Blitz Day 3: Cup bound for Queensland
TweetTHE Loggins-Bruton Cup is heading for Queensland after Townsville yesterday swept to the head of the NBL Blitz table, with only Cairns today capable of knocking the Crocs off their perch.
Considering Leroy Loggins and Cal Bruton won championships with Queensland's Brisbane Bullets, it is highly appropriate only a team from the Sunshine State can claim the Cup today.
Cup-holder Perth is out of equation after losing to the Taipans which means its record run of consecutive preseason titles ends at four straight.
Townsville, which does not own any NBL silverware - its epic 2001 Grand Final loss to Wollongong the closest it has come - concludes the Blitz with two wins and 11 out of a possible 14 points.
Only Cairns, which also does not possess any NBL silverware - its memorable 2011 Grand Final loss to New Zealand the closest it has come - on six points with today's game against Sydney to come.
The Taipans need to win and take at least three quarters in the process to create a bit of club history and with Kings import Kendrick Perry doubtful - and Josh Childress, Josh Duinker and Angus Brandt already spectating - that should be well within their capabilities.
On the hardwood
The first look at champion Perth was disappointing for the fact it gave up 18 first-half fouls and spent more time worrying about the officiating than its opponent Cairns.
An unsportsmanlike on Shawn Redhage and two techs on coach Trevor Gleeson, sending him to the changerooms, hardly was the Wildcats putting their best foot forward.
Credit the Taipans, who took full advantage, imports Scott Wilbekin and Torrey Craig impressing and Cam Tragardh delivering his 24 points at 70 per cent.
After halftime, Perth focused on playing ball and had only one foul until the last 2:02 of the period - see, they can do it - and closed the deficit to three after being down 18.
Some of their play was exemplary too, Matty Knight and Jermaine Beal stand outs before Craig steadied the ship with a deep three for Cairns and they not only held their nerve, but pulled back away.
United looked the goods against a depleted Sydney after they split the first quarter, import Jordan McRae again scoring 28 and Mark Worthington providing the Blitz with its best all-round performance with 26 points, 12 boards and seven assists.
(If you're keeping score, and I suspect Wortho is - largely because he told me assists was a focus now in his tender years - his 6.0 assists average now leads the Blitz.)
He was great though, with a pair of dunks, threes, scoops, you name it, he did it.
Back-to-back dunks, Wortho to McRae for the slam, then McRae to Wortho for the soar, made this academic early.
{Here's the News Corp report if you have time to cut and paste: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/melbourne-united-beat-sydney-kings-and-cairns-beat-perth-in-nbl-blitz/story-fnii09gt-1227065394593 }
Adelaide then followed that session with the Blitz's first 7-point sweep, beating Wollongong by 25 and scoring 106 points for the first time since October, 2009 against Cairns.
Last season, 102 was the 36ers' single-game high. Mitch Creek and Jamar Wilson took turns on spectacular plays after Jahii Carson's early quickness for the Hawks threatened to be the game's biggest factor.
The 36ers ran a play inside the last 16 seconds for Adam Gibson to stick a three and complete the sweep and he did it with aplomb (and a bomb).
New Zealand hit the wall against Townsville, the wall being the Crocs' defensive pressure after halftime which led to a 52-26 second half.
Mickell Gladness again terrorised the keyway, Brian Conklin had 20 points at 60 percent, with 12 rebounds, while Steve Markovic and Clint Steindl hit big baskets as Townsville revelled in its relentlessness.
So many second-effort plays paid dividends as the Breakers fell off the pace, Cedric Jackson with 17 points and Ekene Ibekwe with a 12-point, 11-boards double.
Results and Tables
Cairns 99 (Tragardh 24, Wilbekin 14, Torrey 13, Weigh 12, Gliddon 9; Mitchell 4 rebs; Wilbekin 5 assists) d Perth 89 (Beal 24, Knight 19, Martin, Ross 9; Knight, Martin 6 rebs; Martin 5 assists).
Melbourne 96 (McRae 28, Worthington 26, Odigie 15, Walker 12; Worthington 12 rebs; Worthington 7 assists) d Sydney 58 (Garlepp 15, Madgen 13, Perry 11, Ellis 9; Ellis 7 rebs; Madgen 2 assists).
Adelaide 106 (Creek 27, Wilson 23, Montreal 15, Gibson 13, Teys, Crawford 8; Wilson 8 rebs; Wilson 7 assists) d Wollongong 81 (Demos 19, Carson 16, Ervin 12, Coenraad, Hill 9; Coenraad 7 rebs; Carson 3 assists).
Townsville 91 (Conklin 20, Markovic 18, Steindl 17, Gladness 14, Blanchfield 8; Conklin 12 rebs; Markovic 4 assists) d New Zealand 64 (Jackson 17, Ibekwe 12, Te Rangi 10, Wesley 8; Ibekwe 11 rebs; Wesley 3 assists).
Team - P - W - L - QtrsWon - Pts
Townsville 2 - 2 - 0 - 5 - 11
Melbourne 2 - 1 - 1 - 5.5 - 8.5
Adelaide 2 - 1 - 1 - 5 - 8
New Zealand 2 - 1 - 1 - 4 - 7
Cairns 1 - 1 - 0 - 3 - 6
Perth 1 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1
Sydney 1 - 0 - 1 - 0.5 - 0.5
Wollongong 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0
What We Learnt
*That switching to ISC as the NBL's new uniform partner makes it so difficult to tell the teams apart, now they all have such distinct uniforms and not the one memorable blueprint of a (fortunately) bygone era. Not.
*That "Team 9", our NBL referees, look like a team now, resplendent in their matching polos.
*That Jesse Wagstaff's red bandana is Brad Robbins-approved.
*That Scott Wilbekin can get to the hoop.
*That Earnest Ross' physique lends itself to alternate careers in grid iron, rugby league or as a refrigerator.
*That Shawn Redhage and Cam Tragardh both now know grabbing your opponent's uniform to retard his movement rather than move your feet, is a no-no in 2014-15.
*That few teams yell out "flop" or "ball pressure" more than the Taipans.
*That if Shaun Bruce hadn't played copybook D to force Jermaine Beal to make an athletic adjustment in mid-air on his quarter-closing halfcourt heave, that shot may not have just bounced out.
*That Trevor Gleeson most likely enjoyed the rest of the game on the NBL's live-streaming.
*That the Tony Ronaldson move-your-butt-out to impede a defender on your teammate, now needs to be unlearnt.
*That rarely have more Wildcats wandered around a first half of basketball with quizzical, puzzled faces when the whistle was blown.
*That sometimes even when you pull off a great shot rejection, as Mitch Young did, it still can fly out to a Beal for three.
*That a tiny child in a Michael Jordan singlet can get the day's biggest cheer when he finally hits a shot after multiple attempts.
*That at halftime, former Crocs coaches Gleeson and Paul Woolpert must have shown the Wildcats footage of Townsville's comeback against Melbourne, considering how potently the team responded after the break.
*That Shaun Bruce played great D to draw a charge from Drake U'U.
*That the Taipans have a "share-the-towel as you substitute a teammate rule" which Jermaine Beal tried to get a piece of when he asked Scott Wilbekin to borrow his.
*That Tom Garlepp's rejection of a Lucas Walker shot attempt was one of the Kings few genuine highlights.
*That Kings forward Madol Chol uncannily can be in the right place at the right time, but must stop taking free throw tips from Ekene Ibekwe.
*That United coach Chris Anstey was involved in two of the game's big plays, one a three-point attempt after a pass from Nate Tomlinson went straight to him, the other taking a charge from a flying Ben Madgen.
*That Garlepp's block of Auryn MacMillan was almost as good as his Walker rejection.
*That McRae can play and Wortho can still be a beast.
*That injured Josh Childress getting a tech foul while sitting in street clothes on Sydney's bench was actually a positive because clearly, he cares.
*That the last quarter of the Melbourne-Sydney rout was definitely a G.I.O. - as in, Glad It's Over.
*That Joey Wright's comment to a ref after he overlooked a clear violation: "I need to help you. You missed the last eight calls," was one of his better ones.
*That Jahii Carson has two speeds, very fast and blur.
*That the most surprising shot Jamar Wilson missed was when he found himself naked under the hoop. But instead of a hoop it became a Whoops.
*That Gary Ervin almost broke Tom Daly's ankles with a couple of moves but Gibbo's ankles clearly were strapped.
*That Ekene Ibekwe losing his cool at Greg Vanderjagt when they both pursued an errant ball was one of the day's unlikeliest moments. Vander doesn't have a malicious bone in his body. His head currently is taped, he has a bandaid on his nose and he is more likely to trip on the three-point line and fall on himself than anyone else.
*That a white guy and anyone over 6-feet tall may as well not compete in a slam dunk competition against a smaller dude with hops.
*That Todd Blanchfield may have had the surprise of his life on the break and sizing up what sort of dunk he would uncork when Ibekwe ran him down and swatted the bejeezus out of that thing.
*That imports in preseason games often don't show that kind of passion.
*That three of the four teams which played on Friday, had complete form reversals. New Zealand went from great to grate, Adelaide went from bad to rad and Melbourne jumped from done to fun. So can we expect Wollongong or Perth to get rocking today?
*That it's not easy to start 33 sentences with the word "That".
A Day at the Basketball
It has been an amazing few days at Auchenflower Stadium, and not just because legends such as Leroy and Cal, Brian Kerle and Ray Ray, and a holy host of others - John Rillie additionally yesterday - have been on site.
The on-court fan-friendly interactive activitives during breaks in play have been spot-on too, whether it's a modified "egg-and-spoon" race, kids having a race after putting on oversized uniforms and playing shoes, in-and-out games, Simon says or shooting comps.
The work put in by organisers is second-to-none and was highlighted, of course, by last night's Stratco Dunk Competition.
Wollongong's Jahii Carson, Cairns' Torrey Craig and Townsville's Brian Conklin put on a spectacular impromptu display of aerial acrobatics that had fans in the main stand all standing in appreciation - those that weren't filming it for Youtube, Facebook etcetera.
While these dunk comps are every coach's nightmare, make no mistake, last night's fully captured the imagination and the appreciative crowd was witness to some true highlight reel material.
Carson won but nobody lost.
Today
12.00pm Cairns Taipans V Sydney Kings
2.00pm Perth Wildcats V Wollongong Hawks
4.00pm Ray Borner Medal and Loggins-Bruton Cup presentations
MEMORY TESTER
THIS daily Blitz challenge question/questions seems to be getting a bit of love out there in cyberspace so I can only say thanks to those who are having a crack at it and seem to be enjoying it.
This is all about the NBL's past so good luck today because this first one will really test you. The second question you may get, with a thoughtful guess.
Day 2, Answer Q1: Ray Borner was the first Australian to win the NBL's Most Valuable Player award, one of the reasons the Blitz MVP award is named after him. He did it in 1985, playing for Coburg Giants.
Answer, Q2: Perth has won five Preseason titles, Adelaide 36ers, Wollongong Hawks, Brisbane Bullets and Victoria Titans have won two apiece. Newcastle Falcons, Eastside Melbourne Spectres, Gold Coast Rollers and Melbourne Tigers (now United) have won one. That's right, if you picked United as one of the four clubs not to have tasted pre-season bliss, then you overlooked the club's history. So when the sums are done, it leaves us the Cairns Taipans, New Zealand Breakers, Sydney Kings and Townsville Crocodiles as the four current NBL clubs yet to snare the earlybird prize. That will change today! If you got those four, that's unbelievably great work, especially if your name isn't Mark "Statman" Slocombe.
Day 3, Q1: Who is the only player to score the championship-winning basket in an NBL Grand Final decider? Incredible but yes, it only has happened once. Points for the player's name, his club, the year and the opponent.
Q2: If you're a more recent follower, then try this one. Which city has hosted the most NBL Preseason tournaments?