[NBA.COM]Bogut, Andersen make a bid for some Aussie attention

Be interesting to see what sort of attention they'll bring.

the local league is a shambles at the moment - pretty much no coverage free to air (hardly even a mention in the sports news).

NBA has increased to 3 free to air games per week though - so one wonders what that'll do for the local league.

 

Basketball is a loved or hated sport in Australia.

The minority is a passionate bunch, the majority are disrespectful and border on arrogant in their dismissal of Basketball as a good sport to play/support.

They call it soft...then they embrace soccer....

 

i am surprised that your country produces so many good cricketers.. and i believe cricket is well-loved in your country..

cricket is one of the "softest" outdoor sports .. I try explaining to my fellow countrymen (indians) .. and i get kicked every time i say cricket is soft.. does not involve too much thinking etc...

 

Not as much as rugby...

 

Rugby is certainly not soft - anything but - however the dudes that play it are meatheads.

 

Cricket is soft in the sense that you're not bumping bodies or butting heads... but it still takes its toll on the human body.

Cricket doesn't involve too much thinking? I think you're unfamiliar with the sport.

It is weird that they think basketball is soft. It's easy to argue that basketball players have to be the most well-rounded athletes, needing strength and athleticism in their upper and lower body.

 

Cricket isn't soft, it's just not hard in the same way as AFL or Rugby. Face a bouncer delivered by a good pace bowler at 140+ km/h and even with padding, tell me it's soft. And to say it's not a thinking sport is just stupid, I'm not a big cricket fan but even I can see cricket is almost ALL about strategy.

Basketball is followed by a fairly select few here is Australia, but it's only really the NBA. No one really follows the local league because it sucks. It's full of people who can't make it in the NBA or Europe, both Aussies and Americans. Reading the article in the Chron the other day about the 3 people watching the Andersen vs Bogut matchup, even though probably sarcastic was just plain wrong. They also misquoted Bogut badly, he obviously said the population of Melbourne where he and Andersen are from is 3 million, but they quoted it as the population of Australia...which is actually about 20 million.

Come playoff time especially, every time I walk around the computing labs at uni there are a bunch of people huddled around a computer watching the fairly average quality streams from League Pass. I remember that game in the ECF where Lebron made that shot to win the game there were about 30 people watching my computer screen. As was mentioned before, we're also getting about 3 games per week in HD on free to air TV which is good. Pity there will be no Rockets games though

 

it takes a toll on the human body . absolutely.. but that is restricted to test matches... but not as much as basketball .. and you always have time to rest your body as cricketers can pick and choose what they want to play ( except for national commitments of course) .. and T-20 is not difficult at all (physically).

and yes.. I am very very familiar with cricket and watch it as closely as basketball.. I will still stand by the fact that the amount of thinking that goes into basketball is >>>>> amount of thinking involved in cricket... in basketball .. .you need every person on the team to think and execute their roles.. move.. cut. etc... and play the offense correctly.. but not in cricket.. i am sure you know that... and yeah.. thats just my opinion..

 

I said it does not involve "too much thinking" .. but during game time and esp when a team is fielding.. its all about the captain.. and almost all gametime decisions are taken by the captain .. but in the case of soccer or say basketball.. every player needs to play their role and coordinate.. thinking, coordination and team chemistry play a HUGE role in soccer /basketball

 

and sorry for derailing the thread... .. i think we can continue fighting in the hangout or D & D

 

Cricket does require thinking but the reaction time in it,is slower than in basketball,where you have to keep on reacting and executing repeatedly with rapid speed. That doesn't mean facing a sharp bouncer from let's say Dennis Lillee or Malcolm Marshall doesn't require fast reflexes.

 

You can say that again. I am around a rugby team once a week, won't say why or where, but man meathead is putting it mildly. Nice but drunk and dumb. They also claim american football is " weak, for wimps and anyone can play in pads"

 

I'm American, living in Australia, have to say theres no hoops here for me to ball. Even in Iraq, where places are getting bombed, you see a basketball hoop in the middle of everything. Grrrr!

 

Correct me if I am wrong. I thought Australians play rugby in a different way that you called it Aussie Rules, right?

Did they get rid of those short pants? That's painful to watch.

 

No, there's two types of Rugy in Australia. Rugby League and Rugby Union. The AFL or Australian Football League is what's referred to as Aussie Rules. It's very different to rugby. It's all about kicking the ball, not just running it. There's a couple of ex-AFL guys now in the NFL. Basically every AFL player can kick the ball 55 yards accurately. There's also probably one guy on each team who can kick the ball about 80ish yards.

The short pants are very much still around. I guess its tradition, but having long pants would ensure the player gets pantsed every time he is tackled too.

This is the AFL:
AFL 2007 Highlights

 

LOL thanks. Just remember there's a least a part of the game I enjoy. That's the gesture of the referees when a team scored. He would stand still, bend both his arms 90 degrees and point his fingers to the same direction. And they always dress like they are going to a banquet after the game. That gesture used to be my soccer goal celebration routine many years ago. Good times.

 

WOW! Talk about derailed...

That's not necessarily true. I know there are less outdoor courts in Aus compared to the US, South America, and in the Philippines. You're right about that, but if you look hard enough, you'll find a basketball court every 2 to 3 suburbs.

NOTE: I live in Sydney, inner-west area. So i don't know if it is different to wherever you live in Australia.