Note: Sometimes life gets a bit busy and it takes a while to get things posted. But here it is!

Friday night saw the Perth Wildcats visit the Kingdome in Sydney. The Sydney Kings team that met them was different to that which has appeared in other lacklustre performances earlier in the season, going down by a mere point in what was an impressive encounter.

What did we learn from this game?

Former NBA and FIBA great, Vlade Divac is currently in Australia and today visited the Sydney Kings. A great humanitarian, Divac is spreading the word about his charity "Fondacija Ana i Vlade Divac" which seeks to alleviate the plight of refugees who have lost their homes due to war. You can read more about the foundation at the official website. 

In this video, the former Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Hornets star talks to Sydney Kings GM David Wolf about his time in the NBA, how he felt when he was traded for Kobe Bryant, his late friend Drazen Petrovic and the fact that he will be visiting Andrew Gaze in Melbourne.

More photos from the visit on the Sydney Kings Facebook page.

BONUS: Here is the photo from when I met Vlade at Istanbul airport in 2010, after he had been inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame... he was looking slightly more tired at this point. But he still posed for a photo, poor fella!

• Boti Nagy of the Adelaide Advertiser describes how the Adelaide 36ers killed off their slim Finals hopes in one play:
  
  Import Andrew Warren, who had carved up the Sixers in Cairns' previous 72-67 win in Adelaide, had been well contained to two points when he saw daylight with 3:43 left.
  
  Daniel Johnson and Everard Bartlett rushed at him and fouled as his three-point basket swished, giving him a bonus free throw.
  
  Sixers coach Marty Clarke remonstrated with the officials, only to have his team smacked with a bench technical foul.
  
  That meant an additional two free throws to the Taipans, plus a sideline possession.
  
  Warren calmly potted his bonus free throw, then Jamar Wilson - who killed the 36ers with 25 points and four assists - stepped up to stick two more.
  
  On the additional possession, Aaron Grabau swished a three-point basket at 3:22 left, meaning effectively, in 21 seconds, Cairns had gone from 66-66 to 75-66.
  
  Ball game.
  
  It was an unforgivable moment of ill discipline which leaves the 36ers' season languishing on a 5-12 record and the team currently arguably the worst in the league.
   
• So, somewhat unsurprisngly, Ayinde Ubaka has joined the Wollongong Hawks after his axing by the Melbourne Tigers. Asa Schuster caught up with the new import in the Gong to see what he thinks of his new home and their upcoming matchup with the Tigers:
  
  
  
  As Ubaka tweeted, it's #TimeForTheGong.
  
  
• NBA, International and European basketball legend Vlade Divac visited the Sydney Kings today to pass on some words of wisdom. Check out the pictures here on facebook.
  
   

As mentioned here previously, import guard Ayinde Ubaka has parted ways with the Melbourne Tigers, putting the squad in a tough situation after already losing point guard Patty Mills earlier in the season.

I've written a piece on NBL.com.au which has gone live today, asking where the Tigers head next in this scenario. And today we have some indication of that direction, with the signing of Shane McDonald to a short-term contract to help out at the point. McDonald previously played for the Singapore Slingers and briefly for the Perth Wildcats.

Head coach Trevor Gleeson got on the air with SEN Radio's Andy Maher and Andrew Gaze to talk about the situation. He was diplomatic in many respects, as you would imagine, but we could glean the following from what he had to say:

• The decision to sack Ubaka was McPeake's and happened in the locker room after the game, as previously recounted by Ubaka and the press.
• Gleeson indicated that he was happy with the work that Ubaka had done for the club and that he had performed to the best of his ability.
• Gleeson made the point that the decision had been forced upon them and that the team just had to move on and do the best with what they had.
• There is a replacement import in the final stages of negotiations who has won a couple of championships in China. They hope to have him in Australia by the weekend. The player is a friend of former NBL player, Donta Smith.

AROUND THE TRAPS is a new segment at A Stern Warning, rounding up interesting Australian basketball news of the moment, predominately NBL. "Around the traps" is a uniquely Aussie phrase, with a double entendre that fits basketball.

• Seamus McPeake reportedly decided that Ayinde Ubaka's time with the Melbourne Tigers was over after the Tigers lost to the Gold Coast Blaze (recap). Ubaka spoke on SEN Radio about what unfolded (listen here). Tigers fan Tim Grimes wrote a frank, open letter to McPeake on where he sees the Tigers organisation heading (read here). 
• Sydney Kings rookie Anatoly Bose has one of the most international, interesting backgrounds in Australian basketball (read here).
• Patty Mills: future Olympics medal winner. “In the US, the question that starts off the conversation is, ‘I didn’t know there were black people in Australia,’” he says. “If I wasn’t there, they wouldn’t know about Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders. I love having the opportunity to express my culture, because there’s no one in basketball who can do that but me. Every time I step on court, I represent the indigenous people.” (read here)
• Cam Tragardh: man with the tattoos. "In Cam Tragardh's case, looks are deceiving. Take that massive, demonic-looking tattoo sprawled across his right shoulder. Combined with his slightly ruffled semi-mullet hairdo, Tragardh seems like he'd be more at home in black singlet and jeans, tinkering with a motorbike in his garage." (read here)
• The Wollongong Hawks are in trouble. ''We're really struggling to put four quarters together and our lack of focus is hurting us,'' the 2010 NBL coach of the year, Gordie McLeod said. ''We're getting out-worked on the boards and turning the ball over when we're under pressure. So ball control is definitely an issue. You have to give opposition credit for the disruption they cause and the way they are scouting us, but a lot of it is our decision-making and our execution under pressure. We're too sloppy with the ball.
  ''In the end it's hard enough for us to score without giving teams five to seven extra possessions. So that's hurting us dearly and the only way we can turn that around is to work hard at practice and give some teams a bit of their own medicine.'' (read here)
• The Hawks are re-writing history with their home losing streak. ‘‘From my point of view, I’ve been around long enough to know that it’s not about those kinds of stats and stuff, it’s more about making sure the group is functioning the way we’re meant to,’’ Mat Campbell said.
  ‘‘At the moment we’re just not right there and we’ve been working our tails off for a month to try to rectify it and hopefully our performance on Friday showed signs that we’re starting to fix it.’’ (read here)
• One of the richest young women in Australia is a former flame of ex-NBL player, Damien Ryan (read here).
• CJ Bruton is still the New Zealand Breakers' X-factor (read here).
• Boti Nagy is not happy with the way the Adelaide 36ers are heading, or being coached (read here).
• Former Sydney King, Ben Knight's inclusion on the Maccabi NSW team is pushing the regulations on non-Jewish players (read here).
• Can the Sydney Kings walk that fine line needed to make an NBL Finals berth, with Aaron Bruce out for the season? (read here). Can the Perth Wildcats stop Julian Khazzouh this Friday? (read here)
• Whilst former Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson hated the AFL highlights he forced on the team, he loved Luc Longley during his NBA career. Jackson presented Longley with a G'Day USA Award in Los Angeles this past weekend. (read here)

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