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CAN Brisbane and Adelaide continue their newly-found revivals, is Cairns the real deal, will South East Melbourne continue its run, has New Zealand hit the skids and is Perth as bad as we all - even Bryce Cotton's better half - suspect? NBL Round 6 should have a few answers for us.

There's a stockpile of key games in this round, with only two certainties. Melbourne has found its identity the most quickly and is playing solid ball - Matthew Dellavedova returning for Monday's clash with the Re-viled-cats - and Illawarra is tired of being told it is improving.

For the Hawks, the time is now and platitudes are making them want to puke. Sydney looks a little vulnerable so there's no time like the present to shake that "Kings' little brothers" tag.

Brisbane regains Aron Baynes which means it will have an effective counter for Alan Williams. If it also can curb Mitch Creek, it will be half way to the W. Always love a Creek-Nathan Sobey showdown of sorts.

The Horsham Hurricane versus the Warrnambool Whirlwind. Always good viewing.

Two-time Championship Series (formerly Grand Final Series) opponents New Zealand and Cairns will duke it out across the ditch before the Taipans have to face South East Melbourne in a huge back-up fixture for both clubs.

Has Scott Roth cooked up the gameplan to reverse Tasmania's road loss to Brisbane last round and can Adelaide - winners in Adelaide over the Wildcats but losers to them earlier in Perth - really put the pressure on the home coach?

John Rillie has been feeling the heat in the Perth hotseat since CJ Bruton shipped it west, easing misgivings about his ability to do the job at Adelaide. A players-only meeting helped change the course of the 36ers.

Doubt a "Fans Only" meeting would help in Perth. Maybe an "onlyfans" site might do the trick? Although losses to Adelaide and Melbourne this round would surely leave only doubts. Actually, no, the jury would be in, if it isn't already.

The first meeting of last season's grand finallists should be epic, even with New Zealand undermanned, making this one of the most robust rounds of the season so far.

ROUND 6 TIPS
Team of the Week Brisbane to end South East’s glorious winning run.
Cairns Taipans to continue on their winning way over the Breakers in NZ.
Sydney to jump back into the winners list by beating emerging Illawarra.
Tasmania at home to reverse its road loss to Brisbane in a thriller.
Adelaide to tighten the noose around John Rillie by winning in Perth.
South East Melbourne to hold off Cairns in a big game on Sunday.
Sydney to send New Zealand’s season into freefall in their first 2024 encounter
Melbourne on Monday to leave disjointed Perth seeing stars, all on United's roster.

NBL RANKINGS – WEEK 5
This          Last
Week       Week   Club
  1               1        Melbourne (8-1) Rolling along nicely with no real threat emerging yet.
  2               2        Tasmania (4-4) No need to jump off the J-Jumpers but this round is big.
  3               5        South East (5-3) Took care of business but Qld double a bigger challenge.
  4               6        Cairns (3-2) Showed their grit but now need to show class on the road.
  5               3        Sydney (4-3). Whoops. Champs-to-chumps last week but should handle NZ.
  6             10        Brisbane (4-4) Showed character but doesn’t get any easier this round.
  7               7        Adelaide (3-5) Will be on the rise for sure if they get Perth in Perth.
  8               9        Illawarra (2-5) Gave fans hope with solid win over Cairns and good road effort.
  9               4        New Zealand (1-4) No Cheatham has Breakers staring down the barrel early.
10               8        Perth (2-5) These days it’s Welcome to the Jungle. In deep Wildcat poo.