Victoria Titans

[Warwick <giants@eisa.net.au>]

Hi all,

Over the coming weeks I'll be bringing a lot of Victoria Titans stuff on
board to fill in the basketball void..

There have been 6 rounds of our competiton completed so I'll bring you
up to speed.

All the information you will see comes from NBL Today, the web site
which I 'work' for, but hardly ever contribute to..

http://www.nbltoday.waus.net/

Player profiles

Player Profiles:

Paul Maley - The experience and maturity of Paul Maley was always a
strong asset for the North
Melbourne Giants, and Brian Goorjian knew this when making sure that he
be included in the new
Titans squad.  Goorjian will be hoping that having Maley around the club
in its infancy will be a big
boon.  Apart from just being around the team to exude his past
successes, Maley is much more than
that.  An inside/outside threat who the defence must respect, Maley is
the Chris Mullin of the NBL.
Too old and slow to take it to the hole and slam it down hard like he
did in his prime, but wise  enough
and savvy enough to realise that he can hit anything from a layup to a
big three pointer in the crunch.

David Smith - After bursting into the national basketball scene last
season, Smith quickly became the
success story of a miserable Giants season.  He was without a doubt the
classiest rookie to enter the
league in the past season, and easily claimed the Rookie of the Year
award.  Ultimate athleticism, a
great work ethic and a world class maturity level rarely seen in players
of his age , make up the game
of Smith who at just 19 years of age is set to take the league by
storm.  Expect huge things from this
youngster whom will likely be impressive once again, this time on the
new talent packed Titans line up.

Ben Pepper - The Boston Celtics second round draft choice of 1996 is
still in his early stages of a
development process.  NBA talent scouts and coaches believe this will
lead to a successful NBA
career.  Pepper hit the injury bug which seemed to affect all of the
Giants players last season, but was
still able to show his ability with crucial performances throughout the
season, especially his 28 point, 27
rebound outburst against the Illawarra Hawks (without captain, Pat
Reidy).  He was expected to land
with the Perth Wildcats after the Giants merger, but the Titans snatched
his services away from the
slack Wildcats organisation, which could prove to be the best decision
in Pepper's life.

Tony Ronaldson - Ronaldson is one of the standout players in the
league.  His non-existent
athleticism is more than made up for with an excellent shooting ability,
strong fundamentals and a
courageous leadership that more than helped the Magic to 3 consecutive
NBL Finals appearances, and
become one of the most successful teams of the 90's.  With the merger
comes a breath of fresh air for
the Bear, something which he should relish as he gets to play around
talent that he has only been able
to play with in the Boomers line up.  The Titans are almost the dream
team of Australian basketball.
Ronaldson will lead the Titans to battle with Darryl McDonald, once
again consuming the leadership
role which makes up a great deal of his game.

Brett Wheeler - Since leaving the Adelaide 36ers at the end of the 1997
season, Wheeler's game has
steadily improved to the point where he was the outstanding player for
the Magic in the 1998 Finals.
With great athleticism and shooting ability for a big man, Wheeler is
able to mix his game up a lot and
become a low post and mid range power house, something which helped team
mate Tony Ronaldson's
game last season.  With Pepper joining the Titans, Wheeler will have to
be happy to come off the
bench, a position at which he was able to be successful in Adelaide for
a majority of his stay.

Mike Kelly - Kelly is (to put it bluntly) one of the best defensive
players in league history, following
on a tradition which made the Magic one of the most dangerous teams in
league history.  Not so well
known about Kelly is that he is an more than competent scorer when he
puts himself in that position
(something we unfortunately don’t see too much of), and most of all an
inspirational leader.  Mike
Kelly has never had the opportunity of playing in the league with so
many other experienced players,
which should only benefit both him and the rest of the Titans.  Getting
a chance to play his more
natural position of off guard on a full-time basis is a big plus for
Kelly.  He should have an outstanding
season and take the Titans close to the championship.

Jason Smith - Smith is one of the more athletic and dynamic players in
the NBL.  He is also one of
the most dangerous shooters in the league, leading the league in three
point percentage with an
impressive .500 last season.  He then backed that up with an outstanding
.516 field goal percentage.
That clip is rarely put up by guards, who regularly take most of their
shots from deep range.  Smith is
expected to come into his own this season and put his name up for
selection for the Boomers,
something which he, his team and his fans, all believe is possible for
the super quick player.

Frank Drmic - Most people didn't know who Frank Drmic was until the 1997
junior World
Championships for 23 and under, but those who did are the most important
people in Drmic's basketball
career.  One of those who knew him had followed his career for years
before he entered the league,
that being Brian Goorjian who closely watched him in his junior
development, and helped him out
immensely by giving him rare expert coaching and tips.  Goorjian has the
faith in him, and soon all of
the Titans fans will be as well, and for good reason  This Boomer is
bound for stardom and it should
come this season with the first year Titans.

Now for the one that somehow got lost on the site :D

Darryl McDonald - The 'D-Mac' is a prototypical New York street
basketballer who plays a lot like the Celtics Kenny Anderson and Stephon
Marbury. Hes in his mid 30s now and coming off a serious knee injury
prior to last season (12 months ago!) so hes not quite as quick and
agile as he was in his prime, but he more than makes up for that with
the best basketball brain in the league. He is currently the league
leader in assists and the Titans leader in assists and steals while he
is second in rebounding and scoring, not bad for your point guard!

Coming up today

Round 1 - Saturday October 10 @ Melbourne Tigers
Round 2 - Saturday October 17 Vs Canberra Cannons
Round 4 - Saturday October 31 @ Sydney Kings
Round 5 - Saturday November 7 Vs Wollongong Hawks
Round 6 - Friday November 13 Vs Newcastle Falcons

Cheers,

Warwick

P.S. some of this mail may be in html, but I'll make sure I do my best
for those with non-html compatible mail programs.