Jamar still doing UA Proud

[Patch]

Wilson fires as Taipans douse Blaze

 

December 02, 2011, 10:45 PM AEST

 

By: Murray Wenzel, Pagemasters

 

 

 

BOXSCORE

 

Another composed final quarter has helped the Cairns Taipans beat the Gold Coast Blaze 87-78 in Cairns on Friday.

 

Led by point guard Jamar Wilson’s 23 points, six rebounds and six assists, the Taipans ended the Blaze’s three-game run and reaffirmed to their doubters they are not a spent force.

 

Gold Coast point guard Adris Deleon scored 17 points, but playing through injury he hurt his team with a horror 6-of-22 shooting night. Mark Worthington was the Blaze’s best with 17 points and eight rebounds.

 

With the game in the balance in the final term, Wilson and Alex Loughton (20 points) extended the Taipans’ two-point final quarter lead into an 11-point advantage.

 

Wilson took advantage of Deleon’s sluggishness and calmly played executioner on his home court once again.

 

When coach Joey Wright was called for a tech foul, Wilson slotted two-of-three from the line to push the lead to a game-high eight points.

 

Loughton’s dunk in the final moments then sent the crowd wild and secured the result.

 

Earlier in the game there was no shortage of fouls and it hurt both teams, with first James Harvey (three fouls) and then Ian Crosswhite (four) and Wilson (three) forced to the bench.

 

Those fouls were still hurting Wright post-game, pointing to the Snakes' 31 free-throw attemps as the killer blow for his side.

 

"They aren't a team that goes to the line a lot and for us to put them there 31 times is not good," he said.

 

Alex Loughton did his bit defensively, forcing three crucial turnovers to stifle any momentum Blaze managed to build.

 

Those efforts book-ended a scuffle that flared after Wilson was fouled mid-court by Jason Cadee, the climax of a heated six minutes that had both coaches dancing the sidelines after a string of close decisions.

 

At one stage coach Wright ripped his tie off, receiving the ire of the Cairns crowd for his efforts.

 

When Wilson streaked past Deleon with a lightning crossover just before half-time, he gave the Snakes a 42-40 half time lead.

 

A three-pointer to Drew Warren (15 points) was the perfect end to the third quarter for the Taipans, but an Anthony Petrie tip-in on the buzzer reduced the margin back to two.

 

While the Blaze challenged repeatedly in the final term, Cairns made their open shots and kept their composure thanks to Wilson, climbing above the Gold Coast into fourth place.

 

Worthington was at a loss to explain how they ended on the wrong side of the ledger.

 

"We got 22 more shots than them, out-rebounded them and they had more turnovers, but we lost the game. It's not a maths equation, it doesn't add up," he said.

 

Taipans coach Aaron Fearne hailed it as a "very, very good win" against a quality opponent.

 

Wilson said the win represented another step in the right direction for the new-look Taipans.

 

"It's a great win for us after beating them at home - they go 10 deep," he said.

 

And he warned the league to keep underestimating them at their peril

 

"I want teams to keep not paying attention to us - we love it," he said. "All we come to do is play basketball."

 

Cairns Taipans 87 (Wilson 23, Loughton 20, Warren 15 )

Gold Coast Blaze 78 (Deleon 17, Worthington 15, Petrie 13)

 

Crowd: 4542 at Cairns Convention Centre

[uofalbany]

[uofalbany]

Good times...

 

 

Anybody have a highlight video of the albany/uconn tournament game?

[jalidanefan]

Good times...

 

 

Anybody have a highlight video of the albany/uconn tournament game?

 

Thanks for that - I skipped out of work and brought my nephew to Philly that day - ended up sleeping in Philly's Grand Central 'cause we missed our train! It was all GOOOOOOOD!

[Patch]

Jamar Player of the week for 2nd time

 

Wilson wins second weekly award

 

December 13, 2011, 03:19 PM AEST

 

By: NBL - Marc Howard

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After putting in one of the best clutch performances seen all season in the iiNet NBL Championship, Cairns Taipans import guard Jamar Wilson has taken out the NBL Player of the Week award for Round 10.

 

This is the second weekly award for Wilson in 2011/12, after he also won the Round Seven honours. He is the only player yet to have won multiple awards this season.

Wilson was simply huge in crunch time as the Taipans scored a heart-stopping 79-77 victory in overtime against the higher-ranked Melbourne Tigers at the Cairns Convention Centre on Saturday night.

 

Wilson had a season-high 27 points as well as five rebounds to help the Snakes score the upset OT win. None of those points were more important than the basket he made at the end of regulation to send the match into an extra period. He then scored nine points in OT, including a big three down the stretch, to guide the Snakes to the W.

The American went 9-of-16 from the field for the match (56%) including four-of-five from the perimeter.

[Patch]

Jamar is being well recieved down under. Basketball.net.au has an article up on the Top 15 players in their NBL

 

#2 Jamar Wilson – Cairns (17.0 points, 48% fg, 39% 3pfg, 5.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists)

 

Word is Aaron Fearne was smiling like a Cheshire cat after securing Wilson’s signature, and it is not hard to see why. Given their injury problems, Cairns should be sitting at the bottom of the NBL table, but Wilson’s leadership and uncanny self-belief down the stretch has kept them in the playoff race. In Cairns’ seven games decided by single figures, Wilson has averaged eight points at 56 per cent after three quarter time – his teammates average another 12 combined – to earn the tag as the NBL’s best closer. The leading scorer in the star-studded VTB United League in Northern Europe last year, Wilson has proved he has what it takes in the NBL, averaging 16.5 points at 52 per cent against last year’s playoff teams. He is undoubtedly the most important component of Cairns’ dour style.

[MRSGDG]

Jamar - One of the Top 3 Plays of the Week in Dec

[Clickclack]

This guy will forever be remembered as a legend.

[Patch]

Top performers this season - Jan 12, 2012 (by Duncan Matheson)

 

 

As we move just past the halfway mark of the season, we look at those players who have performed well enough to be considered worthy of All-NBL team selection.

NBL First Team

 

Julian Khazzouh (209-C-86) 17.2 points (3rd), 11.0 rebounds (1st), 2.4 blocks (1st), 46.4% FG 68.0 FT

 

Cameron Tragardh (209-C/F-83, college: ORU) 19.4 points (1st), 6.2 rebounds, 57.5% FG (3rd), 54.7% FT

 

Peter Crawford (193-G/F-79) 16.8 points (7th), 3.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals (8th) 45.5% FG, 46.8% 3pt FG (2nd), 84.0% FT (3rd)

 

Kevin Lisch (188-G-86, agency: Warren Sports International, college: St.Louis) 17.1 points (4th), 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 48.1% FG, 42.2% 3pt FG (5th), 81.3% FT (4th)

 

Jamar Wilson (185-PG-84, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Albany) 16.9 points (6th), 5.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 46.6% FG, 36.0% 3pt FG, 81.0% FT (5th)