July Madness

Are your brackets filled out yet? Well get ready because the draw has been released! Ok, so maybe its not exactly March Madness...but the city is alive with anticipation. After the last weekend of play, our team was in a close tie with a few other teams. We could have finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th place with the outcome of the last game of the season. We defeated Rockingham to pick up our 18th win of the season, finishing 18-8 for the year. The bracket went in our favor & because of points and some head to head wins, we locked up the 3rd place spot. This is the highest the team has finished in its history, and 18 wins is the most they have ever had as well. So that is definitely something pretty cool to be a small part of.

Unfortunately Marcus had to head home early, and will not be playing in the playoffs because of some commitments back home. This obviously hurts because we are losing 20+ points a game in our top scorer. However, our other guard Tony has been shooting well, and we will have two strong post players for our run. Like I stated before, the first & second round is the best of three games. The first game is played at the away team (or worse seed), then you play two games at home (higher seed) if needed. I dont like the set up because if you lose the first game away, then its more pressure to win the next two, even though they are both at home. Here is the bracket & a little bit of information from the SBL website:

1 Lakeside Lightning 22-4 vs. 8 Perth Redbacks 11-15

The Men's competition see's all four game ones on Saturday night with the Perth Redbacks hosting the Lakeside Lightning first at 7:30pm. While at 1 v 8 both teams have had a victory in 2009 with the 11-15 Redbacks going down 120-85 in Round 1 yet they prevailed 107-98 in Round 14 over the 22-4 Lightning.

2 Goldfield Giants 21-5 vs. Kalamunda Eastern Suns 11-15

Last off the block is the reigning champions who are on the road at 8:30pm to the new kids on the block, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns. The 21-5 second placed Giants are on a roll recently with a 6 game winning streak. The 11-15 Eastern Suns have not defeated the Giants in 2009, going down 108-85 in Round 3 and again in Round 15, 95-84.

3 Wanneroo Wolves 18-8 vs. Perry Lakes Hawks 17-9

The sixth placed Perry Lakes Hawks (17-9) will tackle the third placed Wanneroo Wolves (18-8) at 8:00pm. The Hawks prevailed in Round 3 103-92 but the Wolves took out the Round 13 clash 97-86.

4 Geraldton Buccs 18-8 vs. Cockburn Cougars 18-8

Also on Saturday at 7:30pm is the Cockburn Cougars (18-8) doing battle with the Geraldton Buccaneers (18-8). The fourth place Buccs prevailed on the weekend 107-88 and in Round 8 the Buccs also won 107-83.

In one of the tightest finishes to an SBL season ever, the finals action is expected to be just as close. All of the quarter final match ups could easily go to three games giving basketball fans the most exciting action they could possibly get. All fans are urged to get down and support their teams with many great teams having just two weeks of their season left!

That information was taken from the website & it is probably a very true statement. Anyone of these teams could end up winning it all. The top 6 teams in the tournament are about as equal as it gets, so hopefully we can prevail. The game is this Saturday with game #2 being next Saturday. If game 3 is needed, it will be played on Sunday at noon. Unfortunately I might not be going to church that day!

Hope this helps out a little bit! Marcus should be rolling into CC now, so hopefully it will be nice to see everyone! I wont be too far behind & look forward to seeing family & friends. However, there are still a few things I have left to do here ;-)

This message especially goes out to Mark Green who told me I needed to update my blog!! Ha-ha.

Sorry I put Goldsfield down twice...the #2 team is Geraldton Bucs.

Postseason Basketball in.....July???

Ok I wanted to update you on the actual basketball side of things. Here are the standings up to right now. At the end of July the playoffs will begin, with the top 8 teams making it.

#1 vs. #8
#2 vs. #7
#3 vs. #6
#4 vs. #5

The first two rounds are the best of 3 games with the championship being a 1 game grand final. Here are the standings


1. Lakeside Lightning 19-2

2. Goldfields Giants 17-5

3. Goldfields Giants 16-5

4. Cockburn Cougars 15-6

5. Wanneroo Wolves 14-7

6. Perry Lakes Hawks 12-8

7. Perth Redbacks 9-13

8. Stirling Senators 8-12

9. Willetton Tigers 8-13

10. Rockingham Flames 7-13

11. Kalamunda Eastern Suns 7-13

12. East Perth Eagles 6-14

13. Southwest Slammers 6-14

14. Mandurah Magic 1-20

At the moment we are in 5th place but we are only 2 spots away from 2nd. We play the 3rd ranked team Goldsfield this Saturday, which will be huge for us. 5 more games to go until the playoffs begin! Then after that we are back home! Hope everyone had a great Fathers Day and I am looking forward to be one of only 10 people or so to celebrate July 4th here! Godbless!

M.I.A? If you call MIA doing lots of awesome activities...then guilty!

Basketball Game

Best Picture Ever Maybe?

I decided that since this athletic dude was going to block my shot, I'd shot fake and throw it to Marcus lol.

Post-Game Photo

Dinner with the Chegs at the Revolving Restuarant

Sorry folks for being on a couple week break. But activities has filled my days and by the time I come to the computer, its usually late at night. So I will not waste anytime and update on what has been going on in the last few weeks with us.

As I was finishing up work one day, a friend of mine comes to the back and says, "Hey Scott, some girl is here to see you, and she claims to be your girlfriend." Now, last time I checked I didnt have a girlfriend when I left the states...and from what I can remember, I hadnt picked one up here in Australia. So...I hurried out to the front to see my beautiful sister come around the corner! Talk about a speechless! I couldnt believe it. Marcus came around the corner about 5 minutes later and saw her as well. We were both a little bit stunned, but definitely excited to see her! What sucked was I had an appointment with a younger player at the stadium. So I left Marcus and Nikki to go up north for a bit. After about 45 minutes I decided that its not everyday a family member is coming to see me, so I cancelled the rest of my schedule and appointments the rest of the week. When I got back about 6 I wasnt surprised to see Nikki about passed out on the couch. Our friend Natalie's host family (The Chegs) were gracious enough to let us all stay at their place the entire week! What great people by the way! Let the activities begin!

There were so many things that I wanted to have everyone experience here in Australia. So you could probably say I got a little carried away with trying to do EVERYTHING possible in about 5 days! We started out by showing Nikki around the city, along with some of the beautiful beaches. The weather is still around mid 70's during the day, so I really think she enjoyed the weather. We took her shopping in the city and had her tag along to practice (which she definitely fell asleep at by the way!). And no they are not boring, I just dont think the plane ride wore off yet.

On Friday night the Chegs decided to take us all out to a beautiful restuarant. It was on the 30+ floor of a building downtown. We knew this place was going to be nice, so we decided to dress up a little bit. But when I say dress up a little bit I mean jeans and button up long sleeve shirt. Marcus just so happened to be rockin his flannel, and Nat and Nikki just wore very casual clothing. But giving the fact that I havent worn anything but basketball clothes for the past 4 months, this was dressing up! To our surprise, the elevator opened up to the NICEST restuarant I have been to. As the doors seperate, there everyone sits in black dresses and full suit outfits. Immediately I was embarrassed and wanted to go to the nearest Man 2 Man store to get fitted for a tux. Somehow we were able to get in looking as if we just got out of a carnival, and enjoyed the 32nd story revolving floor looking across Perth at night. It was absolutely gorgeous. Not to mention it costed 80$ per person to eat there! Personally I think it was paying for the view, no so much the food! lol.

Saturday night was our game, which we happened to lose! After winning 9 games in a row and being the hottest team in the league, Nikki just so happened to show up and ruin it for us :-/ haha. Actually you dont realize how nice it was to see someone like that in the crowd! It was a close game but in the end we werent able to pull it off. Needless to say Nikki is not allowed to come to anymore games here in Australia :-) And I think Natalie is also banned! That poor girl has been to 4 of our games and we have lost all 4 of those games! She thinks shes bad luck but I tend to disagree.

Sunday we went to a cool Jazz Club that opened up in the city. I wanted to go to it since I got here, but it was cool to experience it with sis. We had a lot of fun and also had some great conversations! Monday was a treat as well. We decided to get up early in the morning and drive down to Margaret River (a fancy place where people go to get away from Perth). It was about a 2 1/2 hr drive, but well worth it. We went to about 5-6 wineries, explored a cave (which I had no idea would be so freezing!), went the to most beautiful beach I have seen, ate all the free chocolate & cheese at the little factory shops, and just had a great time. We left about 5 and got home in time for the Chegs to fix yet another great dinner! I swear that their house is also my favorite restuarant!

Ever since Nikki got here that last Wednesday, all she had been talking about was seeing and petting a damn kangaroo. I dont think she understood that they arent exactly friendly, but she was still convinced that she was going to do it. So on Tuesday we went to the Perth Zoo. Now I havent been to the Zoo since I was like 8, but I have to say we had an AWESOME time. We saw Koalas, Penguins, Rhinos, Zebras, Chimps, Oragutans (Orange U-tans), tree rat things, Dingos, Elephants, and sure enough Kangaroos. And go figure, Nikki got her wish. One of the Roos had jumped the rope and decided to lay down right in the middle of the walkway. We all got pictures and were able to pet it. It was a pretty cool experience. That night Nikki's flight flew out about midnight, so we took her there to say goodbye. It was a great week and a wonderful surprise, I just wish we would have had another week or ten! It seemed like it absolutely flew by. I miss you already sista!

As for an update on basketball, we are now 13-6 and closing down on the season. The crowds have been really good recently and Marcus and I are having a lot of fun. In fact, last game Marcus hit about 4 shots in a row (including a huge backcut) to finish out the game. With 10 seconds to go up 1 point, he stole the ball and took it in for the win. The place went absolutely CRAZY! It was the first time I felt like I was back home playing in front of Grace or CC crowds. It was awesome! In a month we are having a camp for the kids that Marcus and I are running. As far as everything else, just enjoying the sun and missing everyone back home! Only about 6 weeks left, I cannot believe it has gone so fast! Enjoy the pics!

I cant dance...I cant talk...only thing about me is the way I walk!

Saturday mornings are usually my favorite day of the week. Here, let me take you through a day in the life shall we? We always have morning shoot around up at the stadium about 9 am. Since I am not used to waking up much before 10 everyday, you can imagine the struggle.

9:00 AM - Shoot around is always pretty simple, with a couple shooting games and a walk through of our opponent for the night. During this time there is younger basketball leagues being played on the other 3 courts. The kids are somewhere between 8-12 years old, so afterwards we always hand out posters, play some games with them, sign autographs, and just have interaction with them to get them excited about the game.

10:30 AM - Breakfast at Mackers (or McDonalds for your normal American people ha). I usually like to do this alone, you know...get a little Scott time. I hang out with myself, laugh at my always entertaining jokes and one liners, but mostly prepare for tonights ball game. Today however a younger teammate wanted to come along, so it was nice for someone else to laugh at my jokes for a change.

11:15 Zest Workout Facility. Zest is a large physical fitness center and its where Marcus and I go to lift, along with getting recovery treatment. This is why I wake up with a smile every Saturday morning! I go up to the weight room first to just do a routine workout. Today was much more entertaining than usually because the "Womens Dance Workout Team" was in the side during there stuff. Now I have to tell you, if you actually sit and watch these women, it will completely brighten your day. The instructor is a Black (very fit) American lady who can move like you wouldnt believe. She's smooth, silky, and just has it working. But what is great to watch are the 30 women (ranging from 20 years old to about 60 years old) follow her routine. There were about 3 ladies correctly following the instructor, the rest however I think were trying to mix in some of their own stuff. A few ladies just give up after a while and sit down lol. Its an advanced class so the lady is unbelievable...therefore I cant make fun of these girls cuz I'd be just as bad. Note to self: The Jitterbug is not a dance move anymore. Louise the all purple wearing lady needs to go ahead and keep that dance move back in the 80's.

After lifting I head down to loosen up in the pool. After during my pool workout, the enjoyment begins. A massage followed by sitting in the massive sauna for an hour does the trick! Man I love this job!

1:00 PM - Usually head across the street to the library. I always have a little time to kill, therefore I like to stop in and sit down, and try to read some. However, I am so relaxed that I almost always end up drifting away on the couch. Marian the Librarian (her name is Sue but I call her this anyway and she loves it) usually gives me a hard time.

2:00 PM - Grab some lunch then head over to Tony's house. Tony is a teammate of ours who has played in the league for about 12 years now. He's a great guy who has really been helpful to both of us. We head out to the golf course and get a round of 9 in.

4:30 PM - Pregame nap! Throw in a movie and we are all out like fat kids in dodge ball!

6:30 PM - Pregame meal. Tony's wife Sarah is a great cook, and she always hooks us up with some Pasta and other stuff. Shes great!

7:15 PM - Head off to the game. Get a half hour shoot around is a must. I listen to some music and just focus on what is ahead. After this is over I head into the training room to get my legs rubbed down, and off to the dressing room.

8:30 PM - Tip off. Now I would be lying if I said that its not weird to hear another National Anthem play before a game...but its weird. Where's my stars and stripes? The best thing about the Australian Anthem is that its like 30 seconds long. I think I know the words by now though, I'm getting pretty good.

Our game tonight we captured our 7th win in a row. We are the hottest team in the league right now and are getting more confident every game. Tonights team was one of the weaker teams...so we both actually sat out most of the 4th quarter. These type of games arent as enjoyable. Sometimes they are nice but most of the time they arent. 10-4 is our record and it doesnt look like we will be slowing down anytime soon! Hope all is well back home...by the way, its still 80 degrees here ;-)

Just heard Matt and Anna are having a baby! Uncle Scott has a nice ring to it :-)

Summertime is finally here...that old ball park man is back in gear!

Hello all! Hope everyone is doing great! A quick update on the games. Last week we played another top ranked team and continued our dominance! We have now won our last four games and dont look to be slowing down. On paper we look almost unbeatable. Marcus and I are the imports who play the backcourt. Our 3 is a veteran role player who has played for about 10 years now. And our 4 and 5 man are both National League players. In fact, our new 4 man play college ball at Old Dominion, and was on the Australian National team. He is about a 6'10 shooting guard. So needless to say, I have a lot of options to pass to! Dont worry though, I am still planning on shooting the thing once in a while. This weekend we have a double header against two of the weaker teams in the league, so hopefully we come out and smash them both.

Continuing on with basketball, congrats to Matt on becoming the new head coach at Mt. Vernon Naz in Ohio. Its a great program that is known for making the NAIA national tournament year in and year out. He will do great things!

Walking through the park tonight I decided to grab a seat on a bench and enjoy my chinese. Already flustered because of my struggling translation with the lady at the restuarant, I took out my Sweet and Sour Chicken and began to enjoy. Honestly, I'm not sure how to say "I DONT WANT WHITE RICE AND VEGGIES" in Mandarin Chinese, but I think I did a decent job of my hand waving, snarling, and continuous head shaking in the no direction. Honestly, we dont need to speak the same language for me to point through a tiny glass window! Anyway, as I say down to enjoy, the moonlight was really bright, illuminating (thats right mom, college did me well!) the entire park. I put in my Ipod and began to listen to some Mellencamp. All of a sudden, I was transformed back into summer mode. I could picture being on the lake with the boys, doing morning workouts at CC, working at the Park Dept., fishing, going to baseball games, 4th of July fireworks, etc....

Its amazing how a simple song can take you back to a time and place in your life. It really is the best vacation you can take! So therefore, this post is all about Summer Time Songs. I am leaving you with a top ten list of my favorite summertime songs. Then maybe a couple extra. If you dont like it or disagree, who cares! haha. Make your own list :-) But you can be sure that this is what I will be jamming in about a month until August!

1. Summertime- Will Smith
2. Stand By Me- Ben E. King
3. Wild Nights- Van Morrison
4. Summer of 69- Bryan Adams
5. Tom Petty- Mary Jane
6. Brown Eyed Girl- Van Morrison
7. Hotel California- Eagles
8. Jack & Diane/Aint Even Done with the Night- Mellencamp
9. I Get Around- Beach Boys
10. Dancing in the Moonlight- King Harvest
Jackie Wilson Said- Van Morrison
Otis Redding- Sittin on the Dock of the Bay
Summer Nights- Grease :-)
Dani California- Chilli Peppers
On & On- Steven Bishop
Escape- Rupert Holmes
Under the Boardwalk- Drifters
Longest Time- Billy Joel
Summer Breeze- Seals & Crofts
Cruel Summer- Bananarama

I tell you what, those are pretty good tunes ;-) Until next time! Pictures of games coming soon! Also I will be including some things that you can purchase if you are interested in buy a t-shirt, sweat shirt, jersey, shorts, etc. You too can become a Wanneroo Wolfpack Fan lol.

We all airball once in a while!

Sorry its been a while since my last post. I need to do a much better job of following up and keeping everyone informed on what has been going on. I promise I will do a better job! :-)
I want to share about the last 3 ball games we have had. Last weekend, after a disappointing loss at home, we traveled 4 hours north to Geraldton. They were currently the number one ranked team in our division at 7-1 and playing very well. The team that we got hammered by just a game before at home, lost to Geraldton a week earlier by 25. So I knew we had our hands full. Now, if you are an athlete than I think you can relate to what I am going to say next. Do you ever get those feelings in the games that everything is going to be fine? Maybe the game starts our bad and people are worried, but inside you just feel at ease? This was one of those games for me. In front of a sold out crowd, we began the game down 15-0. I know right? But the thing about it was, I was happy with what we were getting. I thought our offense was smooth, we were getting great looks, and they were hitting tough shots. I told the guys in the huddle, just relax and get it back one possession at a time. Sure enough thats exactly what we did. We cut the lead to two by halftime, and in the second half outscored them easily and ran away with a 15 point win. It was the first time the club has won in Geraldton since 1998, so I felt really good about that. Needless to say the game was very interesting. Before it started I told a teammate of mine that I cannot remember the last time I actually airballed a shot in a game. Whoops, bad timing.

Not only did I airball once, oh but I did it twice. I said earlier in my posts how the fans love to give the imports a hard time, oh man. Haha lets just say I was hearing it alright! The funny thing was I wasnt embarrassed at all. My team was winning and I was playing really well, besides though two pull up jumpers lol. The best part of the game though was in the 3rd quarter. I'm glad I decided to wait until I'm overseas to have the best play of my career. I wish you would have seen it. We were pressing full court and my teammate knocked the ball loose from the ball carrier. The ball was sliding in a hurry out of bounds, so I took off. Now picture this. The floor was soooo humid, so it was already slippery enough (which was good because this would have been painful if it wasnt). My teammates fell over to the ground as well as the guard he took it from...I jumped over both of them chased the ball to the sideline. Suddenly everything stopped. It was like time froze. In my head all I could think was, "seriously, coach is going to bitch at me if I dont at least hustle after this...oh well make it look interesting Scott." I jumped from just passed the free throw elbow into a head first dive. Arms stretched out I hit the ground and like a slip and slide shot towards the sideline. To my surprize I was actually gaining on the ball. Right before it went out of bounds I scooped it (still sliding) and threw it over my left shoulder as hard as I could. I smashed into the wall shoulder first and cut my eye. As I look over my shoulder the ball somehow hit off my teammates foot, popped straight into the air into my big guys hands, who shot it, made it, and got fouled. The whole place stood up and clapped haha. I was like, "There is no way that just happened." My sweat mark on the floor was 20+ feet long! My players surrounded me and you would have thought I just hit a game winner. I looked in the crowd and the front row was bowing over hahaha! One of their players even walks up and congratulated me! I thought it was so funny. God decided to humble me however on the very next play when I airballed a ten foot jumpshot. Oh well, you win some you lose some!

We picked up two more wins this weekend and moved into 5th place outta 14. We are the hottest team in the league right now and Marcus is back playing. We really have a shot to do a lot of damage from here on out. We have the toughest first round schedule, followed by the easiest second half. We have 3 more games to go before the break so if we can manage a couple more wins, we will be sitting pretty for the next half of the season.

Aside from ball, everything is also going great! We just got back from having wine and cigars with a friend of ours in the park. Cigars probably arent the best choice, but hey its my birthday tomorrow! April came and went sooooo fast! To think we are about halfway done with our trip is unbelievable! In just about 3 months we will be flying home! Crazy to think. Summertime is coming and I hope this message finds everyone in good spirits!

Want to give a shout out to Mr. & Mrs. Leaf! Its been about 4+ years since we have gone this long without seeing you guys and Marcus and I just wanted to say that we missed you guys. We hope you are doing well and enjoying the change of weather! When we get home we want to have dinner and show you all the pictures! Plus hopefully you enjoy Wolves basketball gear ;-)