Basketball On The Internet.

EVERY day of this new NBL regime just seems to get better and better, SKY in New Zealand now also aboard as a broadcaster.

Expect a formal announcement very soon and don't think the bid to have one game a week shown on free-to-air television is a quest beyond the NBL either.

Meanwhile, back at the Blitz, Day 2 gave us two high quality games of basketball somewhat beyond what we should even have the temerity to expect of preseason hitouts.

Melbourne-Illawarra was a feast for the eyes with 205 points delivered, many in breathtaking fashion.

And Adelaide-Sydney followed a very similar script, with the 36ers only cleanly winning one quarter. That said, it was a match-winning 31-16 third period, the biggest single-quarter disparity in the 16 played so far at the Blitz.

WE HAVE TO WIN THIS QUARTER: Joey Wright gives his 36ers the formula for Blitz points.

Blitz Bitz

*Was probably too precoccupied on Day 1 to notice but oh my Naismith - how pervasive, loud and beyond the point of ridiculous was the non-stop music barrage through both matches? Once you actually notice it, you can't not hear it anymore and it was borderline crazed. The game has sounds of its own, the sounds of effort and energy and banter and bouncing balls and whistles and coaches and, for crying out loud, we want to hear that.

*High-flying Hakim Warrick looked a tad surprised when his first dunk attempt was rejected by A.J. Ogilvy.

*He recovered OK I'd say, given the massive consecutive dunks the NBA baller threw down mid-second quarter. Even his missed attempt was sufficiently audacious to bring people out of their seats. You could say, Warrick had us giddy. (Come on now. I could have said the third dunk would have been Warrick's capper.)

*Igor Hadziomerovic adjusted his second free throw attempt sufficiently to snag a piece of the ring, having airballed his first. Don't worry though. He hit a couple of nice corner bombs later when he'd settled in.

*Tony Tolovae played much better for the Hawks once his #25 uniform was swapped for the far-more-popular #97 due to the blood rule.

*Tim Coenraad's three in transition with 1:21 left against Melbourne to bring the Hawks back to 95-100 after having trailed by 13 about a minute earlier, was one of the shots of an evening full of some absolute diamonds.

*The nonstop music was so all encompassing and over-the-top, it evoked memories of the old ABA in the USA when it was going over-the-top with everything, unique red-white-and-blue balls, gimmicks galore. But mostly loud music to create an atmosphere which didn't exist. The NBA has done fairly well without all that. Game night presentation surely doesn't mean relentlessly blasting out everything from Funky Cold Medina to Mambo Italiana.

*On mike duties, Rusty Hinder mentioned in passing as play was about to resume from an early timeout huddle of the foul-mad Adelaide-Sydney opening, that even he was at risk of being called for a foul. I'm putting the return to Blitz foul-calling circa 2013 down to the refs being driven insane by the music.

KING DAMIAN: Coach Cotter addresses his players, assuring them the music will stop eventually.

Blitzkrieg
(Who shot out the lights)

*New Melbourne point man Stephen Holt opened in withering style, sticking 4-of-6 threes in the first half, then finishing with the new tournament-high of 27 points, including 7-of-9 triples. He launched one of those from the Mackay Shopping Centre.

*Holt was followed closely by Hawks forward Tim "The Vowel" Coenraad, with his 26 points including 5-of-8 from the desert.

*Melbourne as a team shot at 56.1 per cent and was 18-of-33 from range.

*Igor Hadziomerovic reached double figures, his 10 points at 80 per cent.

*Tyson Demos stuck both his three-point attempts, Rhys Martin stroked 3-of-4, his only miss a rushed shot-clock-beating attempt.

*Chris Goulding's 17 points included three 3-pointers, one of them shot from the Cairns Motor Inn. Lord knows what he was doing there.

*Daniel Johnson showed some new moves off the dribble, en route to 26 points at 58 per cent for the 36ers.

*Mitch Creek's 18 points included 5-of-6 from the floor.

*Marcus Thornton went off for 24 points in his Kings' debut, kissing one baseline jumper off the glass. The degree of difficulty there is off the charts. (Even if Lucas Walker later hit a triple the same way!)

UNITED THEY SIT: Dean Demopoulos tells his men Michael Buble isn't on the PA play list.

Blitz Glitz
(Celebrities at the Blitz - Spotted in the crowd at Townsville RSL Stadium...)

*Boomers Olympic coach Andrej Lemanis apparently, according to host Rusty Hinder, "guaranteeing" a Gold Medal in Rio. It's not what I heard, but there ya go.

*Derek Rucker, 1990 league MVP.

*Chris Lucas, WNBL Championship coach of the Townsville Fire.

*Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie keen to catch up with Tom Jervis to talk about Troy. Pity they had to leave early.

 

Blitz Biff
(Why can't we all just get along?)

*Seems both Tyson Demos and Rhys Martin had a hard hello to say to Chris Goulding.

 

What we learnt

*Oscar Forman is always ready to try new things, grabbing an offensive rebound just 18 seconds into the Hawks' game! (He had his first 3-pointer 35 seconds later. Ah. That's better.)

*Dean Demopoulos already has achieved something no-one could do last season - make Melbourne united. Players rushing to assist a fallen teammate back to his feet was rarely seen. In fact half the time the fear was if a United player DID hit the floor, the nearest teammate would rush in for a WWE-style elbow drop! (Now you know why they didn't really want to take charges!)

*Not only has the new boss at Melbourne drawn this group together, but you can quickly see why new import Hakim Warrick is friends with fellow NBAer Josh Childress. Chillin' was-and-is every inch a teammate, supporting his comrades verbally and with sincere encouragement. Ditto Warrick. So he's not only a spectacular playing stud, but the right type of human being too.

*Chris Goulding can still break defenders' ankles.

*Majok Majok is a player and Kyle Adnam would be so highly sought after ... if he was 6-3 or taller.

*Larry Davidson has not joined Sons of Anarchy.

*A.J. Ogilvy is not intimidated by athletic talls. (But he still may have a few doubts about Larry Davidson.)

*Julian Khazzouh (Gesundheit!) copped the most raw deal of the night from the officials but 10 points at 100% shooting, two rebounds, two blocks and five fouls in 9:48 is a fairly decent return.

*Daniel Carlin and Cody Ellis would look the part if they wrestled in those sumo suits. (But I get it. We aren't the ABA. It was just all the music that threw me there for a second.)

*We need to see Indiana Faithful and/or Rhys Vague on the court at some point.

*We now have three lead contenders for Rookie of the Year honours, Nick Kay the stand-out from Day 1, Jeromie Hill and Matt Hodgson showing plenty on Day 2. Igor Hadziomerovic also had some eye-catching moments so it all may come down to which of the three (four?) sees the most action. Think that might end up being Kay.

*Adelaide will be under-rated again this season.

*There were so many fouls called in the first half of the 36ers-Kings game, it was reminiscent of the 2013 Blitz and really needed Mark Worthington to come over and revisit his question of that year: "Are we playing effing netball now?"

FACING THE MUSIC: Bevo tells his Hawks he has arranged ear-plugs for the second half.

BlitzWrap

G3: MELBOURNE UNITED 106 (Holt 27, Goulding 17, Kickert 15, Blanchfield 13, Hadziomerovic 10; Blanchfield 7 rebs; Holt, Hadziomerovic 5 assts) d ILLAWARRA HAWKS 99 (Coenraad 26, Ogilvy 19, Martin 17, Forman 10; Coenraad 6 rebs; Martin 5 assts). Premiership Points: Melbourne 5.5, Illawarra 1.5
G4: ADELAIDE 36ERS (Johnson 26, McNeaill 19, Creek 18; Hodgson 8 rebs; Gibson 6 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 84 (Thornton 24, Cadee 14, Khazzouh 10; Hill 11 rebs; Thornton 5 assts). Premiership Points: Adelaide 4.5, Sydney 2.5

Blitz Points
Taipans 5.5
United 5.5
Breakers 5
36ers 4.5
Kings 2.5
Crocodiles 2
Hawks 1.5
Wildcats 1.5

Tonight: 6pm, Perth Wildcats v NZ Breakers; 8.30, Townsville Crocodiles v CT
Get there! (Or watch it live at nbl.com.au or foxsports.com.au)