Crosscourt: All the latest NBL news from around the Aussie league and all over the world
On a whirlwind tour of Australia, Scottie Pippen — the six-time NBA champion and Michael Jordan’s right-hand man — didn’t hold back when asked about Aussie star Ben Simmons.
Basketball
Don't miss out on the headlines from Basketball. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Scottie Pippen looked to the rafters of Melbourne’s John Cain Arena and saw, among the retired jerseys of past Melbourne Tigers’ greats Andrew Gaze and Mark Bradtke, a ‘Giddey’ and a ‘Simmons’.
They are, Of course, the famous No.6 and No.25 of Warrick Giddey and Dave Simmons, integral members of the Tigers’ NBL title years in the early 1990s – and respective fathers of Aussie NBAers Josh Giddey and Ben Simmons.
Safe to say, six-time NBA champion Pippen, in Australia as part of the NBL’s season launch, had polar opinions of the pair.
“I do follow Ben, but I’m not very high on him and I think he’s spent the last couple of years running, hiding,” Pippen said of Ben Simmons, who is hoping for a bounce back to form this season after battling a serious back injury in Brooklyn – and perhaps an Olympic debut for the Boomers that has long been promised, but never materialised.
“I think his self confidence has fallen off – I don’t know if he ever had it, when I start to look back at him.
“At some point, he’s going to have to have to face his challenges.”
On Josh Giddey, the 20-year-old Boomers and Oklahoma City prodigy who is fast becoming the face of Aussie basketball, the legendary Chicago Bull is glowing.
“Josh is definitely a player who has an understanding of the game, a pass-first guy,” the 58-year-old said.
“He’s going to continue to get better and he’s a very exciting player who has a good understanding of team.
“I appreciate watching players like Josh.”
Pippen, a member of the iconic 1992 Olympic Dream Team – which won every game in Barcelona by an average of 43.8 points on its way to gold – said Team USA’s failure at this year’s FIBA World Cup showed the nation’s basketball program was “not serious about being the best”.
“I’m not disappointed in the team but more so disappointing in the fact that every time we let our guard down, it gives the enemy, the opponent, hope and confidence,” Pippen said.
“That’s what has happened with international players over the last 10 or 20 years.
“They’ve gained swag and they believe that they can compete with anybody on the court.
“In my days, that was never the case.
“We dominated the competition. There was no doubt by halftime of any game that the US was the best team.
“Our best players don’t play and that really gives the international teams the confidence that they need to do what they did to us.”
The famous sidekick to Michael Jordan said he and the GOAT’s infamously strained relationship was limited to on-court chemistry.
“I don’t feel like we’re mates, we were never that,” Pippen said, when asked if he was still friends with Jordan.
“People assume that we were always that but I’ve got about as close of a relationship with him as I do with Luc (Longley) – and Luc lives in Australia.
“It was a beautiful partnership on the court. That’s basically what it was.
“You can’t make something out of it that it wasn’t, we had great chemistry on the court.”
That chemistry helped the pair guide the Bulls to a dynasty in the 1990s, including the 72-10 championship season of 1996-97, topped by the Golden State Warriors of 2015-16.
The Warriors, though, failed to win the title in that 73-9 season – something Pippen is quick to point out.
“Our record may not be the best regular season but it’s the best to win a championship,” Pippen said.
“72 and 10 don’t mean a thing without the ring and 73-9 was a waste of time.”
TRAVERS’ BIG NBA CHANCE
NBA great Scottie Pippen has likened rising Aussie forward Luke Travers to German legend Dirk Nowitzki as the 22-year-old aims to make the leap to the NBA.
Melbourne United is the perfect club to help the 56th pick in last year’s draft do it, given the franchise’s proven record in aiding players to take the next step to the world’s best league.
In more recent times, United has helped the likes of Jock Landale, Matthew Dellavedova and Jack White reach – or return to – the NBA.
Now it’s Travers’ turn.
The Perth-born talent has made an impressive start to his career at Melbourne with a host of standout displays throughout the pre-season.
On Thursday, the 22-year-old opened the season proper in style – dropping a game-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in a big win over local rivals South East Melbourne.
He delivered the performance in front of six-time NBA champion Pippen.
“I like his size, I like his ability to be able to handle the ball out in front,” Pippen said of Travers, who was the focal point of United’s offence.
“He reminds me a lot of a Dirk Nowitzki type of player.
“Not quite the shooter that Dirk was, but I like his ability to be able to play out on top of the floor.”
Dellavedova, who has played 531 NBA games and won a championship alongside LeBron James at Cleveland, believes Travers is only scratching the surface of what he can achieve.
“He’s already awesome but you can see there‘s a lot more potential there,” Dellavedova said.
“He was super important for us tonight; scoring the ball, offensive rebounds, he’s always getting a block or a steal or a deflection and playing good defence.
“He’s just so versatile and we just want him to continue to be aggressive … We’re really excited to have him.”
WHY HAWKS’ NEXT STAR DIDN’T HIT FLOOR
Fans coming for Jacob Jackomas after one game of NBL24 need to cool their jets.
But, after Illawarra’s revamped roster produced a disjointed flop in the Hawks season opener in front of over 4000 fans on their home floor, the second-year coach knows the pressure is on.
“We’re better than that,” Jackomas said after the 96-81 loss to state rival Sydney.
“They’re letting themselves down.
“You can feel it, though, you can actually feel the fact that ‘oh, we need to win’.
“There is still a process in this thing right now and we didn’t deliver that.”
Jackomas’ line-up was on a high rotation, 12 of the 13 players on the sheet all hit the floor before halftime, except high profile American Next Star AJ Johnson, which raised eyebrows.
But Jackomas, who took over from the legendary Brian Goorjian last season, said the 18-year-old, who suffered a broken nose that kept him off the floor for a month, still required time to get up to speed.
“Just with AJ just to clear it up, he’s had four weeks off practice, we threw him into the Blitz … to just showcase a little bit and he showed a bit of toughness … but he just hasn’t been on the floor enough,” Jackomas said.
“We think that he’s highly talented … He’s in a good spot.
“I’m sure he’d be disappointed. He’s just had that bit of a setback and we’re just going to ride with him, right now, and just get him enough in so he can come and deliver.”
Jackomas admitted he had to get better but said there were “certain guys that we need to put some pressure on to perform a little bit better but that’s for us to discuss.”
One of those would almost certainly be highly-regarded new import Gary Clark.
The former Orlando Magic forward, at the pre-season Blitz, looked a long way off a player who had several stints in the NBA across three seasons and that carried over to game one of the NBL24.
Across those four games, he’s 11-37 (29.7 per cent) from the field for 30 points (7.5ppg) and an alarming 1-17 from deep (5.9 per cent).
The good thing is the 28-year-old has 27 games to turn things around.
SARR THE REAL DEAL
In case you were late to the party, French Next Star Alex Sarr, in his Perth Wildcats debut, has shown why he’s shot up NBA draft boards with an elite performance in a win over Tasmania.
The 216cm teenager possesses unique athletic ability at his size and an understanding and feel for the game — at both ends — that belies his tender years and has NBA scouts salivating.
There’s already an impressive chemistry with superstar Bryce Cotton, too. Just 18, Sarr already looks to be a great screener, and, whenever the Wildcats found themselves in half-court sets when he was on the floor, most of his time was spent in the two-man game with the Wildcats’ three-time MVP.
The quickness is matched with an impressive motor — he hardly broke a sweat in his 15 minutes, despite being one of the most active and involved players in that time.
In front of his parents, Sarr made all four of his shots, including a three-ball and an alley-oop from Cotton, for 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a couple of big blocks.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing — trusted in the last three minutes by John Rillie to close it out, Sarr clunked a pair of free throws that would have given the Wildcats an eight-point lead. That allowed the Jackies to close it to one, but Wildcats hero Jordan Usher — 35 points on debut, a Perth-record — closed it out with five straight.
If this is Sarr’s floor, the sky’s the limit.
ZIKARSKY ROCC’S OUT IN EYE-CATCHING DEBUT CAMEO
It’s clear 17-year-old giant Rocco Zikarsky’s first season in Brisbane, at least in its early stages, will be largely spent learning the game behind veteran bigs Aron Baynes and Tyrell Harrison.
It’s also clear that the Next Star is absolute box office.
In fact, in his debut — all 28 seconds of it — Zikarsky couldn’t have written his own script better.
Rocco getting his first NBL points in style 🙌
— NBL (@NBL) September 29, 2023
Live on ESPN via Kayo 📺 pic.twitter.com/Mf96Iacp4U
With the win safely in the Bullets’ keeping Zikarsky checked in to a huge roar from the packed Nissan Arena crowd. The massive unit quickly opened his NBL account in the best way possible with a massive two-handed putback jam. Veteran 36ers’ import Jacob Wiley then foolishly tried to throw one down on the 7’3” kid, his effort stuffed back down his throat in a sign of the potential Zikarsky possesses at both ends of the floor.
It was, perhaps, the most-efficient 28 seconds in NBL history, Zikarsky finishing a +8 in the 86-71 win in new Bullets coach Justin Schueller’s debut.
But the win was a sideshow — everyone’s talking about Rocco.
GALLOWAY PRIMED FOR BREAKOUT SEASON
The new NBL season is one round old, but calls are already growing loud for gifted Sydney Kings forward Jaylin Galloway to sweep this year’s awards.
Galloway has been brilliant for the Kings throughout the pre-season and he continued his stellar form in Saturday’s season-opening win over Illawarra.
The Townsville product finished with 18 points and a whopping five steals to showcase his skills as one of the league’s most exciting two-way players.
Galloway’s world-class performance prompted Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah to heap praise on the 20-year-old.
“We’re going to rely on JG to be the elite defender that he is,” Abdelfattah said.
“I think JG is probably the best defensive player in the league.”
Abdelfattah has challenged Galloway to step up and become Sydney’s defensive focal point in the hope he can fill the void of former import Justin Simon, who was a beast on the ball in NBL23.
It’s easy to see why the new Kings’ coach has compared the club’s rising forward to the American.
Both players defend like their lives depend on it, while they are also more than capable of knocking down shots.
Galloway’s dominant performance against Illawarra sparked a host of positive comments from fans.
One suggested the Kings forward will be in the NBA “within the next one to two seasons” while another declared: “Jaylin Galloway is winning MIP. Just make the trophy now.”
Galloway’s story is inspirational.
He joined Sydney as a development player in 2020, was upgraded to the full roster for NBL23 and helped the Kings claim back-to-back championships.
Now Galloway has been elevated to the starting line-up for NBL24 – and he looks destined to one day make the move to the NBA.
SUPERCOACH NBL IS GO
The first ever SuperCoach NBL season is off to a flying start, with four coaches sharing top billing with a score of 454 in round 1.
They top the rankings of more than 21,000 entries in the official NBL fantasy competition.
Travers was the player to own in round 1 with a round-high 68 points after scoring 36 and 32 in United’s two matches against the Phoenix and Adelaide.
Travers is the third-most owned player in the comp but only 1.7 per cent of coaches had enough faith to make him captain. The most popular captain by far was Bryce Cotton (42 per cent) who finished with 62 points – ranked fourth for the round.
Other must-have players in round 1 included United’s Ariel Hukporti (64 points) and cheapies Ben Henshall (29), Kyrin Galloway (28) and Flynn Cameron (28) who all far outscored their bargain basement price tags.
Looking ahead to round 2 every coach has two trades – or three if they activate a Trade Boost – and teams on the double will be high on the shopping list. There are six of them this week – Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, South-East Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmania – so there is no shortage of players to choose from.
Here are some early names to have on your radar:
Sam Mennenga (CNS) $69,000 CTR – 23 points
Akoldah Gak (CNS) $69,000 FWD/CTR – 19
Bobi Klintman (CNS) $115,000 FWD – 15
Alex Toohey (SYD) $115,000 FWD – 25
Jaylin Galloway (SYD) $123,600 FWD – 32
It’s not too late to play – sign up now at supercoach.com.au
More Coverage
Originally published as Crosscourt: All the latest NBL news from around the Aussie league and all over the world
How Baynes lured Luc Longley back to basketball
To understand the universal respect Aron Baynes possesses in Australian basketball circles, look no further than his impact on Luc Longley, who ended a 12-year absence from hoops after working with “Big Bangers” in a Boomers camp.
Why NBL’s human highlight reel disappeared – and returned a King
The man behind one of the biggest dunks in NBL history disappeared after just two years in the league. Now, Cam Oliver is back, and he tells MATT LOGUE why he left, and why he’s returned as a King.