Some bad news along with the good this week! Delly's down, but the Exum/Ingles duo seems to be getting some rhythm in Salt Lake City. Bogut however, was the biggest winner. Read on and find out how our Aussies in the NBA are doing.

Andrew Bogut (Golden State Warriors)

Date Team Mins Points Shots 3P FT Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks TO PF +/- 13 Nov 2014 BKN 31 11 4/7 0 3/5 14 (7 off) 5 1 4 1 3 7 11 Nov 2014 SAS 26 4 2/2 0 0 5 5 2 0 2 3 -7 09 Nov 2014 @PHX 26 4 2/6 0 0 8 2 2 1 4 4 -4 08 Nov 2014 @HOU 37 8 4/10 0 0/1 14 (4 off) 1 0 4 2 2 15

With an average of 10.3 rebounds per game, is it any surprise Bogut is currently 13th in the league when it comes to grabbing boards, and has nabbed more than 1,000 rebounds as a Warrior? He's proven his worth again on Friday when Golden State clinched a solid win against the Brooklyn Nets, with a monstrous 14 rebounds (7 offensive) with 11 points, 5 assists and 4 blocks.

The value of a legitimate rim protector to shore up the Warriors' defense, as well as a passing big man who knows to find his teammates and share the ball cannot be overstated enough. For example, look at this block, and subsequent outlet pass from Bogut that led to an easy Curry layup in transition.

With his presence, Golden State is definitely set to rise to a new level this season.

On the community side, Bogut has also been actively voicing support for an incident in Oak Park, where Moreland Council is threatening to fine a resident $200 for allowing her children to play basketball on a pathway outside their home.

Hi @EmmaH_News saw yr article re: family and their BBALL hoop vs Moreland council.Ill pay fine and buy new hoop if council follows through.
— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) November 9, 2014

Good stuff Bogut!

Aron Baynes (San Antonio Spurs)

Date Team Mins Points Shots 3P FT Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks TO PF +/- 11 Nov 2014 @GSW 13 4 2/4 0 0 2 (1 off) 2 0 0 1 2 2 10 Nov 2014 @LAC 12 7 3/4 0 1/1 2 (1 off) 0 0 0 1 2 -3 08 Nov 2014 NOP 16 4 2/3 0 0/2 4 (2 off) 0 0 0 2 1 1

Baynes has proven himself to be productive in small minutes, and the past week has been no exception. He makes use of limited scoring opportunities in the paint while doing the dirty work like setting screens and fighting for rebounds, and has scored half or more of his attempts each game. Keep it up!

Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs)

Do you miss Patty on the court? Here he is rocking Spurs colours, enjoying himself shooting a Champion AC commercial.

Having a little fun #bts at the @ChampionAC commercial shoot.
A photo posted by Patty Mills (@balapat) on Nov 11, 2014 at 10:50am PST

Come game day, Patty's still as active as ever (on Twitter):

GAME DAY BALA GAME DAY!!! #vsGoldenState #GoSpursGo
— Patrick Mills (@Patty_Mills) November 11, 2014

Related:

Patty Mills & Manu Ginobili lead the league in funny Twitter conversations via Believe The Hype

Matthew Dellavedova (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Cavs beat reporter Chris Haynes confirmed that Delly will be out for 4-6 weeks with a left MCL (medial collateral ligament) sprain, which will put a definite dent in the Cavs' guard rotation. Whilst surely disappointed, Delly has stayed positive and is thanking everyone for the well wishes.

Thanks everyone for the #positive quotes Enjoy the game @natebotti17! Will have to do this again #ALLforCLE pic.twitter.com/ZWeBJxWitC — Matthew Dellavedova (@matthewdelly) November 10, 2014

Makin' progress! Visit http://t.co/moSLL6RoKB to donate to the @Movember cause! #CavsCare pic.twitter.com/5uXJPCVkRU
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 11, 2014

Also: don't forget Cavaliers Movember and support Delly and his band of merry mo bros!

Dante Exum (Utah Jazz)

Date Team Minutes Points Shots 3P FT Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks TO PF +/- 14 Nov 2014 @NYK 17 3 1/3 1/3 0 0 2 0 1 3 0 -18 12 Nov 2014 @ATL 19 2 1/5 0/2 0 1 2 0 1 0 4 2 10 Nov 2014 @IND 19 3 1/5 1/4 0 4 (1 off) 0 1 0 0 3 -2 09 Nov 2014 @DET 21 9 2/4 0/1 5/5 3 (1 off) 5 1 0 0 2 11

EDIT: Updated with Saturday's game stats vs New York.

The Exum-Ingles magic is definitely alive! It seems like Dante performs better when Jingles is on the court, as observed by SI writer Rob Mahoney:

It might be easy to look at his game stats for the past week and discount his inefficient scoring, missed shots from deep and sparse assists. The rookie guard however, has maintained zero turnovers for three consecutive games while averaging 20 minutes of game time - not an easy accomplishment.

In the past three games, Dante appears to be used more as a catch and shoot option from the three point line in the two guard role. The misses were not horrible by stretch of imagination, and Dante took most of them in rhythm. It's not inconceivable to see Dante knocking these shots down as the season progresses. Outside of that, his length and deftness in getting to the rim continue to serve him well, as does his playmaking vision when finding open teammates on the drive.

Related:

Utah Jazz G Dante Exum talks life in the NBA via Starting 5
Episode 229 – Getting our Jazz on via Believe the Hype

Joe Ingles (Utah Jazz)

Date Team Mins Points Shots 3P FT Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks TO PF +/- 14 Nov 2014 @NYK 21 6 2/4 2/4 0 2 1 2 0 3 0 -4 12 Nov 2014 @ATL 17 0 0/2 0/2 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 3 10 Nov 2014 @IND 15 3 1/3 1/3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 -15 09 Nov 2014 @DET 24 10 3/3 3/3 1/2 3 (1 off) 0 1 0 1 1 5

EDIT: Updated with Saturday game stats against New York.

After a breakout shooting performance against the Detroit Pistons, Jingles continues to net consistent, albeit limited minutes while functioning in the role of a point forward for the Jazz. For example, check out this beautiful pass delivered into the hands of Gordon Hayward curling to the basket for a layup.

Hitting the open three is certainly not a problem for Joe, but it could be more on finding the space to shoot against NBA-level defenses.

Related: Joe Ingles/Dante Exum highlights from Hawks game - 12 Nov 2014

Ater Majok

We might just have a new Aussie in the NBA joining the ranks!

photo credit: Joseph Glorioso Photography via photopin cc

Sudanese-Australian center Ater Majok was taken in the 2011 draft as a second-round pick, and played in the 2012 Summer League. Since then, he has played professionally overseas in Europe and Korea. According to Shams Charania of RealGM, Ater has been flown in to the Lakers training recently.

Does this mean Ater could be donning the forum blue and gold sometime this season or the next?

Related:

Cameron Bairstow (Chicago Bulls)

Cam unfortunately has not appeared in any games this week - his last showing was on 29 Oct 2014 on the road against the Knicks.

Check out what happens when pro basketball meets pro bowling with Aussie pro bowler Jason Belmonte, in this clip titled "International Art of Bowling Basketball Edition".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJG2oeKSqZU

Game schedule for the week potentially featuring Aussies in the NBA

Sat, 15 Nov

UTA @ NYK 11:30 am
SAS @ LAL 2:00 pm

Sun, 16 Nov

UTA @ TOR 11:30 am
IND @ CHI 12:00 pm
SAS @ SAC 2:00 pm
CHA @ GSW 2:30 pm

Mon, 17 Nov

GSW @ LAL 1:30 pm

Tue, 18 Nov

PHI @ SAS 12:30 pm
CHI @ LAC 2:30 pm

Wed, 19 Nov

OKC @ UTA 1:00 pm

Thu, 20 Nov

SAS @ CLE 11:00 am

Fri, 21 Nov

CHI @ SAC 2:30 pm

All times are indicated in AEST.

Schedule timings extracted from Sportal - NBA Australia

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