Basketball On The Internet.

TOWNSVILLE has marched into its third straight WNBL Grand Final - but this one's at home - and Cairns has finished top of the NBL ladder in a great season for north Queensland basketball fans.

The Fire torched reigning champion and nemesis Bendigo 82-63 in front of a sell-out at Townsville RSL Stadium, the Spirit now having to deal with a rejuvenated Sydney which outscored Dandenong by 27 points over the last quarter-and-a-half to win 89-80 from 18 down.

Cairns had a loss and a 26-point credit up its sleeve when it travelled to Auckland to face second-ranked New Zealand for the right to finish in first place and win home-court for the semis AND the Grand Finals, if it goes that far.

But even playing with the bank's money, the Taipans rolled the dice and delivered an 81-77 road win to ensure they finished first in no uncertain terms.

It augurs well for basketball in Queensland's north, especially with the NBL still quiet on a Brisbane return but BA soon to decide between its two WNBL options for a team in the south. (Final submissions have been delivered!)

Could not be happier for the sport but still bemused by the "us-against-the-world" attitude of some of the fans up there.

On social media, the gloating was already in full swing, claiming that with Townsville and Cairns dominating the standings, "the southerners will hate this." 

Oh please.

Presumably as a "southerner" myself - come down sometime and visit the plantation; we can sit on the porch and savour mint juleps - could not be happier to see the Fire back with a chance at "third time lucky" or Cairns rewarding its long-faithful fans by fulfilling some of the promise it long has showed.

That kind of "southerners" assertion just smacks of naivety and immaturity. Where is the border to the "south" by the way? Anywhere below Mackay?

 

Basketball On The Internet, Player of the Week

WE are ending it where we started with Cairns' import Scottie Wilbekin, our first B.O.T.I. Player of the Week, closing the NBL regular season as our last PotW.

Scottie led the Taipans to a gutsy last-round 81-77 win over New Zealand in Auckland with 25 points, teammate Alex Loughton giving him a run for his money with a 22-point, nine-rebound double in his milestone 200th game.

Other performances of note included Brock Motum's 25 points, with 4-of-4 threes in the final quarter as Adelaide beat Perth, and teammate Jamar Wilson's two-game returns of 25 against the Wildcats and 23 against Wollongong.

PotW Winners

Rd1 Scottie Wilbekin
Rd2 Brian Conklin
Rd3 Scottie Wilbekin
Rd4 Adam Gibson
Rd5 Josh Childress
Rd6 Jordan McRae
Rd7 Josh Childress
Rd8 Tim Coenraad
Rd9 Brian Conklin
Rd10 Josh Childress
Rd11 Jordan McRae
Rd12 Tai Wesley
Rd13 Brian Conklin
Rd14 Jamar Wilson
Rd15 Cedric Jackson
Rd16 Torrey Craig
Rd17 Jamar Wilson
Rd18 Todd Blanchfield
Rd19 Cedric Jackson
Rd20 Scottie Wilbekin

 

YEAH, NO KIDDING

ALWAYS had great respect for Andrew Gaze but almost choked on my coffee when he complimented Josh Childress during his call of the Melbourne-Sydney game on Sunday for leading the NBL in both scoring and rebounding.

I'm paraphrasing now but he followed that by saying: "From memory, that hasn't been done since Tiny Pinder did it in 1985."

From memory Andrew?

From memory?

Wow. That's impressive. That is one great memory considering that was 30 years ago that a player last led the league in scoring and rebounding.

Not meaning to doubt that memory Drewey but, quickly now, who led the scoring and/or rebounding in 2010? That's only five years ago. Should be easy.

Or 2005? That's still only 10 years ago.

Please Andrew. Either give Mark "Statman" Slocombe due credit for supplying you the info - I am presuming he did - or just state the fact as that - a fact.

But when you throw in "from memory", well, turn it up mate.

Everyone out here in TV viewing land knows you took your research training at the Steve Carfino School of Goofy.

THE above is from ONE's Sydney-Melbourne game on Friday. So is it Katy Perry perhaps? I mean, he did have the "eye of the Tiger" once.

Or is it Kendrick Perry doing a passable impersonation of Daryl Corletto?

You know, in our sport, all little guards look alike...

SO here's a top effort for the Championship ladder from NBL.TV in Wollongong on Sunday.

Um, no. That wasn't Perth's record or Adelaide's record ahead of Sunday's games. (Good work for the callers to pick it up though.)

And finally ...

So who should we trust here?

ABC-TV's scoreboard or the actual scoreboard?

Is this stuff really so difficult?

 

REVIEWS

Rangers V Flames (W KO Semi Final)

WHAT a game. What a ripper. Dandenong looked to have this in the bag, ahead by 13 when Penny Taylor's ankle buckled under her with 8:19 left in the third quarter. Even that didn't slow the Rangers, who pulled their lead out to 58-40 on a three by Aimee Clydesdale which had everyone on the Dandenong bench all smiles as the teams went into time-out huddles. But those smiles became frowns real quick as Shannon Seebohm never lost faith in his Sydney side and it rewarded him with a magnificent Rohanee Cox-led fightback victory, 89-80. She was something, back-to-back threes in the final period shattering Dandenong and sending them into mothballs yet again.

Fire V Spirit (W Double chance Semi)

NO-ONE had even had time to work up a sweat before Suzy Batkovic sent a shockwave through Townsville fans, hurting her ankle. But the Fire didn't miss a beat, riding the wave of emotion provided by a raucous sell-out crowd to race away regardless. Bendigo fought back, with Kelsey Griffin the usual thorn for the home team. But Townsville would not be denied and with Cayla Francis delivering a 20-point, 14-rebound double, Mia Newley stepping up and The Batgirl returning to provide a 12-12 points-boards double, the Fire was en route to an 82-63 rout and a historic first home Grand Final.

36ers v Wildcats (M)

THE pic above just about sums this up, Brock Motum connecting on 4-of-4 threes in the final period as Adelaide snuck into third place with a 101-94 home win over Perth.

Kings v United (M)

AS they have throughout, the Kings showed plenty of heart, only to have victory stolen out from under them by a late Daniel Kickert back-breaker, Melbourne winning 91-88.

Crocodiles v Hawks (M)

TODD Blanchfield had a 16-point, 12-rebound double as Townsville left no doubt it was closing the season as the best team outside the top four, beating Wollongong 82-66.

United v Kings (M)

SYDNEY showed heart way back getting beaten in Adelaide - that's Kevin White (above) explaining to Josh Childress how easy it is to hit three after three - and once again dug deep before again going under 92-95 to Melbourne. The main talkiing point here was the sell-out at Hisense Arena.

Breakers v Taipans (M)

CAIRNS had 26 points in the bank and could afford to cruise-and-lose against New Zealand. Instead it chose to win-and-grin, beating the Breakers 81-77, Scottie Wilbekin and Alex Loughton big while Ekene Ibekwe delivered a 17-point, 13-rebound double for the hosts.

Wildcats v Crocodiles (M)

STARTING Matt Knight and Tom Jervis together - arguably Perth's two biggest winners on Friday against Adelaide - gave this essentially dead rubber a bit of a new face, the Wildcats winning 81-71. DeAndre Daniels led Perth with a 24-point, 11-rebound double, Todd Blanchfield with a 14-12 double-double for the Crocs and Brian Conklin's 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

Hawks v 36ers (M)

WITH Larry Davidson and Tiiiim Coeenraaaad out for Wollongong and Brock Motum missing for Adelaide, this had the potential to be a yawn. Instead, the 36ers' fast pace, a career high 21 points for Mitch Creek and another consistent Jamar Wilson effort turned it into a track meet Adelaide won 105-85. Techs to Gary Ervin, Gordie McLeod and Joey Wright and a USF to Luke Schenscher (who hit a three!!!?) suggested everyone is ready for the post-season.

 

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS

CAIRNS didn't just hold onto first place, it made its first regular season at the top of the perch an emphatic arrival by beating New Zealand on the road. In a year of firsts, the Taipans have been blessed with a largely injury-free run and made history starting the same quintet all year. They are the biggest winners.

WOLLONGONG finishes the year as the biggest loser even though most did not expect much from the Hawks this season. Adam Ballinger's retirement (after 340 games) and Brad Hill's milestone 250th game deserved a better effort against Adelaide after the loss to Townsville but in truth, the Hawks were ready for the curtain to fall on 2014-15.

 

BEEF of the WEEK

FILET Mignon.

 

Online

http://bit.ly/1AoyaR4 

http://bit.ly/17PCVrz 

http://bit.ly/17oJbGP 

http://bit.ly/1D1XSbi 

 

PS

WHAT he said.

What he really meant.

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill after the Fire qualified for the WNBL Grand Final.

SAID - “The girls have come close twice before, this time they have a home crowd advantage. As long as the refereeing is consistent, I don’t think anyone will take this championship away from them this year.”

MEANT - “Let's see if Bendigo can beat us up here. And if the refs don't play fair, we know where they're staying.”