Stats

Stats in sport are interesting, but they are just that, stats. They often give a good indication of performance and areas of strengths and weaknesses, but they can never really give a true reading of how a player actually played in his/her role on a team or what their contribution was in the areas that dont show up on paper. 

My best year statistically in the SEABL was in 2008 and in the NBL 2003 and they are 2 of my most enjoyable years not just because I played well, but because the guys on those teams were all great guys and we played as one unit.

I was just looking at these the other day because I was interested to find out how many games I actually played in my Australian Career. I have these days where I like to look back at basketball. I have only started doing that recently as I when I played it wasnt something I worried about. What was interesting and completely coincidental is the fact that I played 194 games in both the SEABL and NBL, for a total of 388 professional Australian games. Pretty random I thought.

With a full season in New Zealand of about 22 games, 2 full seasons and one 2 game stint in Italy's first division for a total of about 60 games, I played about 450 professional basketball games all up. Those 450 seemed to fly by without a chance to take it all in. Its all a big blur to me when I think back at each team I played for. A wonderful time in my life that now strangely feels like it happened in a completely different life time! 4 lovely boys and their busy busy lives seem to overwhelm those memories of life before we had them. 

Career SEABL stats -

Previous Seasons

Competition	Season	M	FGM-A	FG%	3PM-A	3P%	FTM-A	FT%	TOT	AST	PTS
SEABL MEN (2011)	2011	15	46 - 140	32.9	10 - 53	18.9	41 - 58	70.7	5.7	1.1	9.5
SEABL MEN (2010)	2010	27	164 - 370	44.3	26 - 74	35.1	80 - 99	80.8	9.9	1.0	16.1
SEABL MEN (2009)	2009	26	181 - 395	45.8	26 - 78	33.3	120 - 183	65.6	10.4	2.2	19.5
SEABL MEN (2008)	2008	22	187 - 434	43.1	32 - 84	38.1	138 - 195	70.8	13.0	2.1	24.7
SEABL MEN (2006)	2006	27	188 - 406	46.3	33 - 100	33.0	147 - 201	73.1	9.7	1.3	20.6
ABA - SOUTH/EAST MEN (2000)	Regular	15	74 - 182	40.7	10 - 40	25.0	40 - 60	66.7	3.7	0.5	13.2
CBA - SOUTH/EAST MEN (1998)	Regular	30	105 - 249	42.2	5 - 20	25.0	75 - 94	79.8	4.0	0.7	9.7
ABA - SOUTH/EAST MEN (1999)	Regular	30	200 - 412	48.5	44 - 98	44.9	109 - 157	69.4	6.6	1.7	18.4
ABA - NATIONAL FINALS MEN (1999)	National	2	15 - 32	46.9	3 - 9	33.3	4 - 5	80.0	8.0	2.5	18.5

Career NBL stats -

Competition	Season	M	MIN	FGM-A	FG%	3PM-A	3P%	FTM-A	FT%	OFF	DEF	TOT	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
NBL 2007	2007	35	563:47	49 - 124	39.5	11 - 40	27.5	39 - 71	54.9	1.3	1.5	2.7	0.4	0.1	0.3	0.9	2.9	4.2
NBL 2006	2006	23	253:36	26 - 71	36.6	8 - 31	25.8	15 - 36	41.7	1.0	1.9	2.9	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.4	1.8	3.3
NBL 2005	2005	36	817:34	107 - 268	39.9	24 - 81	29.6	73 - 101	72.3	1.8	3.0	4.8	0.8	0.3	0.6	1.6	3.6	8.6
NBL 2004	2004	7	55:44	6 - 16	37.5	2 - 3	66.7	4 - 4	100.0	0.6	1.0	1.6	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.9	1.7	2.6
NBL 2003	Summer	35	760:28	113 - 257	44.0	17 - 47	36.2	100 - 133	75.2	1.9	2.9	4.8	0.7	0.3	0.4	1.9	3.0	9.8
NBL 2002		30	597:55	103 - 243	42.4	17 - 53	32.1	68 - 91	74.7	1.5	2.2	3.8	0.8	0.2	0.7	2.4	3.6	9.7
NBL 2000		28	434:34	50 - 131	38.2	8 - 38	21.1	21 - 33	63.6	1.0	1.8	2.8	0.4	0.1	0.2	0.7	2.4	4.6

The one game that I wish that I could have again is the Nike Hoop Summit in 2000. A prestigious tournament held in the USA for the best under 20 players from around the world versing the best of Americas high school players going onto to College. I was fortunate enough to have a great Junior World Champs for Australia the year before in Portugal and was selected from that.

I was there for about 10 days and in that time I trained and played with some of the best players in my age group in the world. Some of those guys are now playing in the London Olympics for their respective countries. An amazing experience and one Ill never forget but also one that I have forgotten a lot about. If only digital cameras were more prominent then!

I actually played well in that game for the limited minutes I got, found those stats too.

Nike Hoop Summit -

High School Special Event Stats
Year	Event	Min	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	Pts
2000	Nike Hoop Summit	14:00	5-7	1-2	1-3	3	2	1	0	12

We as humans always seem to be graded in our lives, whether its at school, work or in my experience with basketball. I think the best grade we could give ourselves as people would be the way the ones we love - our friends and family, look at us and perceive us to be. 

Loving, dedicated, committed and loyal.  Thats what I want my life 'stat' sheet to have on it and I like to think right now I would rate pretty highly in all these. Although as is with any stats, there are always things to improve!

Stats are just numbers if they havent got a true meaning.