You always love to see good imports returning to the Philips Championship, especially if they’ve made a significant impact during their first time here. So it is with Brisbane’s latest recruit, former King Ebi Ere, whose play for Sydney in the 2004 Grand Final series, especially during that fateful Game Five, was something to behold.

In less than a minute, the Oklahoma Sooner standout completely turned around a game that West Sydney looked destined to win, with an immortal shooting burst that underlined not only Ere’s prodigious talent but more importantly the man’s gigantic, steel-plated cojones. I mean, to have the absolute confidence to take, and make, those shots with everything on the line – that’s a guy you want on your ballclub.

It went like this – pull-up three in transition…whack. Up-fake one bounce pull-up J…money. Another three on the end of the fast break…swish. Sydney goes from being down five with three minutes left to leading by three and the Razorbacks had their heart completely ripped out. Game over.

Ere’s explosive athleticism, perimeter ability and brilliance in transition are a nice counterpoint to the court smarts and floor leadership of Brisbane point guard CJ Bruton, a guy who took the then 22-year-old under his wing in Sydney and developed a strong friendship with him.

You’d best believe that Brisbane fans are in for a treat this season with CJ and Ebi flying up and down the court, and you’d hope the Bullets find a way to keep the 6’5” swingman on the roster once Stephen Black returns from off season surgery.

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I got pilloried by Taipan fans last season for my bad mojo when it came to their beloved team, starting with my fearless prediction of Chris Burgess as MVP – he got hurt the very next day after that article was published.

Then my almost 100 per cent guaranteed week-to-week tipping performance when it came to Cairns and MM’s Picks, I’d pick them to win, they’d lose, and vice versa. You could have made money from my Taipan tips – if you went the other way that is.

So the ‘McQuade Curse’ came into being, at least in the regular season. But one prediction in 2005/06 did come true, and it was the most important one at the end of the day – I said the Taipans would make the second round of the finals, and thanks to a corner three from Anthony Stewart in Adelaide that will go down as one of the most important shots in franchise history, I got the monkey off my back, at least for now. Yeah Stewie, I know I owe you one.

And guess what Snake fans – I’m BAAAAAACK! After what I saw in a pre-season game last week, it’s going to be extremely hard to tip against a ballclub that has in my eyes as good a chance as anybody at knocking off the Sydney-Melbourne axis this season.

Seriously, with the talent Alan Black and the outstanding Cairns front office have assembled, that phenomenal community support and a home court that is starting to rival Townsville’s for the intensity and passion of its fans, the Taipans are looking like a team that is about to take the next step. Yeah, I’ll say it – they are a threat to go the distance in 2006/07.

So for all those Taipan fans on the Ozhoops message board – especially Greenie and SnakeBite – what can I say guys, it’s going to be more of the same this time. That’s a hell of a team you have up north.

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10 THINGS I THINK

Just some random basketball musings from yours truly…

1. I think the upcoming season will be the most exciting, hard-fought, intense battle we’ve seen in years.

2. I think there’ll be nothin’ better than watching the Dragons and Tigers go at it on Boxing Day.

3. I think despite the loss to Turkey, Australia will do better at the Worlds than a lot of people believe.

4. I think the Razorbacks’ talented centre Julian Khazzouh has the potential to become one of the top five big men in the league within three years.

5. I think the Wollongong Hawks website www.hawks.com.au is looking exceptionally good these days.

6. I think Hoosiers is the best damn sports movie ever.

7. I think the team that finishes last in the 06/07 Philips Championship could win 10 games.

8. I think Perth fans will continue to hate me for supposedly dogging their team.

9. I think the 1985/86 Boston Celtics are the greatest basketball team ever to walk the face of this earth.

10. I think there is some unbelievable young talent coming through in this country and the future’s so bright we ALL gotta wear shades.

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I was at Shoalhaven on the New South Wales south coast over the weekend to watch the finals of the Waratah conference of the Australian Basketball Association – that great winter league I talked about a few months back – and the games certainly didn’t disappoint, albeit for wildly different reasons.

The first semi final pitted Parramatta, featuring West Sydney Razorbacks recruit, centre Julian Khazzouh and Sydney development forward Anthony Susnjara up against an Illawarra squad boasting no less than three NBL players in Wollongong Hawks’ forwards John ‘Pope’ Philip and Kieran Gleeson and guard Daniel ‘Son Of’ Joyce.

Illawarra had outlasted Parramatta in the team’s previous encounter and most expected a close battle this time, but it wasn’t to be, as Wildcats’ guard Jay Pottenger, whose dad Tom was one of the original Illawarra Hawks back in the day, completely neutralised Joyce and Khazzouh and Susnjara dominated inside to help Parramatta overwhelm the Seahawks in the second half en route to a blow-out 112-91 decision.

The other semi between the top two finishers in the regular season – the Sydney Comets, who were without their Kings’ stars in David Barlow and Brad Sheridan and the Sutherland Sharks, who were lucky enough to have their two NBL players, BJ Carter and Cameron Tovey, in uniform.

And as expected, the Sharks proved too strong for the undermanned Comets, blowing the game apart in the second quarter with some devastating three point shooting and riding on the coattails of young Mr Tovey, who was completely unstoppable with 28 points on a blistering 11 of 12 shooting from the field.

The game was effectively over midway through the third quarter and the final score – 107-82 – was an accurate reflection of the gulf that existed between the two teams.

So that set up an intriguing final between Parramatta and Sutherland, a rematch of the Wildcats’ embarrassing defeat at home a month prior, when as the Sharks celebrated en masse Parramatta assistant coach Matt Williamson gathered his troops around and screamed “remember this when we play these guys in three weeks”. But this game would become one that Parramatta will want to just forget about in a hurry.

Sutherland was down by four after the first period, and there was no way anyone could have predicted what came next. In the next 24 minutes of basketball, the Sharks outscored the Wildcats 77-24, including a staggering 43-13 in the second quarter, and went on to win their first Waratah ABA championship by an incredible 51 points, 128-77.

It seemed like everything Sutherland threw up went in – threes, off balance jumpers, fadeaways, you name it. Carter hit 10 of 14 triples and Tovey was a monster, running away with MVP honours after a sublime 37 point, 22 rebound performance.

Parramatta committed 31 turnovers, hit just 5 of 26 from three point range and looked afterwards like they had witnessed their own public flogging. It was unfortunate to have a great season finished in that manner, but when all was said and done even the Wildcats admitted the Sharks were the better team and were probably destined to become the Waratah’s representative in the ABA national finals at Newcastle in New South Wales at the end of the month.

They won 21 of their last 22 games including the final, and as Carter said to me afterwards “we may not have had the most talent, but we were all about the team. All these guys are my closest friends”.

It was an excellent event put on by the Shoalhaven association, and although the final was a blow-out it was still a tremendous finish to an outstanding season in New South Wales basketball, and a clear illustration of the fact our great game continues to thrive and grow. Well done to all.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Basketball League.