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Basketball has long been THE pastime for me. From playing hoop video games and collecting hoop shoes to actually playing and watching the game, I have been there and done that...many times over! I first got into basketball when Shaq entered the NBA in 92/93 and I was but 10 years old. I was hooked! Watching a then trim Shaq go coast to coast for dunks on fuzzy, well-delayed, weekly episodes of NBA Action absolutely fascinated me. So, it all started then. I had Dad put up a hoop (in my room no less!), started buying merchandise (Starter caps and jerseys were the go Aus. back then) and trading basketball cards, most of which I still have. I didn't start playing till I was 12. I represented my primary school that year, in club my team took the championship and I won Most Improved. Then, I graduated and started high school. The school had two outdoor, bitumen courts and I took full advantage of them. For the three years I was there I would play on those courts before school at both lunch times and after school. My introduction to high school basketball was rough, though. We played half-court winners ball with a twist. Instead of just returning the ball after a basket, the defense would try to brand the O with the pill! Let me tell you, rubber basketballs can leave hefty bruises! Anyway, when trial for junior rep. came around I thought I would give it a go as a learning experience. I left the tryout being dissapointed by my performance, only later to be informed that I hade made the team (the team was filled with fifteen year olds except for me). I was outmatched at the trials, but I could see I was going to grow into a decent player. In grade 9 I again represented the school and ended up also representing Coalfields in Rockhampton. I was pretty elated when I made that team and it proved to me that work payed-off. However, my play at the trials was diminished as I was grieving for my grandfather who had died only a week before. The next year, I was selected again (the region was now called Central Queensland) and played in the trials at Mackay. Our team was thrashed in all games as we only had 5 players due to injury. But it was this year that my club play really took off. My team won the championship and I won 5 post-season awards. In the summer that year I attended Super Camp on the Gold Coast and was selected to the 2nd All-Star Five! This was also the year that I dunked for the first time (I'm 5'11"). My career took a decided turn when my family moved to Brisbane. The fast-food of the city enticed all of us as it was a novelty and I put on a bit of weight (15 Kgs). I enrolled in Brisbane Grammar School and started playing for Lang Park in Division III under 18's. It was at Lang Park that I met one of my best mates, Andrew Irvine. At school, I was selected to play in the 16A's and started 6 of 8 games. In the first game that seaon at Churchie, I ripped it up! I scored 15 of our 33 points and we won. We would go on to win our first 4 games. Then, a player who had been dropped from the 1st V came to play with us. Talk about being snake-bitten. That guy buggered our season by putting down other players and ball hogging. So we lost the last four remaining games, but he was given the Player of the Year Trophy! Oh, well. In club, my team came fourth and I won Best and Fairest. In 2000, I made the 1st V and narrowly missed out on Captain of Basketball. I started the first 4 games, the last of which was my best. It was at Nudgee and even though I we were flogged by 40, I scored 15 and contributed in many areas as usual. During the term break my family went to the Sydney Olympics and saw the male and female Dream Teams play (and Yao Ming!). However, while in Sydney I contracted brochitis, a lung infection that would keep me out of all but two of the remaining games. I was again Best and Fairest at Lang Park in Division II under 20's. After I graduated, I decided to relax a little athetically after such an exhausting 2000. Andrew and I started a team, the Milton Riots, of our own. We scalped a lot of Lang Park players for the team and in doing so severly pissed off the club administration! We played in Division I under 20's and came fifth, which was a pretty good effort. Andrew and I also went to see the Dream Team play at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane. That was pretty fun. There was a player for Argentina that had a whopping great mullet, so Andrew and I started appropriate chants of "Mullet, mullet" and "Give us an M, U..." Our chants caught on and at the gold medal game, the entire stadium was following us! We had created a monster! In 2002, we have changed our team's name (twice) and a few players. Anyways, below is a chronological list of my hoop accomplishments. 1994 Watched first NBA game. Began casual shooting on hoop in my room. 1995 Won CBA championship. Named CBA Most Improved Player. Represented Clermont State School at Zone trials in Moranbah. 1996 Represented juniors of CSHS at Coalfields trials in Moranbah. Named CBA Most Improved Player. 1997 Represented Coalfields at trials in Rockhampton. Named CBA Most Improved Player. 1998 Named in 2nd All-Star Five at Super Camp Gold Coast. Slam dunked for the first time. Represent Central Queensland in Mackay. Won CBA championship Named CBA Rising Star. Named CBA Best and Fairest Defense. Named CBA Best Shooter. Named CBA All-Star Five. 1999 Represented BGS in 16A starting five. Represented Lang Park in Division III under 18. Named Division III Best and Fairest. 2000 Represent BGS in 1st V as starting small forward. Represented Lang Park in Division II under 18. Named Division II Best and Fairest. 2001 Played for Milton Riots in Division I under 20. 2002 Played for Slippery When Wet in Division 6 open mens. Scored a career high 32 point against Dinosaur. Played for Tenacious D in Division 9 open mens. |