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IN the first half of this extended Round 18, there was one monster result. Make no mistake, Melbourne beating the Wildcats in Perth was hugely important to United's psyche because losing in the west is just about an NBL staple. 

Bear in mind too, Perth already won the NBL Cup this season, then added Will Magnay to its lineup, shortening its odds incredibly in championship favouritism.

Last round the Wildcats gave United a double-digit dose of humility in Melbourne's own building so to pretty much have the lead all night in Perth before icing a 99-91 road win was beyond big.

Remember too, Melbourne was cruising on the season's best winning streak when Perth clipped its wings, those predictions of United having an undefeated season not so much a distant memory as much a distant joke.  

So this clash always was going to be majorly consequential in the context of the championship. Lose again to the Wildcats, and in Perth to boot, and the psychological scar might have proven too big to erase before the end of the season.

Controlling the game and virtually from go-to-whoa was a major achievement for Dean Vickerman's crew, even if subbing out Chris Goulding in the first quarter when he had hit 3-of-3 threes remains as vexing and troubling a tactic as any going around.

 

 

 

   ROUND 18 (Part 1) - GAME BY GAME  

 

 

FOR a while it seemed as if Video Vaughan, Larry and Shemp were trying to hog the spotlight in Wollongong in true "Kath and Kim" fashion - Look at me, look at me.

Daniel Johnson copped a soft-as-a-freshly-laid-cowpat defensive foul, then within seconds was called by VV for a ridiculous offensive foul while simply making position and posting up.

DJ already had stroked a 3-point missile and looked ready to continue where he left off in Sydney, where he stuck a triple of triples in overtime. Intead he headed to the bench and was never again a factor. Nice going refs.

But what's good for the goose ... With Johnson gone after barely two minutes, it was time for AJ Ogilvy to collect an offensive foul for what, for many, many years, we used to call "a good screen". 

Because the player who hit the screen went down - and the blame should fall on his teammate defending Ogilvy for not telling him it was coming - AJ suddenly paid the price instead.

Again, absurd. Within another few plays, AJ had his second foul to join Johnson on the opposite bench, similarly stewing. As were their coaches, as were the fans. But hey, it's 2021, where no-one is accountable for ruining a match and some refs clearly believe they are as important as the event they are policing.

To what was left of the game, and Illawarra had Justin Simon shackling Josh Giddey and forcing him into turnovers and bad decisions. The Hawks' defence helped create 11 turnovers by Adelaide in the first period, which had much to do with their 23-10 lead at the first break.

Sixers import Tony Crocker (16 points, 5-of-7 threes), criminally under-utilised Jack McVeigh  and quality playmaking by Dan Dillon helped the 36ers seize control of the second quarter, sparking an unexpected 15-0 run, their best of the season.

That 28-11 period by Adelaide changed the complexion of the game entirely but after the interval, Illawarra was focused again on its defensive rules and the grind was on in earnest.

Tyler Harvey (23 points, six threes, seven assists) was virtually unguardable at times and Deng Deng picked up nine boards with 10 points in 21 minutes. Down the stretch it was anyone's game until Harvey blasted in a three for a 70-66 buffer inside the last half-minute and the Sixers were toast.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 71 (Harvey 23, Simon 12, Deng 10; Deng 9 rebs; Harvey 7 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 66 (Crocker 16, McVeigh 11, Johnson 9; Pinder, Giddey 9 rebs; Giddey 8 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 2,036

* * * 

"WELCOME back Keifer Sykes" easily could have been Phoenix's post-game mantra after the star point guard steered South East Melbourne home against a plucky New Zealand team paced by Finn Delany and Rob Loe.

SEM broke open the game with a 14-0 run in the second quarter which put the Breakers into a perennial game of catch-up for the rest of the journey.

That's not to say they didn't go down without a fight. Quite the contrary, Delany again showing he has stepped up a notch in his personal rankings as a quality player with a game-high 32 points.

He gave Mitch Creek a caning, the Phoenix star still struggling to get out of a funk, though considerably more aggressive off the dribble in the last quarter when he began to partially resemble his best playing personna. Fingers crossed, Phoenix phans.

Tinkering with his starters, Simon Mitchell drew the best from Sykes, Izayah Le Afa and Kyle Adnam as PG/combo guards, while the Breakers struggled to draw any consistency from the Webster brothers, Tai hitting 4-of-13 and Corey 1-of-6, many of them contested.

Tai (pictured) at least did manage a good gargle on the bench.

Delany and Loe, who came of the bench for the offensively impotent Colton Iverson (1-of-4, mostly from point-blank but with 8 boards in 11:29) brought New Zealand within striking distance in the last quarter before Sykes seized the day and ensured his team the W.

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 91 (Sykes 21, Adnam 14, Wetzell 12, Le Afa, Moore, Creek 10; Moore 6 rebs; Adnam 5 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 82 (Delany 32, Loe 19, McDowell-White 14; Iverson 8 rebs; McDowell-White 5 assts) at the Fire Pit, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 1,247

* * * 

ADAM Forde. What the hell were you doing? What the hell were you thinking?

The match with the Bullets in Brisbane barely three minutes old, he subs on Xavier Cooks. Great to see him, particularly with that tip-dunk off his own miss. But if you're going to get him in after just three minutes, for crying out loud, just start the guy.

But wait. There's more. At 6:01 in the first quarter, in come Dan Kickert, Jarrad Weeks and Craig Moller. Say what? They haven't even played FOUR minutes and Sydney already has had nine players on the court!

Are you serious Adam? Can you just allow a combination to settle, maybe get into a flow?

No. Wait. Sorry. I typed too soon. At 4:48 - IN THE FIRST QUARTER - Tom Vodanovich subs in! The game is barely halfway through its opening quarter and Forde has put 10 Kings into the action.

I'm sorry dear reader. I apologise. Clearly I am a dinosaur in believing you need to see who's going well and who isn't, know who your best players are and give them the bulk of the minutes, see which combination is firing, you know, that sort of thing. Basketball 101 it used to be.

I mean, unless you're playing a flat-out, up-the-floor, in-your-face fullcourt press on every opposition possession and your charges desperately need sideline respite, this kind of substitution pattern borders on over-coaching, or player-pleasing - though they rarely are by this stuff - or just plain mania. Of the things Forde learnt from Will Weaver, on subbing he still should be channelling Trevor Gleeson.

If Sydney, after all it has been through, made the playoffs, I would have been pumping for Forde as Coach of the Year. But this effort definitely sent me back to the drawing board.

Always in front and never headed, largely courtesy of Anthony Drmic's career-high 28-point haul, which included 7-of-10 3-pointers, Brisbane blew open the contest early in the second when it turned a 30-24 buffer into a 49-24 rout.

Game over.

BRISBANE BULLETS 93 (Drmic 28, Sobey 19, Patterson 13, Johnson 12; Harrison 7 rebs; Sobey 5 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 70 (Hunter 15, Martin 13, Weeks 10; Hunter 11 rebs; Ware 3 assts) at the Armoury, Nissan Arena. Crowd: 1,382

* * * 

LEAVING absolutely no doubt as to its focus, intent and commitment, Melbourne seized the Wildcats by the throat from the get-go and shook them around like shocked kittens for extended periods in this game between the league heavyweights.

Mitch McCarron opens with a 3-pointer, Chris Goulding lands 3-of-3 from deep, McCarron beats the Wildcats going to the hoop and it's time-out Perth, United ahead 16-7, Goulding with nine, McCarron seven.

It got worse a few minutes later for the startled Red Army when Jock Landale landed a 3-pointer for a 24-9 lead.

United executed its game-plan to perfection, rarely surrendered control anmd consistently had the right answers for any questions Perth posed.

Sure, Bryce Cotton scored 24 and John Mooney played up to form with 24 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Mitch Norton showed typical pluck as well but it was Luke Travers in the last quarter who sparked a run which finally threatened United's composure.

Travers was strong at both ends as Perth had some momentum, back to 84-91 and with Todd Blanchfield driving to the hoop. It ended right there.

Goulding took a charge, not his forte, then stuck a 3-pointer for 94-84 and the Wildcats were sunk.

MELBOURNE UNITED 99 (Goulding 26, Landale 19, McCarron 14, Baba 11; Landale 8 rebs; McCarron 7 assts) d PERTH WILDCATS 91 (Mooney, Cotton 24, Norton 12; Mooney 13 rebs; Mooney 5 assts) at The Jungle, RAC Arena. Crowd: 9,987

* * * 

THE way South East Melbourne opened against Cairns, with Keifer Sykes and Mitch Creek immediately on the attack, you had a fair early insight into how this may play out.

But to their credit, the Taipans competed successfully for the first quarter-and-a-half before a 3-pointer from Ryan Broekhoff put the Phoenix up for keeps at 33-31.

Some late extended fullcourt pressure met by Taipans turnovers opened the door for the Phoenix to blaze to a 57-45 halftime buffer and this was all but over.

Cairns mustered a minor challenge in the third, but consecutive 3-pointers from Cam Gliddon blew the lead out to 67-50 and this was now only about the final scoreline and margin.

Yanni Wetzell again gave good service but Cairns went away from Nate Jawai, who had six points in the opening few minutes and it could not find sufficient scoring avenues.

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 106 (Creek 20, Sykes 16, Te Rangi 14, Gliddon, Moore, Wetzell 12; Wetzell 11 rebs; Sykes 4 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 77 (Djeric 17, Jawai 10, Deng, Machado 9; Vois, Blagojevic 4 rebs; Dufelmeier 4 assts) at the Fire Pit, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 1,711

* * *

Round 18 (What We Learnt, So far)

*When any shot hits those hard rings in Wollongong, it is the most horrible, wince-inducing sound;

*Some coaches must sub on a pre-arranged rote system, Adelaide's best scorer against Illawarra, Tony Crocker, playing less than half the game and sitting while his team went under;

*Refs must dislike players with abbreviated monikers, at least that's what DJ and AJ must suspect after the Illawarra-Adelaide clash;

*Mike Karena's presence on an NBL roster offers hope and comfort for every kid;

*Corey Webster must love Ryan Broekhoff's #45 Phoenix singlet, given the amount of times he was grabbing and pulling at it;

*Read somewhere that certainties in life are death, taxes and a Matty Hodgson reverse dunk. There's another one. Hodgson collecting a couple of dumb fouls, then still - at this stage of his career - asking for interpretations. There only seems to be one interpretation he hasn't realised;

*You can also count on Nathan Sobey screaming "Hey!" anytime he feels contact driving to the hoop. You know, just in case the refs missed it;

*Damian Martin is already as good an NBL sideline commentator as the TV coverage has and can offer more in a quick 25-second wrap than the droning of many of the regulars;

*Luke Travers is going to be a player;

*Defenders now know if they hit a legitimate screen but throw their head back as if something untoward occurred, the screener is copping a foul;

*Legitimately bumping a cutter now also is a foul in today's world;

*Video Vaughan is having one of his worst seasons with the whistle and maybe should start thinking retirement. His chastisement of Perth's Trevor Gleeson: "The conversations are done and you're going to coach properly and not yell at me," bordered on mawkish. Give the guy a tech or take a leaf from your own suggestion and try reffing properly;

*Mojave King may have made a little mistake joining the Taipans' NBL program;

*TV caller and 2010 league MVP Corey Williams has never lacked confidence, so much so he even invented a word this week, "unconfident";

*Warmed to Keifer Sykes after seeing his college special on NITV but even moreso when he walked in front of Majok Deng in between his free throws after they'd been having some private conversations. Gotta love a character.

QUOTE of the WEEK

"I've never had to don the goggles and they look like something you'd pick up from Bunnings that's some workplace safety."

NBL GOAT and now TV commentator Andrew Gaze, commenting on Ryan Broekhoff's new eye-protective goggles as he enters the game for South East Melbourne against New Zealand.