out! Pretty much means to leave it all out on the court giving it your all not having any regrets win or lose. The funny thing is that Joey doesn’t really spell that good so when he put that up on the board you could see everyone starting to look at each other and thinking what the hell is that did he just spell another word wrong? LoL Well need less to say we did what he wanted and with stood the slow half court game of the Kings and came out with our 20th win in a row and a birth to the Grand Final Vs. the Melbourne Tigers.

After the game we all got the Bullets family together to venture out into Sydney and celebrate lightly of our win and Grand Final birth for the first time in 17 years. I don’t think that I have ever been on a team that has been this close with players and staff but I think that is what makes this team so special. Chemistry is so under rated because no matter how many great players you have on your team there is only one ball and if there isn’t any chemistry then that one ball doesn’t get it done. Now we sit around for a week until our first game against the Tigers so I look forward to seeing you all this Friday March 2nd, 2007!

There have been some miscellaneous events that have been happening around here so I will just briefly touch on that. First of all if you have ever met Joey Wright he is one of the most confident individuals that I have ever met there isn’t anything that you can do better than him or so he thinks. So there has been a season long bet that he could bench press 140 kg’s and this is down from the original bet of 160 kg’s because we didn’t want him to die of a crushed chest right before playoffs once playoffs are over he can do whatever he wants. So one day we finished practice as we all were getting ready to ice and head into the weight room there was all this yelling and screaming guys running out telling everyone they need to get in here because Joey is about to kill himself. So we all rushed in there to watch him go to work on the bench press. It was so funny because with all the technology and cell phones it looked like and felt like Ali was in the house. There must have been 30 guys in there as 10 had their phones out waiting for a miracle to happen watching Joey was talking so much shit “I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!” and the last thing Joey said before he went under was “I am the Greatest!” hahahaha he didn’t really say that stuff but I am sure he was thinking it! The Youtube.com link below is footage of Joey lifting the weight 1cm off of his chest! He talked so much shit and only could get that damn bar 1 cm off of his chest. It didn’t matter as most would be ashamed of that effort but Joey put the bar back and seemed happy that he actually lifted it but news flash Joey 1 cm doesn’t cut! LOL I am sure if he reads this I will be in trouble but that’s what this journal is all about and that is what I think matters so Joey if you are reading this get ya own website like Mick and lets have a internet battle hahahahahahahahhahaha. All in good fun of course.

 

 

Now most of you know that my dad has flown all the way over from the states to watch us finish out the season and its good that we are having such a good year so he can enjoy playoff NBL basketball. He hasn’t seen me play organized ball since I left college years ago and loving the style of the Bullets and the NBL. We have done a lot of things from going to the Greate Barrier Reef, Australia Zoo, Noosa and Gold Coast as well as him coming to all of our away games. Below are some pics of us and our adventures. So that leaves me with nothing else to talk about but I am going to try my hardest to keep this site update through out the playoffs so if I don’t please feel free and send me an email to dustyrychart@yahoo.com

See you all at the games! Go Bullets!

 

Roger and I lost @ the Australian Zoo Feb 2007..

Dad and I at the Australia Zoo.. Ran out of gas so made him push!

@ the Reds Game Rugby Union 2007..

A die hard Bullets fan praying that we win Vs. Kings Feb 20th , 2007

Ali and I with some Bullets supporters Feb 20th, 2007

Dad and I at Noosa beach Qld Feb 2007.

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Roger, Dad, Justin, Me and Belly at a winery Adelaide,SA Jan 2007.

Dad getting ready to hit the water at the Great Barrier Reef Feb 2007.

Acting silly but my dad really loves to fart.. haha

Pools at Cairns .. Peaceful

 

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Grand Final 2007

It’s been a few weeks since my last journal and fast forward to the present and we are in the Grand Final Vs. the Melbourne Tigers with a commanding 2-1 series lead of a best of 5. Sydney was the monkey on our back since they beat the Bullets a few times to knock them out of the championship hunt so a lot were relieved to make it to the Grand Final. I talked about the first game against Sydney and how nervous everyone which was scary because a nervous team is tight team that misses shots and plays because their not playing loose enough. Things were a lot different in our first game of the Grand Final as guys just wanted to play get out there and play and it seemed as the nerves had left us in Sydney. Its funny as you sit around waiting for each series to start reading the media wars between teams start up. Personally as a player I try not to read the media because when it is good it’s real good but when its bad it’s real bad and that just messes with your head way too positive one minutes and too negative the other which doesn’t do anyone any good. In saying that I did catch the paper a few times and laughed at how the Coach of the Tigers were saying that they are a better team than us that can beat anyone, anywhere anytime and that they were the best team in Australia.

Grand Final game 1 was to be played on March 2nd, 2007 in Brisbane and we wanted to prove that you can’t beat us on our home court. The Tigers are always going to be tough because they are so big and talented which poses a problem for us since out biggest buy is Mark Bradtke and then its me at 200cm compared to the Tigers who have Dave Thomas playing at guard at 201 cm’s not mention Anstey at 7 feet. The Tigers are a cocky and confident team that believes that the 2007 championship is theirs to lose. Before game one started a few were interested in what kind of crowd we would get in Brisbane but we soon found out that not only were we ready for the game but our fans as well. As each game starts you never really know what kind of game the refs will let you play until you get a few minutes under your belt. The Tigers came out like school yard bullies throwing their weight around trying to intimidate us but we didn’t let that get us down and did what we do and that is fight through out the game with grit and heart. Many watching the game down the stretch thought we were done down as many as 13 points in the final quarter but to the 10 guys on the team we knew it wasn’t over until the clock showed all zeros. We knew that in order to win we would have to step up our defense and not let Melbourne have easy buckets and try to force them to make plays in a hurry and shoot jump shots. Fortunately for us they struggled to make a shot in the last 3 minutes of the game allowing us to claw our way back into the game. With about 1 minute left Cj was trying to call plays and most of the time you can hear him barking our the plays from anywhere on the court but the crowd was so loud and deafening that you couldn’t hear him unless he was 2 inches from your face. We just played our asses off and kept believing in each other eventually getting the win in game 1 putting the pressure on the Tigers for game 2.

Grand Final game 2 was set for Melbourne with us leading 1-0 in a best of 5 game series. Prior to the game our owner Eddie Groves had purchased around 400 tickets and hired a jet to fly our selected season ticket holders and supporters down for the game. The Brisbane road crew was formed with fans from Brisbane, family and friends from all over Australia to show their supports while trying to intimidate the Tigers in the cage. It was amazing to see that we had ¼ of the gym filled with blue bullets supporters. This made the environment very loud and energetic as I didn’t think that the Tigers liked the idea of Bullets fans in their space. This pumped us up as we held a 9 point lead heading into the 3rd quarter but that didn’t last long as we came out from half-time a little sluggish than normal. The Tigers took advantage of us taking our a huge 3rd term with a whopping 39 points and we were again looking down the barrel of deficit. Down by as many as 20 points at one time we did what we do best clawing our way back to within 5 points but a Anstey tip in on two missed free throws from Tucker busted our bubble. Now we head back to Brisbane with the series tied at 1 game apiece and on top of that seeing our winning streak stop at 21 games straight.

It was a tough trip home from Melbourne because we had lost for the first time in 4 months and when you don’t lose in that long you kind of forget how it feels like to lose. I was especially pissed off after our loss to the Tigers because I didn’t have any impact on the game nor did I have a chance too only playing 14 minutes while going 0-2 from the field giving me a zero point game for the second time this season and the second time in my life time. I take a lot of pride in the way I play and when you don’t get a chance to help the outcome of the game you get a little mad at yourself and wonder what you can do better. I had about 2 days to think about what I need to do to help us win and make sure I don’t have another game like game 2. I came out with a mission that I wasn’t going to take a play off and made sure that I was going to try and get every rebound even if there are 5 Tigers around the ball. It proved to be a good move for me as I started the 1st with 10 points and ended the half with 17-8. Setting the tone this game was our hunger to win with guys diving on the floor for the ball and hustling like I have never seen this team do all season. We wanted it more than the Tigers this night and it proved in the box score with us winning by 20 points. Now with a 2-1 lead the hunger is there to put the Tigers in their place for game 4 at the cage. I hope that the next time I write we will be the 2007 NBL Champions. Wish us luck and write soon..

 

Team Unity! 2007 Grand Final

 

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2006/07 NBL Champions!

I decided not to write for awhile because I needed some time to let this sink and until now its just seemed surreal. After winning the Grand Final on Friday March 7th, 2007 things just took off and it really didn’t seem as if we won anything at all just another game on the belt of the Bullets. Many people ask me if we were nervous at all during the Grand Final series Vs. Tigers because they were a good team with their backs to the wall just waiting to prove that they were the defending champs. I sit back think about the week and a half realizing that I wasn’t nervous at all which is kind of funny. I would say as a team we were super nervous for our first game against the Kings but not for the Tigers. I felt this utter confidence that was in us all year long that we weren’t going to lose to anyone not even the Tigers on their home court. After dropping game #2 I didn’t feel that we were in trouble just a sense of confusion because we were not used to losing and to add onto that I didn’t get to play 12 minutes so anger filled my stomach and heart just waiting for game 3 to come to prove that we are the champions.

I was on a mission in game 3 to prove that I need to play and wanted to make an impact for our team. I came out harder and more focused than I have been in a while which allowed the game come to me. I ended the half with 17 points and 8 rebounds setting a mark for the rest of the guys to follow and that they did. Game 3 was ours before we knew it and the feeling of winning on our home floor was great. The 8000 or so fans that were there cheered so loud that you could barely hear CJ barking calls. With game 3 under our belt it was ours to win in Melbourne but the Tigers were not going to go down that easy. Reading the internet forums and newspapers many tipped the Tigers to come out strong and force a game 5 in Brisbane. I don’t think that there was one person on our team that didn’t think that we couldn’t get them at the cage. We were just that confident of each other knowing that we could rely on everyone having each others backs. Championship was in the air and we took every step to make sure that we were going to be ready. The thing that has been a bit of a ritual among our team on road trips is our little game of cricket or rugby right when get to the hotel after a long plane ride. I don’t know how this started maybe in Wollongong when a few of us go the football and played some beach grid iron resulting in a 30 point in at Wollongong so we thought that we do something like that to clear our heads before every away game. Nothing changed for us in Melbourne the day before the game we got off of the plane dumped off our bags and met in the lobby. The game was unknown til we got down there but it seemed that someone lost our cricket bats so we decided to play a little rugby. To many some would think that we were crazy playing rugby before a grand final because it is a rough sport. Usually when playing grid iron or rugby it’s two hand touch that quickly turns into guys tackling each other. This day was no different because we cant help that we are this competitive but no one got hurt. The funny thing about this day was that the press were hyping up the injuries that CJ was carrying but if you were that day you wouldn’t have known that he was injured because he was running around like a kid that just drank 3 red bulls.

Game day I awoke so pumped and excited realizing that finally I could get a championship after 5 seasons in the NBL. You try not to over think about the game but sometimes you cant help it. The buzz was in the air as our friends, family and fans were outside the hotel while getting text after text wishing you good luck. It kind of gets to you but once we left the hotel for shoot around it all died down and started to feel like normal. An hour later and a few half court shots for 100$ and back to the hotel we went relaxed and confident for the show down that night. Game time was about 5 hours away and everyone does their thing to get ready but as the hours tick down the excitement and butterflies start to rise. So as we all started to head onto the bus for the game I was a little nervous and was thinking about the game wondering if we were going to win or lose. I calmed down a little after talking to some of the guys and when you are playing with a bunch of guys that are confident and calm you get that sense as well. This one thing helped me the most to calm down and get ready for the game. We got off of the bus and walked into the lockeroom and there was a wall full of pictures of everyone’s loved ones saying “that we are all here for you.” I don’t know about any of the other guys but for me that just calmed me and got me ready for the game.

Game 4 was a game that saw many tip the Tigers to win but the way I felt before the game no one was going to beat us this night. It was a close game throughout that saw a few lead changes in the first half but we slowly took the game over late into the third. Someone different has stepped up during the playoffs and this game was no different. Everyone did there part and did it well and by the time the Tigers knew it they were down by double digits. The 4th came around which saw the Tigers in a deep whole that they could never get out of thanks to the shooting of CJ who couldn’t miss down the stretch. Sitting on the bench with 4 minutes left I could feel that this game was ours and started to celebrate. Once the horn blew it was surreal but exciting at the same time. I didn’t know what to say or do so I just jumped around hugging and hi-5-ing everyone that I could see. We got our rings and took some more pictures but it still didn’t seem as if we had won the championship. This is what you play for ever year but rarely get the chance to win it but once you have you just don’t know what to expect. For 3 weeks it just didn’t seem as if we had won it but now its closing in on a month and looking back its starting to sink in a little. 2006/07 NBL Champions Brisbane Bullets

This year has been something special and one that I will cherish forever! We set so many records and did it when everyone at the beginning of the season said that we would never get this team to gel and play team ball but we proved them all wrong. There were a few rocky weeks at the beginning when we lost some games because no one really knew their roll yet but once we came together and figured that out no one could really stop us but ourselves. We set records for most wins in a season (33), in a row (21), home wins and who else knows what other records. The most important thing is that I had fun playing as a team and winning as a team. Its sad at the end of each year you always want and hope that the same team will be back for years but that never happens. This year already we have lost Blacky and Hogie but retain the rest but it was a pleasure playing with those two and I wish them nothing but the best.

My next journal will be of the post championship celebrations. Once again sorry for spelling errors or run-on sentences lol

Dad and I Holding the NBL Championship Trophy 2007 Vs. Tigers

Jizzle and Me Celebrating the Win while showing off the Bling Bling!

Getting my Championship Ring

2007NBL Champs with family members (Dad and I Top Right)

The Cutting of the Net!

 

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