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ROUND ABOUT: NBL #23
TweetOK. Hands up anybody who expects a Melbourne-Wollongong NBL Grand Final series?
Not saying Wollongong cannot spring the upset surprise of the year by stopping the Perth juggernaut.
Or that Melbourne cannot get over Adelaide in their series.
Just asking what the odds would be of both the third and fourth-placed teams getting through?
It happened in 2000 when Adelaide and Townsville finished #1 and #2 with 22-6 records but Perth (third) and Victoria Titans (fourth) finished up eliminating them in the semis.
Two years later, Adelaide got its own back when Victoria Titans finished first and Perth Wildcats second, but the 36ers (third) and West Sydney Razorbacks (fourth) contested the Grand Final series.
Wollongong Hawks coach Gordie McLeod had the Razorbacks’ reins back then so any club he is associated with should never be ruled out of the equation.
So Wollongong-Melbourne for the Championship? Any takers?
IT never ceases to amaze me that the NBL plays exclusively on Friday-Saturday-Sunday throughout its regular season – with the exception of Thursday games across the Tasman which seem to work well for the Breakers in Auckland.
But come the playoffs and it's Thursday and even Tuesday, for both series if they go to a Game 3.
So why all the resistance then to weeknight scheduling if suddenly it is OK for the playoffs?
Is it just that people will come out for a final?
Or is this the start of the NBL’s not-so-subtle campaign to start getting us used to game nights other than just Friday-to-Sunday?
SYDNEY Kings have seen assistant coach Damian Cotter proclaimed as Shane Heal’s heir apparent in one report while the club, as usual, throws its wish-list out and pines for Brian Goorjian, now feeling hungry an hour after he eats in China.
The Goorj is still contracted in China so Cotter as an interim?
What? Warming the chair for a season? That should have players rushing to sign for a potential 12-month lame duck.
Not that Cotter as a coach is a lame duck. I am referring to the fact anyone appointed as an interim is essentially a limping quacker.
Is Rob Beveridge interested?
His name has emerged before and the fact he coached West Sydney and knows Sydney, is without an NBL club and is a proven commodity make him a likely candidate for speculation.
Just not sure how badly he wants it because he could have stayed at the Wildcats if he had really wanted to, his issues with CEO Nick Marvin eminently solvable if he’d truly wanted the gig again.
Whatever happens, the Kings need to move quickly because AJ Ogilvy only signed a one-year deal and has told the club he plans to play in Europe.
(Where's Julian Khazzouh?)
Ex-NBA forward Sam Young is Puerto Rico-bound and his first priority is to return to The Show anyway.
Sydney general manager Rod Harys today said the Kings definitely would appoint Heal’s successor within a month.
After the coach fell out with one of the owners mid-season, chances are the Kings went coach-sniffing long ago.
“There is a couple of candidates with previous NBL coaching experience out there that we do know about,” Harys said.
“It's no secret we would love to see Goorj back at the helm of the Kings one day.
“I know he's still contracted in China, but I'm not sure of his movements after next season.”
Last time I spoke with Goorj, which admittedly was a while back, I didn’t see anything in Australia attracting him to return anytime soon.
What does he have to prove here?
YEAH, NO KIDDING
YES, once again it was great to hear Bill Woods back on the call for ONE in Friday’s Wollongong-Sydney game, and Lachy Reid anchoring Sunday’s Adelaide-Melbourne call.
Yeah, no kidding. Didn’t miss anyone of (off key)note, to be honest.
But for the round’s most accurate piece of commentary, it was Wildcats championship captain Mike Ellis on the NBL.TV call of the Perth-Wollongong game who said it best after another James Ennis highlight.
In fact, Ellis said what most people not conscripted to the Red Army believe when a review of a speccy Jimmy play looked suspiciously like a three-step special.
“He travels a hell of a lot, let’s be honest,” Ellis said.
Honesty? Hmm. Might be worth more callers trying it.
Basketball On The Internet's Player of the Week
HE was the man in Round One and he has done it again, Daniel Johnson’s 25 points at 73 per cent as Adelaide saw off Melbourne 99-94 getting him the regular season’s last round BOTI Player of the Week.
Alex Loughton and Cam Gliddon were solid in Auckland, Oscar Forman and Rotnei Clarke superb in their first game of the round – the second game? not so good – opening the door for DJ.
Steve Markovic went within a buzz cut of winning his third PotW for orchestrating Townsville’s great win in Sydney.
But DJ spun it just right against the physical Tigers to perfectly bookend his regular season.
PotW Winners
Rd 1 Daniel Johnson
Rd 2 Shawn Redhage
Rd 3 Chris Goulding
Rd 4 Charles Carmouche
Rd 5 Brian Conklin
Rd 6 Gary Ervin
Rd 7 Damian Martin
Rd 8 Mika Vukona
Rd 9 James Ennis
Rd 10 Mark Worthington
Rd 11 Rotnei Clarke
Rd 12 Adam Ballinger
Rd 13 AJ Ogilvy
Rd 14 Adam Gibson
Rd 15 Tom Garlepp
Rd 16 Steve Markovic
Rd 17 Steve Markovic
Rd 18 Rotnei Clarke
Rd 19 Sam Young
Rd 20 Jamar Wilson
Rd 21 Chris Goulding
Rd 22 Gary Wilkinson
Rd 23 Daniel Johnson
Reviews
Breakers V Taipans
IT was supposed to be CJ’s farewell but it was Mika Vukona waving goodbye with two technical fouls – frustrated much this year there Mika? – as Cairns KO’d the Breakers in front of 8000 at Vector who came to see their triple-Championship hero one last time.
Alex Loughton, Cam Gliddon and Matt Burston ended the long drought for Cairns across the Tasman in a reasonably convincing 95-83 win, made all the more notable by the absences of Jamar Wilson and Cam Tragardh.
Hawks V Kings
WHAT a captain’s game Oscar Forman delivered in Wollongong’s “must-win” homer against the hated enemy from the big sticks, pacing his team from the perimeter as it rattled up a 100-87 victory.
The best Sydney had to offer was coach Shane Heal’s resignation as Forman went for 26 points and Rotnei Clarke 24, the Hawks playing with heart, focus and commitment – all the ingredients for a stop off at the post-season party.
Kings V Crocodiles
SYDNEY dug deep but only found dirt as Townsville rallied for Russell Hinder’s last game and beheaded the Kings’ 88-79, Steve Markovic leading the way with 21 points and five assists.
Hinder even threw down a dunk as the Crocs finished as the best-performed last-placed team of all time, beating all seven sides above them and claiming double-figure wins – achieved only once before.
36ers V Tigers
SOMEONE forgot to tell Adelaide and Melbourne this one didn’t matter as both sides went at it fairly seriously, but also cleared their benches in what turned into a very entertaining contest.
A guide to the semi? Not really, when Chris Goulding plays 25 minutes and Mark Worthington 18. But as for a springboard into the semis? It was pretty special, the 36ers pulling 22 clear, the Tigers getting it back to two and the Sixers then prevailing 99-94. Roll on Thursday.
Wildcats V Hawks
THIS was a game too until halftime as both sides flexed their muscles ahead of Friday’s Game 1 of their semi final series.
West Coast Waves players in attendance were highly amused when the Hawks could muster just six points in the third period – “Even we could get 7 or more ... sometimes,” one was overhead observing – but that 23-6 period made this academic and left Perth to cruise away to an 86-65 win. It was unlikely to be a genuine indicator for Friday.
BEEF of the WEEK
WHAT is up with ONE-TEN and its corner scoreboard?
For starters, having the two teams’ names on top of each other takes up more of the left corner of the screen than is necessary when having it as a single line across the bottom of the screen would take up such a negligible amount.
Maybe take a look at a college game or two on ESPN?
And why is it so hard in some venues for the scoreboard manipulator to actually react and change the score straight after it occurs?
The Wollongong-Sydney game was a classic example, the Hawks trailing 13-16, Kevin Tiggs hitting two threes for … 13-16. It took waaay too long to get it to 19-16 and it occurs so regularly as to be just unprofessional.
Truly enjoyed the Adelaide-Melbourne telecast though, especially with all the old footage used.
Online
BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS
WOLLONGONG pounded its way into the semi finals after languishing in the league bomb shelter mid-season and being written off by a certain hirsute member of the fourth estate who had best stay nameless. Despite losing the irrelevant last fixture to Perth, the Hawks easily were the round’s biggest winners and gave all fans of clubs other than Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne, a team to rally behind and support.
SYDNEY had the simple equation to reach the finals and could not get close to either Wollongong or Townsville, beaten by two clubs who thrive on heart and an underdog mentality of committed intensity. Even the Kings’ coach abdicated, albeit a few weeks after his subjects gave up on the campaign, leaving the Kings as the biggest losers.
PS
Retiring Sydney Kings coach Shane Heal is on the record saying of import Jesse Sanders: “I think Jesse rebounds and defends like Damian Martin.” Did he maybe mean Damien Barrett?
