Sydney, AUSTRALIA (Dec 30) -
"La Femme Nikita" with Australia's Peta Wilson is sweeping the Australian
summer television scene, with Peta appearing on the December-January cover
of GQ magazine, but still her basketball mystery continues.
Canadian studio biographical information states that Australian-born
Wilson was "the youngest woman and best player on the Australian
national basketball team".
But Basketball Australia has no record of her, and now Basketball New
South Wales have completed research and turned up no sign either.
And even Netball Australia have drawn a blank on the world television
sensation.
"(I) have researched well and truly the fact that Peta Wilson had played
basketball at a national level," says Tom Moore, the technology and
registration manager of of Basketball New South Wales.
"I coached NSW at the National level from 1975 to 1985 and have checked
the Basketball NSW History book and no such player has appeared in that
time frame, unless she used a different name."
Meanwhile, over at Netball Australia (netball is sometimes mistakingly
referred to as "basketball") they have aso completed research.
"I have searched our records here at Netball Australia and there is no
recollection of a Peta Wilson having played for Australia," says
Karen Miller, Netball Australia's national PR co-ordinator.
Many thanks to Basketball New South Wales and Netball Australia for their
latest research, and to Basketball Australia for their earlier
contributions.
Whatever the true history of Peta Wilson, the fact remains that "La Femme
Nikita" is making her a world-wide sensation, and if basketball in Australia
can get some more exposure, well and good.
Click here to see the Previous Story on
Peta Wilson.
California, USA (Dec 30) -
The 6-game Californian road-swing of Southwestern Louisiana University
and its two Australians has taken a successful turn with its first
away of the season.
However, Southwestern Louisiana lost the championship game of the Golden
Bear Classic to the University of California 65-94.
California (8-1), who won their sixth straight, led 46-20 at halftime
and never let up, hitting 70 points before the Ragin' Cajuns
(4-5) reached 30.
Sydney-born Brett Smith scored 5 points for Southwestern Louisiana in
front of a parochial Californian crowd of 9,011.
Earlier in the tournament, Southwestern Louisiana
handed Mississippi State its first loss of the season 60-58.
It was the Rajun' Cajuns' first road win this season.
Brett Smith, the Australian 6-8 forward, had 7 points and
a team-high 7 rebounds.
Melbourne-born point guard David Patrick also plays with
Southwestern Louisiana.
New York, USA (Dec 30) -
The womens professional American Basketball League has suspended operations,
unable to stem its financial losses in its third season, reports Associated Press.
The league, which had significant Australian connections,
announced the move in a
telephone recording, by fax and on its Web site, saying it would
file for protection under the US federal bankruptcy
code.
This year, Australians Natalie Hughes and Tully Bevilaqua were both
included in the ABL Annual Draft.
The decision of the ABL to fold leaves the WNBA as the lone US professional
women's basketball league.
"This is a sad day for our fans,
employees, players, and coaches and for women's basketball in
general," ABL co-founder and chief executive officer Gary Cavalli
said in a statement. "We gave it our best shot."
"We fought the
good fight and we had a good run. But we were unable to obtain
the television exposure and sponsorship support needed to make
the league viable long term."
The league had franchises in Chicago, Colorado, Columbus,
Nashville, Hartford, Philadelphia, Portland,
San Jose, and Seattle. Two franchises, in Long Beach and
Atlanta, had folded earlier because of poor attendance.
Fans of womens professional basetball in the US will now have to
content themselves with the WNBA, which is sometimes guilty of
adopting the sometimes sickly glitz of the governing NBA.
WNBA players recently voted to unionize. Hopefully, they won't be
going down the same path as their NBA counterparts, now that they
have the womens court to themselves.
Washington, USA (Dec 30) -
Australia's Axel Dench scored a season-high 12 points in Gonzaga
University's 39-point win over Idaho.
Gonzaga (8-3) out-shot and out-rebounded
Idaho (4-5) to win 94-55, and finished
the game shooting 48 percent from the field and from 3-point
range.
They also out-rebounded the Vandals 58-27 for their fourth
consecutive victory.
Gonzaga, which led 38-26 at the break, went on a 21-9 run midway
through the second half to put the game out of reach.
Gonzaga had
five players score in double figures, including Dench, who shot
3-6 from the field (including 2-2 from three-point range) and
4-4 free throws.
Gonzaga enjoyed home court advantage at Spokane, Washington, with
a crowd of 4,008.
Connecticut, USA (Dec 30) -
Although Perth's Justin Brown will "redshirt" at top-ranked University of
Connecticut, he promises to be part of an Australian rivalry for the next
three years.
Connecticut beat Fairfield University and won easily with Brown
watching from the sidelines, but
the news Australian Hoops likes is that Fairfield includes a 6-10
Australian-born freshman Matt Smith.
Against Connecticut, Smith played 9 minutes, finishing with 2 points,
1 rebound and 2 personal fouls.
With Connecticut and Fairfield playing each other every year, the Australian
match-up of 7-0 Brown and Victoria's 6-10 Smith promises to be a feature for the
next three years.
Steve Cox reports from Connecticut, "UConn
plays Fairfield every year, so these two "towers" could go head to head
for the next three years. Small world after all."
Fairfield is located in Connecticut, midway between
Hartford, Conn. and New York City. It's a continuing intra-state rivalry.
Brown has previously played against Smith in high school.
Click here to see the Previous Story
on Justin Brown.
Australian Hoops greatly appreciates the updates provided by Steve Cox, and
other contributors from around the world.
Houston, USA (Dec 30) -
A US court judgement is expected December 30 which could potentially free
current NBA stars to play in Australia while the NBA lock-out continues.
A judge in the District Court in Houston has scheduled a hearing for December 30 on a
lawsuit by NBA players Nick Van Exel of Denver, Marcus Camby of
New York and Reggie Slater of Toronto, who want to be cleared to
play basketball in Europe, reports Associated Press. Australia
could be the next step.
The judge has said he'll decide
after the hearing if an injunction should be issued to
force USA Basketball to give clearance to the three players.
American players cannot play overseas without clearance from USA
Basketball.
The lawsuit alleges that USA Basketball is conspiring
with the NBA to keep the players from going overseas.
The players
said time is of the essence since European teams do not permit
players to be added to the playoff roster after December 31.
NBA teams have had a lockout of players in effect for months.
"It gives our players the
opportunity to have a judge look at this impartially and give
them a chance to play in Europe if the NBA season fails, which it
looks like ... now," the players' agent said.
Craig Miller, a spokesman for USA
Basketball, said the organization has no interest in whether the
players go to Europe.
"It's up to FIBA (basketball's international governing
body) and the NBA to make the decision because of their existing
contracts," Miller said.
Click here for the Previous Story
on the FIBA clearance legal challenge.
Sydney, AUSTRALIA (Dec 30) -
Australian Goldmark Opals head coach Tom Maher has named a squad of nineteen
players to take part in a training camp in Canberra in January-February.
Maher said when announcing the players, "This is obviously a major
component of our preparation and our challenge is to ensure that we're building
on that which is already in place".
The squad is :
Tully BEVILAQUA - Perth Breakers,
Allison COOK - Bulleen Boomers,
Rohanee COX - Perth Breakers,
Kristi HARROWER - Melbourne Tigers,
Jo HILL - Adelaide Lightning,
Lauren JACKSON - AIS,
Jae KINGI - Adelaide Lightning,
Annie LA FLEUR - Sydney Flames,
Robyn MAHER - Sydney Flames,
Emily MCINERNY - Melbourne Tigers,
Alicia POTO - Sydney Flames,
Shelley SANDIE - Canberra Capitals,
Karen SMITH - Canberra Capitals,
Rachael SPORN - Adelaide Lightning,
Gina STEVENS - Perth Breakers,
Penny TAYLOR - AIS,
Michele TIMMS - Bulleen Boomers,
Kristen VEAL - AIS,
Jenny WHITTLE - Perth Breakers.
Six members of the squad have played professionally in the US - five in the
WNBA and one in the ABL.
Four members of the 1998 World Championship Bronze medal winning team are
unable to attend due to commitments overseas. These are Sandy BRONDELLO
(Germany), Trisha FALLON (Italy), Michelle GRIFFITHS (Italy) and Carla PORTER
(Germany).
Maher says that the loss of these players gives others the chance to train with
the Goldmark Opals in the lead up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
"It's a great
opportunity for players to further their claims for both selection and the
particular role they hope to play," said Maher.
In the ABL's first season in 1996-97, Shelley Sandie (pictured) became the first
Australian woman to play professionally in the US, while Rehema
Stephens (Australia's CBA North Conference MVP with the Toowoomba
Mountainettes in 1993) scored the first womens professional 3-point
basket in US history in the ABL. Debbie Black (winner of a
WNBL championship
with Hobart, and a CBA national championship with Launceston) was the ABL's
smallest player, recorded the first quadruple-double in US womens
professional history, and appeared in two consecutive all-star games.
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