Cairns Taipans veteran Boodnikoff battles on
Emma Greenwood

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

© The Cairns Post

THE ups and downs of the Cairns Taipans' season seem like a mirror of Gary Boodnikoff's NBL career.

Boodnikoff racked up his 250th NBL game against Townsville on Saturday night – and his 180th for the Taipans – in his sixth season in Cairns.

Pictures: Cairns Taipans 2009-10

The third longest-serving Taipan of all time behind Aaron Grabau and Anthony Stewart, Boodnikoff has seen a bit of everything in his time in the league.

A whirlwind start in Sydney where he sealed rookie of the year honours and a championship ring was followed by a stint with the Victoria Giants in the final year before the club’s demise.

He was lured to Cairns by former coach Guy Molloy and has spent the past six years in the Far North, becoming a husband, father and business owner as well as entrenched player.

Boodnikoff did not initially have a professional sports career in mind with his main aim to head to college in the US.

But by the time he had finished at Augusta State University as one of the school’s best scorers of all time, a career in basketball was on the radar.

He never gave much thought to his longevity in the NBL either, but looking back, he concedes becoming a 250-game player was "probably not" something he expected.

"But it’s good, 250 games – that’s a lot of years."

Despite the whirlwind start, Boodnikoff’s time in the NBL has not been without its lows.

"I’ve had some good years, I’ve had some bad years, I’ve had some broken feet, I’ve had everything," he said.

"I’ve seen a club go into administration, I think I’ve seen everything.

"Unfortunately, this year has been up and down.

"You could say the same about a lot of years (when) you’ve had a lot of promise. Some years have paid off and some haven’t."

In a fitting celebration on Saturday, the Taipans beat great rival Townsville in overtime.

He said the win would not necessarily boost the team’s confidence, but was a reminder of what it could do when it put things together on the night.

"I think we’ve always had the confidence to play, we just haven’t been able to put it together when we needed to," he said. "We’ve had three or four, maybe, five close games that we could have won (this season) but we weren’t able to string it together at the end.

"So that was probably our biggest problem. But confidence-wise, we’re not lacking in confidence, it’s just playing together like we did at the end of the game against Townsville."

Boodnikoff’s own form has been patchy this season but a broken foot suffered in the 2006 semi-final series against Sydney has hampered him for the past few years.

Initially thought to be just torn ligaments, a broken bone in his right foot – the foot he had broken previously – was eventually diagnosed, leading to surgery before the next NBL season and ongoing problems.

Boodnikoff says he was robbed of a couple of years by the broken feet and he hasn’t been able to perform at his best.

"It’s those ups and downs but I’ve done what I’ve been able to do and what I can do on the basketball court," he said. "I think it’s (something I’ll have to manage) for the rest of my life.

"Every athlete or anyone that’s ever broken a bone knows that it’s not just an easy fix, it’s for the rest of your life and I’ll probably have the effects of it."

As a father and businessman, Boodnikoff has different priorities from the single 25-year-old who arrived in the Far North in 2004.

But he has not called time on his NBL career yet.

"You get older and you know in your own mind when you get older and every day’s a little harder than it was when you were younger," he said.

"You do kind of think about it (the end) but you don’t really (make a call) until the end of the year and then you go back and have a talk about it with your wife and your family and think about what you’re going to do the next year.

"Your priorities do change as you get older and your emphasis does move to different areas.

"But I think you always come back to what you like doing.

"Some days you love it, some days you hate it but at the end of it, when you’re not playing it, you always miss it."