The buzzer beaters that have put two Aussie basketballers on the radar of NBA clubs
Australia’s two best basketball prospects lined up on each with 1.2 seconds left on the clock and a national title on the line. What happened next now has both of them squarely in the eyes of NBA scouts.
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Victoria’s Austin Rapp and Queensland’s Roman Siulepa stole the headlines in the Basketball Australia Under-20 National Championships which culminated in the most spectacular conclusion imaginable in Ballarat this week.
Just 1.2 seconds remained on the clock with scores tied and the ball in Victoria’s hands.
Queensland star, and soon-to-be-named tournament MVP, Siulepa was guarding Victorian captain Rapp who was trying to find position to receive a pass and fire off an unlikely buzzer beater for the win.
What happened in the next few seconds will live long in both players’ memories.
Victoria had one chance to secure the gold, and Rapp knew he needed to be the one to take it.
“I was captain of that side, and I had made a few stupid mistakes in that final quarter that could have cost us the game,” he said.
“I took it upon myself, I said to the coach “I can win this for us”. The play was drawn up for me. Luke (Fennell) just said get open at the elbow, I will get you the ball.
“I don’t think he gets enough credit for that pass. It is one of the best passes I have ever seen. He whipped it right into my shot pocket and he had a 6 foot 11 guy standing in his face.”
Siulepa’s defence in that split second situation was great as anyone could expect, further amplifying the genius of Rapp’s ability to get the shot away and watch as it looped into the bottom of the basket just as the buzzer sounded, heralding an incredible win for Victoria.
“I think we can finally say we are back, Victoria is back where it belongs,” Rapp said days after the win which he will remember for the rest of his life.
Given these performances it is no wonder NBL talent guru Liam Santamaria named both Siulepa and Rapp at the top of his list of players from the tournament who are both set to have glittering professional careers.
The frantic second wasn’t far from being the only highlight to emerge from the world of regional and community sport this week. Here are some other stories which caught our attention.
Mad Katter takes aim at NRL boss
We don’t often expect maverick North Queensland MP Bob Katter to feature prominently in the sports pages but he certainly didn’t hold back this week when taking pot shots at NRL head honcho Peter V’Landys.
The Kat in the hat was not happy after funding pleas for support for grassroots competition in the nation’s north appeared to once again fall on deaf ears of NBL bosses.
Pouncing on concerns raised by QRL boss Ben Ikin who described the rejection as a “kick in the guts”, Katter went further by declaring the worrying trend may have something to do with the NRL’s focus on Las Vegas rather than on the heartlands of the game.
“While the chairman of the ARLC (V’Landys) will be running around in America making a big man of himself … it’s about time he realises kids are not playing rugby league in schools,” Katter said.
“As is anything in regional Queensland, we’ve got another Sydney corporate who has very little background in rugby league taking away from a region which has given so much to the game.”
Given no-one would ever describe V’Landys as a shrinking violet we’ll be watching closely to see how he returns fire. Grab the popcorn.
Shirtfront of the week
While Katter’s tirade was pretty direct, it has nothing on the Mackay cricket spectator known only as the Big Red who delivered what was clearly the shirtfront of the week when he single-handedly took down a streaker with a brutal shoulder charge.
After successfully evading security and tearing his way across the field, with bits and pieces dangling in the breeze, our nude runner probably thought he was in the clear until Big Red made his move.
In a moment of beauty, captured from multiple angles, our hero without a cape sent the streaker flying to such an extent that those dangling pieces were now facing skyward rather than pointing at the ground.
It made us wonder how this moment of madness ranked in a list of all time great Aussie pitch invaders and, while it didn’t take the number one spot, it has found a home in our top 10.
Gaza footy club civil war erupts
In last week’s column we mentioned that it may be worth watching out for news on the embattled suburban Adelaide football club, known somewhat strangely as Gaza FC.
For those of us who may not religiously follow South Australian suburban footy, Gaza (no, not that one) stormed into the headlines late last year when it’s governing body, the SANFL, smacked it with an eye-watering $380,000 fine for a series of salary cap breaches over several years, including a period when former Adelaide Crows superstar Andrew Jarman was coach.
The club, with its future on the line, appealed the verdict and that appeal was heard this week in front of KC Justice Michael David.
Much to the club’s dismay the initial guilty verdict has been upheld and the club now anxiously awaits Tuesday, February 20 when its penalty will be handed down.
Clearly it has been an emotional time for all involved and, in a stunning development, it appears those emotions boiled over in sensational circumstances at a club meeting on Thursday night.
Tempers between members boiled over, angry words were exchanged and police were called to serve in the role as peace-makers.
Kevin Sheedy’s Croatian coaching return
He’s known as one of the great coaching masterminds in the history of the AFL, and one of the elite outside-the-box thinkers the game has ever produced.
But despite his penchant for both the sublime and the ridiculous, no-one could really have foreseen a sojourn to Croatia in his coaching future.
However, it seems the mastermind has at least one more trick up his sleeve as he prepares to join an AFL Masters club, the Southern Slugs, based in South Australia, on an international playing excursion (junket cough, cough) to expand the game into traditional strongholds such as Bali and Croatia.
And it’s not a team of no-name hacks that Sheedy will be leading.
The Southern Slugs’ recruiting team deserves a big pat on the back as it seems the likes of AFL games record holder Brent Harvey, Norm Smith medallist Isaac Smith and former AFL stars Shannon Motlop and Richard Champion will be in attendance too.
So a bunch of highly decorated ex-AFL stars travelling the world playing exhibition games in highly desirable holiday hot spots … what could possibly go wrong?
Junior sports star of the week
We’ve already mentioned Austin Rapp’s amazing buzzer beater so now we should focus on the cricketing equivalent of the last second shot.
NSW spinner Raf MacMillan was certainly talking the talk ahead of the Australian Under 19 cricket team’s World Cup semi-final match against Pakistan.
“I feel like if we get a bit of blood in the water, we will just take it from there,” MacMillan said in the hours before the crucial encounter.
Thankfully he was also able to walk the walk as he hit the winning runs in a famous one wicket victory which sent the Aussies into Sunday’s final against arch rival India.
Quote of the week
“I didn’t quite fit in the boat. All the coaches wondered what they had got themselves into.” Olympic rowing hopeful Della Martin on his first foray into rowing when he weighed 130kg. He’s now trimmed down to double figures at 97kg and his Olympic dream remains well and truly alive.
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Originally published as The buzzer beaters that have put two Aussie basketballers on the radar of NBA clubs
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