One round of the playoffs has come and gone and the Aussies are flying high into the 2nd round of the playoffs!
Unfortunately we said farewell to our Aussie Bucks, but the vast improvement of Thon Maker at the back end of the season to have the role of starting centre in his rookie season, is sure to excite every Australian basketball fan!
Delly proved to be at his defensive best in that series, as there is no greater hustler in the game of basketball.
Patty Mills had a brilliant first round series for the Spurs, playing a starring role off the bench, averaging 10.2 PPG for the series and a huge 20 points off the bench in Game 5 to get the Spurs over the line.
Patty is playing deep into the last quarter, with Pop trusting the Aussie gun slinger to hit some big shots late in games. You’ve got to love hearing the Spurs commentators every time Patty hits a 3 say “Gday Mate!” Hard to ever get sick of it.
Our other Aussie favourites just had a huge playoff series win; Utah rolling over the Clippers in 7 games with Joe Ingles playing a huge hand in this. ‘Slow Mo’ Joe handled JJ Redick all series long, never comfortable with Joe’s length defensively and that in the end was a huge downfall for the Clippers.
Dante Exum played sparingly in the series, but was often brought in for spot minutes for even more length, to guard the likes of Crawford and Chris Paul, which could only do young Dante’s confidence the world of good.
Patty and the Spurs take on Houston in round 2 of the playoffs, and no doubt he will thrive in this series. They’ll be taking on a team whose priority isn’t on the defensive end which will create plenty more opportunity for some Patty Mill’s 3 balls!
Utah go toe to toe with the Golden State Warriors in round 2 of the playoffs which will be a real tough match up. They’ve given the Warriors some problems in the past with their great defence, so this may not be as much of a walk over as what people think.
Here’s hoping we get a Spurs/Jazz Conference Finals series to guarantee ourselves another Aussie in the NBA Finals!
Would love to know everyone’s thoughts on how you think our Aussie Ballers have been playing in the playoffs and how you think they’ll fare in the 2nd round of the playoffs!
Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Dave Bauk