Basketball On The Internet.

ANYONE still in any doubt about Illawarra?

They smacked Sydney after the Kings finally had to be feeling good about life after belting Melbourne in Melbourne.

Then, despite losing Rhys Martin just before the game to a stomach virus, they went out and blitzed New Zealand off the Vector Arena floor with Kirk Penney, Kevin Lisch, Oscar Forman all on fire from range to start the avalanche.

Jarrad Weeks, Cody Ellis, Larry Davidson and Kevin White also struck from distance as the Hawks hit 13-of-27.

Their 24-point win was New Zealand's biggest loss at Vector Arena. Their 34-point first quarter matched their highest opening period of the season. And their 59-point first-half was the most points given up by the Breakers this season.

And that's the SECOND time Illawarra has done that to them this season.

Just when you're getting ready to pencil in another Perth-New Zealand grand finale, Townsville reminds us the Wildcats are beatable and the Hawks smack the Breakers again. Nice.

TOWNSVILLE took another big WNBL loss, thumped by SEQ Stars, before salvaging the round with a home win over Dandenong.

Consistency has not been the Fire's strength in their championship defence.

Melbourne and Bendigo continue to confuse while Sydney got its bearings again and Perth holds sway at the top of the table.

Not having seen Canberra before the weekend, I could not work out why they hadn't won a game yet but it's no secret anymore.

Abby Bishop looked more interested in disputing calls, her confidence waning, Steph Talbot wanted to pass to teammates when she had driven to within a shot of the basket and just a lot of the decision-making was that of a team devoid of morale.

The open shots they missed or were even reluctant to take was sad to behold.

Switching to a zone which completely baffled and stifled Adelaide Lightning - it doesn't take much - the Caps went from 10 down to 10 up. But when the Lightning run came, the way to win or to grasp victory seemed a completely foreign concept.

Guess that explains the 0-15 record. Can't see where a win is coming from.

LAST round it was "goodnight to the Kings" as they said farewell to the SEC.

This round it is goodbye to the Kings as they bid farewell to Julian Khazzouh for the season.

Maybe they should bid Damion James farewell too.

The big fella looked really interested in this Joe Connelly time-out, didn't he?

Why do the Kings bother with personnel such as this?

 

YEAH, NO KIDDING

IT was a pretty solid week on the TV and I have to confess, credit where credit's due, even the "triple threat" of Brad Rosen, Steve Carfino and Corey Williams worked.

(Yeah, I said triple-threat, NOT triple treat.)

Carfino as the lead guy has always grated, and Homicide with a mike has thought it meant carte blanche to be a self-promoting "personality".

But even his first "I want a cheeseburger" - the McDonald's reward for Illawarra scoring 100 points - was worth a laugh and he only revisited it enough times to start getting tiresome. He didn't thunder over that line, as per always.

It was clear in his voice and effort Carfino was happy to have the chance to be back and he was OK.

Maybe it was Rosen's influence, regularly drawing their focus back to the game whenever they were starting to wander down self-indulgent paths.

Or maybe they've just learned something. But it wasn't the cringe-fest many - myself included - feared.

Sure, Steve wanting to defend Damion James for his unnecessary hit on Larry Davidson was typical. "Must've caught a little chin music and retaliated, it's as simple as that," he said, by means of exonerating James and implicating Davidson. There was zero evidence to support that statement.

Sorry. Replayed it a few times and all Laconic Larry did was box him out at the free throw and he took exception, as some ex-NBA players do when lesser beings dare and play basketball against them. Remember "dirty Delly"?

Frankly, I was 100 per cent behind Williams when he roasted James for his behaviour, especially when he fell down and decided to milk that and stay down for a while, despite the play shifting from his "I might be hurt" performance down to the other end.

Williams rightly called him out on it and also for carrying on instead of playing.

"No-one knows you here," Homicide chided, exhorting James to get on with playing.

Nice.

Rosen didn't use "outstanding" until the coverage's third minute and from there, "phenomenal" became his new buzz word.

But the amount he has improved since his first go-around with Ten is phenomenal, and so too CJ Bruton who worked much better in the threesome with Shane Heal.

Bruton was ready to speak and to add to the coverage, while Heal had the week's best line when Kings coach Joe Connelly threw off his jacket to reveal a V-neck T-shirt, all the rage with motor mechanics, plumbers and construction workers.

"He looks like he's at the kebab stand at one o'clock in the morning," Heal quipped.

Yep, it was a good week, Derek Rucker, of course, still #1.

 

BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET, PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

OK, I'm just going to come clean and admit Kevin Lisch is one of my favourite NBL players at the best of times, but his two games for Illawarra against Sydney and New Zealand were superb.

That hustle, steal and assist against the Kings to start the second half had me already pencilling him in for B.O.T.I. Player of the Week in the NBL and that was before he finished with a game-high 23 points at 53 per cent, 3-of-6 threes, three rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Over at Vector Arena, Lisch (below) delivered 24 points at 67 per cent, six rebounds, seven assists and four steals, even a blocked shot against the Breakers.

Yes, it was tight between him and teammate Kirk Penney (21 points at 67%, then 27 at 56) but Lisch got the nod - and a lightly spread Vegemite and cheddar cheese sandwich - because so many of his big plays came at just the bright moments. (OK, geez, I'll cut the sandwich in halves and they can share it.)

NBL PotW

Rd1 Todd Blanchfield
Rd2 Kirk Penney
Rd3 Jerome Randle
Rd4 Corey Webster
Rd5 AJ Ogilvy
Rd6 Al Harrington
Rd7 Corey Webster (2)
Rd8 Kirk Penney (2)
Rd9 Tom Abercrombie
Rd10 Jermaine Beal
Rd11 Kevin Lisch

THE WNBL seems to have a "thing" that only a player on a winning team can get its PotW honours, which to me isn't always the case.

A stat line such as 32 points and 13 rebounds in a losing side still catches my eye but when a player has two qualifty efforts in a 1-1 round, well that's fine by B.O.T.I.

So we are delighted to announce this week's winner is Dandenong's Sara Blicavs (pictured below), after she backed up a 21-point, seven rebound, one assist and a steal in the tight win over Melbourne, with a further 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists and a steal in the tough road loss to reigning champion Townsville.

Well done Sara. (And yes, as the WNBL now goes into a Christmas recess, this IS your Christmas present.)

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
Rd11 Sara Blicavs  

 

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS, RD 11

HAVE no doubt Illawarra is right in the mix for the NBL Championship, its 19-point win against a Sydney coming in off a convincing road win over Melbourne, and back-up 24-point rout of the Breakers in New Zealand making the Hawks easily the NBL round's biggest winners.

SADLY, the downward tumble for United continues. While most, myself included, expected an emphatic bounce back after their 30-point mauling in Perth, to lose at home to the last-placed Kings - easily the worst team in the comp - makes Melbourne the biggest loser, by far.

IT is very up-and-down in the WNBL, this round's biggest winner the Sydney Uni Flames, which squeezed past both Bendigo and Melbourne as the form of the WNBL's Victorian contingent remained unpredictable, at best.

IN the penthouse one week and the outhouse the next, Melbourne's wayward Boomers again take home the biggest losers' mantle. I understand Tess Madgen is out injured but squandering a 21-point lead against Sydney will be a very painful memory come playoff time.

NBL Rd 11

SYDNEY KINGS 96 (Cadee 28, Garlepp 22, Khazzouh, Thornton 12, James 11; Khazzouh 14 rebs; Thornton 4 assts) d MELBOURNE UNITED 81 (Blanchfield 18, Holt, Goulding 16, Warrick 13; Blanchfield 11 rebs; Tomlinson, Goulding 3 assts) at Hisense Arena. PERTH WILDCATS 73 (Jawai 13, Prather 12, Redhage 10; Knight, Jawai 6 rebs; 3 with 3 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 70 (Worthington 16, Gliddon 14, Bruce 10; Gliddon 7 rebs; Weigh 5 assts) at Cairns Convention Centre. ILLAWARRA HAWKS 102 (Lisch 23, Penney 21, Ogilvy 17, Coenraad 11, Ellis 10; Ogilvy 8 rebs; Lisch 4 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 83 (Carter, Thornton, Garlepp 15, Brandt 10; James, Brandt 9 rebs; 4 with 2 assts) at the Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 75 (Jett 18, Steindl 17, Young 10; Kay 8 rebs; Jett 4 assts) d PERTH WILDCATS 58 (Jawai 13, Knight 11, Jervis 10; Knight 8 rebs; 3 with 3 assts) at The Swamp, Townsville. ILLAWARRA HAWKS 107 (Penney 27, Lisch 24, Ogilvy 18, Weeks 13; Ellis, Lisch 6 rebs; Lisch 7 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 83 (Webster 25, Wesley 20, Abercrombie 12; Vukona 7 rebs; Ce Jackson 9 asst) at Vector Arena.

WNBL Rd 11

SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 67 (Tinkle 14, Ebzery 13, Tupaea 12; Swords 10 rebs; Wilson 3 assts) d BENDIGO SPIRIT 64 (Griffin 24, Snell 15, Wilson 11; Griffin 12 rebs; Wilson, Snell 2 assts). DANDENONG RANGERS 76 (Blicavs 21, Pickrel 17, Kennedy 14, Cumming 10; Kennedy 8 rebs; Todhunter 3 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 70 (Smart 17, Penaluna 15, Garrick 14, Kunek 10; Penaluna 7 rebs; Veal 5 assts). SEQ STARS 95 (Hooper 25, Ibekwe, Mansfield 17, Allen, Jarry 16; Ibekwe 8 rebs; Mansfield 8 assts) d TOWNSVILLE FIRE 75 (Batkovic 32, George 16, Cocks 10; Batkovic 13 rebs; Murray 6 assts). PERTH LYNX 88 (Lavey 18, Whitcomb 16, Tomlinson 15, Laney 13; Laney 8 rebs; Whitcomb 6 assts) d UNI of CANBERRA CAPITALS 69 (Bibby 14, Talbot 12, Wilson 11; Talbot 10 rebs; 4 with 2 assts). SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 65 (Ebzery 19, Tinkle 14, Tupaea 13; 3 with 3 rebs; Tupaea 5 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 62 (Garrick 25, Smart 21; Greaves 8 rebs; Greaves 5 assts). MAC ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 75 (Ruef 18, Ciabattoni 14, Mitchell 13, Standish 12; Ruef 12 rebs; Dombkins 8 assts) d UNI of CANBERRA CAPITALS 68 (Stallworth 22, Montgomery 19, Talbot 10; Stallworth 9 rebs; Montgomery 7 asts). TOWNSVILLE FIRE 70 (Cocks, Tatham 15, Batkovic 14, Murray 11; George 16 rebs; Murray, Batkovic 5 assts) d DANDENONG RANGERS 61 (Cumming 16, Blicavs 12, Pickrel 10; Blicavs 9 rebs; Blicavs 3 assts).

 

PS

CARRIE ... with Graph