Basketball On The Internet.

CJ BRUTON having his #23 retired by the NZ Breakers was an appropriate reward for a great career and a great start to Round 2 of the NBL season.

Shawn Redhage played his 300th game, Jessica Bibby her 350th - milestones were plentiful - but remember, just as CJ hasn't officially retired, neither has Kristi Harrower!

The little champion bobbed up for a quick five points, four rebounds and two assists in under 16 minutes for Bendigo against Townsville so there is life in CJ yet too.

Retiring your singlet doesn't mean you have retired. Just ask Aaron Grabau.

And speaking of odd moments in the Land of the Taipans, congrats to Aaron Fearne for his 150th NBL coaching win and to Cairns, matching their best start to a season with four straight wins.

Back to CJ though and kudos to @NBLFacts for this one but on the night the Breakers retired his #23, Corey Webster topscored with 23 points in New Zealand's 23rd game at Vector Arena. Their next home game is on the 23rd.

All that was missing was Michael Jordan...

AROUND the Courts

DAEQUON Montreal had three quick fouls because he is just up from the SEABL. David Barlow copped three quick fouls because he was wearing ugly shoes. Mika Vukona had three quick fouls because he's Mika Vukona.

IS Adelaide Arena's Fruchoc mascot freelancing at United games as Baller?

 

YEAH, NO KIDDING

THIS round's collection of TV gaffes is by no means extensive - feel free to toss me any you pick up each week at botirnagy@gmail.com - but boy are there some beauts.

I mean, let's start at the end - almost - with Melbourne icon Andrew Gaze almost turning the calling of Melbourne United as "Melbourne Victory" into a drinking game!

Wrong soccer team Drewy!

Also liked his description of Ekene Ibekwe's square-up at the block, fake and step-past for a dunk as a "spin move".

Bill Woods chimed in too, describing Cedric Jackson's late Hail Mary to close the first half as "once again Perth trying to get one on the buzzer."

Don't ask me. I was getting up to go get a drink from the fridge with my own "spin move" stepping around the coffee table so I have no idea what Billy was doing.

And to close that coverage - my favourite of the round to be honest - Drewy interviewing Jordan McRae I think, asks him how he's settling in, opening that train of thought with: "The coach gets fired..."

And here I thought Chris Anstey resigned!

Ah what the hell?

Resigned. Fired. Quit. Sacked. Moved on. Moved out. Jumped. Pushed. It's probably all the same, right? Even after United CEO Vince Crivelli at halftime gave a very clear explanation of what happened.

So let's finish at the finish, the Wollongong-Cairns NBL.TV game and a particular incident late in the contest when Jahii Carson collared a ball Torrey Craig thought he had.

It prompted this commentary call: "Is Torrey Craig aware of Carson's jumping ability?" with a further reference to Craig perhaps not recalling the scout on Jahii.

Oh dear.

Fellas, you might remember the Blitz featured a dunk competition between Brian Conklin, Torrey Craig and Jahii Carson.

Once Conklin was eliminated - largely for being tall, white and a ranga (I believe the very reasons Luke Schenscher and Adam Ballinger didn't enter in the first place) - Craig and Carson fought out the dunk final.

So yes, my guess is Torrey did know about Jahii's jumping ability. Did you guys know about their dunk-off?

And an oldie but a goodie from Rachael Sporn on the ABC coverage of the WNBL for the 35th consecutive year, even though this is only the league's 34th season. Speaking with WNBA superstar Cappie Pondexter post Rangers-Boomers game, Rachael popped the big one, asking how Cappie found the standard of the WNBL.

Um, Rach, it was one game and a pretty ugly one for the most part at that. Maybe save that question until, you know, round three maybe?

Basketball On The Internet Player of the Week

THIS round's B.O.T.I. Player of the Week is so easy, it doesn't even warrant much conversation.

Brian Conklin's 30 points at 60 percent, 10 rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block helped bring Townsville back from the brink and to an 86-83 road win over Sydney which was crucial for the Crocs.

Yes, Mark Worthington put in a solid game against Cairns and an absolute gem against NZ Breakers - Jordan McRae much the same - and Stevie Weigh had a couple of good games for Cairns.

But Conklin was the man.

PotW Winners

Rd1 Scottie Wilbekin

Rd2 Brian Conklin

I'm tipping it should be a double this week for Townsville with Cayla Francis B.O.T.I.'s pick for the WNBL's Player of the Week. You'll see why later.

 

Reviews

Breakers V 36ers (M)
NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 101 (C Webster 23 T Wesley 15 C Jackson 15) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 80 (J Wilson 15 M Creek 13 D Montreal 13) at Vector Arena.
CEDRIC was entertaining and Corey, according to the Webster Dictionary definition, means "shooting out the lights upto halftime". The 36ers made a belated run but this was over before the first speck of dust from the ceiling settled on CJ Bruton's retired singlet.

Kings V Crocodiles (M)
TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 86 (B Conklin 30 C Steindl 12 T Blanchfield 11) d SYDNEY KINGS 81 (B Madgen 19 K Perry 14 J Childress 12 T Garlepp 12) at Qantas Credit Union Arena.
THE Crocs really needed to snap their losing start and it didn't look good after Sydney had scored 27 in the first quarter and 27 in the second to lead by nine. Of course, it DID look much better for Townsville when Sydney again scored 27 points ... but for the entire second half, as Brian Conklin led his team to an ice-breaking win.

Boomers V Capitals (W)
CANBERRA CAPITALS 69 (A Bishop 15 H Zavecz 12 S Talbot 12 C Wilson 12) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 62 (T Madgen 19 N Burton 14 R Cole 10) at State Basketball Centre. ABBY Bishop started where she finished off 2013-14 with a dominant display and with ample support from Steph Talbot, Hanna Zavecz, Carly Wilson, Canberra started with a precious road win. Wilson still has "it", five unanswered big points late putting this away.  

Taipans V United (M)
CAIRNS TAIPANS 88 (C Tragardh 18 S Weigh 15 T Craig 9) d MELBOURNE UNITED 73 (J McRae 20 M Worthington 19 D Corletto 12) at Cairns Convention Centre. STILL in something of a daze, Melbourne again had difficulties countering Cairns whose 26-13 second period made this largely academic. Stevie Weigh continued his improved form and Cam Tragardh knocked down 18 points at 64 per cent in 20 minutes.

Wildcats V Hawks (M)
PERTH WILDCATS 69 (D Daniels 16 S Redhage 15 J Beal 13) d WOLLONGONG HAWKS 59 (J Carson 19 T Coenraad 10 G Ervin 10) at Perth Arena.
WHEN DeAndre got going after Shawn Redhage showed the way with another withering display, Wollongong was going to need everyone firing and that never happened. The Hawks always seemed to be within reach but in the end mustered a paltry 59 points, which won't even win you too many WNBL games.

Rangers V Boomers (W)
DANDENONG RANGERS 73 (C Pondexter 20 A Pickrel 18 K MacLeod 13) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 51 (R Allen 17 O Thompson 10 S Greaves 8) at Dandenong Basketball Stadium.
CAPPIE Pondexter got this started by swishing her first shot and it was all uphill for the Boomers from there, Dandenong inspired and Melbourne just tired. Some of the shots Melbourne missed - in and around the bucket, wide open from mid-range - made the 69-59 scoreline at Perth Arena look good.

Capitals V Flames (W)
SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 73 (K Ebzery 19 R Cox 15 L Mitchell 13) d UNI of CANBERRA CAPITALS 70 (J Bibby 24 A Bishop 14 S Talbot 12) at AIS Arena. SHANNON Seebohm's coaching debut was a success with the Flames beating Canberra on the road, Leilani Mitchell, Katie-Rae Ebzery and Ro Cox the stand-outs. This is, however, how last season started too so can Flames fans at least give it another week before assailing me? Thanks.

Fire V Spirit (W)
TOWNSVILLE FIRE 70 (C Francis 22 S Cumming 12 S Batkovic 11) d BENDIGO SPIRIT 67 (B Snell 24 K Griffin 22 M Garrick 7) at Townsville RSL Stadium.
CAYLA Francis had 22 points, eight rebounds and blocked four shots in an impressive debut with Townsville as the Fire did what they did last year too - beat Grand Final conqueror Bendigo in the season-opener. Francis and Opals teammate Belinda Snell even got a little toey in the final seconds of what was the WNBL Match of the Round.

Waves V Lightning (W)
WEST COAST WAVES 92 (L Moore 16 S Graham 15 A Edmondson 14) d ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 68 (L Hodges 16 E Langford 12 C Mijovic 9) at WA Basketball Centre.
LINDSEY Moore looked the goods and Darcee Garbin was very effective as West Coast started 2014-15 the way it opened 2013-14, by beating Lightning. Something tells me this season though, they're not about to lose their next 23 games (and NOT because there's only 21 more this season).

United V Breakers (M)
MELBOURNE UNITED 95 (J McRae 31 M Worthington 20 D Kickert 19) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 74 (C Webster 21 A Pledger 13 T Abercrombie 9) at Hisense Arena.
DANIEL Kickert's 19-point first-half was the difference at the break, Wortho also killing it. When D-Mac got his message through to J-Mac, it was curtains for NZ. So the Breakers beat last season's #1 and #2, then lost to #3. Makes sense.

Hawks V Taipans (M)
CAIRNS TAIPANS 91 (S Weigh 14 C Tragardh 13 M Burston 12 A Loughton 12 S Wilbekin 12) d WOLLONGONG HAWKS 89 (J Carson 24 O Forman 23 G Ervin 21) at WIN Entertainment Centre.
GARY Ervin's Gary-carry/hari-kari in the final seconds meant Wollongong didn't get up a shot to beat Cairns after the Taipans regained the lead. They had it and had the game on ice before the Hawks rallied - The Big O had a sizzling 7-of-10 threes in this one - to steal the lead. But Stevie Weigh and Cairns made the big shots to make it a 4-0 start.

BEEF of the WEEK

OK. The officiating is not exactly off to a flyer. I know the refs are an easy target but wow, some of the officiating has been ticky-touchwood and borderline ridiculous.

We understand the game is being progressively cleaned up but right now a few times the umpiring has gone way overboard.

I thought communication was going to be the key this season, especially early in games. But instead we've seen a lot of fouls early and some of them have just been head-shakers.

The Breakers-36ers game had every player on tenterhooks through a 31-foul first half. Every time the whistle blew, players froze wondering what was going to be assessed.

It's not a good look.

I don't envy the refs their job, it's tough enough as it is. But surely by now they should have a better handle on what should be discretionary and what shouldn't be.

Feels like deja vu all over again.

Feels like deja vu all over again.

Feels like deja vu all over again.

(OK. I'm sure you get it by now...)

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS

CAIRNS remains the biggest winner in the NBL, now with a priceless three road wins - though Taipans wins in Wollongong are usually cancelled by losses to the Hawks in Cairns -  and a home success making it 2-0 over United and with a plus-44 point spread. At 4-0 and two rounds in, the Taipans remain the only unbeaten team.

TWO losses had me leaning toward Wollongong as the round's big loser but actually, I think it is probably Sydney. The Kings had a winless Townsville at their mercy and couldn't deliver the coup de grace which I fear will come back and bite them later in the season.

DANDENONG was the WNBL's biggest winner - narrowly from West Coast - Cappie Pondexter leading the charge and the league's young group drawing first blood at the expense of the expensive (28% from the floor) Boomers.

MELBOURNE was the biggest loser, dropping at home to Canberra, then shooting themselves in the foot against Dandenong. Actually, they shot so poorly, they even would have missed their feet.

Online
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PS

WHAT he said. What he meant.

Said: “They (United) definitely are the most talented team in the league. You look at their names, they are extremely talented," Cairns coach Aaron Fearne said.

Meant: "Thank Naismith we've played them twice already before they have their sheets together and we are 2-0 and plus-44 points because holy mother of sweet baby Hay-Seus, they have the potential to be a nightmare. And I'll only worry about calling Perth and/or New Zealand the NBL's most talented teams later, ahead of our games against them."