Dante Exum is one of the most exciting junior basketball players to come along in a long time. He is a Mebourne boy and the son of a former NBL star Cecil. He is an AIS scholarship holder and has been performing well overseas in International tours recently. Boomers head coach Brett Brown has shown some foresight to select him in the Boomers training squad for up coming games against China and from the mail I get, he has been doing well at the camp in Perth.
This is a great story that deserves some recognition by the big players in the media and for whatever reason not one article has been published in the Melbourne papers. Surely this story has some relevance for the major papers and press to grab hold of and publicise. Surely a story on a burgeoning star in basketball is more relevant and interesting than the "B" grade and "C" grade articles that football gets in the papers?
Will we see something soon??????? Is anyone listening? The First President of the United States????? Anyone?????? Bueller???

The chants of M-V-P will belong to Dirk Nowitzki, and rightly so, after the seven-footer stamped his authority on the 2011 NBA Finals with a career-defining series. Nowitzki was judged the Finals MVP with a resume of 24.3ppg and 9.7rpg as the Dallas Mavericks battled their way through the Miami Heat and into NBA immortality with a 105-95 triumph in Game Six and a 4-2 series victory.

While Nowitzki showcased his offensive repertoire throughout the series, highlighted by his epic performance down the stretch in Game Two when the Mavericks erased a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to grab their first win of the series, it was DeShawn Stevenson who puffed out his chest and stood up to the bully on the playground and showed his team that they need not be afraid of their more-fancied opposition.

To read the full article - CLICK http://www.backpagelead.com.au/basketball/4390-stevensons-toughness-the-key-

Respected American radio host and basketball analyst Stephen A. Smith has fired up a 17-year-old debate by declaring that the 1994 Chicago Bulls would have won their fourth consecutive NBA championship had it not been for a “bogus” call from a referee.

The decision by referee Hue Hollins was made in the final seconds of game five in the Eastern Conference semi-finals and led to New York Knicks guard Hubert Davis winning the game from the free-throw line with 2.1 seconds remaining. 

It has often been noted that 'a week is a long time in sports'. If a week is a long time, then for Melbourne Tigers fans this past month must have seemed like an eternity.

On April 28th the Tigers announced that they had signed former Townsville Crocodiles mentor Trevor Gleeson as their new head coach on a three-year deal. For most basketball fans, signing the reigning NBL Coach of the Year would have been something to celebrate, but not so in Tigerland. Having sat through a dismal 2010/2011 season that cost long-time club servant Al Westover his job, Tigers fans took to the social media platforms to vent their anger that Westover's interim replacement Darryl 'D-Mac' McDonald, himself a Tigers stalwart as player and assistant coach, had not been elevated to the top job on a permanent basis.

The Tigers response to my recent blog adds further fuel to the debate that is the handling of Warrick Giddey and the coaching panel for 2011/2012. Let’s point out something that both sides of the debate agree on: -

1.       The Tigers owners have the right to select whoever they want to coach the club.

2.       Warrick Giddey is a favourite son who has dedicated his life to the Tigers.

With an aggressive approach to the opening of the free agency period, the Melbourne Tigers have swooped on two key acquisitions as the club attempts to rebuild after back-to-back seasons outside the playoffs.

The Tigers have added Australians Liam Rush and Daniel Dillon to their roster, but will now almost certainly lose Lucas Walker.

Read the full article at - http://www.backpagelead.com.au/basketball/4217-tigers-sign-up-rush-and-dillon

For years now  every day I have either bought the Herald Sun and The Age newspapers to find what I can about my favourite sport, Basketball. Nearly every day I am disappointed as the editors give it no love whatsoever.

In Melbourne (where we have 40% of the playing population of basketballers in the country…estimated 300,000 players and several other hundred thousand followers of the sport) it appears that the major newspapers have decided to not cater to the public’s interest in the game. We are left to assume that the editor/s who decide what does and does not go in the paper are either not fed enough information from the basketball world, do not rate basketball as a sport and/or are unwilling to report anything outside football. Reporting anything remotely connected to the AFL, Rugby League or soccer codes is considered a safe bet for them. Meanwhile, basketball falls by the wayside.

 The NBL and Basketball Australia need to come up with a plan to get basketball back in front of the editors and try something new, because what they have been doing for many years is quite simply not working. Here is an idea that they might like to consider.

I have known Warrick Giddey for about 25 years. He actually took the position on the floor of the Tigers and became one of the best feeders that the Melbourne Tigers ever had. He was the ultimate team mate and along with Andrew Gaze is arguably the Tigers most popular personality. I am shocked to find that in a press release today, the Melbourne Tigers announced the following: -

"Gleeson has also confirmed his coaching panel for the upcoming season, with his former Crocodiles right hand man Rohan Short joining the club as the sole full time Assistant Coach. Short spent four seasons with Gleeson at the Crocodiles before moving back to Melbourne last year where he worked with Athletics Australia as the Paralympic Program Manager. The club is expecting to retain the services of former NBL Assistant Coach and club stalwart Warrick Giddey in a community role."

Whoever made this decision to not include in some way shape or form, Warrick Giddey as part of the coaching staff has no interest in respecting the history of the Melbouren Tigers and what this man has done for the Melbourne Tigers. Not only is he a Championship player, but he is one of the most popular people in the entire league and the club has been very very fortunate that he chose to wear the Tigers singlet as he did for more than ten years.

Warrick Giddey has given his all to the Melbourne Tigers and most of the things he has done has not been for personal gain or self promotion, it has been because he loves the club. When the club needed some to go and do an appearance, they called Wazza, when the club needed someone to run a basketball clinic they called Wazza, when the club needed someone to set up the venue for the game they called Wazza, when the club needed someone to cook the barby, they called Wazza.....

If it is Gleesons decision to not have him involved with the team, then it is a very poor decision by him, if it is the clubs decision to insult him by rewriting his job description to that of a "community role" then this is a sickening insult to one of the greatest people that have been involved in the Tigers.

The Tigers organisation have made a very poor decision to the most popular person at the club and winning games will not cover up this dissappointing decision by the club. The management is chipping away at the clubs history and today they announced that the claw hammer has been replaced by a wrecking ball.
In closing, it is also an insult to refer to Warrick Giddey as a "Club Stalwart". He is a legend of the Melbourne Tigers and in my opinion is irreplaceable.

The appointment of Trevor Gleeson as head coach of the Tigers is a clear sign by the Tigers owners that they want to have a new beginning in the NBL. Since the post Chris Anstey era, the Tigers have been a frustrating club on the court which has seen the demise of Alan Westover as Head Coach and also now the demise of interim coach Daryl McDonald. It is clear that the Tigers are heading in a new direction.
Gleeson's appointment is understandable as he is reigning NBL coach of the year, his credentials stack up against anyone in the league and i am sure he would have interviewed well with the owners being forthright and passionate about where he wants to take the Tigers. The issue is that the Tigers have become a club that is quickly moving on from its historical ways and how can they retain some of the best things about it's past and merge them with the new plan forward.

There are a host of issues that the Tigers need to address: -
Alan Westover has not been seen at the club since he was removed/resigned. He is a servant of the club for some 25 years and now he is lost to it. How can the Tigers honour and involve him in the club?
Warrick Giddey has been a superstar for the club on the court and the most loyal servant off the court that any club could wish for, with Gleeson set to bring in his own full time assistant coach, where does that leave Warrick Giddey? Waz has as much support in the stands as the brand of the Melbourne Tigers does. Losing his loyalty would be a massive hit for the club.
DMac's history with the Tigers is not quite as long as the likes of Giddey and Westover, but nevertheless, "Mac"is a legend of our sport in this country and there are reports floating around that he is done with the Tigers. How can the Tigers keep Mac involved and what will be done to honour his efforts?
The Shuffle? Gleeson will have his own way of playing the game and fair enough, but what little that remained of the Tigers shuffle in the senior team last year will be lost to the NBL Team for the next three years and possibly longer during Gleesons tenure. The theory of the Tigers club is therefore shelved as the hundreds of juniors that come through the ranks spend copious number of hours learning a system that the Tigers seniors will not run.

The Tigers management and ownership group need to make some decisions and announce some initiatives that show some plans for the servants of the past. It is important for everyone involved, including new coach Trevor Gleeson.

On his first day in the job, new Melbourne Tigers head coach Trevor Gleeson got rid of Corey 'Homicide' Williams.

It was believed, through all the speculation and rumours, that Gleeson's decision not to bring back Williams was because Adam Gibson would soon be signed and immediately inserted as the Tigers' point-guard for the 2011-12 season and beyond.