Hoops

Hodgson: I've struggled with growing expectations

Its great people get opportunities.
Its great that players play overseas in summer leagues
But
Lets be real. All 3 aren't NBA material especially Hodgson.
He is tall, and plays his part. That is it.
Live in the moment by all means but remember, you are playing NBL, Boomers but not close to NBA standard and never will be

I don't think Hodgson has gotten ahead of himself. I think it's more that now he has been put in that next bracket of players, everyone expects more of him and he is struggling to deal with that. Until the boomers call up he was never in the spotlight.

Similar thing with Sobey. Last year when he had his break out year there were no expectations on him, he went from rotation player to star. Now everyone expects him to do that night in night out and he is one of the faces of the NBL featured on every fox sports ad involving the Sixers etc. I think he is struggling with that too.

That said, he's 26 years old and I'd have expected a more mature, realistic world view from someone of that age.

Yes Hodgson is 26 but people need to remember just three seasons ago he couldn't even get a gig in the NBL. He was training with Melb Utd and they went with Chris Patton instead. So Joey took a punt on him much like Sobey.

In the space of two years he went from being unable to get a spot on an NBL roster to trying out for NBA teams and playing on a gold medal winning Boomers team.

It's obviously been a pretty wild ride for him and now for the first time in his career he's playing with expectations on him.

It's not a physical thing it's clearly mental you can see that with the silly cheap fouls he's always picking up early in games and if he misses his first shot or two becomes too hesitant to look to try and score again.

Hodgson has had the potential tag for a long time now. Two d1 schools. How many years in the NBL? Has had some injury issues along the way. But maybe just one of those cases where he physically looks like he should dominate but just doesn't have a natural feel for the game iq etc

I thought Sobey was injured when the Asia Cup was on or at least in the lead-up. Happy to be corrected if I've remembered that wrongly.

With respect to being crazy to get ahead of himself by making Boomers in a mediocre comp, it's hard to know what was put in his head by friends, coaches, other players, support staff etc. Also, he was starting centre, ahead of Andersen and Brandt, which may have given him ideas above his real standing.

That said, he's 26 years old and I'd have expected a more mature, realistic world view from someone of that age.

Sobey I don't know about. His performance last year was astonishing and few, if any, people predicted such a breakout year. I sure as hell didn't see it coming. It makes me wonder if this year is a regression to the mean.

Wright's comments suggest Sobey's gotten too focused on thinking he has to get a lot of points to help the team. He may need to work out how to feel like he's contributing without racking up 20 points a night. Perhaps Sam MacKinnon or Brett Maher could give him some good advice on that.

Sobey probably lost confidence by not being selected :P

"Hodgson says he hasn’t been mentally strong enough to turn his international call up into quality basketball for the 36ers."

He even says it himself!

Anon, you have proven to be an idiot. Stupid points.

Crazy to think he could possibly get ahead of himself. Playing for the Boomers in a non Olympic year means squat. Has been some pretty mediocre types that have put the jersey on. I’m sure Joey was so impressed with his own selection of Hodgson that he forgot to keep this ‘could be’ player in line.

Remove Creek then from the discussion. Typo. Let's focus on the point now.

Are Hodgson, Sobey, Creek struggling because they think of themselves as Champions now even though in reality they were playing against midget Asian teams who weren't even at full strength? A mental issue.

This thread is dedicated to the Aussies playing NCAA Division I college basketball in the 2011/12 NCAA season.

As with last year, I will try and keep this thread updated as regularly as possible with all the news and results, however please feel free to contribute as this helps out immensely!

Name / Year / Position / School / Conference
-----------------------------------------------------
Akinpetide, Femi / Sr / F / Sacred Heart University / Northeast
Duinker, Josh / Sr / F / University of Richmond / Atlantic 10
Iliadis, Trian / Sr / G / Old Dominion University / Colonial Athletic
Massey, Matt / Sr / C / Southern Utah University / Summit League
Steindl, Clint / Sr / G / Saint Mary's College / West Coast
Tomlinson, Nate / Sr / G / University of Colorado / Big 12
Hodgson, Matthew / RS-Jr / C / Saint Mary's College / West Coast
Brandt, Angus / Jr / C / Oregon State University / Pac-12
Broekhoff, Ryan / Jr / G/F / Valparaiso University / Horizon League
Dellavedova, Matthew / Jr / G / Saint Mary's College / West Coast
Diop, TJ / Jr / F / Seattle University / Independant
Ellis, Cody / Jr / F / Saint Louis University / Atlantic 10
Fisher, Daniel / Jr / F / American University / Patriot League
Harris-Tunks, Shane / Jr / C / University of Colorado / Big 12
Heuir, Damon / Jr / G / Southern Utah University / Summit League
Hickert, Jordan / Jr / F / Eastern Washington University / Big Sky
Kostur, Dejan / Jr / F / Idaho State University / Big Sky
McInerney, Liam / Jr / F / Stetson University / Atlantic Sun
Motum, Brock / Jr / F / Washington State University / Pac-12
Muo, Mathiang / Jr / F / Charleston Southern University / Big South
Naburgs, Joel / Jr / G / Stetson University / Atlantic Sun
Page, Jorden / Jr / G / Saint Mary's College / West Coast
Reid, Brad / Jr / C / University of Missouri-Kansas City / Summit League
Smith-Hyde, Linden / Jr / G / Nicholls State University / Southland
Vandenberg, Jordan / Jr / C / North Carolina State University / Atlantic Coast
Young, Mitchell / Jr / F / Saint Mary's College / West Coast
Kok, Aru / Rs-So / C / University of Southern California-Upstate / Atlantic Sun
McMath, Claybrin / RS-So / F / Bryant University / Northeast
Murphy, Rhys / RS-So / G / Oregon State University / Pac-12
Bairstow, Cameron / So / F / University of New Mexico / Mountain West
Devlin, Luke / So / F / University at Albany / America East
Diop, Shola / So / F/C / Winthrop University / Big South
Hill, Jeromie / So / F / University of Texas - San Antonio / Southland
Maynard, Corey / So / G / Bryant Bryant University / Northeast
Nujic, Igor / So / F / University of Texas - San Antonio / Southland
O'Neill, Ben / So / G / University of Hartford / America East
Pal, Chudier / So / C / University of North Carolina Asheville / Big South
Kernich-Drew, Dexter / RS-Fr / G / Washington State University / Pac-12
Llewellyn, Spencer / RS-Fr / University of the Pacific / Big West
Aldridge, Jackson / Fr / G / Butler University / Horizon League
Drmic, Anthony / Fr / G / Boise State University / Mountain West
Faithfull, Indiana / Fr / G / Wofford University / Southern Conference
Greenwood, Hugh / Fr / G / University of New Mexico / Mountain West
Hadziomerovic, Igor / Fr / G / Boise State University / Mountain West
Hooley, Peter / Fr / G / University at Albany / America East
McBeath, Sam / Fr / F / Nicholls State University / Southland
Prest, Lachlan / Fr / F / Nicholls State University / Southland
Rowley, Sam / Fr / F / University at Albany / America East
Sinclair, Will / Fr / C / Utah Valley University / Great West
Thomas, Lewis / Fr / F / University of California - Santa Barbara / Big West
Trist, Daniel / Fr / F / Lafayette College / Patriot League
Wroe, Corban / Fr / G / University of Hartford / America East

Aussie’s making their mark in the Division 1 coaching ranks:

Caporn, Adam / Assistant Coach / Saint Mary's College / West Coast
Fisher, Scott / Director of Operations / University of Hawaii - Manoa / Western Athletic
Harriman, Chris / Assistant Coach / Saint Louis University / Atlantic 10
Rillie, John / Assistant Coach / Boise State University / Western Athletic

If I have missed anyone off this list, or got something wrong, please post the required change and I will update this opening post so we have one source of truth.

A great place to follow all the news and results is via this link: ESPN: NCAA DI Mens Basketball