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Stats Leaders, Awards and Final Standings - Mar. 27, 2006
After 10 days of competition,
Australia won the first-ever Commonwealth Games women basketball tournament in
Melbourne over New Zealand, England claimed the Bronze medal. Check out who were
the top-performers during this tournament. We will post a team-by-team recap in
the next days.
AWARDS:
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER:
Jason Smith (194-G-74)
A lot of players deserved this awards but Jason Smith led Australia in scoring,
including a 16-point effort in the Gold medal. So we gave the award to the best
player of the best team.
ALL-TOURNAMENT FIRST-TEAM:
Jason Smith (194-G-74) AUS 15.8pts 2.4rbs 1.0ast
Sam Mackinnon (197-F/G-76) AUS 12.6pts 7.6rbs 3.2ast
Pero Cameron (199-F/C-74) NZ 14.4pts 7.6rbs 1.8ast
Andrew Sullivan (203-F-80) ENG 18.3pts 5.0rbs 3.3ast
Muoneke Gabe (200-F-78) NIG 18.8pts 5.6rbs 0.4ast
Jason Smith carried his team in the money time of the Gold medal game, Sam
Mackinnon was the best all-around player of the tournament in a limitted playing
time, Pero Cameron was back to his 2002-World Championships form and almost lift
New Zealand to the Gold, Andrew Sullivan was the leader of a great England squad
and was the best inside player of the tournament, Muoneke Gabe was most
consistent part of the Nigeria's Big-Three.
ALL-TOURNAMENT SECOND-TEAM:
Brad Newley (199-G-85) AUS 13.0pts 2.6rbs 2.4ast
Aaron Olson (195-G-78) NZ 14.4pts 2.6rbs 2.8ast
Ejike Ugboaja (204-F/C-85) NIG 15.4pts 9.8rbs 0.4ast
Dean Browne (206-F/C-80) BAR 13.4pts 8.6rbs 0.2ast
Calvin Jnr Bruton (188-G-75) AUS 8.0pts 2.2rbs 6.0ast
Brad Newley did pretty well in his first international tournament despite
playing injuried in the last two games, Aaron Olson was a great outside force
for the Tall-Blacks, Ejike Ugboaja was great during four games but he was
disapointing in the Bronze medal game, Dean Browne really was a cornerstone for
Barbados, Calvin Jnr Bruton run a very deep australian team and was the
tournament's leader in assists.
ALL-TOURNAMENT THIRD-TEAM:
Paul Henare (182-G-79) NZ 8.4pts 4.2rbs 6.0ast
Mark Worthington (201-F-83.)
AUS 10.8pts 1.8rbs 1.6ast
Germayne Forbes (186-G-80) ENG 11.6pts 4.2rbs 1.4ast
Abdulrahman Mohammed (190-G-77) NIG 14.6pts 2.6rbs 3.4ast
Dan Wardrope (188-G-78) SCO 20.0pts 2.8rbs 2.4ast
Paul Henare has a Bruton-like tournament without the Gold medal, Mark
Worthington averaged in double-figures in first international tournament,
Germayne Forbes was a solid second option for England and a pretty good
defender, Abdulrahman Mohammed was great during the first four games but he
completely missed the Bronze medal game, Dan Wardrope was the tournament's
scoring leader in a pretty weak scottish team.
STATS LEADERS:
POINTS:
1-
Dan Wardrope (188-G-78) SCO 20.0pts
2-
Muoneke Gabe (200-F-78) NIG 18.8pts
3-
Andrew Sullivan (203-F-80) ENG 18.3pts
4-
Qureshi Riyazuddin (196-F-81) IND 16.2pts
5-
Jason Smith (194-G-74) AUS 15.8pts
5-
Neo Mothiba (195-G/F-82) RSA 15.8pts
7-
Ejike Ugboaja (204-F/C-85) NIG 15.4pts
8-
Jeremy Gill (183-G-84) BAR 14.8pts
9-
Abdulrahman Mohammed (190-G-77) NIG 14.6pts
10-
Aaron Olson (195-G-78) NZ 14.4pts
10-
Pero Cameron (199-F/C-74) NZ 14.4pts
12-
Nyakallo Nthuping (199-F/C-80) RSA 13.8pts
13-
Dean Browne (206-F/C-80) BAR 13.4pts
14-
Brad Newley (199-G-85) AUS 13.0pts
15-
Sam Mackinnon (197-F/G-76) AUS 12.6pts
16-
Gareth Murray (200-F-84) SCO 12.4pts
17-
Luke Kendall (193-G-81) AUS 12.3pts
18-
Sozhasingarayer Robinson (203-F/C-80) IND 11.8pts
19-
Germayne Forbes (186-G-80) ENG 11.6pts
20-
Trideep Rai (190-F-83) IND 11.4pts
REBOUNDS:
1-
Ejike Ugboaja (204-F/C-85) NIG 9.8rbs
2-
Dean Browne (206-F/C-80) BAR 8.6rbs
3-
Victor Payne (194-G/F-75) BAR 8.4rbs
4-
Sozhasingarayer Robinson (203-F/C-80) IND 8.0rbs
5-
Pero Cameron (199-F/C-74) NZ 7.6rbs
5-
Sam Mackinnon (197-F/G-76) AUS 7.6rbs
5-
Tom Pearson (200-F/C-82) SCO 7.6rbs
8-
Mika Vukona (197-F-82) NZ 7.5rbs
9-
Kevin Patterson (194-F-78) BAR 7.4rbs
10-
Nakedi Maputla (195-F/C-77) RSA 7.0rbs
ASSISTS:
1-
Calvin Jnr Bruton (188-G-75) AUS 6.0ast
1-
Paul Henare (182-G-79) NZ 6.0ast
3-
Sambhaji Kadam (176-G-80) IND 5.8ast
4-
Abdulrahman Mohammed (190-G-77) NIG 3.4ast
5-
Andrew Sullivan (203-F-80) ENG 3.3ast
6-
Sam Mackinnon (197-F/G-76) AUS 3.2ast
6-
Lindsay Tait (192-G-82) NZ 3.2ast
8-
Laurie Costello (188-G-82) SCO 3.0ast
9-
Aaron Olson (195-G-78) NZ 2.8ast
10-
Patrick Engelbrecht (195-G-76) RSA 2.6ast
FINAL STANDINGS:
1- Australia
2- New Zealand
3- England
4- Nigeria
5- Barbados
6- Scotland
7- South Africa8- India
Australia won the Gold in a tough game Mar. 24, 2006
In true
trans-Tasman rivalry, the gold medal playoff in the Men’s Basketball between
Australia and New Zealand went right down to the wire - with Australia taking
top honours in the final minutes. In one of the most thrilling basketball
matches in Australian history, the Boomers played the game of their lives,
bringing the crowd to its feet to cheer the gold medal. We will post the stats
leaders and a tournament recap in the next days.
Gold Medal Game:
Australia - New Zealand: 81-76
The crowd was more than paying attention as the final term started and Mark
Worthington got the home team back within one (65-66) with a tough fading jumper
from beyond the three-point line. The noise from the crowd was deafening as Tony
Rampton missed two important free throws and then New Zealand found themselves
in foul trouble with half the quarter to play. Australia took full advantage,
finding themselves at the line 16 times in the final quarter, adding nine points
from the charity stripe. With more composure, the Australians used the
excitement of their fans to help them home by five points. Yougster
Luke Kendall (193-G-81) was the team's leading scorer with 17pts from the
bench,
Sam
Mackinnon (197-F/G-76) recorded 16pts 4/6FG 9rbs,
Jason Smith (194-G-74) scored 16pts and
Mark Worthington (201-F-83) added 14pts.
Pero Cameron (199-F/C-74) was the game's best scorer with 22pts 8/17FG 6rbs,
Aaron Olson (195-G-78) scored 13pts,
Paul Henare (182-G-79) added 11pts and
Casey Frank (205-F-77) chipped in with 10pts.
“This tournament will go down in history for Australian basketball,â€
head coach Brian Goorjian said. “We would never have guessed at how much
this would mean to us and to basketball in Australia – the pressure was huge.
After watching the Opals win last night, we knew we were all doing something
positive for the game in this country. We know coming in that New Zealand was
the team that would cause us problems. They know us well and knew we had a new
team - they exposed that tonight. But it was our experienced guys that brought
it home – Jason Smith, Sam Mackinnon, Tony Ronaldson and CJ Bruton.â€
“To play in the Commonwealth Games is excitement enough (to get you over the
line),†Australian co-captain CJ Bruton said. “But to play in an
atmosphere like this, to be down… wow. Australia never quits.â€
"This feels like the biggest disappointment of my life because it is
the freshest," said NZ coach Baldwin. "I'm so hurt for the guys because
they gave it so much. This is a really good Australian team, but our guys played
really well tonight. They played tough, hard-nosed New Zealand basketball ...
it's just so disappointing."
"I don't think the home crowd really affected us," he added. "It
maybe helped them a couple of times when we got a little bit ahead, but they
would rally and the crowd came into it. But I think their players did the job,
not the crowd. They were just tougher when it counted. I guess, on critical
possessions, they executed better than we did ... they hit some big shots, we
didn't."
Boxscore here
England takes the Bronze
- Mar. 24, 2006
Just like
the ladies did yesterday, England Men National Team claimed the Bronze medal in
the Commonwealth Games against Nigeria 80-57, despite playing without its best
player
Andrew Sullivan (203-F-80, college:
Villanova).
Bronze medal game:
England - Nigeria: 80-57
The first quarter was a nail-bitting contest and the score was 15-15 after 10
minutes but England dominated the second stanza and reached the break on a
18-point lead. The english players never looked back and Nigeria was unable to
come back. Without Andrew Sullivan,
Robert
Reed (210-F/C-80, college:
Rider) led
his side with 16pts 7/11FG, Germayne Forbes added 11pts 5rbs and 5ast while
veteran
John Amaechi (207-C-71, college:
Penn St.)
recorded 7pts and 8rbs in his last game with the NT. That's a pretty
disapointing result for Nigeria,
Muoneke
Gabe (200-F-78, college:
Texas) was
the only one able to get anything done in this game with 19pts 7/15FG and 8rbs,
Abdulrahman Mohammed only scored 4pts 1/11FG and Ejikue Ugboaja only 6pts and
5rbs.
"We wanted gold, then we wanted silver, and now we've got bronze,"
mused Reed, after the game.
"Obviously it was a disappointing result. If that's the best we can play,
then we don't deserve to win." said Muoneke "It wasn't a good effort.
We had way too many turnovers. We weren't on the same page and that would've
been nice."
Boxscore here
Gold medal game - a boost for the australian NBL - Mar. 23, 2006
- by
Eurobasket
The Gold medal game of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne will
be a pretty nice ad for the australian league, the NBL. Of the 24
athletes that will take the floor for the clash to decide the gold
medal, 23 are either past or present players from the australian
premiere league.
Because the Games are taking place in March, none of the australians
players in Europe or in USA were available, so the coaching staff
decided to select a 100% NBL team and to use the Commonwealth Games
to see which players could be named in the national team for the
upcoming World Championships in Japan. New Zealand has the same kind
of line-up since Phil Jones, Mark Dickel and co were unavailble due
to club duties. Seven Tall Blacks were playing in the australian NBL
this season, with the NZ Breakers, Wollongong or Perth. Four of them
were playing in the NBL last season so
Troy McLean (195-G-79) will be the only player without a NBL
experience in the championship game.
The league is really develloping in Australia, there is already a
franchise in New Zealand and next season there will be a 12th
franchise in Singapore. This is an important step for the league as
they want to increase the NBL's popularity in South East Asia. No
matter which team is going to win the championship game, the NBL
executives will be the winners.
Classification games - Barbados claimed 5th place - Mar. 23, 2006
- by
Eurobasket
The last
classification games were played today in Melbourne, Barbados
claimed the fifth spot over Scotland 73-63 and South Africa recorded
its first win of the tournament against India 65-59 to take the 7th
place. Tomorrow, Australia will play New Zealand for the Gold medal
and Nigeria will face England for the Bronze.
5th place game:
Barbados - Scotland: 73-63
In a pleasant game, Barbados reached half-time on a 36-30 score. The
islanders extended their lead to 13 in the third quarter, Scotland
never let the game go but they were unable to come back closer than
a double-digit deficit.
Jeremy Gill (183-G-84) had a brilliant final game with 22pts
9/19FG 11rbs and 4st, Dean Browne recorded 14pts 6/10FG 12rbs and
3st while Kelvin Patterson posted 11pts 4/8FG and 8rbs.
Dan Wardrope (188-G-78) was the game's leading scorer for
Scotland with 26pts 8/20FG but he didn't get a lot of help from his
teamates on the offensive end. Stuart Mackay recorded 9pts 4/7FG and
14rbs and Ross Campbell scored 7pts 1/6FG.
Boxscore here
7th place game:
South Africa - India: 65-59
A last game for the two winless teams of the tournament and that
wasn't really an offensive fiesta, South Africa shot for 30% and
India shot for 36% but the south africans provided a better defense
and dominated in the paint.
Neo Mothiba (195-G/F-82) recorded a double-double with 25pts
8/19FG 10rbs, Nyakallo Nthuping also recorded a double-double with
10pts 3/16FG 10rbs and Vusumuzi Dlamini scored 10pts.
Sozhasingarayer Robinson (203-F/C-80) led India with 23pts
11/17FG 7rbs, Kumar Shiv added 13pts 4/14FG and Qureshi Riyazuddin
scored 10pts 3/6FG.
RSA Point guard Patrick Engelbrecht was confident the Games
experience would serve to improve the standard of South African
basketball.
"This is the highest level of Basketball our team has played,
and we'll gain many great experiences,'' he said
Boxscore here
Semifinals - Australia and New Zealand to play for the Gold! - Mar. 22, 2006
- by
Eurobasket
Like in the women tournament, the Commonwealth Game Men Championship
Game will be a 100% Oceania contest. Australia defeated a consistent
England team 101-75 in front of more than 9000 screaming fans in
Melbourne while
Aaron Olson (195-G-78, college:
E.Washington) lifted New Zealand to the final game with a 90-66
victory over Nigeria.
Australia - England: 101-75
England managed to hold on during two quarter (50-46 at half-time)
but Australia made the break in the third quarter in front of a
noisy home crowd, more than 9000 fans packed the Melbourne Park
Venue. The Boomers decided to stop the tournament's leading scorer
Andrew Sullivan, he was held to 10pts 3/10FG and 3rbs only in this
game.
Jason Smith (194-G-74) led Australia with 18pts 6/8FG, Luke
Kendall made his best game so far with 16pts 4/8FG and Sam Mackinnon
recorded a double-double with 13pts 11rbs.
Julius Joseph (192-F-75, college:
Georgia Coll.) netted 18pts 5/13FG for England, Germayne Forbes
added 17pts 4/15FG and 5rbs.
Australia's coach Brian Goorijan said after the match, "I think
we beat a pretty good team, an experienced older side. It was a
scary game for us. Everybody is expecting gold. I think the team did
it really well. We delivered.''
Jason Smith spoke excitedly about playing in front of a home crowd.
"As soon as we walked in there was this huge eruption. And after
a couple of good shots they went crazy. It's great to be part of
this," he said.
Kevin Kibbs, England’s team manager commented: "We knew we were
facing strong opposition with Australia. They are one of the
stronger nations in world basketball. We fought well in the first
half. Australia is very experienced in these situations, it was
pretty much our first time at this level and I think we have learnt
a lot from these games. We now remain focused for Friday’s bronze
medal game."
Boxscore here
Nigeria - New Zealand: 66-90
New Zealand made a great first-half, they reached the break on a
50-33 lead on the wings of
Aaron Olson (195-G-78, college:
E.Washington) who scored 17pts and 4ast in this period, Pero
Cameron was also great in the first half with 12pts. Nigeria was
unable to come back mostly because of a desastrous 29% shooting from
the field.
Muoneke Gabe (200-F-78, college:
Texas) scored 18pts 5/12FG, Ejike Ugboaja recorded 14pts 6/10FG
and 10rbs and Mohammed Abdulrahman added 15pts 5/18FG. Aaron Olson
made a great game with 25pts 8ast, Pero Cameron netted 18pts and
Troy Mclean came out of the bench to score 9pts in 9 minutes.
"I'll take a 24-point win," offered NZ coach Tab Baldwin. "I
don't think we were really good in the second half ... we didn't
shoot the ball well in that second half. Our defence really won his
the game. They had a stretch in the third quarter where they hit
some threes and our defence let us down, but apart from that it was
pretty good ..."
Now the Tall Blacks are ready to play against their longtime rivals
australians: "Actually, I think the fact it's a gold medal game
is secondary to us," Baldwin said. "The fact it's Australia
will be primary."
Boxscore here
Classifications Games - Mar. 21, 2006 - by
Eurobasket
Logical results in the first classification games. Scotland defeated
South Africa 91-79 and Barbados claimed a 41-point victory over
India. Scotland and Barbados will play for the 5th place and India
and South Africa will compete for the 7th place.
Scotland - South Africa: 91-79
Scotland took an early 10-point lead in this game and managed to
control the tempo of the game to claim the win. Dan Wardrope led his
side with 28pts 10/18FG (including 4/9 from three-point range),
Keith Bunyan netted 21pts 7/14FG with a dazzling 6/13 from
three-point range,
Gareth Murray (200-F-84, college:
Kalamazoo Valley CC) recorded 20pts 9/15FG and 7rbs.
Neo Mothiba (195-G/F-82) led South Africa with 23pts 6/13FG,
Nakedi Maputla made his best game of the tournament with 18pts
7/10FG and 13rbs, Quintin Denyssen netted 11pts 6rbs.
Boxscore here
Barbados - India: 96-55
Barbados wasn't very far from the semifinals and the islanders
wanted to end this tournament at the highest rank they could. They
started this game with a 26-8 run in the first quarter and never
looked back.
Dean Browne (206-F/C-80, college:
Nevada-Reno) had a great game in the paint with 20pts 9/14FG and
9rbs , Kelvin Patterson scored 13pts 4/7FG 7rbs in 20 minutes,
Jeremy Gill netted 11pts.
Qureshi Riyazuddin (196-F-81) was a lone gunman for India with
19pts 7/17FG, Jagdeep Singh provided some help with 7pts and 8rbs.
Boxscore here
Stats leaders after the pool phase - Mar. 20, 2006 - by
Eurobasket
Let's take a look at the statistical leaders after the pool phase,
each teams has played 3 games. Australia, New Zealand and Nigeria
confirmed that they are the favourites for the medals but England,
led by the tournament's leading scorer
Andrew Sullivan (203-F-80), also want to claim a medal in
Melbourne. We can notice the great performances by the Nigerian
Big-Three (Abdul Mohammed, Gabe Muoneke and Ejike Ugboaja), the
great scoring skills of
Brad Newley (199-G-85) and the great court vision of Indian
guard Sambhaji Kadam who is the tournament's assists leaders! We
will post a complete recap of the stats leaders at the end of the
tournament.
Points:
Andrew Sullivan (203-F-80) ENG 21.0
Ejike Ugboaja (204-F/C-85) NIG 19.3
Muoneke Gabe (200-F-78) NIG 19.0
Abdulrahman Mohammed (190-G-77) NIG 18.0
Brad Newley (199-G-85) AUS 17.7
Qureshi Riyazuddin (196-F-81) IND 17.3
Nyakallo Nthuping (199-F/C-80) RSA 16.3
Trideep Rai (190-F-83) IND 15.3
Dan Wardrope (188-G-78) SCO 15.0
Victor Payne (194-G/F-75) BAR 15.0
Jason Smith (194-G-74) AUS 15.0
Rebounds:
Ejike Ugboaja (204-F/C-85) NIG 11.0
Tom Pearson (200-F/C-82) SCO 9.7
Sozhasingarayer Robinson (203-F/C-80) IND 9.5
Pero Cameron (199-F/C-74) NZ 9.0
Muoneke Gabe (200-F-78) NIG 8.7
Assists:
Sambhaji Kadam (176-G-80) IND 6.5
Calvin Jnr Bruton (188-G-75) AUS 6.0
Paul Henare (182-G-79) NZ 6.0
Abdulrahman Mohammed (190-G-77) NIG 4.3
Lindsay Tait (192-G-82) NZ 3.7
Day 5 results - End of the pool phase - Mar. 20, 2006
- by Eurobasket
The pool phase is over in the Men tournament. Australia recorded a
large win over India and will face England in the semifinal. The
other semifinal game will be an interesting New Zealand-Nigeria
contest, the nigerian defeated Scotland 91-83 to reach the playoffs.
Tomorrow Scotland, India, Barbados and South Africa will play the
classification games.
Pool B:
Nigeria - Scotland: 91-83
That was a very intensive game with a spot in the semifinals for the
winner. Nigeria finally came out of the game as the winner thanks to
a great performance from three players: Abdulrahman Mohammed, Ejike
Ugboaja and
Muoneke Gabe (200-F-78, college:
Texas). Ugboaja recorded a monster 26pts 12/17FG 15rbs, Muoneke
scored 26pts 7/16FG including 4/10 from 3pts range and 9rbs,
Mohammed handed 25pts 11/23FG and 7ast. Despite playing with a lot
of pride and with a great team-spirit, the Scots has nobody able to
stop this deadly trio.
Gareth Murray (200-F-84, college:
Kalamazoo Valley CC) led his side with 21pts 6/13FG 10rbs, Dan
Wardrope netted 15pts 6/19FG and Keith Bunyan scored 15pts 5/9FG.
Boxscore here
Australia - India: 133-49
Australia closed the pool phase on a very large win over India, the
Boomers were already leading 79-21 at half-time and shot for 60%
from the field. Eight australians scored at least 10pts,
Mark Worthington (201-F-83, college:
Metro St.) and Jason Smith both netted 18pts while Tony
Ronaldson posted 17pts 5/9FG 5rbs and 6ast.
Trideep Rai (190-F-83) was the only indian in double-figures
with 14pts 5/10, Kumar Shiv netted 9pts and Muraleekrishna Ravindran
posted 8pts and 6rbs.
Boxscore here
Pool A:
England - South Africa: 95-53
England needed a win to clinch a spot in the semifinals and the
english players started the game like a storm reaching the half-time
break on a 47-26 score. England displayed a great offensive game and
hit 47% from the three-point range (10-21).
Germayne Forbes (186-G-80, college:
W.Georgia) almost made a perfect offensive game with 19pts 7/8FG
but the man of the game was Andrew Sullivan who netted 23pts 9/14FG,
Julius Joseph chipped in with 12pts 3/11FG. For South Africa,
Nyakallo Nthuping (199-F/C-80) scored 14pts 6/12FG, Thabang
Kgwedi netted 12pts 8rbs and center Christoph Trauernicht recorded
10pts 7rbs.
Boxscore here
Semifinals schedule:
Australia - England
New Zealand - Nigeria
Classification games:
Scotland - South Africa
Barbados - India
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