Impact from Down Under
Posted: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 1:51 PM
Filed Under:
Freshmen, Pac-10, Mid-majors
Go figure. On a day when two of the fab five freshmen play starring roles in UCLA winning a tournament title (over a game Michigan State) and helping Indiana flirt with the century mark, it’s another freshman that upstages them both.
And this freshman wasn’t even on most people’s radar. And by most people, I mean mine. That’s what I get for ignoring Australian hoops.
Saint Mary’s freshman Patrick Mills (but you can call him Patty) notched a Gaels freshman record 37 points in an upset of No. 11 Oregon on Tuesday. The guard also had five assists, two steals and just one turnover in the school’s first win over a ranked opponent in nearly three years.
Saint Mary’s was expected to be Gonzaga’s main foil this season. But few expected Mills to do this. “This is definitely my first time seeing Patty go crazy like that. He was on fire tonight,” teammate Diamon Simpson said.
Ducks coach Ernie Kent, whose first coaching job was at small school in the East San Francisco ’burbs, the also was blown away by Mills.
“You don't get a feel for somebody on film. I liken (Mills) to Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs. He's that quick, he shoots well, and he makes good decisions. The difference in the game was Patrick. We had a hard time guarding him, and we ran out of answers tonight,” Kent told the Contra Costa Times.
If I had paid closer attention to last summer’s FIBA Championships, Mills’ name would’ve rung a bell. He led the Boomers to a fifth-place finish, prompting high hopes for the Beijing Games this summer and a label as “the future of Australian basketball.” A 37-point outing pretty much cements that’s notion.
Guess I thought that was still Andrew Bogut. Oops.
