Todd Blanchfield once again lit it up for the Australian Boomers, making his immediate NBL future all the more fascinating despite being contracted to the Perth Wildcats, and now that the FIBA World Cup qualifying is done, attention turns to the NBL23 Championship Series.
Following the NBL’s Play-In Tournament and then semi-final series, the timing was somewhat unfortunate for a FIBA window to present with the last of the World Cup qualifying matches to be played.
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Next stop WC! Boomers thrash Kazakhstan | 00:37
However, it did offer the chance for plenty of NBL talent to represent their countries and that included two more big wins in Melbourne for the Boomers but the New Zealand Tall Blacks were loaded with talent too — and so was the South Sudan team who made history amidst a bit of controversy.
There’s plenty happening across the NBL too with the Brisbane Bullets loading up their coaching staff under Justin Schueller and having now re-signed DJ Mitchell while the South East Melbourne Phoenix are searching for their new coach following Simon Mitchell standing down.
With the eight teams out of the championship race, they have all turned their attention to NBL24 but for the Sydney Kings and New Zealand Breakers, they begin their best-of-five series over the NBL23 crown this Friday night at Qudos Bank Arena.
COOKS IGNORING ANY OUTSIDE DISTRACTIONS
Whether it’s outside noise trying to bring down the Sydney Kings as a team or talking down his own MVP credentials or NBA aspirations, captain Xavier Cooks is having none of it leading into the Championship Series starting Friday night.
There’s no mistaking that the Kings do carry themselves with a swagger that starts with their ownership and carries through to their coach and playing group, but they can also back up that self-confidence.
That has also seen them put a target on their backs which does stem right back to the Grand Final series of last season where they embraced the roles of villains against the fairytale story of the Tasmania JackJumpers on the way to winning that championship.
This season again they have been happy to embrace the fact that they feel people might not like them and you can’t argue with the success they’ve had finishing the season in top spot and then overcoming the Cairns Taipans in three games of the semi finals to reach the Championship Series.
Along the way, Cooks has turned himself from a championship winning captain and Grand Final MVP last season to now being the MVP of this regular season in the NBL and to be knocking on the door of an NBA opportunity.
Cooks has also been happy to express his thoughts through the media and talk up how good he thinks the Kings are and how unstoppable he feels they are, and isn’t afraid to stir up some emotions whether it’s from people on social media or in opposition buildings he plays in.
Cooks embraces that and takes anything those ‘keyboard warriors’ especially have to say like a grain of salt as he prepares to lead the Kings into battle in the Championship Series against the Breakers beginning Friday night at Qudos Bank Arena.
Cooks’ focus is on a fascinating power forward battle between himself and Jarrell Brantley in the series ahead, but when talking about how the Kings appear to be the team everyone loves to hate, he embraces that.
“A lot of those people are just people out west bored at home and tweeting stuff,” Cooks said.
“Either you love the Kings or you hate the Kings, it’s creating a buzz in Sydney and that is what it is about.
“I care when we go into an arena, and we get booed. That kind of fuels me up and gives me energy, but the Instagram and Twitter I don’t care about.”
BREAKERS PROVIDE PLATFORM FOR FUTURE NBA STAR TO SHINE
The New Zealand Breakers have quickly become the masters of the NBL’s Next Stars program and as a result of their foresight, 18-year-old French excitement machine Rayan Rupert has the chance to show his wares in the Championship Series.
While the immediate focus for the Breakers is on trying to win the franchise’s fifth NBL championship over the next two weeks, in the bigger picture making themselves a destination club for future NBA players is something they continue to excel out.
It’s been slim pickings in terms of success for the Breakers in recent years. After winning four NBL championships in five seasons between 2011-15, they hadn’t won a finals game of any sort since 2016 or played in one since 2018 up until this year.
However, even during those lean years, the Breakers have embraced their role of being a destination to produce future NBA stars and you only need to look at RJ Hampton, Ousmane Dieng and Hugo Besson as examples of players to get drafted on the back of the development there.
That’s why French teenager Rupert chose to go to the Breakers this season. He had all the options in the world at his feet about what to do this season to get himself ready for the 2023 NBA Draft.
HS commentators LOSE IT over wild finish | 01:09
He could have spent a year in college in the United States, he could have joined up with a G-League team or becoming part of the Ignite program, or stayed in France or play anywhere throughout Europe.
However, having seen the success of Besson and Dieng last season at the Breakers and how much they developed to end up being drafted to the NBL despite the situation the team was in meant that it became an easy decision.
It’s paid off and even if Rupert’s numbers aren’t jumping off the page with 6.5 points and 2.3 rebounds a game across the season, the improvement he’s shown physically and with his game since joining New Zealand has been stark.
He is now a much better all-round player, is someone who can impact the game with or without the ball in his hands, and at both ends of the floor, and is a starter on a team now attempting to win the championship.
Perhaps even more impressively is the fact that he continued to improve both as a player and physically even when he was sidelined with a broken arm.
He now looks every bit a player ready for the NBA and could go close to being a top 10 draft pick in a few months’ time, but right now his coach Mody Maor couldn’t be more impressed.
“Man, is he good. He’s not scared of the moment and is playing with complete freedom and aggressiveness on both sides of the floor,” Maor said.
“I felt he wreaked havoc in that series against the JackJumpers for us for a few moments on ball guards and was really disruptive.
“I think everybody likes to pinpoint the stuff that he does on defence because it’s really clear to see when you have this 6’7 gazelle running around and pressing the ball, and doing amazing things.
“But he is one of our best north-south kind of players, he is aggressive and gets to the rim, he finishes and can make a read and pass. He is fantastic.”
BLANCHFIELD’S FUTURE FASCINATING AFTER BOOMERS EXPLOSION
Todd Blanchfield scored 51 points across two games for the Australian Boomers after taking the last 18 matches of NBL23 to do that with the Perth Wildcats and while still contracted, a former ‘Cats great believes he should look to move on.
Blanchfield has had a strong 373-game career in the NBL but never has he found himself in a situation like in NBL23 where he was largely relegated to the role of a cheerleader at the Wildcats as he fell out of the rotation of coach John Rillie.
At just 31 and with a sound body, and no signs of his game slowing down, Blanchfield appears to have plenty left in the tank and remains contracted to the Wildcats for a further two seasons.
Despite that, it might very well be in the best interests of all involved to look to find a way out of that contract and for Blanchfield to find a new home.
The Wildcats don’t appear to have a role for him. Michael Harris played ahead of him this season as a development player and looks likely to be upgraded to a roster spot. With Bryce Cotton, Tai Webster and Corey Webster there playing similar roles, it’s unlikely things will change in NBL24.
It all comes down ultimately to what Blanchfield wants. If he goes to the Wildcats and says he would rather move on, it would be unlikely they would stand in his way because really, it frees up some good money for them and a roster spot.
Blanchfield could very well want to remain in the Wildcats and want to earn some minutes. It’s a big gamble to take because if things pan out similarly, he would have wasted two seasons of a career that should be seeing him spend much more time on the court.
It might very well be that the Wildcats only allow Blanchfield to leave if he doesn’t play in the NBL, but he would be a natural to follow the likes of Angus Brant, Nick Kay and Rhys Vague to Japan should he want to.
Ultimately it’s all going to play out in the coming weeks, but what Blanchfield did prove during the FIBA window for the Boomers is what he’s still capable of.
Across the last 17 games of the season, he scored a total of 30 points and didn’t score at all in the last six matches the Wildcats played in including the two finals.
But across the two games for the Boomers, he scored 51 points while shooting a combined 18/28 from the field and 11/19 from three-point land.
That included 31 points on 7/12 three-point shooting against Kazakhstan on Sunday which is the best individual performance from a Boomers player since what Patty Mills did in the bronze medal match in Tokyo.
Six-time Wildcats champion Damian Martin feels it would be in the best interests of Blanchfield to look to continue his career elsewhere.
“I don’t think he’s past it, he can still put points on the board so if he wants to stay, there’s a contract they will honour but he would like the challenge,” Martin said on SEN WA.
“He is competitive and even though he got leapfrogged in the pecking order during the season even by Michael Harris who John Rillie went with. I’m sure other clubs will be making that phone call to the Wildcats, it won’t be the call going out.
“It will be the calls that are coming in asking what you are doing with Todd because you didn’t play him many minutes, we could use him and can we put to his management team and then let Todd make the decision once he knows what the Wildcats and another team are happy with.
“But he won’t be going out there saying he wants out, but he will have to look at it if something is presented. When it comes to Todd, with Michael Harris seeming to be more in favour with JR, it makes it even harder for him to get out there next season in that position.”
TALL BLACKS DEPTH HIGHLIGHTING STRENGTH OF NZ BASKETBALL
The Australian Boomers aren’t the only nation gearing up for a strong FIBA World Cup campaign with the New Zealand Tall Blacks looking set to launch an assault on a best ever result with their deepest contingent of players coming together.
Not only are the New Zealand Breakers back competing for the NBL championship this season as they prepare for the Championship Series against the Sydney Kings starting with Game 1 on Friday night, but the overall state of New Zealand basketball is strong.
Just starting with that Breakers team and there’s Izayah Le’afa, Tom Abercrombie, Tom Vodanovich, Rob Loe, Sam Timmins, Daniel Fotu and Alex McNaught as homegrown talents all important members of the squad three games away from the franchise’s fifth NBL championship.
Then you look at the Tall Blacks squad who have qualified for the World Cup to be played in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines starting in late August and it highlights just how strong of a position New Zealand basketball is in right now.
The squad that won their last two qualifying matches against Saudi Arabia and Lebanon didn’t feature any Breakers players but still consisted of NBL players Sam Waardenburg, Reuben Te Rangi, Tohi Smith-Milner, Hyrum Harris and Tyrell Harrison.
Along with them were former NBL players Jordan Ngatai, Taylor Britt, Ethan Rusbatch and Jordan Hunt with Isaac Fotu leading the charge including 23 points and seven rebounds on 10/12 in Monday night’s 106-91 win against Lebanon.
That squad, like the Boomers team, might very well feature precious few players who will be there for the Tall Blacks during the World Cup with coach Pero Cameron to have some tough calls to make on who makes that final 12.
That Tall Blacks World Cup squad will likely feature NBA centre Steven Adams with Finn Delany and Yanni Wetzell to be cornerstones up front along with Tom Abercrombie, Corey and Tai Webster, and if healthy, Shea Ili to settle into the back court along with rising star Flynn Cameron.
Trying to replicate the heroics of a fourth place finish from 2002 is a lofty goal, but this Tall Blacks team is well placed for a World Cup assault and that’s why a veteran of the national team like Jordan
Ngatai is so excited whether he makes the final 12 or not.
“What you love about it is having those competition for spots and I know for myself, I’ve got a lot to do to try and get in that 12 but I love that challenge,” Ngatai said.
“It’s awesome that I get to compete against these but then hopefully get to be their teammates as well. I think this is probably the first time in a long time where New Zealand basketball has had a great depth chart in basically every position.
“Especially guys who have been in the States and then making a good enough impression during the Aussie NBL. Like Sam had a great Aussie NBL and deserved everything, and he’s done great to bring that to the Tall Blacks has been great.”
NBL’S SOUTH SUDANESE CONTINGENT CRUCIAL IN MAKING HISTORY
South Sudanese players are becoming key players on plenty of NBL teams at the moment and they have translated that into a passion to represent their nation and lead them to the FIBA World Cup even if their fans weren’t allowed to cheer them on in Egypt.
Just this past season and all you have to do is look at the players in the NBL from a South Sudanese background and you get an idea of how proud a basketball nation it is, and why the players have become so passionate to represent it on the international stage.
South Sudan has qualified for the World Cup starting in late August across Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines having dominated the African Qualifying stages with the world’s youngest nation preparing now for their first major tournament.
You wouldn’t rule out the possibility of them being able to have a genuine impact at the World Cup either.
You just look at the NBL talent they have to choose from and it’s a terrific starting point. Just this past season, and Sundy Dech, Lual Diing, Deng Acouth, Bul Kuol, Majok Deng, Deng Deng, Josh Duach, Makuach Maluach, Majok Majok, Junior Madut, Kouat Noi and Jackson Makoi were part of the league.
That will only be a starting point for the team that South Sudan will take into a historic World Cup campaign but for a nation that barely existed a decade ago, it continues to face some unexpected hurdles.
The African qualifying stage concluded over the last week in Egypt, but that presented a whole new set of challenges.
All South Sudan had to do to secure their World Cup spot was to win one of their three matches, which they did first up beating Senegal 83-75, but it was a result that created history that was soured by what happened outside the stadium.
A strong contingent of South Sudanese supporters had travelled to Egypt to support their team, but upon arrival were informed they were not to be permitted inside the stadiums to watch their team play, and ultimately make history.
Officially security reasons were used by Egyptian officials for not allowing either the South Sudanese or Senegal supporters into the building, but either way it took away from a once in a lifetime occasion for the players to celebrate making history with their supporters.
South Sudan might be a new nation but has a rich history with basketball and Luol Deng is a significant part of that.
Boomers beat Bahrain in run to world cup | 01:01
He was a genuine NBA star especially for a decade at the Chicago Bulls during a career that spanned 964 appearances and saw him earn two All-Star selections.
He is now president of South Sudanese basketball and was interim coach in Egypt for the team. While proud of what his team accomplished, his anger over the supporters not being allowed in boiled over.
“This is going out to FIBA, this is going out to the Egyptian Federation. Whatever’s been going on this week, I hope everything is being recorded how teams are being treated and everything’s been programmed,” Deng said
“That’s an incredible story not only for FIBA but for African basketball. Our fans are travelling from states, travelling from countries, flying in. Nobody brings in more fans than South Sudan right now.
“For our fans to show up at the stadium, there was no notice. We were never told that there would be no fans allowed in the game. We were told fans were allowed to come.
“FIBA should be ashamed, the Egyptian Federation should be ashamed. Whatever is going on here, it needs to stop. Basketball doesn’t need this. This is a great story and we’ve been robbed today from celebrating with our fans who came all the way out here.
“That’s the biggest disappointment that I have. We make history and our fans are now allowed on the day of making it. They didn’t announce it yesterday or last week, they announced it today. FIBA needs to look at that.”
