Basketball On The Internet.

HERE we go, here we go, here we go! At long last it's time for NBL Round 9! Let's face it, for a while there it looked as if Round 8 would never end. Someone at headquarters deserves an unsportsmanlike foul! Meantime, here we go with a big challenge for Brian Goorjian's Hawks at home again to Perth.

Way back some time in Round 8, Goorj's Illawarra hosted the perennial powerhouse at the Sandpit, squandered a double-figure lead and suffered a double-digit loss.

The Hawks picked up their team game again hosting Adelaide but this opening night challenge is a big one if Illawarra is to be a real title threat when the money is on the line.

  ROUND 9 LOOKS FINE

ALL the Wildcats have been doing since beating Illawarra in Wollongong is planning and training how to again beat Illawarra in Wollongong. The Hawks looked sharp early but when the game tightened and Perth pulled away, the Hawks reverted to hero-ball and died an ugly death. Their team game worked to beat Adelaide and that's what they need again or Perth takes it to 2-0.

ADELAIDE is deluding itself if it thinks it is a Final Four contender but cannot secure Tasmania's scalp on the road. Having already won in Hobart and achieving that without spark-plug Sunday Dech, it starts favourite in what, arguably, is the clash between the NBL's worst imports.

CAIRNS has been a happy hunting ground for Illawarra teams in the past but these Taipans are made of sterner stuff. If coach Adam Forde could just put a healthy team on the floor, the Taipans could make a run. It's just that he can't and anything less than their best just won't do against the Hawks.

POPULAR with most pundits and improved with the addition of Brandon Ashley, South East Melbourne still has some work to do to prove it is a contender. Beating Brisbane in Brisbane would be a hell of a good start because the Bullets took it up to league leader Melbourne and are very capable on their night. It's just you can't rely on which night that is.

BEATING Adelaide comfortably in that epic Round 8, there has been little to occur since to suggest the 36ers are ready to take a step upwards to end Melbourne's winning streak. United has numerous offensive options but it has been their ability to lock down teams that has them at the head of the table. Unless the 36ers' attack is far better organised and Mitch McCarron involves himself offensively, this should be a case of deja vu.

THE Kings will be feeling on top of the world after reversing their horrific fadeout loss to the Bullets in Brisbane with a 24-point rout. But Perth is no Brisbane, certainly not in terms of consistency. Just as it is difficult to trust what Sydney will produce from week-to-week, it is comforting to know the Wildcats always show up. That is why they inevitably start favourites.

NEW Zealand can move out of the NBL's bomb shelter if it can stomp on the JackJumpers in the Breakers "home" game in Hobart. There remains a very strong likelihood many of the fans will be there supporting Tasmania and hoping for a second win over the homeless Breakers. Will Magnay's effort last game also will buoy the team. But NZ has been pulling its game together and this is the win that will start its late, belated upward climb.