Flood waters have ravaged the Australian state of Queensland through the end of 2010, with the situation continuing right now. At least 200,000 people and 70 towns, including capital city Brisbane, have been effected by the tragedy. Three-quarters of the huge state of Queensland have been declared a disaster zone, with billions of dollars worth of damage being caused. Read more about the tragedy here.

If you're more of a visual person, you can get a feel for the impact of the floods at this remarkable infographics link.

Australians are known for their resilience and for their ability to band together in times of hardship. That 'mateship' has been seen in Queensland as strangers have helped other strangers out, as people cling to life and try to start the process of rebuilding their shattered homes and lives, with unimaginable damage in many cases.

Foremost in this effort comes a great financial cost. Many sports stars have stepped forward to help out in these circumstances, including Aussie NBA stars Andrew Bogut and Patty Mills. Bogut has put together a fantastic NBA games/accomodation package to see the Los Angeles Lakers v Milwaukee Bucks, which currently is fetching over $53,000 in online bidding. Meanwhile Mills has lent his support by having proceeds from his jerseys bought at the Blazers store donated, as well as putting out the word on video.

Australia's NBL itself and its member clubs have also helped out in fundraising efforts. They too have been joined by sports stars such as soccer's Tim Cahill and international tennis players who yesterday competed in a Rally For Relief in a prelude to the Australian Open. 

Now Daniel Eade (@DanielEade) has put together a star-studded array of Australian basketball household names in a basketball event to be titled "Charity Baskets". All proceeds from the event will go to victims of the Queensland Floods. Names such as Andrew Gaze, Chris Anstey and Leapin' Leroy Loggins should be enough to get any Aussie basketball fan salivating and no doubt will. However they will be joined by other legends including Lanard Copeland, Darryl D-Mac McDonald, Rob Rose, Marcus Timmons, Frank Drmic, Andrew Parkinson, Darren Lucas, multiple slam dunk champion Brett Rainbow, Adonis Jordan, Darryl Pearce, Andre Moore... and more.

The match should be an absolute spectacle and will no doubt sell out, so if you are in Melbourne, get yourself down to the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre early on January 30th for a midday start to proceedings. Tickets will be sold on the door at the bargain prices of $20 for adults, $10 for kids and $50 for a family. You would be hard-pressed to get prices like that for this level of talent. Appreciation must be given to the legends who have pulled themselves out of retirement for this game.

You can follow the event on Facebook. And if you're on twitter, you can help to drum up recognition of Charity Baskets with the hashtag #CB4QF.

Of course, if you're outside of Melbourne or indeed outside of Australia, don't fret. You too can donate to help out victims of the floods! Either select from one of the various sports-related auction benefits mentioned above, or donate directly via the Queensland Premier's Flood Relief Appeal. As I say, this can be done from anywhere in the world.

Get in there and help out some people in drastic need, if you can.

Last week, the group art show, Blazer Mania opened at the Compound Gallery in Portland. The show is the most recent of several Trail Blazers-themed shows that have popped up in the last couple of years. This isn’t particularly surprising, as I find over and over again that there’s an interesting intersection between Portland’s arts community and an interest, ranging from casual to fervent, in the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Blazer Mania show was a mix of mediums, ranging from pen and ink to 3-D installation. The following are a few of the highlights.

Mike King’s Kevin Duckworth Obscured by Trees, a screenprint on wood piece, was one of my favorites of the show. Most of us who were kids in the late-eighties and early-nineties Blazer era probably recall how passionate “Duck” was about Oregon’s natural beauty. King’s piece is a fitting tribute to the late, beloved gentle giant.

Ryan Berkley is a friend of mine, and a wonderful self-taught illustrator who has created a number of brilliant Blazers-inspired pieces over the last few years. I love the concept of “Rip CIty Bigs,” and, as with all of Ryan’s illustrations, becomes quirkier and more wonderful the longer you look at it. The tiny details, such as the falling roses, Brian Grant’s tattoo and the word “Enforcer” on Maurice Lucas, just blow me away.

Portland-based street artist Klutch’s style is unmistakable, with bold colors and a definite punk inspiration. This piece, Home Court Damage, was definitely the first thing most people were drawn to upon entering the gallery space--it’s a knockout. (Fun fact: The Suns’ Channing Frye has a large installation from Klutch in his Portland condo.)

I had the chance to chat with artist Ryan Bubnis about his urban folk art painting, The 6th Man, at the opening. Ryan is a big Trail Blazers fan, and started following the team when he first moved to the Portland area in 2000. He noted that he felt a sense of irony working on this piece, given the disheartening news about Brandon Roy’s health that was the news this fall. “It was kind of crazy, since I was painting this during one of the most depressing times in Blazers history,” reflected Bubnis. (Thanks to Ryan for taking the time to chat with me about his work!)

You can check out the rest of my photos from the Blazer Mania show over on my Flickr (see slideshow below). The show continues through the end of January. 

A Few Notes on the Blazer Mania Show

This was the first time I’d been to the Compound, thought I’d walked by and looked in the window many, many times. The space is, frankly, quite disappointing. It’s very small, poorly-lit and miserably hot. This is made all the worse by the dead-end configuration of their gallery space, which really doesn’t allow for much flow of traffic when viewing the art. It’s a shame for the artists.

Moreover, the staff was extremely surly. They required that I leave my bag behind the counter, despite that I explained I was at the opening to write about the event. I was stuck carrying my camera, notebook, pen, pencil, wallet and phone through their crowded awkward space. Worse yet, the same employees let several twenty-something hipsters go right on in without confiscating their bags. Apparently, I look like a shoplifter. I write quite a bit about art and other creative fields (and teach at an art college), and this is the first time I’ve had this experience at a show.

While a few of the pieces, such as those by the two Ryans, Klutch, Mike King and the 3D works were distinctive and exciting, there were some underwhelming contributions that felt unfinished, which is always one of the downsides of group shows. Additionally, I was disappointed to see the show dominated by a large installation of pen and ink drawings by a New York-based artist. They really took center stage in the show, and several of the other pieces--that were far more distinctive--were placed in dark corners of the space. (The same artist also misspelled LaMarcus Aldridge’s name.)

Finally, I always thought it was “Blazermania,” not “Blazer Mania”--but I’m guess that word hasn’t been standardized by Webster’s just yet.

Sarah Moon is a Portland, Oregon-based writer who spends way too much time contemplating the style hits and misses of professional athletes, especially those in the NBA. She loves rookies, misfits, weirdos, free-spirits, underdogs and anyone who wears their heart on their sleeve, and is the proud originator of the #MorePattyPlease hashtag. Follow Sarah’s thoughts on sports, life in Portland, the awesomeness of tator tots and other random musings and rants on Twitter @SarahSMoon.

This is another part of the [bartsketball] series, as A Stern Warning celebrates art in basketball.

You may remember Larry Nance as the high-flying, slam-dunking former NBA All-Star of the 80s. In case you need a reminder of the former Phoenix Suns/Cleveland Cavaliers form, check out these 1984 Slam Dunk Contest highlights:

Fast forward to now and much like various other NBA stars of the 80s, Nance's son, Larry Nance Junior is an up-and-coming baller. He is currently in his senior year at Revere High School and stands 6'7" (slightly shorter than his more famous father). Take a look.

You may remember that a while back we posted a music video here of Jason Simms' rendition of The LeBronze Age, a song by the Portland-based songwriter about why LeBron should have chosen to stay in Cleveland. History dictated otherwise of course...

Simms' talents do not only extend to witty songs about the NBA. He also runs a website devoted to teaching English to the non-English-speaking parts of the world, called English, baby! In the site's quest to make learning English as fun as possible, they draw upon various celebrities to show practical applications of this language that we call English (and some call "American"). 

Rip Hamilton and Carmelo Anthony are just two of those celebs that have helped out. Take a look at these two videos as they pass on a few pieces of basketball terminology.

Rip Hamilton

Carmelo Anthony

Word broke a few days ago that Memphis Grizzlies teammates OJ Mayo and Tony Allen got into an altercation aboard the teams charter flight. It is alleged that a gambling debt between the two led to taunts and eventually blows that left Mayo visibly bruised.

This situation will bring back memories of the Washington Wizards situation last year with Gilbert Arenas, when a gambling debt between him and teammate Javaris Crittenton escalated to such a point that Agent Zero brought guns to a game.

Scribes have been quick to say that the Association needs to outlaw gambling aboard team planes and that these situations are avoidable. But similarly to anything that is prohibited, the players will simply find new ways to gamble away from the watchful eye of team executives.

There is a culture amongst NBA players, and surely many other professional athletes. They are young men given millions of dollars and they possess little in the way of financial management skills. So they grew up playing cards and dice games, so why not put some of their expendable income on some games.

The Grizzlies have now banned gambling from their flights, and supposedly only one other team has a similar policy in place. Many teams acknowledge that the gambling takes places, but without money on the table, it is difficult to police.

The card game that many of these players are playing while cruising at 36,000 feet is called Boo Ray. Originating in Louisiana, it is a mix of poker and spades, with shades of euchre involved. The way that so many guys get into debt playing the game is due to the fact that you must match the pot if you lose a hand. With some players making twenty times what their teammates do, tempers surely rise quickly when debts get out of hand.

Some urban legends say that Michael Jordan himself was influential in introducing Boo Ray into mainstream NBA culture. It is well known that MJ likes to gamble, and it would surprise few people if this way indeed all his doing.

One of the long running rumours in the NBA around the time that MJ decided to take a year away from the game to play minor league baseball was that he had found himself so deep in gambling debt that the death of his father was, how you say, not a coincidence. While no one truly knows the truth behind this allegation, the story has some legs to it. Jordan was a reputed gambler, took an unexpected step away from the game following the mysterious murder of his father and then promptly returned and continued winning.

The culture of gambling in the NBA traces back at least this far, and the amount of money being thrown about mixed with the bravado of these young entitled athletes has reached a boiling point. These factors mixed with the media age we live in, where unnamed sources can create full credible stories that become front page in a matter of minutes, make it difficult for any of these teams to hide from these situations when they do arise.

Without a doubt there have been countless other alternations between teammates over the years that no one in the public knows about. Women and gambling are often fought over, but now everything is in the public sphere and it is difficult to keep anything away from the media.

So is there any solution to this madness? Well similar to many minor situations that are quickly ignored, no one will take serious action until something serious happens. When a teammate shoots another over a gambling debt, rather then just pulls a gun on him, people will really pay attention. Sure Arenas was suspended for a significant period of time, but the culture did not change in the league.

The same can be said for the concussion discussion in the NFL. When a player finally gets hit so hard in an NFL game that he either dies or is becomes a quadriplegic, then people will finally get serious about changing the nature of the game.

Change is difficult to institute and people get comfortable in their ways. They must be scared into changing their way of life, and that is exactly what it will take for the gambling culture in the NBA to change.

Editor's Note: Lawrence Dushenski is a Toronto Raptors fan. You can follow him on twitter @LD10. Read more of his articles by clicking here.

Kobe’s run as the lord of the superstar call has come to an abrupt halt. Gone are the days where all Kobe had to do was look at a player then at a referee to get the call. Bryant’s 32 year old legs have seen many miles, his body drawn many ‘fouls’. The mamba is no longer a protected species, taken off the endangered list and replaced by a couple of party boys out east.

It is no secret that the media and much of Basketball Nation is in love with the combination of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. In fact this couple has been so close that they should be given their own celebrity couple name. But what would they be called? LeWyane? D-Bron? Their matrimonial amalgamation became official when the NBA named them Co-player of the Month for the Eastern Conference.

James and Wade are used to getting things their way. James gave himself the ‘King’ moniker whilst Wade decided to get rid of this ‘Flash’ nickname. Nicknames are usually given to a person and not decided by that person but having the ability to do so is reserved for the privileged. It only seems fair that they should get their calls too right? Oh and we haven’t even mentioned the frequent travelling yet.

Before jumping in and exploring LeWyane lets take some time to look at the benchmark, Kobe Bryant.

Till the end of December Kobe had taken 676 field goal attempts and drawn 92 fouls. When compared to the Heat duo Wade had drawn 129 fouls in his 628 attempts and LeBron drew 110 fouls in 669 shots. To make this comparable, Wade gets fouled 20.5% of the time, James 16.4% while Bryant draws fouls 13.6% of the time.

Yes LeBron and Dwyane probably take the ball to the hole more frequently than Kobe and though Kobe is the master at drawing contact his percentage fouled is down from his MVP season where it was 15.5%.

Now Wade and James are both ‘shot yellers’. That is yelling out with just about every contested layup or drive as if contact was actually made. Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol are just as bad when it comes to ‘shot yelling’ and shoot from inside at a similar ratio as LeWyane. Lamar gets fouled 15.4% of the time and Pau 12.8%, significantly lower than LeWyane and over the course of a season will equate to over 140 more free throws than Bryant, Gasol and Odom combined despite taking around 900 shots less.

Moving along, this part I can only mention is based more on observation rather than pure statistics. With the NBA’s new policy to take a hard line on overt gestures by pinging anyone that acts out openly with a technical foul I was sure players like LeBron and Dwyane would get caught out. After all I don’t remember seeing Wade or LeBron ever agreeing with a foul called on them or sucking it up if they thought they were fouled.

I’ve always seen Kobe Bryant as a guy who stays relatively calm unless something ticks him off. Only then does he really become fiery... and I mean fiery, up there with the worst of the league. I was not at all surprised to see that by the end of the 2010 calendar year the Black Mamba had been pinged for 6 technicals (7 if you count the one rescinded) and had been ejected once.

Even with the level of complaining and face-screwing exhibited by Wade and James they have been whistled for a combined 6 technical fouls (4 for Wade, 2 for James excluding one rescinded). These figures may suggest some leniency in the way technical fouls are being called and I thought that the reason behind the rule change was to curb all acting out on the court.

LeWyane, you may be the new Lord of the Superstar call, you may be used to getting the benefit of the doubt out on the court but will it be enough for you to win your first championship ring in wedlock or will you always be one crab dribble away?

Haggard provides fantastic writing and illustrations on Australia's National Basketball League at Can't Buy A Basket.

Most reasonable Sydney Kings fans and observers entered this season with low expectations of success. The team had a rushed off-season, limiting the amount of players that could be recruited to a team starting from absolute scratch. They also had the spectre of past financial mismanagement hanging over their heads -- meaning that excessive amounts could not be spent on building their roster. Add to these factors the rookie coach on the sidelines and the massive expectations that accompany Sydney sports teams, and you realise that it was never going to be an easy proposition running the Sydney Kings in season 2010-11.

Fast forward to now. Whilst the Kings were fortunate enough to match an unsettled Melbourne Tigers in their very first game, allowing them to snare their one and only victory of the season, unfortunately, they've endured 12 straight losses since then, culminating with Wednesday night's home loss to the Perth Wildcats. 

So, what are the Kings' main problems? These are the big ones that I see, having watched the team very closely this season.

Seeing as how last week was unofficially Patty Mills Week here on A Stern Warning, I though I’d wrap things up with a very special Patty Mills edition of NBA Style Alert. This post is, of course, dedicated to Mookie, the editor of this fine blog, whose infectious enthusiasm for all things Patty is absolutely contagious.

[Photo: Dime Magazine]

Patty Mills’ unbridled enthusiasm while rarely playing early in the NBA season captured the hearts of Blazers fans (and loads of other folks, including the NBA on TNT crew) during a season that can thus far best be described as “bizarre.” However, he’s also proved a nice surprise on the court as well, out-playing tightly-wound rookie Armon Johnson for the role of backup point guard. However, a little digging, and it turns out there’s a whole other side of Patty that’s been overlooked. From serving as a model for an Australian activewear brand to running around San Antonio wearing an Iron Man mask, everyone’s favorite speedy little Australian point guard has a style all his own that matches his effervescent personality  (...click through to read more).

Shaquille O'Neal has filled many roles in his time, both on and off the court. He has played for more than his share of NBA clubs. He has been a police officer. He has been a dancer. He has been a comedian and salesman. And now, he is an orchestra conductor. Take a look at this video, as Shaq conducts the Boston Pops Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in "Sleigh Ride" as part of a Holiday Pops Concert last night in Boston's Symphony Hall.

Perhaps the Boston Celtics won't need Rajon Rondo's leadership skills on the court any more, with Shaq's ability to call the shots and conduct the team to success.

The fans asked for it and they got it. Rodney Overby, aka Rodney O, aka The Voice of the Sydney Kings, will be back with the team as courtside announcer as of this Sunday's game against the Wollongong Hawks. 

Long known by many fans -- both casual and hardcore -- as the voice of the team, he has long been called for by many fans as the answer to boosting enthusiasm at the Kingdome. A public call went out for Rodney O's return in the media, after numerous verbal and facebook requests for him to be there with his famous chants of "Sydney, Sydney, Sydney", "D-Fence Sydney -- louder!" and "We like to call this Money Time."

At last Sunday's game dedicated to former owner Mike Wrublewksi, Rodney O was a prominent figure in the crowd as he led a chant honouring the 'father of the Kings' with a "Sydney, Sydney, Sydney", even without a microphone.

Bring it on, Rod!

Here is the press release from the Kings: