Jackson's WNBL return still on hold

Updated November 08, 2012 17:33:33

Australian star Lauren Jackson will postpone her return to the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) indefinitely pending further medical assessment.

Since returning to Australia last month, Jackson has undergone treatment for a chronic hamstring injury she suffered in June while playing for the Opals.

She had returned to Canberra Capitals training while undergoing intensive rehabilitation including an injection to relieve nerve pain.

But Jackson is still experiencing nerve and muscle pain, particularly while running.

The AIS medical team and Capitals doctor David Hughes advised her to proceed with caution and postpone her return to the WNBL pending ongoing assessment.

"I have full confidence in the medical and support team here," Jackson said in a statement on Thursday.

"I'm glad the team has been playing well and I'm so disappointed I'm not out there with them.

"I'm doing all I can to get past this and on court."

Basketball Australia chief executive Kristina Keneally said Jackson's health was BA's top priority.

"We want to ensure her recovery is thorough and her return to the WNBL is sustainable," she said.

"So we'll absolutely be guided by the advice of her medical team as to when she should come back to the court."

AAP

Tags: wnbl, sport, basketball, canberra-2600, act, australia

First posted November 08, 2012 17:33:33

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Capitals hold back Jackson return

Updated October 30, 2012 14:04:44

Canberra Capitals will be without star player Lauren Jackson for Friday night's clash against Sydney University at the AIS Arena.

Jackson was expected to return to the side after intensive rehabilitation for hamstring and back injuries, but was ruled out this morning by the team's medical staff.

Jackson says she is keen to get back on the court, but the decision is for the best.

"It's coming along really well ... I'm jogging and doing things like that now," she said.

"There's still another step in the process to make sure I don't go back to where I was and at this point I think that's the best.

"They don't want me to go backwards and ... for me to be able to stay and play through the season, I can't go backwards."

The Capitals-Flames game will be streamed live on the Grandstand website at 7pm AEDT on Friday, November 2.

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, canberra-2600, act, australia

First posted October 30, 2012 12:48:26

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Mills set to return for in-form Boomers

Updated June 14, 2012 17:22:31

On the back of a clean sweep in the series against China the Boomers have been boosted by the imminent return of Patty Mills from the NBA.

Mills will return to Australia following the elimination of his side San Antonio from the NBA finals and is set to join the Boomers camp ahead of the series in Victoria against Greece late this month.

Boomers coach Brett Brown, assistant at the San Antonio Spurs, was back in Perth on Wednesday night for the Boomers' 78-55 win over China to give Australia a 3-0 clean sweep in the series.

Daniel Kickert led all scorers with 20 points for the contest in Perth, while Julian Khazzouh added 16 points and Aron Baynes finished with 12 points.

For China, Sun Yue top-scored with 12 points, while Wang Zhizhi added nine points.

China started well, shooting at more than 50 per cent from the floor to lead 22-17 at the first break.

The turning point came in the second quarter as Chinese head coach Bob Donewald Jr was thrown out of the game after receiving two consecutive technical fouls by the referee.

Australia's Adam Gibson cashed in, scoring eight points in one play, thanks to the freethrows from the technicals, before knocking down a three-pointer off the in-bound play.

This ignited a 16-0 run, giving the Boomers a 10-point lead which they never relinquished.

"I think it's a great way to end this early camp to get three consecutive wins against a very aggressive team and for me personally to come back and see our guys again and see them play our structure again," Brown said after the match.

"It's been a good early period to get ready for such an important time-frame coming with London, so for me to start the campaign and preparation, it's been a positive."

Both sides will be strengthened for the Olympics.

Australian Boomers 78 (Kickert 20, Khazzouh 16) defeated China 55 (Yue 12, Zhizhi 9).

Tags: sport, basketball, olympics-summer, australia, wa, perth-6000

First posted June 14, 2012 13:23:39

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Martin return boosts Perth ahead of final

Corbin Middlemas

Updated April 24, 2012 18:15:16

Two-time NBL best defensive player Damian Martin is playing in game three of the grand final series tonight in Auckland despite spending the past few days in a moon boot.

Martin tore ligaments in his ankle during Perth's come from behind victory in game two last Friday but the Boomers guard trained with the group this morning in a shoot around after missing yesterday's session due to the injury.

Martin completed a fitness test on his troublesome ankle under the watchful eye of Cats' physio Dave Philpot.

"We ran him today in the shoot-around, it's noticeable that's he got an injury there but he did function reasonably well," Philpot said shortly after practise.

"He's got a mild to moderate strain of a couple of ligaments high up in his ankle, which really stabilise the whole joint, and as a result it's obviously very painful. We had all the scans done which showed the instability there is only very minor, which means that's he able to play."

In contrast to what was initially thought, Martin will not have an injection to numb the pain before tip-off.

"Unfortunately because the ligament is a weight baring one, so you really cant inject it with a local because if he does anymore damage you really want to know about it," said Philpot.

"You can't afford to let him run around on a ligament that's busted, and at any stage there is that risk he's going to go out and do more damage, hopefully we've done enough to keep that risk pretty low. But it's always there. I'm pretty confident that he'll play and have his usual impact."

The Wildcats appeared in good spirits after arriving at the arena this morning, as Cameron Tovey and Shawn Redhage re-enacted the latter's game winning block from game two.

Compounding coach Rob Beveridge's injury concerns though is the health of Greg Hire, who played a pivotal role off the bench in game two.

"Right now, Greg (Hire) is very sick," Beveridge said six hours before tip-off.

"He couldn't train yesterday, he's had migraines and been vomiting, things like that, again this morning he couldn't do a whole lot either."

Hire hit a season-high 12 points, and played considerably greater minutes after Tovey found himself in early foul trouble.

Victory tonight for Perth would deliver the club a record sixth NBL championship in its 26th consecutive play-offs campaign.

Coverage of game three from Auckland can be heard live on ABC Grandstand Digital and online from 5:30pm AEST.

Tags: basketball, sport, perth-6000, wa, australia, new-zealand

First posted April 24, 2012 15:38:18

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Bogut ready for NBA return

Updated December 02, 2011 08:13:37

An excited Andrew Bogut is confident his enforced lay-off from basketball has not been time wasted as he prepares to return to a rescheduled NBA.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Australian centre is set for a Christmas Day start to the new season - delayed and now shortened because of a stand-off between the league's owners and the players' union.

Both parties came to a handshake agreement this week to end the lockout of the world's best basketball competition, with players - including Bogut - now voting on a deal expected to be accepted.

Bogut is adamant he is in good enough shape to tackle a 66-game regular season - 16 shorter than normal - which will be shoehorned into a tighter timeframe.

"I'm about 85 per cent (fit)," he said.

"I don't want to be at 100 right now because if I'm peaking right now, I'm going to get through training camp and I'm going to be burned out.

"I'm pretty comfortable with where I'm at.

"I've been shooting ever since the lockout started, and lifting weights. So I'll ramp up my conditioning a little bit this week and I'll be fine.

"It's good to be out of the unemployment line and back to what I do best."

But Bogut believes the tougher, tighter schedule will mean casualties from those who haven't put in the work during their time away from the court.

"If I was a punter, I'd guess there'll be a fair few injuries early on," he said.

"Hopefully most of the blokes will come back in shape, but a fair few who won't will find themselves in a bit of trouble because it's such a brutal schedule."

The 27-year-old's five months in playing limbo - not helped by a massive insurance premium dangling over his head preventing him from taking the court - has allowed him to work on several off-court projects in Australia.

The most ambitious is his move into athlete management - Bogut and his agent Bruce Kaider teaming up as partners in a consulting venture.

With one eye on his own future after his NBA career, Bogut will now help manage the affairs of other athletes.

Heading the stable of athletes are fellow Australian basketball stars Patty Mills and Lauren Jackson, Western Bulldogs' AFL player Shaun Higgins and US-based Major League baseballer Peter Moylan.

Bogut is scheduled to return to Milwaukee on Tuesday, ahead of club training camps scheduled to start on December 9.

AAP

Tags: basketball, sport, united-states, australia

First posted November 30, 2011 21:35:40

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Wildcats hopeful of Redhage return

Posted April 14, 2011 18:20:00

Perth Wildcats are hopeful star forward Shawn Redhage can return to his blistering best next season as the club deals with their early exit from this year's NBL finals series.

The Wildcats' 2010-11 campaign came to a shuddering halt on Wednesday night when they were thumped 99-83 in the deciding game of their semi-final series with New Zealand Breakers in Auckland.

Redhage's season-ending hip injury in January robbed the defending champions of their most potent weapon, with his absence keenly felt as the Breakers wrapped up the semi-final series 2-1.

The 30-year-old, who is still in the US after undergoing two rounds of surgery on his hip, plans to return to Perth next month to continue his lengthy rehabilitation.

Although Redhage's playing prospects remain somewhat murky, Perth coach Rob Beveridge said the five-time club MVP remained a major part of his plans to build a successful dynasty at the Wildcats.

"If we had Redhage we would've, could've, should've been in the grand final," Beveridge said.

"So there's no doubt we want Redhage involved.

"He's been an MVP at the club and he's a massive part of the future as well.

"It's the unknown with him (as to when he can play again) but we'd love for him to be involved."

Although import Kevin Lisch is yet to decide on his future and mid-season acquisition Andre Brown is unlikely to be required for next season, Beveridge hopes the rest of the squad will stick together.

"We're about trying to build something very special," Beveridge said.

"I guess if you want to have people talk about the glory days, during those days you had stability in the club with the likes of Ricky Grace, Andrew Vlahov, James Crawford and Scott Fisher.

"They were around for a long period of time and created a lot of success.

"That's exactly what we want to do, keep the majority of the group and get better than what we were this year."

The Wildcats finished the regular season in fourth place, but Beveridge said that was an achievement in itself following the club's injury-plagued campaign.

"Everyone always forgets that we lost Matty Knight for 13 games and Jesse (Wagstaff) for 11 games," Beveridge said.

"So we had to have all the guys play out of position.

"Right now I don't know if there are too many teams in the league, if they had the extensive injuries we had, that could have made the playoffs.

"From that perspective we are really proud of the guys for the way they stuck together. This will just make them better in the future."

The Breakers, who were well led by Gary Wilkinson (20 points), Kirk Penney (18) and CJ Bruton (17) in their thumping win over Perth, will have home court advantage in the best-of-three grand final series, where they will take on the winner of Sunday's clash between Townsville and Cairns.

- AAP

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