Happy New Year

2014 is slowly bouncing out of bounds ... 2015 is on a fastbreak!

Merry Christmas

Santa Claus

Just like the basketball, life bounces up and down and sometimes sideways too.

From our hardcourt to yours we wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Here's to more basketball action in the coming year, on and off the hardcourt.

The family that plays basketball together, stays together. So, let's play!

Bikini Basketball Association

A new kind of basketball tournament is brewing.  It's a growing league in the United States and chances are it will reach New Zealand's shores, probably this coming summer 2014.  It is following the path trailblazed by beach volleyball and it's proponents are hopeful and wishing that it will eventually attain the legitimacy of beach volleyball.

It bills itself as the "Basketball League for Sexy Athletic Ladies."  Just take a look at how enticingly the team names are: Miami Spice, Houston Inferno, Atlanta Storm, and Illinois Heart.  The two other teams seem to be inactive this season: Philadelphia Diamonds and the Las Vegas Fantasy.  The girls in the league's publicity photos and posters show players in skimpy bikinis, in reality, when they're playing, the girls wear sports bras and shorts, as worn by women in the beaches.

I've had some conversations with potential promoters in Auckland who are looking at the possibility and financial viability of having a bikini basketball league here.  If I had the money, I might be tempted to start my own Flaming Ferns!  Someone's bound to do it, might as well be me!

Watch this space!

Please watch this space for a revitalised NZ Fastbreak blog.  The hiatus is over.  It's time to get back into the groove.  First stop in the Bartercard NBL season - Wellington Saints prevailing over the IMS Payroll Hawks 93-91 via an overtime thriller.  This is a good omen for exciting games ahead!

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Drawn

The first ever FIBA Basketball World Cup will take place in Spain this year from August 30 to September 14.  There are 24 countries drawn into four groups. The teams from China and Russia did not make it.  A surprise wildcard was Finland, who seems to be twice lucky for being in Group C.  That means they get to play against the USA and Turkey, who were the finalists at the last World Cup.  New Zealand is also in Group C.  It is a dream for teams to play with the best in the world.

Group A - Spain, Serbia, France, Brazil, Egypt, Iran
Group B - Philippines, Senegal, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Greece, Croatia
Group C - Dominican Republic, Turkey, USA, Finland, Ukraine, New Zealand
Group D - Slovenia, Lithuania, Angola, Korea, Mexico, Australia

What are our chances in making it to the next round?  Only the top four teams get to move up to the next round.  USA and Turkey without doubt are strong teams.  We will have to scout Dominican Republic, Finland and Ukraine to see their strengths and weaknesses.  I will leave the crystal-ball gazing to others.

NZ SkyCity Breakers

Nine games to go ... that's the magic number 9 ... and 9 wins to be achieved for the resurgent NZ Breakers to get to the championship in this Australian National Basketball League.  It's so heartwarming to see the team's psyche just lift and soar with the last games won.  This team this season looks like a diesel engine, slow to start but once fired up, away and faraway they go!

By the way, I've heard from someone that the idea for a second NZ team in the ANBL is being floated around in some quarters.  Sounds interesting!  How about a second team for the Waikato, perhaps for Hamilton?  On the other hand, we are a small nation and it may not be beneficial for us in the long term to have several teams.

By the way, Finland just received a wild card for the basketball World Cup in Spain later this year.  Although its ranked 39th in the world, it seems that the support of Rovio, the Finnish company behind the popular Angry Birds was instrumental in that decision.  Russia and China are still hoping for a seat.

NBA Champions Visit the White House

This is a good concept that the NZ SkyCity Breakers might want to do.  Not only is it a good promotional tool, it will bring a lot of goodwill too!  And since it is an election year here in New Zealand, this could be good spin for those aspiring to become the Prime Minister!

NBA Champions with Obama

Apparently the NBA champions have been doing this for a long time as seen here in this link NBA Champions Visit the White House.  One can even call this as basketball diplomacy.  Look at Dennis Rodman (trying to do his version of basketball diplomacy with the North Koreans).  Who knows he just might succeed, eventually bringing peace and stability to that part of the world.  Enjoy the rest of your day!

Tall Fern in the making

I remember her from my Year-11 form class.  She was the tallest in the room of 30-plus students.  She always was carrying/holding a basketball and was in a lot of competitions and tournaments.  In the classroom she was a respectful, good student, never involved any misbehaviour.  From time to time we talked about basketball since it is a passion of mine too.  I could see her potential as a player whenever I watched her in the gym during practise sessions.  It was difficult or even awkward to keep a friendship while she was still my student. But I've left teaching in high school and so we kept in touch through Facebook and that's where I found out that she was going to the Utah Valley University to further her education.  I'm very positive to see her wear the NZ national team jersey in the future!

a Tall Fern in the making!

I always had some difficulty in pronouncing her first name. Good luck and all the best Rhaiah Spooner-Knight!

A basketball blog

Anything and everything to do with 3x3 and 5x5 basketball from New Zealand and beyond ... you'll find them in this blog ... at least we will try our very best to cover them!

Basketball is a great passion of mine.  I'm not really tall (just 5-9) but I do love this sport, ever since I was a young boy.  It helped that my father was a very good basketball player.  He married young and was a varsity player.  I used to come with him to the games when I was a young lad.  I loved how the game was played and the excitement of the crowd was fantastic!

They say height is might in basketball.  But I've seen much shorter players do extremely well in the FIBA Oceania, NBA, NBL, Euroleague, NCAA, UAAP, Eurobasket, WNBA, CBL, IBL, Olympics, PBA, Commonwealth Games, ABA Jones Cup, FIBA Asia, Afrobasket, NBA-D League, Eurocup, Latinbasket and many more.  I believe that height is important but also not to discount determination, ability and a big heart!  I've seen huge upsets from much bigger and taller guys beaten by a smaller but cohesive team.

Let the games begin!