DJ plays hits as Boomers, Opals, double team NZ, amidst talks of Trans-Tasman Challenge growth
DJ Vasiljevic sparked the Boomers into action as Australia did the double on NZ, as the peak basketball bodies consider making the Trans-Tasman Throwdown series a yearly event.
Dorothy’s famous line goes “there’s no place like home” and, while he wore pink New Balance sneakers instead of ruby slippers, it’s no surprise Boomer DJ Vasiljevic found ultimate comfort in familiar surroundings on Wednesday night.
The Adelaide 36er has averaged 19.9 points and 2.9 three-point makes inside his home Adelaide Entertainment Centre over the past two NBL seasons and he took it upon himself to wizard up some shooting magic for the Boomers in an 80-68 Trans-Tasman series-opening win over New Zealand.
READ MORE: BA, BNZ, in talks to lock in Trans-Tasman Challenge’s future
After the ugliest of starts, where the two teams combined to miss their first nine shots in two scoreless minutes, Vasiljevic went bang, bang from deep to register the opening six green and gold points.
Vasiljevic never needs an invitation to take a shot but his appreciative home fans — many of whom watch him light it up on the regular — called for it to go up every time the 28-year-old caught the ball within cooee of scoring range.
And by cooee, that’s just about anywhere on the floor, a couple of his makes coming from metres behind the three-point line — some launched in rhythm, others perhaps less than optimal.
But that is the yin-yang of one of the best shooters in Australia who has twice made 10 three-pointers in a game in the NBL and can put a game to bed with a couple of flicks of his right wrist: He made four of his first five three-point attempts then missed his next four, before finding touch again to finish with a game-high 23 points.
Vasiljevic said wearing the green and gold instead of Sixers colours in AEC was “good, different”.
“You play for this city but now you represent an entire country of Australia and you get to do it where you play,” Vasiljevic said on the Nine broadcast.
“We got a good dub in my hometown where I play but on Australian soil is most important.
“South Australians are basketball fanatics, they love the game and hopefully we see a lot more games here in Adelaide.”
While Vasiljevic kicked things off for the Boomers and then combined with much-loved South East Melbourne Phoenix guard Angus Glover (10 points, 7 rebounds) to establish a double-digit lead in the third, the Tall Blacks did challenge the Aussies particularly in the first half.
With newly-signed New Zealand Breaker Reuben Te Rangi (15 points, 8 rebounds) taking his game to another level and Melbourne United’s back-to-back NBL Defensive Player of the Year Shea Ili’s (12 points, 5 rebounds) steady leadership, the Kiwis entered the halftime break up five.
But the Boomers dialled up the D and went into their offensive bag to produce a devastating 23-9 third period to effectively snuff out the challenge from across the ditch.
If DJ is the master marksmen, then young Perth Wildcat Elijah Pepper is his apprentice.
Pepper has put up video game-like numbers in NBL1 West, with three 50-point outbursts and a season average of over 43 points per game.
He wasn’t quite in those areas but the Shepparton-born, US raised guard twice hit back-to-back threes on his way to a 16-point cameo off the bench.
Athletic Breaker Carlin Davison, among 20 past and present NBL players across the two teams, impressed for the Kiwis with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and a massive late dunk that restored a little respectability to the scoreline.
Boomers star Josh Giddey — who began his professional career as an NBL Next Star with the Adelaide 36ers — was front row to watch the Aussies take on the Kiwis and, while he would rather have been in the green and gold, he hailed the talent on show.
“The future of Australian basketball is as good as it’s ever been and you see it (on court),” Giddey said on the Nine broadcast.
“With the guys in the NBA, guys we’ve got coming out of the NBL, younger guys in the NBA Academy and the AIS, the program’s in good hands.
“Irrespective of who is playing for the Boomers, it’s an absolute honour to wear this jersey and I know how much guys love it.
“I can’t wait until the next time I get to do it, I’d love to be out here playing tonight but any chance you get to wear the green and gold is very special and guys don’t take it for granted.”
The two teams will meet again on the Sunshine Coast on Friday, before closing out the inaugural Trans-Tasman series in New Zealand.
BA, BNZ, in talks to lock in Trans-Tasman Challenge’s future
The peak basketball bodies in Australia and New Zealand are in talks to make the Trans-Tasman Throwdown series a yearly event.
And Code Sports can reveal the SA government wants to keep its leg in Adelaide for the foreseeable future after the Opals triumphed over New Zealand 88-70 in what is understood to be their first appearance in the state in almost 30 years.
The Opals burst out of the blocks, pouring in 27 points in a free-flowing first period, 10 of those coming from the hot hand of vastly improved Queenslander Miela Sowah.
The lead ballooned to 15 on a Steph Reid layup three minutes into the second and there were ominous signs a crushing win was on the cards.
But big-bodied Sharne Robati — a niece of Kiwi NBA powerhouse Steven Adams — and the plucky Tall Ferns had other ideas, turning the game into a slog and eating away at the lead.
Robati caused the Opals all sorts of problems, dominating the paint and hitting from deep on her way to 16 first-half points and, when Robati hit a free throw with just under six minutes to go in the game, the margin was just one.
The panic button wasn’t needed for the Opals, though, as the bench, led by Sowah (a game-high 23 points), Alex Fowler (12), WNBL MVP finalist Courtney Woods (11) and the experienced Sara Blicavs (9), in her first game in green and gold since major spinal surgery forced her to learn to walk again — ensured the Opals ran away with it late.
Sowah, one of four national team debutantes, said the Opals’ back-court defence was key to the team’s ability to keep the Kiwis at bay, then tear away late.
“Our PGs (point guards), their defence was exceptional, they got so many steals and that got our offence going,” Sowah said on the Nine broadcast.
“We are a new team so it’s pretty fun, definitely a couple of cobwebs to fix up.”
The reserves outscored the starters 61-27 and the Opals rode a crushing 47-32 advantage on the glass. The Aussies’ nose for recovering their own misses resulted in 19 offensive rebounds.
Eleven of the 12 Aussies to take the floor managed at least one basket. Fit as a fiddle Maddi Rocci dished out seven assists and fellow guard Steph Reid chased a five-by-five with 6 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists.
Robati paced the Kiwis with 19 points, while Pahlyss Hokianga (10) was the only other Tall Fern in double digits.
While BA records are incomplete, it’s understood the Opals have not played a game in South Australia since way back in 1998 — the year the GOAT Lauren Jackson made her national team debut.
Following the first of six games across three states and two countries, Code Sports has been told both Basketball New Zealand and Basketball Australia are committed to making the Trans-Tasman event an ongoing rivalry between the neighbours.
And, against a backdrop of calls to prop up a WNBL team in Adelaide, state minister for sport Emily Bourke and minister for tourism Zoe Bettison have expressed interest in a multi-year deal that would ensure both the Boomers and Opals would play games in the city for the foreseeable future.
The Opals now shift their attention to making it two-from-two against the Kiwis, this time at UniSC Arena on the Sunshine Coast on Friday.
Originally published as DJ plays hits as Boomers, Opals, double team NZ, amidst talks of Trans-Tasman Challenge growth
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