Month: September 2014

The NRL 2014 Team of the Year

Posted by | Sep 26, 2014 | |

With the preliminary finals approaching us and 12 teams out of action, it’s time to look back at the season 2014. Before we go on, to ultimately crown the champion team for this year, why not look back at who has been successful throughout the season? Season 2014 had it all – golden point games, unexpected victories, major upsets and even a change of hands in the Origin series. With all this, players stand out and rise above the rest. Nominating four players of each position who had stellar seasons may be an easy job, but cutting it down to just one in each position (with one runner up) is tougher. Who would you pick? Here is the Team of the Year, for 2014. Fullback: Jarryd Hayne (Eels) Before I started writing this article, I have been saying Greg Inglis was easily the top fullback in the game. But it is hard to go past what he did this year. Catapulted into the captaincy role this season, he may have not always said the right things at times to referees, but his actions really led the way. Hayne led a rejuvenated Eels squad in a charge towards the final eight, only falling short in the last round. Glimpses of his magnificent 2009 form were on show this year, but will he keep this form up in 2015? Runner up:...

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The 10 greatest NBA players of all time: Part 3

Posted by | Sep 6, 2014 | |

Today I reveal the three greatest NBA players of all time. Some superstars only managed honourable mentions, while the likes of Larry Bird and Kobe Bryant couldn’t crack the top three. So who’s in the top three, and who’s the greatest of all? 3. Kareem Abdul Jabbar There have been four players in the centre position on this list. All hail the king of them all. Kareem was the definition of an NBA Centre. He had the silky skills of Hakeem Olajuwon, the length of Wilt Chamberlain, the post dominance of Shaquille O’Neal, and the strong defensive prominence of Bill Russell. After a very successful NCAA career, in which he won three NCAA Championships, along with three most outstanding NCAA Player of the Tournament awards, Jabbar went on to to the NBA. To date, Kareem has the most MVP Awards of any player. He was lucky to play with some great point guards, then he teamed up Magic Johnson to create the ‘ShowTime’ Laker era. He boasts an incredible six NBA MVP Awards, six NBA Championships, two NBA Finals MVP Awards, five All-NBA Defensive first Team selections, and a record nineteen All-Star appearances. He is also the all-time leading NBA point-scorer, a record that seems unreachable. He was well known for his unguardable ‘Skyhook’ shot, a shot many players still seek his advice on to learn. There is a...

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The 10 greatest NBA players of all time: Part 2

Posted by | Sep 4, 2014 | |

LeBron, Dr J and Shaq all featured before we even reach number seven in the greatest ten NBA players of all time. Today we’ll see who made numbers seven through four. Tomorrow I will reveal my top three. 7. Wilt Chamberlain Wilt ‘The Stilt’ Chamberlain will always be best known for being the first person to score 100 points in an organised basketball game. Before Shaq, there was no more dominant force on-court than Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt didn’t have Shaq’s bulky body though – he was a tall, incredibly athletic and lean centre. Statistic wise, Wilt would be an easy shoo-in for a top three position, the only reason he drops is because of his lack of championship credentials. Still, his accolades include seven scoring titles, eleven rebounding titles, four MVPs, two NBA championships and an NBA Finals MVP. Statistically, Wilt has it over a lot of players. His career overall averages are only imaginable in this day and age – 30.1 points per game and 22.9 rebounds per game. Wilt also became the only player to average 50 points in an entire NBA season, while averaging 27 rebounds from his first five years in the NBA. There may never be a more prominent and dominant force. 6. Larry Bird When people talk Caucasian NBA players, Larry ‘The Legend’ Bird is the King of them all. Larry played his...

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The 10 greatest NBA players of all time: Part 1

Posted by | Sep 3, 2014 | |

During the 2013-2014 NBA season, more than any previous year that comes to mind, debate raged over the best NBA players of all time. I’ve picked the 10 greatest players of all time. I also have three honourable mentions, who could easily have made the top 10. Honourable mentions Hakeem Olajuwon Big ‘Akeem the Dream’ is widely regarded as the smoothest big man the league has ever seen. He beat many defenders with his famous ‘Dream Shake’ and could also block shots pretty well. Hakeem boasted an NBA MVP, was a back-to-back NBA Finals champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and holds the record for the most blocks ever recorded. Oscar ‘The Big O’ Robertson My experience watching Oscar is limited to a documentary and numerous highlight videos. But when some of the greatest players ever say he was the hardest player they had to contain, you tend to take notice. Big O is the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double over an entire NBA season. He was also the first player to be considered a triple threat – deadly at scoring on the inside, outside, and also was a stellar playmaker. Oscar boasted incredible feats, including an NBA Championship, NBA MVP of 1964, three-time NBA All-Star Game MVP and, as mentioned before, averaged a Triple-Double in a season. Julius...

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