After months of uncertainty, a life-long dream for Boomer Patty Mills has come to fruition.
Today, Portland Trailblazers General Manager Rich Cho announced that Mills has earned the final roster spot on Portland’s 2010 opening day roster.
Mills was in a heated battle for a roster spot this preseason and after seeing only a limited amount of time things looked grim for the point guard. However, the trading of guard Jarred Bayless this past week gave the ‘Blazers some wiggle room and in turn allowed for them to offer Mills the final spot.
Last season Mills broke his foot towards the end of the preseason and was out for nearly four months before making his debut in the NBA D-League for the Idaho Stampede.
In his five D-League games, he averaged 25.6 points, 5.4 assists, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals while shooting a remarkable 50 percent (21-for-42) from behind the arc.
When he was called up to the Trailblazers he averaged 2.6 points hitting 10-of-24 field goals and .5 assists in 10 games where he averaged 3.8 minutes per game.
Mills also saw time in three of Portland’s playoff games racking up six points and three assists in 12 total minutes.
This summer Patty played really well at the World Championships in Turkey.
He averaged 13.8 points hitting 47.2 percent of his shots from inside the arc and 31.4 percent behind it. He also dished 4.2 assists and grabbed 1.7 rebounds while running the Boomers offense.
Hopefully Mills will see an increase in all of his totals over the course of his second season in the NBA.
Both Andrew Bogut and David Andersen saw increases in their numbers this week.
Bogut played in both the Bucks’ final two preseason games this week inching his minutes back up to where they were last season.
His first game he played only 18 minutes but this week he registered 21 minutes the first game and 25 the second.
In the first game he scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds, had four blocks, two assists, and one steal.
The second game he had very similar numbers tallying seven points, six rebounds, four blocks, and two assists.
Bogut played in both games with his elbow wrapped and played the whole first game with the protective glove on his right hand again; however, he ditched it midway through the second game this week.
As for Andersen, he was back in the lineup after missing a game with a sore back. He returned to action to by averaging 11.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 19.5 minutes.
All three Aussies in the NBA have their season openers this upcoming week. The Bucks and Raptors both open on Wednesday October 27th against the New Orleans Hornets and New York Knicks respectively, and the Trailblazers open on Tuesday October 26th against the Phoenix Suns.
Former Minnesota Timberwolf Nathan Jawai had another stellar game with Partizan Beograd when he tallied 19 points (6-for-8), a season-high eight rebounds, three assists, and one steal in the Adriatic League.
In Turkey, AJ Ogilvy may be getting an ex-NBA player as a teammate. Allen Iverson is in negotiations with Besiktas to join the team this season.
Ogilvy though had another good week averaging 7.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.0 block in their 1-and-1 week.
Also having another phenominal week was Joe Ingles for CB Granada. Ingles rebounded from his slow previous week by racking up 15 points including 3-for-7 from 3-point range, season-high seven rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal in 33 minutes.
Tearing up the defenses yet again this week was Brad Newley who in Lietuvos Rytas’ Lithuanian League matchup had 18 points, five rebounds, three steals, one block, and one assist against Alytus Alta.
In their EuroLeague battle with Fener Ulker he had 15 points, three assists, one rebound, one block, and one steal.
Lastly, Aleks Maric played in his first game of the season for Panathinaikos in Athens. In his 10 minutes Maric went 2-for-6 for five points, grabbed nine rebounds, and snatched two steals.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
• Trailblazers GM announces Mills earning final roster spot.
• Bogut plays without glove on shooting hand and breaks into the 20 minutes threshold in playing time.
• Maric opens season in Athens.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
• NBA Tip-off for Bogut, Andersen, and Mills
• When’s the first action Mills will see this season?
• Will former NBA All-Star Allen Iverson join Ogilvy in Turkey?