Roar Guru
Joined February 2016
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30-ish year-old mediocre club cricketer, handy Wing Attack in mixed netball, occasional drainer of banked 3's in pick-up basketball, dedicated craft beer snob and enthusiastic traveler.
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With an enforced pre-grand final bye well and truly taking the wind out of the sails of what has been a thoroughly entertaining finals…
Footy is firmly back in the focus of most red-blooded sporting supporters in Australia. Following on from Part 1 of this list, here in…
Footy is firmly back in the focus of most red-blooded sporting supporters in Australia. So naturally we must look back at what occurred in…
In sport, there’s a sense of inevitability that separates the greats from mere mortals. A clear demarcation. Not just of skill, but of mindset.…
Dwight Howard’s shoulders are a legitimate work of art. They are bowling balls carved seemingly in basketball nirvana, built for righteous shot-blocking and swagger-filled…
Halfway through the second quarter of Thursday night’s qualifying final, Geelong held a narrow lead over the almost season-long ladder leaders. As Darcy Byrne-Jones…
The Brisbane Lions need to drink some tea. Or at the very least – if they want to achieve ultimate success in 2020 –…
Team sport – at the heart of it all – is inherently ridiculous. Remember this. Men and women, boys and girls, and everyone in…
The jumper punch, the love tap, the ‘it-wasn’t-a-punch-it-was-an-open-palmed-shove’, the allegedly careless swing of the arm, the errant spoil, it’s back in vogue! Won’t somebody…
As a fully functioning football aficionado, it is my sovereign right – and civic duty – to jump to immediate conclusions about the success…
Reilly O’Brien – or, if you believe the ‘explanation’, O’Brien’s iPhone – delivered one of the highlights of the 2020 season today, and it's…
Damien Barrett’s latest Sliding Doors column finished on a familiar tune. If AFL footy boss Steve Hocking chose to start the season with 16-minute…
Footy’s almost back, which means that quite soon you won’t be subjected to yet another ‘top ten overlooked top ten draft picks redrafted’ article.…
There’s no footy. Andy Lee is hosting live streams of the abomination that is the Australian Dice Football League. Brian Taylor's resorted to commentating…
Thursday, 7 May, marked Dustin Fletcher's 45th birthday, and 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of Essendon's record-breaking 2000 campaign. It only feels right that…
There’s no footy. Richo and Browny are resorting to calling Xbox simulations of AFL fixtures. And Brian Taylor’s commentating on traffic. What better time…
There’s no footy. Richo and Browny are resorting to calling Xbox simulations of AFL fixtures. And Brian Taylor’s commentating on traffic. What better time…
There’s no footy. Richo and Browny are resorting to calling Xbox simulations of AFL fixtures. And Brian Taylor’s commentating on traffic. What better time…
There’s no footy. Richo and Browny are resorting to calling Xbox simulations of AFL fixtures. And Brian Taylor’s commentating on traffic. What better time…
There’s no footy. Matthew Richardson and Nathan Brown are calling Xbox simulations of AFL fixtures and Brian Taylor’s commentating on traffic. What better time…
Glad you enjoyed it! Always good to take a slightly different approach to what constitutes a memorable goal – as you can tell I’ve got a fair soft spot for anyone who can launch a 65m bomb!
Ten most disrespectful goals of 2021 - Part 1
That goal completed escaped my attention. But you’re right, there is a certain level of swag associated with an extraordinarily tall American athlete defying all logic by attempting a running bounce in the wet – that might have to feature as a footnote add-on to a future article!
Ten most disrespectful goals from the 2020 AFL season (Part 2)
As much as I enjoy the sentiment – La Liga has had only Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid reach the top three since 2012 – not entirely sure the ‘seven different champions’ line checks out. And since 2004, the Premier League has had exactly five teams – Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Leicester and Liverpool – as champions. Sure, it’s not the same team every year, but it’s slim pickings!
(At least as you say, there might be a different champion to previous years in a few leagues, but there’s no bolters out of nowhere)
Dare I say it: European football title races are, well, exciting
It was only ever going to end one way – but naturally you have to leave the best until last!
Ten most disrespectful goals from the 2020 AFL season (Part 2)
Cheers Richie – I’ll (attempt) to make it more regular thing once footy gets back up and running – I do enjoy a bit of hyperbole when it comes to goals like these!
Ten most disrespectful goals from the 2020 AFL season (Part 2)
Fair play – trigger warnings are indeed necessary for stuff like that!
Ten most disrespectful goals from the 2020 AFL season (Part 2)
I don’t want to give too many spoilers – but you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise in Part 2!
Ten most disrespectful goals from the 2020 AFL season (Part 1)
The Stockton-Malone pick-n-roll offense was something to behold – and was basically the game plan for Sloan’s system – and as a result the team worked in an almost singular way. I love Stockton so much because of this quote from a Bleacher Report article though: “John Stockton was the master and commander of the sneaky, scratching, clawing, hip-checking, dirty point guards. Everyone since has just been a cheap imitation”. Genuine snake of a player. So good.
Why John Stockton is the greatest NBA point guard of all-time
Karl Malone is the 2nd highest points scorer of all time in the NBA, averaged 25 points a game over 19 years, and was one half of one of the aforementioned greatest pick-n-roll offenses ever seen in the NBA. The duo were borderline unstoppable at times (I’m a Jazz fan and the sad fact of the matter is that the lack of depth killed their chances of winning a title. You don’t win titles with Greg Ostertag, Adam Keefe, and Howard Eisley). Malone’s also a 2 x MVP, 14 x All Star, 11x All-NBA First Team representative, and is in the NBA Hall of Fame. You sure he’s not a great? Because he’s well and truly a great.
Why John Stockton is the greatest NBA point guard of all-time
Agree with your choice there – LaMelo would only cause a bit of disarray for the T’Wolves, and they certainly don’t need a big man like Wiseman. They need a jump in their bench depth (and ability of their bench players) in order to really push the stronger teams though – hard to see Edwards having an immediate impact in the way that a high pick like Doncic has done for the Mavs – will be fascinating to see though.
Minnesota’s fate hangs on first pick selection
From what I’ve seen posted online in the past few days, he’s had six instances of 20+ touches and 2+ goals (in the same game) in Preliminary Finals and Grand Finals. The next best (from the stat I saw) are Barry Cable and Tim Watson with 4. If that doesn’t tell you something about how he lifts for the occasion nothing will!
Agreed on Michael Jordan being perhaps the most inevitable – as a Utah fan the image of the game-winner in Game 6 in 1997-98 is forever burnt into my brain. I remember watching as a 10 year old being devastated knowing that Jordan was going to get the ball, that Jordan was going to score, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
The inevitable truth: No-one had a chance against Dustin Martin
I’ve had many a (slightly older) friend regale me with tales of heading to the footy purely to watch Gary Ablett Sr play – as dominant as some have been I doubt there could be more than a handful of players who attracted a crowd in such a way! Unfortunately he couldn’t equate that into personal success – although his 1989 Finals Series (27 goals in 4 games) has to be surely considered the ‘best’ finals series every played.
The inevitable truth: No-one had a chance against Dustin Martin
Certainly the regular season doesn’t attract much attention – the SuperBowl is – in my mind – a global event though – and that’s where Tom Brady shone the most!
The inevitable truth: No-one had a chance against Dustin Martin
It’s 100% true that in order to be the ‘legend’ in Grand Finals, NBA Championships, and Superbowls, you need to get there first – and just like the Bulls and Patriots, the Tigers have had a heck of a supporting cast to help Martin make the big game in order for him to shine.
The inevitable truth: No-one had a chance against Dustin Martin
Thanks Marty! It was the result of having far too much free time, and attempting to meld the far-too-many obscure pop culture references I’ve got in my head with the AFL!
The inevitable truth: No-one had a chance against Dustin Martin
Agree with you about Martin bringing team-mates into the game – a consequence of AFL having much larger team sizes than the NBA there definitely – it’s much easier for a singe person to take over and dominate all the time in 5-a-side than it is in 18-a-side.
The inevitable truth: No-one had a chance against Dustin Martin
Well, sadly, my best joke/basketball reference was edited out Max.
Dwight Howard is the real Finals MVP
Cheers Simon! As a semi-casual NBA fan until a couple of years ago, I’d forgotten just how much Dwight was moved around the league after his Orlando & Houston deals – was fascinating to reflect on his change to hyped-up bench player!
Dwight Howard is the real Finals MVP
As you outline, there’s too many variables that are different (and more that can’t actually be compared due to changes in defensive rules between MJ and LBJ) for a comparison to be worthy. Additionally, the quality of opponents in NBA Finals play-offs can also vastly swing someone’s opinions (The Ringer had a GREAT article exploring this concept: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/5/11/21254188/title-expectations-michael-jordan-lebron-james) I think we should just appreciate how good LBJ is, remember how good MJ was (and while I’m at it how good Kareem was, and how good Wilt was, and how good Olajuwon/Robinson/Ewing/Barkley/Malone/Stockton were, and how good Doncic/Giannis etc. are and enjoy good players whenever we get the chance to see them!)
What does LeBron's Lakers title mean for the GOAT debate?
I would argue that the Spurs are already solidly rebuilding – Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker IV have shown glimpses of potential, and Derrick White showed in the bubble that he can be a dangerous scorer. Jakob Poeltl and Drew Eubanks are both talented and under 25 and have LaMarcus Aldridge to teach the the fundamentals of being a big man, and with the exceptions of LMA and Rudy Gay (both 34 yrs old) and Patty Mills (32) the majority of their starters (or likely starters for next season) are 25! As far as Orlando go, they need some rough’n’tough bigs to help ‘protect’ their youngsters, much like Dwight, Markieff, and McGee have done for the Lakers. Having a slew of bigs who you can rotate (and also beat up and stymie freewheeling opposition) would very much help their squad chocked full of talented young 3 & D wings.
NBA offseason: Two franchises that need to start rebuilding
Djokovic is a ridiculously driven individual – you just have to look at his game on court to know that – if anything I dare say he’ll use any possible ‘hatred’ from fans of his ‘old-fashioned ways’ to motivate himself more – fair chance he’ll end up with the most Grand Slam titles – he’s certainly got age and relative health on his side compared to Roger and Rafa.
Djokovic is a relic of the past, caught in a changing time
It’s been noted frequently that whilst Budenholzer does indeed have some flaws – I think you only need to look at the splits for ‘Time on Court’ from today’s Game 6 slug-a-thon to see that when you get to a crunch game, you play your stars for as long as humanly possible – he’s been hampered by the front office decision to move Malcolm Brogdon to the Pacers. That combined with some no good drafting – Donte Divincenzo is the only player apart from Brogdon to be any good for the Bucks since 2015 – has left them with some roster issues. Nonetheless, I think the Bucks will bounce back (and will have a much bigger focus on making some shrewd off-season signings) to help Giannis climb the mountain. He’s only 25 after all, and Jordan and LeBron didn’t get their first rings until they were 27!
Milwaukee needs a culture change and the buck stops with Budenholzer
The Al Horford deal has the potential to go down as one of the all-time worst – Tobias Harris actually delivers something (and steps up in Simmons absence) but Horford has been reduced to a bad bench player – which is no small thing.
Who is to blame for the 76ers’ failure?
Horn’s got a hard head on him, and has done remarkably well for himself. And he’s got a $2.1 million reward for getting thoroughly out-classed by what should the exciting future of Australian boxing. Not the worst severance package going around!
The king of Australian boxing is dead. All hail the king
Cheers for the read – Part 2 will be up and running later this week, so stay tuned!
Ten most disrespectful goals of 2021 - Part 1