Hoops

Zac Delaney

According to these:
http://www.nsusharks.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1875
http://www.usbasket.com/player.asp?Cntry=USA&PlayerID=112291

He's still playing there

6"6? Far out.. I must be taller than I thought!!

Did Sean actually play? Wasn't aware of that.. I know he went over but didn't think he played a minute.

There are also the players that love playing and are really talented but just don't want to play as a development player when they have a FT job or study. There have been a few of those over the past 2-3 years.

most Breakers development players are from Auckland and most are from the suburbs that directly surround the franchises headquarters.

Abercrombie, Tai Webster, Cory Webster and Isaac Fotu all went to school on Aucklands North Shore close to the Breakers headquarters and Rueben Te Rangi and BJ Anthony are both also from Auckland.
Alex Pledger and Josh Bloxham are both from Blenheim in the South Island and Dion Prewster is from Wellington.

thats most of the recent guys

RE: Any Illawarra kids playing o/s. Not to my knowledge.

There was a guy named Sean Mullen who went to play College ball, i'm sure he signed with a D1 NCAA team. But left before the season started, came back to Wollongong and kinda feel off the face of the earth.

I saw him during this off season scrimmage fighting for a spot. He looked fit, he was holding Gruber out of the key despite only being around 6"2ish. But obviously didn't make the team and I don't know what's happened to him since..

Josh Bloxham for NZ must be nearly at the end of that status? Haven't seen enough on court to warrant a full contract compared to when Webster/Pledger/Anthony/Abercrombie got on and made some impact.
He must be doing something right at training and he gets to go at the best player in the league in his position daily.

Rueben Terangi reminds me of Mitch Creek, but quite possibly a better shooter already and imo, comparable athleticism. Watch out for him to get a full contract soon if he embraces the Breakers Ethos on and of the court. He could quite possibly be another Abercrombie if he shows the dedication in the gym that Tom did as a development player.

Yeah when you're a development you can switch teams.

I'm struggling to think of a Hawks development player that went on to be a FT player.

Demos went from jnrs to Blaze.
Jackson from AIS to FT with Hawks.

are the Breakers the only club that develops their d players into NBL players?

If he's not loved then explain why his jersey is the highest selling jersey in Hawks history?

If he's not liked then explain why when he gets on the court the crowd goes nuts? He is the human cigar and people love going for the little guy (no pun).

Is he liked or respected amongst true basketball fans? Unlikely. But you have a large chunk of people that go to Hawks games that aren't hardcore "basketball fans", they go to support their local sporting club and they go because they've been doing it for 10-30 odd years and the Hawks are like a second family to them. You also have a lot of families that attend games because it's a night out with the family.

Ask these people to name 3 Hawks players. I guarantee 90%+ will say Glen Saville and Zac as two of the 3. Ask them to name 1 player from each team of the NBL and you'll find they struggle because they only support THEIR team. They're not hardcore basketball fans. They are the majority at Hawks games (and i dare say other small community teams as well), they are the ones buying jerseys, hats etc because it's their home team. They support their local boys like Zac, Tyson and Jackson. They are the core - I would say 2,500ish that turn up every game no matter what the team record is.

Now.. Then you have the fans of the game. Hardcore fans, like you and I. That visit places like this forum, that talk about basketball, play it, watch it, live it. Most of us can name each team's roster. We know who's good and who's not.. And lets be honest here, teams and players must be good enough to get our attention. So therefor these types of fans scratch their heads and wonder why is a player like Zac on a roster. We don't buy his jersey. But we are the minority at Hawks games.. Unless Wollongong is 12-0 then these fans start coming out to games.


But I got side tracked.

There are a few other Development players as well. Jamison and Sam Findlay who used to run Courtside Bunker.

Jamison is a cocky skinny guy, about 6"5 maybe. But is way too skinny at this stage to make any impact. I've also played against him in local comps many times, you sit him on his arse once and he won't drive again. So still very raw.

Sam is also pretty young. Shorter than me and i'm 6ft. Got decent handles, can shoot and I believe can easy be a defender at the NBL level in 12-24 months time, maybe even now. He works his arse off.

Zac is actually a good player. Can he play at the NBL level? Personally, I don't think so.

But locally, he is kind of an icon. So i'm guessing that's why. People love him!

In saying that, this is his last season as a development player. So I doubt he will be re-signed next season.

Alex Beagley will be playing this week in NZ. Not Zac. Alex is the other development player. More a 2 guard in the mold of Tyson Demos but a better athlete.