Basketball On The Internet.

EVERY import in the NBL this season has reasons to be unhappy with the standard of refereeing, moreso even than local players.

Coaches, players and fans have been complaining as never before at the erratic and inconsistent nature of the officiating, and we're not talking from game-to-game or even quarter-to-quarter but even down to play-to-play!

Everyone can't be wrong, even if the refereeing coterie which sits behind the scoretable at Titanium Security Arena for example, is busying congratulating itself for the fine job its members are doing on-court. This, while 7,500 fans voice their derision, replay boards show their repeated errors, coaches and players work overtime to contain their frustrations.

Name an NBL venue this season where there hasn't been major issues with how poorly a game is being called. Perth Arena? Did you see the Perth-Melbourne game? Some hideous stuff.

How about maybe the first play from Wollongong the other night as Tim Coenraad drives to the basket, is knocked to the floor and it's an out-of-bounds call!

Don't tell me that doesn't send an immediate message open warfare is going to be OK tonight fellas.

ARE THEY SERIOUS? Guessing Hawks coach Rob Beveridge isn't admiring calling consistency here.

Games have been butchered in Cairns, Townsville, Sydney - ask Joe Connelly if he's loving the Aussie officiating - Auckland, Melbourne and Adelaide so yes, it's a sweep.

New NBL refs boss Albert Joseph said preseason adult dialogue was going to help smooth issues and it was a good theory. Maybe if some of the lesser refs understood HOW you talk to a coach is important too, because even using ref cam for coach closeups, the dialogue coming from team mentors might be agitated but it's civilised.

There's no "man up," shite coming from THEIR mouths.

The disconnect between coaches all begging for one thing - and no, it's not an advantage for their team/style - is amazing because all they want is consistency. 

There's no point in kidding around, and you know I don't mean Michael or Vaughan with this but the quality of the referees has not stepped up with the quality of the games.

They continually reward flopping because, let's face it now, players HAVE to flop to get the call.

I've seen Townsville's Mitch Norton stand his ground and be hit in his chest repeatedly by an offensive player with the ball and he never gets that call. If he fell over of course, he most likely would. So what we have there is a player doing the right thing and the officials ignoring it.

And this is no knock on Clint Steindl but I mentioned it here a while back where he was playing post defence on Shawn Redhage. Shawn turned and whacked him in the chest before going up but Clint didn't flinch and there was no call.

Next time down the floor, same play, same contact, Clint hit the floor and got the call. It's tragic he had to go from doing the right thing to exaggerating just to get the reward his good D deserved.

WHICH brings me to the imports.

On Saturday, Nathan Sobey bumped into Kevin Lisch in what was a clear foul. But Lisch hit the floor anyway, just to be on the safe side to ensure he got the call. Which he did.

As a huge fan of his, I was initially disappointed to see him do that but the truth is, he had to.

The fundamental flaw in the referees' perception is the import players are stronger and quicker off the dribble and can take contact so they don't get the call.

It's a double standard a Josh Childress, Jerome Randle, Lisch, Jordair Jett, Cedric Jackson, Casey Prather etcetera all have to put up with but it is precisely why a visitor such as Al Harrington, with 10 years-plus NBA experience, comes to our NBL and says it is too physical!

We are back to an era where the imports are key players again, not complimentary (and affordable) role players.

But because they are often stronger and quicker off the dribble than our local players, they don't get the calls they rightly deserve.

WHAT we get now instead is referees allowing too much contact, unable to truly discern what contact matters and what doesn't and then getting their knickers in a twist when players and coaches express their discontent.

To me, the classic fallback position of any referee who cannot explain his call or who knows he is having a bad game and can't pull out of it, is to warn a player/coach or threaten with a technical foul.

You can bet a Joey Wright, for example, was less-than-thrilled when Jerome Randle was hurt on Saturday, probably believing the refs had shirked their duty of care to the on-court athletes.

They had. Ebi Ere flew to get a ball in the 36ers' defensive keyway, sending Kevin White crashing to the floor. The refs call that contact, the ball never gets to Randle in the open court.

But when you've lost what you should be calling, how could you call that?

So what's the next best thing for an official to do as a player is carried off due, most likely, to their negligence in controlling the contest?

Well it is to give an official warning to the team for its dissent.

Like I said, the ultimate big stick to hide behind when you're stinking it up.

And they're stinking this year. You can't have nationwide derision and folks in various venues trotting out their examples of "the worst refereed game of the season" without there being some substance in it.

Except among the officiating fraternity. They pat themselves on the back and say: "Great job", rarely actually realising the significance of their role in making the NBL the quality entertainment product we all want it to be.

 

BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

IT was a great road trip to Perth for Melbourne United last round and particularly for American playmaker Stephen Holt.

Holt stuck at it for 41 of 45 tough minutes, scoring an NBL career-high 33 points on 11-of-21 shooting. His 3-point barrage rocked Perth on its heels, the former Gael connecting on 7-of-11.

He also added four rebounds and four assists, his performance only marred by nine turnovers. But Perth was pressing like madmen and when you've chalked up that many minutes, we here at B.O.T.I. are prepared to let that go and award him this week's PotW honour.

With that comes a fabulous light and fluffy vanilla slice from the Orange Spot Bakery at Glenelg.

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
Rd12 Corey Webster (3)
Rd13 Daniel Kickert
Rd14 Daniel Johnson
Rd15 Kevin Lisch (2)
Rd16 Jerome Randle (2)
Rd17 Stephen Holt

A WNBL season-best haul of 18 rebounds, along with a game-high 22 points at 64 per cent, plus four assists, has given Townsville Fire forward Cayla George her third PotW award.

It was a "must-win" for the Fire against Sydney and George came to play. For her stellar performance, we have an Aussie classic Golden Gaytime icecream stashed somewhere in the freezer at the B.O.T.I. offices and meat processing plant.

WNBL PotW
Rd1 Tess Madgen
Rd2 Suzy Batkovic
Rd3 Sami Whitcomb
Rd4 Suzy Batkovic (2)
Rd5 Gabrielle Richards
Rd6 Carley Mijovic
Rd7 Katie-Rae Ebzery
Rd8 Cayla George
Rd9 Leilani Mitchell
Rd10 Suzy Batkovic (3)
Rd11 Sara Blicavs
Rd12 Cayla George (2)
Rd13 Gabrielle Richards (2)
Rd14 Suzy Batkovic (4)
Rd15 Cayla George (3)

 

YEAH, NO KIDDING

CAN you believe it? Got very little to report here this week after a very good all-round performance across the board.

Maybe it's only a coincidence Corey Williams wasn't on the panel this week but we had a lot of concise, factual, accurate and entertaining commentary.

The boys behind the mikes continue to grow in confidence and frankly, it's toupees off for a round of calling as good as the games.

 

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS

MELBOURNE United was the NBL's biggest winner after heading into the NBL's most hostile environment, unlucky then not to beat Perth in regulation, but stepping up to dominate overtime, taking over first place in the process.

BY definition, Perth then was the round's biggest loser. With first place up for grabs, the Wildcats let themselves down and also left themselves nowhere to go regarding United, losing the season-series 1-3. The Wildcats have it all. Just not the result they needed.

ADELAIDE Lightning were the WNBL's biggest winners, taking out Melbourne at home and Canberra on the road to move to eight wins and into seventh place, making them the best of the non-contenders. Kayla Standish (Above. Pic: Trevor Kinross) was the weekend's standout.

TWIN road losses in Queenssland sent Sydney crashing out of the top four and leaving it as the biggest loser. Not having import Carolyn Swords had to hurt but there's not a team in the final four race which hasn't had to deal with adversity.

NBL Round 17

Last night: TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 96 (Jett 24, Samhan 15, Steindl 14, Kay 13, Maynard 10; 15 rebs; Jett 6 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 88 (Childress 27, Cadee 18, Brandt 13, Thornton 12, Garlepp 10; Childress 9 rebs; Thornton 4 assts) at The Swamp, Townsville Entertainment Centre. ILLAWARRA HAWKS 104 (Lisch 27, Ogilvy 21, Martin 17, White 10; Ogilvy 9 rebs; Martin, Ogilvy 5 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 97 (Randle 28, Ere 23, Johnson 12, Sobey, Gibson 10; Johnson 7 rebs; Randle 6 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 77 (Abercrombie 22, Ch Jackson 18, Ce Jackson 15; Abercrombie 11 rebs; Ce Jackson 4 assts) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 74 (Jett 18, Steindl 17, Kay 13, Norton 10; Kay 12 rebs; Maynard 3 assts) at Vector Arena. CAIRNS TAIPANS 81 (Craig 20, Tragardh 18, Gliddon 11, Starks 10; Worthington 7 rebs; Starks 7 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 76 (Cadee 21, Garlepp 16, Childress 14, Brandt 10; 3 with 5 rebs; Cadee 4 assts) at Cairns Convention Centre. MELBOURNE UNITED 91 (Holt 33, Kickert 16, Warrick 14, Goulding 11; Majok, Blanchfield 6 rebs; Holt, Blanchfield 4 assts) d PERTH WILDCATS 85 (Prather 17, Jawai 16, Beal 10; Knight 8 rebs; Kenny 4 assts) in overtime at Perth Arena. ADELAIDE 36ERS 104 (Ere 28, Johnson 19, Creek 15, Walker 12; Johnson 11 rebs; Randle 9 assts) d ILLAWARRA HAWKS 90 (Lisch 24, Coenraad 17, Martin 15, Forman 11; Ogilvy 13 rebs; Martin 4 assts) at The Fortress, Titanium Security Arena.

OO-AAH, EBI ERE: Even Ebi seems to be saying it again as he heads into his best form.

WNBL Round 15

ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 70 (Standish 26, Ruef 13, Bowen 10; Ruef 15 rebs; Dombkins, Mitchell 5 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 47 (Kunek 15, Garrick 10, Greaves 8; Oliver 9 rebs; Molloy 3 assts) at The Icehouse, Wayville Sports Centre. TOWNSVILLE FIRE 89 (George 22, Murray 19, Novosel 15, Batkovic 11; George 18 rebs; George 4 assts) d SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 80 (Ebzery 16, Moffat, Tupaea 13, Boag, Wilson, Tinkle 11; Boag 10 rebs; Tupaea 7 assts) at The Fire Station, Townsville RSL Stadium. DANDENONG RANGERS 82 (Cumming 23, Pickrel 18, Blicavs 16, Scherf 14; Kennedy 10 rebs; 4 with 3 assts) d BENDIGO SPIRIT 74 (Griffin 22, Richards 15, Snell 14, Wilson 12; Richards 9 rebs; Wilson 9 assts) at Stud Rd, Dandenong Basketball Stadium. PERTH LYNX 80 (Whitcomb 21, Mijovic 20, Laney 14, Burton 12; Laney 11 rebs; Laney, Wischer 5 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 59 (Kunek 13, Garrick 12, Madgen 11, Thompson 10; Thompson 8 rebs; Madgen 3 assts) at The Blue Light Disco, Bendat Basketball Centre. ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 85 (Mitchell 21, Standish 20, Ruef 15; Ruef 16 rebs; Mitchell 8 assts) d CANBERRA CAPITALS 82 (Montgomery 27, Bishop 26, Stallworth 12; Bishop 8 rebs; Montgomery 6 assts) at Study Hall, AIS Arena. SEQ STARS 92 (Mansfield 20, Allen 19, Jarry 17, Hooper 10; Hooper 12 rebs; Ibekwe 3 assts) d SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 73 (Wilson, Ebzery 17, Samuels 11; Wilson 7 rebs; Ebzery 3 assts) at The Skydome, Logan Metro Indoor Sports Centre.

EVER RELIABLE: Bendigo's versatile Belinda Snell.

PS

Nadeen ... Pain