Basketball On The Internet.

IT was a sad farewell to The Kingdome in Sydney yesterday, the Qantas Credit Union Arena (aka Sydney Entertainment Centre) finally closing its doors on basketball, but what a way to go out!

The reigning WNBL champion Townsville Fire needed superstar Suzy Batkovic to find a basket that sent the match against the Sydney Uni Flames on into overtime.

Anytime you mix Fire and Flame you have a red hot match and it finally came down to Townsville power forward Cayla George playing exemplary defence on a Hayley Moffatt inbounds to force a five-second violation as Sydney tried to fashion a last-gasp win.

Instead Townsville held on to win 79-78 in front of a huge and appreciative crowd which also enjoyed the men's game as the Kings found something special, right into the last quarter.

But in his 200th game, Jesse Wagstaff found something even more specialler (please, no grammar Nazis hitting the email, I was kidding). Not about Wagstaff's last quarter though, which included a Damian Martinesque steal/block to save a Sydney fast break, ball save and flick on to a teammate.

Then came the 3-point avalanche as Wagstaff connected on six in a row ... in the final quarter!

Wagstaff left his milestone game with a career-high 26 points and career-best six triples (6-of-9), the farewell to the Kingdome one to remember as Perth turned a one-point deficit going into the final period into an 87-69 victory.

WHAT a hell of a round it was, all around, what with Townsville's incredible come-from-behind win over Adelaide, Cairns' double-overtime win over Illawarra, Perth smashing Melbourne with Jermaine Beal putting on a show, the Rangers and Boomers barely escaping Canberra's clutches, Townsville Fire's overtime escape in Sydney.

HOLY SOBEY! Nathan Sobey with one of the dunks of the year, disallowed for an off-the-ball foul.

What more could we want?

Other than the WNBL on TV which, I'm hearing, is "imminent".

IF only the officiating was decent but it can't even be passed off as passable.

Townsville's Nick Kay, above near the far block, bear-hugging Adelaide's Anthony Petrie on the game's first play (with apologies for picture quality) is NOT a foul.

But Adam Gibson with daylight between him and Clint Seindl (below), that apparently IS a foul.

Not for a second singling out Townsville or even the 36ers-Crocs game(s) but those are just general examples of why coaches and players are having trouble maintaining focus when consistency is a myth. 

In yesterday's WNBL game in Adelaide, a local ref notable for a need to be in the spotlight, unnecessarily addressed Stars coach Shane Heal inside the game's first minute. Trust me. That wasn't an attempt to head anything off, it was an attempt to start something.

Heal wisely let it go but should anyone have to endure attitude on top of bad officiating?

 

BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET, PLAYERS OF THE WEEK, RD 10

BREATH-TAKING is one way of describing it. Amazing is another.

Me? I just sat back and enjoyed watching Perth's Jermaine Beal uncork an 18-point second quarter against Melbourne, then continue shooting out the lights en route to a season-best 40-point game.

He hit 10 triples and still had time to dish seven assists.

He backed that performance up with 23 points and an equal career-high nine assists in the eventual rout of the Kings in Sydney for a round average of 31.5 points and 8.0 assists making him, by far, the standout for this week's B.O.T.I. Player of the Week honours.

NBL PotW

Rd1 Todd Blanchfield
Rd2 Kirk Penney
Rd3 Jerome Randle
Rd4 Corey Webster
Rd5 AJ Ogilvy
Rd6 Al Harrington
Rd7 Corey Webster
Rd8 Kirk Penney
Rd9 Tom Abercrombie
Rd10 Jermaine Beal

IF you knew Suzy, like I know Suzy, Oh, oh, oh, what a girl, There's none so classy, As this fair lassie, oh ... oh, OK, Dean Martin I'm not. 

But The Batgirl is just getting it done, week in, week out, and yesterday in the emotional farewell to the SEC, Suzy secured her third peanut-butter and plum-jam sandwich as a three-time winner of the B.O.T.I. PotW award.

Suze had the basket to force overtime for Townsville with the Flames, and finished with 32 points at 56 per cent, 14 rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block in the thrilling victory. With that sort of effort, Suzy gets to choose whether to have white, wholemeal or seed bread and whether to go the crunchy or smooth peanut-butter. 

WNBL PotW
Rd1 Tess Madgen
Rd2 Suzy Batkovic
Rd3 Sami Whitcomb
Rd4 Suzy Batkovic
Rd5 Gabrielle Richards
Rd6 Carley Mijovic
Rd7 Katie-Rae Ebzery
Rd8 Cayla George
Rd9 Leilani Mitchell
Rd10 Suzy Batkovic
 

YEAH, NO KIDDING

WE have established Derek Rucker is the No.1 caller for Fox Sports but Casey Frank over at SKY is doing good work, and the crews with Brad Rosen, Brad Robbins, Shane Heal, James Harvey and Andrew Gaze have been evolving well.

Even Corey Williams last week took a brief time out from self-congratulations and promotion to offer us some important background, such as Jerome Randle compiling a huge resume at UCLA (he didn't go there) and Mitch Creek going to the London Olympics in 2012 (which, he didn't).

{Perhaps just stick to what you know, which, for the most part, is your twitter handle.}

Ref cam wasn't as intrusive as usual and flashbacks of past champions is always worth doing.

Speaking of which, if the new NBL television commercial promoting where the game has been isn't the best such commercial I've ever seen, I don't know what is.

Toupees-blowing-in-the-wind salutes to whoever put it together and/or masterminded it. 

It is absolute gold.

 

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS, RD 10

STOMPING on former NBL leader Melbourne, then weathering the emotion of the Sydney Entertainment Centre’s farewell game leaves Perth in first place now and easily the biggest winner of the round.

SYDNEY continues to flounder as the biggest loser, now three straight losses into the tenure of saviour coach Joe Connelly and with a new short-term import and speculation rampant about the other one. Just a weekly shambles.

READY to write off Melbourne and the Boomers won back-to-back games against finals rival Bendigo and a desperate Canberra to be the WNBL’s biggest winners once more.

WITH SEQ in town off a big loss in Perth and also down Rachel Jarry (concussion precaution), Adelaide was in sight of a third straight win. But after a feeble 10-30 first period, was chasing instead, to be the biggest loser of the round.

NBL Rd10

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 97 (Penney 24, Ogilvy 19, Coenraad 17, Lisch 16, Martin 10; Ogilvy 9 rebs; Martin 5 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 82 (Starks 19, Weigh 17, Gliddon 13, Worthington 10; Loughton 9 rebs; Worthington 3 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 101 (Jett 21, Kay 19, Steindl 15, Djeric 12, Norton 11, Samhan 10; Kay 7 rebs; Jett 5 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 100 (Randle 28, Johnson 21, Petrie 17, Creek 14; Petrie, Johnson 9 rebs; Randle 7 assts) at The Swamp, Townsville. PERTH WILDCATS 113 (Beal 40, Prather 20, Knight 14, Jervis 11; Knight 9 rebs; Beal 7 assts) d MELBOURNE UNITED 83 (Kickert 23, Warrick, Holt 15, Goulding 13; Blanchfield 9 rebs; Holt 4 assts) at The Jungle, Perth Arena. NZ BREAKERS 96 (Vukona 18, Ce Jackson 17, Ch Jackson, Webster 12, Wesley, Abercrombie 11; Vukona 11 rebs; Ce Jackson 9 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 84 (Cadee 19, Thornton 17, Khazzouh 15, Garlepp 10; James 10 rebs; Thornton, Cadee 3 assts) at Vector Arena. CAIRNS TAIPANS 103 (Starks 33, Gliddon 19, Loughton 17, Tragardh 12, Worthington 11; ) d ILLAWARRA HAWKS 101 (Lisch 30, Martin 16, Ogilvy, Coenraad 15, Weeks 14; Martin, Ogilvy 8 rebs; Lisch 5 assts) in double overtime at Cairns Convention Centre. ADELAIDE 36ERS 76 (Randle 19, Johnson 10, Hodgson, Creek 9; Johnson 10 rebs; Randle 7 assts) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 66 (Jett 15, Samhan 11, Maynard 10; Samhan 11 rebs; Samhan, Jett 4 assts) at Titanium Security Arena. PERTH WILDCATS 87 (Wagstaff 26, Beal 23, Jawai 10; Jervis 10 rebs; Beal 9 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 69 (Brandt 17, Thornton, Cadee 13; Khazzouh 12 rebs; Cadee 4 assts) at The Kingdome, Sydney Entertainment Centre.

WNBL Rd 10

PERTH LYNX 85 (Whitcomb 24, Laney, Mijovic 17, Lavey 10; Laney, Tomlinson 9 rebs; Lavey 8 assts) d SEQ STARS 67 (Mansfield, Hooper 18, Lewis 8; Hooper 8 rebs; Ibekwe 4 assts) at Bendat Basketball Centre. DANDENONG RANGERS 84 (Cumming, Pickrel 22, Kennedy 13, Blicavs 12; Blicavs 9 rebs; 3 with 3 assts) d CANBERRA CAPITALS 80 (Talbot 20, Montgomery 17, Wehrung 15, Bishop 14; Bishop 8 rebs; Montgomery 4 assts) at Dandenong Basketball Stadium. MELBOURNE BOOMERS 70 (Garrick 22, Smart 16, Penaluna 12, Kunek 11; Kunck 10 rebs; Kunek 6 assts) d BENDIGO SPIRIT 65 (Snell 23, Griffin 17, Harrington 9; Richards 16 rebs; Snell 4 assts) at Bendigo Stadium. TOWNSVILLE FIRE 79 (Batkovic 32, Tatham, Cocks 11; Batkovic 14 rebs; Tatham 5 asts) d SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 78 (Tupaea, Ebzery, Tinkle 14, Swords 11; Tinkle 10 rebs; Ebzery 5 assts) in overtime at Qantas Credit Union Arena. MELBOURNE BOOMERS 78 (Smart 21, Kunek, Garrick 16, Thompson 12; Smart 11 rebs; Smart 9 assts) d CANBERRA CAPITALS 75 (Bishop 31, Wilson 18, Stallworth 8; Talbot, Wilson 6 rebs; Talbot 5 assts) at State Basketball Centre. SEQ STARS 72 (Hooper 19, Payne 12, Mansfield 11, Ibekwe 10; Hooper 10 rebs; Mansfield 8 assts) d MAC ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 61 (Ciabattoni 13, Dombkins 11, Standish 8; Ruef 12 rebs; Mitchell 5 assts) at The Lighthouse, Wayville Sports Centre.

ALEX CIABATTONI: A star was born (or given a chance to shine) against the Stars yesterday. Picture: TREVOR KINROSS

Online

Russell Westbrook being ridiculous! https://vine.co/v/iZL33bjIKpl

Adelaide 36ers survive Croc attack: http://bit.ly/220FQpI

Time-Out

THE 18-point loss Joe Connelly had on debut was the biggest by any coach at Sydney since Paul Coughter lost by 20 for the Supersonics waaay back in 1985 and with yesterday's loss to Perth, Smokin' Joe becomes the first Kings' coach in NBL history to lose his first three games. Wave that towel Joe. No wonder the Internet went crazy with "Marcus Thornton cut" speculation today. It has to be SOMEBODY's fault and Damian Cotter has changed his phone number.

PS

SHAWN ... and Dennis