ZagsWorldWide Scoop! P-Mac and Kuso running together; John Rillie and Other Zag News

[ZagNative]

Wow! Another great sleuthing job over at ZagsWorldWide!

Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes made his European professional debut on Saturday, suiting up alongside Abdullahi Kuso for Sumykhimprom’s home match against Khimik. And P-Mac’s first shot? A three-point attempt, which he buried! It also happened to be the only shot he took, so some things never change. [I'm joking, people. I kid because I care!] P-Mac also dished out an assist and recorded a steal in his 12 minutes of floor time. As for AK, he tallied 10 points (4-10 FGs, 2-6 FTs), 7 rebounds & 2 steals. Sumy trailed by just 4 with 6½ minutes left, but hit the wall and lost 87-67.

Of course the outcome was of secondary importance here. It was just cool to find out that P-Mac and Kuso are runnin’ together again!

[Vanzagger]

thanks for the

update. Two classic Zags. Sumy is my new 2nd favorite team.

[ZagNative]

And speaking of John Rillie ...

ZagsWorldWide has this:

If it wasn’t for P-Mac, John Rillie would’ve taken top billing again this week. As it turned out, though, P-Mac had a perfect shooting night, and JR didn’t. No, only 6 of John’s 7 triple tries found the bottom of the net! At least he managed to rattle in both of his 2-point attempts and all 4 of his free throws! A great game for JR on Saturday: 26 points, 7 rebounds & 2 assists. It was all in a winning effort, too, as host Townsville annihilated Cairns, 123-92. The Crocs have locked up an NBL playoff spot, and also have the inside track on home-court advantage for the first round. They still have two matches to play in the regular season.

Visiting John's site this morning, I found this report on the St. Mary's Gonzaga game:

- Today saw two heavy weights of the West Coast Conference go at it in college basketball. The Aussie sprinkled St Mary's College (featuring Pat Mills) ranked 22 headed up to Spokane, Washington to take on the #20 Gonzaga Bulldogs.

The first half lived up to the game's billing with the Gaels leading at the main break 39-33. However, the turning point of this game may just have been when Mills went down with a wrist injury three minutes before the half.

The Aussie was on fire from long range dropping 6-8 threes. Mills, who ended with 18pts, did not return in the second half as it is believed he has a sprained wrist.

In the second half the Gaels could not keep pace with the Zags scoring as the final scoreline read 69-62 Gonzaga.

Other Aussies involved in the game were point guard Carlin Hughes who was down on his season averages, had 2pts, 3rebs and 3asts.

Little used Ben Allen saw nine minutes of court time.

Mackay born freshman Clint Steindl, was not shy. He got up seven shots in his sixteen minutes but could not connected on any.

Tassie boy Lucas Walker had his best game of the season to date. His nine points and three rebounds were season highs.

I wish Pat a speedy recovery.

You can catch the replay of this game on ESPN Saturday night.

- Mills loves the idea of playing in Spokane. It is an experience.

I hadn't seen the San Jose Mercury story John linked before. It's a fun one!

Saint Mary's Mills ready for once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
By Jeff Faraudo
Staff writer
Posted: 01/28/2009 06:43:39 PM PST

AS A MAN of the world, Saint Mary's College point guard Patrick Mills knows there is more going on this week than the Gaels' showdown Thursday night with West Coast Conference powerhouse Gonzaga.

The Australian Open tennis tournament is entering its final days back in Mills' homeland, and he's got his favorite. ``I'm a Roger Federer guy,'' he said of the Swiss star who is gunning for his 14th Grand Slam title. ``The amount of success he's been able to have, it's almost like no one can stop him.

``I just like his attitude toward tennis, how much pride and love he has for the game.''

If you don't think Mills has a love of basketball, consider how he describes his daunting assignment in Spokane, Wash., where the Bulldogs own a home record of 207 wins and 13 losses overthe past 19 seasons. Temperatures will hover around zero degrees outside but will approach boiling inside the hoops asylum known as the McCarthey Center.

``It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play up there,'' said sophomore Mills, who is doing it for the second time. ``Very rare, but absolutely fun. There's no other word than that.''

Most visiting players find all sorts of alternatives to Mills' choice of words _ many of them unprintable. ``It's really fun and enjoyable to play up there,'' he said. ``The whole building is cheering against you. There's no place in the world like it.''

Which gives us an excuse to sneak in a photo of Austin Daye blocking a Paddy Mills shot from that game ... at least that's what the caption says ...

[gamagin]

excellent sleuthing, ZN

Thanks !