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Luc Longley waited to hear his name called. Atlanta Braves Gear .The first six picks had already been selected. Future All-Stars Larry Johnson, Kenny Anderson and Steve Smith were already off the board. Only one non-American, future Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, was among the first group of players chosen.Still, Longley waited.Then NBA commissioner David Stern strode out on the stage and began: With the seventh pick in the 1991 draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves select Luc Longley from the University of New Mexico.History was made. Longley became the first Australian selected in the first round of the NBA draft (and soon would become the first Aussie to play in the league). He kissed his girlfriend, hugged his family and walked up to shake hands with Stern. The whole time he was confident that the floodgates had just opened for Australian basketball players within the professional American ranks.I genuinely did, because I thought if I could do it, anyone could do it, remembers Longley. Because it hadnt been done before, I thought it was an insurmountable mountain. Once I actually got there [the NBA], I went, Wow, that wasnt actually that hard.It may not have been that hard for a 7-foot-2 center, but for many years Longley was Australias sole representative in the worlds best league. It took another six years for the next Aussie to be drafted; for the better part of the late 90s to the early 2000s, Longley was the keeper of the flame for an entire nations basketball community.Sure, Australia produced world-class players, but none of them really established themselves in the NBA. A season or two here and there, a couple of 10-day contracts -- as Longley won multiple championships after moving to the Chicago Bulls, his compatriots struggled to find their footing.He may have wondered when the winds of change would blow through. It wasnt until 2005, when the Milwaukee Bucks selected Andrew Bogut with the top overall pick.Fast forward to todays NBA.At least one Australian has played in every NBA Finals since 2013, while Patty Mills, Aron Baynes, Matthew Dellavedova and Bogut have joined Longley as owners of championship rings.Per the NBA, eight Australians -- an all-time high -- populate current rosters: Bogut (Dallas Mavericks), Dellavedova (Milwaukee Bucks), Mills (San Antonio Spurs), Baynes (Detroit Pistons),?Kyrie Irving?(Cleveland Cavaliers),?Joe Ingles (Utah Jazz), Dante Exum (Jazz) and 2016 No. 1 draft pick?Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers). (Irving was born in Australia, moved to the United States when he was 2 years old and holds dual citizenship.) In addition to the eight Aussie-born players, rookie?Thon Maker (Bucks), who was born in South Sudan, grew up in Australia before relocating to North America for high school.Bogut is now the seasoned veteran, while Simmons is pegged as a future star once he returns from a foot injury. And only three countries outside the U.S. have a larger NBA contingent than Australia.The recent ascent of Australian players may seem to have come out of nowhere, but its actually been years in the making.Brett Brown, the 76ers fourth-year head coach, began his pro coaching career in Australias top domestic league, the NBL. He would go on to coach Australia at two Olympic Games and is as familiar with the basketball landscape Down Under as anyone.That whole scene was very new to me, too [back then], Brown says. So when you say to me, am I surprised? Yes, I am.But Im not surprised in the light of day when you can justify or think through why its happened. Then it doesnt surprise me.To get a firm grasp of where this explosion of Australian basketball talent comes from, one must examine the advancement of coaching methods and development in the junior ranks and, in particular, at the Australian Institute of Sport.Founded in 1981 and located in the national capital of Canberra, the AIS has served as the countrys strategic high-performance sports agency.The AIS has had a hand in developing seven of the eight Aussies currently in the NBA. Since 2002, eight NBA draft picks have gone through the AIS -- including Bogut, Exum, Mills and Simmons -- while Dellavedova, Ingles and Baynes spent time there as juniors.I think [the AIS has been] very important, Longley says. It really exposed me to high-level training and high-level recovery and high-level accountability to what youre doing. The perception originally was that international players were a bit amateur and loose, and the AIS certainly helped resolve that. Its also been a lightning rod for scouts to scout there and see at least some of the cream of the crop.Kids come out of the AIS -- and Delly might be the best example -- and they are very professional and easy to get along with in the locker room. That has endeared a lot of Australian players to coaches. Theyre a good, strong link in the chain in that regard.Exum, who decided to forgo the American college system before entering the NBA draft in 2014, says his time at the AIS was instrumental in helping him make the transition to the professional game.The AIS has definitely played a huge part in it, Exum says. Just being put into a professional environment at a young age helped me. I was there from 15, and it made [me] focus all on basketball -- getting shots, getting into a professional routine. Youre going against the best kids every day.Brown emphasizes that coaches have played a vital role in developing the current crop of Aussie NBA players. The world has gotten smaller, and coaches have better access to materials online.How can you not credit coaches when it comes to this discussion? he says. Im talking right across the board ... very prideful coaches that are highly competitive, highly studied; [coaches] that are really trying to do the right thing in relation to improving themselves, improving the game. That collision of coaching and opportunities for kids to play is massive.The opportunities to play that Brown speaks of shouldnt be overlooked. In a 2014 National Sports Participation report, it was noted that 30.5 percent of Australian kids ages 6-13 participated in basketball.It was a real conscientious effort -- driven by [longtime NBL and Australian national team coach] Lindsay Gaze -- to produce opportunities where people could simply play, Brown says. Once you had the registered basketball players with multiple opportunities to play in [multicourt] stadiums all year around, I think that, just through probability, you were bound to produce more talent.Exum echoes Browns sentiments: You see with the American kids they have such a large pool to choose from, kids are just going to get better and better because theyre going against better opponents, playing more games, and I think thats starting to happen in Australia. Theres more interest in the game, the NBA is really growing and people want to play.That interest will likely continue to produce the next crop of NBA-quality players.Simmons is being heralded as a potential franchise star, and Maker, a still-raw talent, will be given every opportunity to become a factor in Milwaukee. Looking even further ahead, there are 63 Australians suiting up for NCAA teams this season.The days of Australians heading primarily to smaller colleges appear to be over as well, with many of the more highly touted players being courted by leading Division I schools.Weve always had the talent down in Australia, its just [about] being seen, Exum says. The gateway is starting to open up for us. You have Isaac Humphries at Kentucky, Jack White has gone to Duke, even Jack McVeigh at Nebraska. Theres a few kids at college programs that are going to hopefully rise up, and when they get to that senior [level] they can dominate the program and be seen by scouts.While the pump seems primed for more Australians to make it to the NBA, the first player to make the jump takes pride in what already has been accomplished by his countrymen.Certainly the doors are open, but who knows how much talent is going to get coughed up? Its the X factor, Longley says. We might go another generation and not have another kid. ... There are some talented kids out there, [but] I do also think were having a golden patch at the moment.Its a golden era, theres no doubt, in terms of the young talent being produced. Fake Braves Jerseys . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. Stitched Braves Jerseys . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. https://www.cheapbraves.com/ . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. The second Counter-Strike major of 2016 is almost upon us. For the third year running, ESL One Cologne will play host to CS:GOs premier competition, which features 16 teams vying for the lions share of a $1 million prize pool.Eight Legends, those that placed in the top eight at MLG Columbus, and eight Challengers, teams that qualified for Cologne, have been sorted into four groups that will begin play July 5 in the Lanxess-Arena.The months since MLG Columbus have seen a shakeup in terms of the hierarchy of CS:GO. Weve witnessed the birth of a new era in the game, and with it, a new paradigm of greatness. The battles fought at Cologne will not just be in the minutiae of what happens within the server, but will also be clashes of legacy between the teams.Living LegendsThe newly christened SK Gaming squad enters as defenders of the title. Since winning Columbus as Luminosity Gaming, the team has won two more tournaments and reached the finals in a third. This impressive run has solidified the teams standing as the best in the world; no other squad has been playing at this level in recent months. Not one to be complacent, SK has been undergoing boot camp in Europe for some time now in preparation for the major.This tournament is a chance for the squad to build a legacy. Having already won a major and achieved what was previously unthinkable, Gabriel FalleN Toledo and his band of Brazilians are yet again on the cusp of greatness, but with victory they could enter into the pantheon of the best teams to ever play the game. With a target on its back and a veritable group of death awaiting it, SK must overcome its toughest test yet to truly ascend.One of the teams standing firmly in SKs path, and one of the teams that is already in the conversation to be the best of all time, is the Swedes from Fnatic. However, the teams run at Columbus was a disappointing one, and evaluation in the interim does not lead to kind critiques. With semifinal finishes in both ESL Pro League and Esports Championship Series (ECS), it appears as if the dominant days of Fnatic are behind it.Nonetheless, historically Fnatic has matched up well against the Brazilians, with many series wins over them in early 2016. The return of Olof olofmeister Kajbjer is a promising sign. Regarded as the best player in the world before his injury, his reincorporation to the team brings with it a certain swagger that is the hallmark of Fnatics play. This tournament will also be the first in more than two years in which Fnatic isnt a near-consensus favorite to win. Free of undue expectations and reinvigorated by the return of its superstar, Fnatic could play spoiler to SKs dreams of a second major title.Once rivals to Fnatic and two-time major champions themselves, the French team EnVyUs also comes into Cologne looking to return to former glory. To say 2016 has been an underwhelming year for the previously elite team is a bit of an understatement. It went from winning the final major at Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca in 2015 to boombing out of Columbus in groups; the shocking fall from grace has been the impetus for change within the structure of the team. Wholesale Braves Jerseys. With a retooled focus on star AWPer Kenny kennyS Schrub, EnVy aims to at least regain Legend status at Cologne with a playoff berth. Its group draw looks somewhat favorable, as it faces a Virtus.Pro team it recently dispatched at ELeague along with two middle-of-the-pack squads in Team Liquid and mousesports. EnVys chance to return to the top starts here; displaying dominance over this group would be a fitting start.Something to proveThe third team in the group of death with Fnatic and SK is the resurgent French side Gamers2. With a 2-3 loss to FalleN & Co. in the ESL Pro League grand final, followed by a 2-0 win over them in the Esports Championship Series Season 1 grand final, G2 is the only team that has proved it has the ability to match the Brazilians. Its form of late has been brilliant behind the stars of the team, Richard shox Papillon and Adil ScreaM Benrlitom.Two of G2s players have previous major titles, but the team as a whole comes in with a chip on its shoulder. Not so long ago, G2 had been counted out as a team capable of winning a title, but a recent hot streak has it shooting up the global rankings and garnering many a fan with the flashy play of shox and ScreaM. This teams sights are set no lower than winning the $500,000 first-place prize, but it must first survive the group-stage onslaught awaiting it at Lanxess.Earlier in the year, Natus Vincere was in contention for the spot that SK Gaming now holds. Before Columbus, it had beaten the Brazilians with regularity, but lost a battle of will in the finals at Columbus to fall just short of taking home the prize. Since then, the team has been quiet on the international stage due to Ladislav GuardiaN Kovács latent injury and failures to qualify for the LAN finals of the biggest leagues.Columbus is a chance for NaVi to prove it has what it takes to be the best. Surely, it has the talent to match any of its rivals with GuardiaN and Egor flamie Vasilyev leading the way. Its grinding, patient, terrorist-side tactics and facilitation of its star-AWPer closely resembles SKs play, and it could be said that NaVi was the progenitor of this style before the round-time changes brought it to the forefront. Still, the question remains, does NaVi have the team cohesion and mental fortitude to win a major?Final thoughtsThere are many other teams in contention at Cologne, but these five all come in with something more at stake than simply earning sticker money and having a good showing. The majors are the biggest stages in Global Offensive, the tournaments that immortalize moments, the pages upon which Legends are recorded. A lot of focus will be on the new SK with the veteran Brazilians, but a surging EnVyUs and revitalized Fnatic could pose problems. ' ' '