October 21st, 2009 by Dusty Rychart

Nathan Jawaii has been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a future second round pick by the Mavericks. Good move for big Nate as it will give him a chance to play instead of sitting on the bench. Hope that he can make things happen. The only thing I see stopping big Nate is the extreme cold that he’ll witness during December – Feburary. My ex college roommate and teammate is an assistant along with my college coach. So I’ll be able to check in and see what they actually think of the big fella.

Good luck to ya Big Nate!

October 17th, 2009 by Dusty Rychart

With a bye this week we had a rare chance to get 4 days off from Sunday-Wedneday. It was good to get that time off to allow the body to rest up a little before we got back into fire pit. Having that many days off sounds good and was good but for those of you that have competed at a high level will also understand that when you get back into it again you will have lost soMe fitness. I’m not sure why you lose so much even with two days off. I guess it’s the way our bodies are created. Either way it was good to get some days away from basketball.

So far this season the league from top to bottom is pretty even as it showed with the Crocs losing to the sixers Friday night and turning it around the next night to smash the Tigers on their home court by 35. It’s going to be a season where only a few games seperate 1st place from last place but should provide for some great entertainment for the fans. We had a bye this weekend bu turn around next weekend with a double header vs Gold Coast on Friday night and then fly back home Saturday to play the Sixers. This will be a huge test for us and if we can get both wins that will put us at the top of the NBL. It already has been proven that this year is going to be tight and what will seperate the top from the bottom is how well you can do on the road. Any team that can win half their road games will certaintly be in a postion to finish at the top. We haven’t proven that we can win on the road so that’s why it’s extra important that we make a statement early and there is no perfect time than to do that this coming weekend.

I hope that more Cairns supporters will come out to this weekends game because we will need all the extra cheeering to make sure the Sixers stay rattled and we come out with the “W”!

See you at the Snake Pit!

October 4th, 2009 by Dusty Rychart

The Season didn’t start that well for us over in New Zealand. Kirk Penney and Cj Bruton where u unstoppable from the arc and they were pretty pumped playing there first game at home. Those two came out blazing last year when I was with the gong and we played them first game of the season. The game was ugly and kind of embarrassing being the first tv game of the year and the whe league watching us get blown out. After that game many thought and picked us to come last but we all know better and the guys on the team work too damn hard to come in last.

Our two wins came at home against the Adelaide 36ers and Perth Wildcats. The Adelaide game was ugly but we managed to get the win through tough defence and hard work. Nothing pretty to watch but a win is a win no matter how you look at it. It was good to get our first win under the belt so we could shake the nerves and prepare for the rest of the season. The first win is always crucial because you don’t want to start a season too far in the hole because it’s difficult to get out of.

The second win came against the Perth Wildcats last night. This game was a little prettier to watch and play in. Perth coming off of a 1 point thriller the night before so we knew they would be tired. Again we played hard and got the win. Good to get another win but even better when you know the whole team is going out to war together and the next guy covers your butt on defence. I’ve been on teams where if you got beat no one would be there to help but this team we don’t seem to have that problem which is a very positive sign this early in the season.

I hope to post a few pictures when I get the chance. See you all at the Snake Pit Wednesday vs Gold Coast Blaze.