Number 5 - David Anderson

Welcome everyone,

My name is Daniel Smith and I am a first time blogger. I don't think I completely understand exactly what I am supposed to be doing here as blogging and I don't seem to mesh like this young kid and reggae music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUUecFFz1_4). Though I'm going to give things a go anyhow and see what happens.

I have a real passion for sports with the main being basketball. Not the sport of choice within Australia (Aussie rules football and cricket tend to take that mantle) however, I have always gravitated towards the gifted athletes in basketball. I marvel at the quick, explosive drives to the basket, high flying dunks and the fierce shot blocking that sends a ball into the 5th row.

So when deciding what to blog on, I thought I would combine the passion of my country and favourite sport and present to you my top 5 Australian Basketballer's to impact the NBA. America's National Basketball Association is the premier basketball competition in the world and is where the best basketball athletes strive to ply their trade.

My top 5 takes into account the contribution the player made to the NBA game, nothing else. So you will be surprised that Australia's most recognisable male basketball athlete, Andrew Gaze does not crack the list. He had a fantastic domestic and international career representing the Green and Gold but did not manage to set the NBA on fire in his two seasons. He is however one of only two Aussie Basketballer's to come away with an NBA championship (even though he never saw hit the court in the finals series).

So enough about the background, lets get into the count......

Number 5. David Anderson

Born: June 23, 1980 in Frankston, Victoria

Height: 213cm

Position: Centre/Power Forward

Drafted: 2002 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37th overall

NBA Career Stats:

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	Pos	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
2009-10	29	HOU	NBA	C	63	0	14.1	2.3	5.4	.432	0.4	1.2	.346	0.7	1.1	.687	0.9	2.4	3.3	0.7	0.2	0.2	0.6	1.9	5.8
2010-11	30	TOT	NBA	PF	40	0	9.3	1.4	3.0	.463	0.2	0.6	.348	0.4	0.6	.636	0.5	1.6	2.1	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.6	1.0	3.4
2010-11	30	TOR	NBA	PF	11	0	13.6	2.1	4.3	.489	0.3	0.9	.300	0.6	0.6	1.000	0.7	2.4	3.1	0.6	0.3	0.3	0.7	1.0	5.1
2010-11	30	NOH	NBA	PF	29	0	7.7	1.1	2.6	.446	0.2	0.4	.385	0.2	0.5	.467	0.4	1.3	1.7	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.5	1.0	2.7
Career			NBA		103	0	12.3	2.0	4.5	.440	0.3	1.0	.347	0.6	0.9	.674	0.7	2.1	2.8	0.6	0.2	0.2	0.6	1.5	4.9

As an Australian Institute of Sport graduate, David originally started his professional career in Australia with the Wollongong Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL). He only lasted one season before heading over to Europe to test the waters of the Euroleague. Due to having a father of Danish decent, Anderson was able to take the offer of a European passport and play in the Euroleague as a local. He carved out a fantastic career over 10 years (1999-2009) before finally moving to America's biggest league for the 2009/10 season.

Even though David was drafted to the NBA back in 2002, he didn't take up the offer of playing until he thought he was at a level to contribute. And contribute he did, playing as a 29 year old rookie and averaging 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds over 63 games in his first season with the Houston Rockets. These were solid numbers for someone who was playing in the league for the first time. However, Anderson was traded in the offseason to the Toronto Raptors for a future 2nd round draft pick. He was putting up similar statistics to his first season until Toronto decided to trade him at the midway point of the season to the New Orleans Hornets. Anderson wasn't able to establish himself in his new team and subsequently was let go at the end of the 2010/11 NBA season.

Over his two NBA seasons, Anderson finished with solid career averages of 4.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.6 assist over a total of 103 games. Now 33, Anderson is once again in European basketball circles. Being one of the better performers out there, talk of an NBA comeback is rife.  However, Anderson is very level headed and wants to make sure the next NBA opportunity will allow him to show the world what he can really achieve against the best players. Only time will tell if he is given that shot once again......