Basketball On The Internet.

IT may have been a successful "uneventful event" as NBL GM Jeremy Loeliger described the 2015 Blitz - but it sure didn't lack for excitement generated for the season to come.

With the Blitz's solitary clean sweep - every quarter won for all seven points - Melbourne United brushed aside Sydney and overtook Cairns Taipans to clinch the Loggins-Bruton Cup.

United playmaker Steve Holt jointly was awarded the Ray Borner Medal as Blitz MVP with Cairns Taipans import Markel Starks, the first time the referees' post-game votes have resulted in a medal tie.

Cairns was 2.2 seconds from winning the Cup on Saturday when it led arch rival New Zealand 90-88. The Taipans again can blame the Breakers for denying them any silverware because Shea Ili's layup with 2.1 seconds left sent the game into overtime and cost Cairns the vital extra point it needed to be beyond Melbourne's reach.

Melbourne then reached out and snatched the Cup away, aided and abetted by Sydney's worst game at a Blitz tournament.

It being a Sunday, the Kings were missing JC and JC when they desperately needed a saviour. But Josh Childress and Jason Cadee could only watch on in despair as their teammates made conscientous objectors look like MMA fighters.

The Townsville-to-Brisbane flight had the Kings, 36ers and United teams aboard, prompting Cal Bruton - whose name adorns the Blitz Cup alongside Leroy Loggins' - to get onto the intercom and lead the flight in applauding the new preseason champions.

Cal also spoke of the excitement for the season ahead in an impomptu performance that only further enhanced the NBL's rebirth.

Blitz Bitz

*It's always a bit timid on a Sunday morning, maybe an explanation why only a meagre three fouls were blown by the officials in the United-Kings first quarter. (All on Sydney too.)

*Can someone please tell Steve Holt when he sneaks a clean steal and has the whole floor to himself, a LAY-UP is unacceptable, if not downright un-American.

*Um, same applies to Lucas Walker...

*Little touch of Sunday morning cricket as a pass from Kiwi Dion Prewster completely clean-bowled teammate Marcus Thornton, passing out of court between his legs. Fortunately, it completely missed the bails.

*Melbourne's Majok Majok had a huge day, one point shy of a 20-20 points-boards game yet unselfish enough to pass a ball out of the post late in the piece when most guys would have forced up a shot. The good thing about Sudanese-born players such as Majok Majok at Melbourne and Atem Atem in Adelaide is they don't get offended when you call them by their surname.

*Melbourne coach Dean Demopoulos has overtaken Brian Goorjian in how often he says "Awiight?" in timeouts.

*Brendan Teys had just grabbed an offensive rebound and was about to go up when Hawks' forward Tim Coenraad hit the floor in an agony only other men can understand. But the refs stopping the game for that when the 36ers had possession, Wrightly prompted this from Sixers coach Joey Wright: "If y'all see they're about to score, just fall down."

*Sixers import Kenyon McNeaill missed Adelaide's third game with the same dreaded ailment which saw so many players rested across the Blitz, that awful slightly pulled strained twinge.

*Kirk Penney's much-anticipated entry into the game against Adelaide saw him with a foul within 23 seconds, then a second eight seconds after that. "What's the record (to foul out) in this building?" he may have asked, the answer 7:29 by teammate AJ Ogilvy against Sydney.

YES YES: If Majok Majok hit FTs at better than 3-of-6, he would have had a 20-20 game.

Blitzkrieg
(Who shot out the lights)

*Majok Majok had a sizzling final day with 19 points at 73 per cent. And the only reason he missed three shots was because he was tired from dragging down 21 rebounds.

*Chris Goulding stuck consecutive threes (and his tongue out) in a first quarter in which he delivered three and Dan Kickert followed suit with a rapid-fire pair in the second period as Melbourne reduced Sydney to road cones.

*Steve Holt's game-high 22 points were at 53 per cent, his 5-of-9 threes the day's best haul.

TONGUE-TIED? Chris Goulding got to sit back and enjoy Majok being Majok.

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

*Desmond and Molly Jones (Uh-ha-ha-ha) ... with a couple of kids running in the yard.

*Bob Hawke, declaring any boss who fires anyone who doesn't make it in to work today after being associated with making the NBL Blitz the success it was, is a bum.

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

*It being the last day, everyone was in a more passive frame of mind so, other than Rhys Carter getting a little riled and copping a T after a no-call on a shot where he was clearly manhandled, or A.J. Ogilvy and Dan Carlin/Nathan Sobey getting a trifle heated after hitting the pine together, it was a biff-free finale.

UNEVENTFUL EVENT: All quiet on the northern front as Adam Gibson takes on Rhys Martin.

What we learnt

*Sydney Kings have a soft underbelly. They had at least one quarter in the previous two games where they "mailed it in" and paid the price but against Melbourne, they didn't even offer a token effort.

*Melbourne is going to be a team to watch with terrific inside/outside options. (Awiight?)

*The winning contestant in the sumo competition deciding to wrestle Murray Magpie was just flat-out funny.

*Don't forget Todd Blanchfield has hops - his putback slam dunk of a Brad Hill miss pretty special.

*Illawarra's inside game isn't too shabby, most of us somewhat starry-eyed about their outside arsenal while overlooking their hand-to-hand combatants.

*Jordair Jett is only "in shape" if the shape you're looking for is a pear.

*New Zealand will be very much in the playoff picture yet again, with or without Corey Webster. (And for those pulling for a club from Wellington to join the NBL next season alongside Brisbane Bullets, bear in mind one day we may be worrying - as the AFL did this year with two potential WA teams in its Grand Final, and the NRL dreading it now has two Qld teams in its Grand Final - it might be a Breakers-Wellington Championship Series... )

*Adelaide will surprise again but even moreso if Nathan Sobey and Matt Hodgson actually realise how good they are and how much they belong NOW.

*Don't sleep on Cairns.

*When Nate Jawai is fully fit, Perth will be fully awesome.

PROJECT AHEAD FOR BEVO AND THE HAWKS: We need more shots going up!

BlitzWrap
G11: MELBOURNE UNITED 92 (Holt 22, Majok 19, Goulding 16, Kickert 10; Majok 21 rebs; Goulding 4 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 56 (Thornton 18, Brandt 13; Khazzouh 13 rebs; Thornton 3 assts). Premiership Points: Melbourne 7, Sydney 0
G12: ILLAWARRA HAWKS 86 (Coenraad 21, Ogilvy 19, Forman 8; Ogilvy 13 rebs; 5 with 3 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 70 (Walker 19, Sobey 15, Creek, Johnson 8; Walker 9 rebs; Walker 4 assts). Premiership points: Illawarra 6, Adelaide 1

Blitz Final Points
1 United 17.5
2 Taipans 17
3 Wildcats 13
4 Hawks 12.5
5 Breakers 8.5
6 36ers 7.5
7 Kings 4.5
8 Crocodiles 3.5