Basketball On The Internet.

NBL regular season champion Melbourne United might just want to be careful what it wished for going into the best-of-three semi finals on Thursday.

I'm not saying they manipulated the finals placings by sending a couple of regulars plus their Youth League team to get thrashed by New Zealand in Auckland, but it virtually did guarantee the Breakers would be their semi opposition.

Maybe United likes its chances against New Zealand more than its chances against Adelaide or maybe that's just the way the cookie crumbled for the 36ers and Melbourne really had no preference.

Regardless, for the Breakers to win both home and away against Melbourne, and they played the rematch at Hisense Arena without Corey Webster, might be cause for a modicum of alarm.

HERE WE GO: Here come the finals. So will Chris Goulding and United advance in three?

Playoffs often don't mirror regular seasons at all. Off the top of my head, in 1998 when the 36ers won the first of their back-to-back titles, they were swept 3-0 during the regular season by South East Melbourne. 

They shocked the Magic 2-0 in the Grand Final.

It's why I'm not the least concerned about Perth sweeping Illawarra during the regular season. That easily could work in the Hawks' favour should the Wildcats start believing they have Illawarra's number.

 

BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET, PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

IT took all season but finally Josh Childress, B.O.T.I.'s preseason pick for NBL MVP, has scored a Player of the Week win.

Phew. 

Chillin' had 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, with 11 boards, four assists and two blocks in Sydney's 26-point win over Perth, then backed that with 31 points on 12-of-24, 12 rebounds and four blocks in the classic 123-126 overtime loss in Townsville.

That meant his final round's work was 28.0ppg at 58%, 11.5rpg, 4.5apg and3.0bpg. That, my friends, is a performance worthy of a sausage roll with sauce if ever there's been one!

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
Rd18 Cedric Jackson
Rd19 Josh Childress

ADELAIDE and Opals star Leilani Mitchell truly turned it on for the WNBL battlers this round, easily scoring her second PotW win for the season.

Lei had 11 of her 17 points in the first quarter of the 88-62 road win over Melbourne to be the difference at quarter-time, Lightning ahead 32-21. She also had a game-high eight assists, then backed that up with a career-high 35-point haul in Bendigo where Adelaide drove a stake through the Spirit's finals chances.

Averaging 26ppg and 7apg, Lei qualifies for this week's grand prize, a day tour of the churches in the City of Churches.

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)
Rd16 Jordan Hooper
Rd17 Leilani Mitchell (2)
 

YEAH, NO KIDDING

WAS another pretty good week on the TV coverage, James Harvey particularly smooth and informative - he improves every time at bat - and Brad Rosen his customary breathless self.

Derek Rucker and Casey Frank continue to impress and definitely looking forward to their finals input.

The Pirate, Brad Robbins also has made great strides, though he dragged out his (yawn) "Hooley! Dooley!" exclamation again on the Wildcats-36ers game. 

Well done to Andrew Gaze too, not wearing those dreadful tan pants Fox has inflicted on its commentators. The black pants were much sharper.

I have only two requests for the finals coverage.

Can any and all the callers NOT born in the USA (now I've got the Bruce Springsteen song stuck in my head) please refrain from using the tired and inappropriate: "He stopped on a dime."

We understand whoever the player was stopped very definitively and suddenly but a "dime" is not part of Australian currency or culture.

So let's be original. Maybe he stopped on a five-cent piece. Possibly on a button. A token. An M&M. A pinhead. A Tic-Tac. A Jatz bikkie. A beer cap. A Chinese checker. A rabbit poo. (No, wait. Depending on  the size of the rabbit, that might be "stepped in" instead of "stopped on". Scratch that.) A freckle. A lego (the small one, with four little circles, not eight). A bottle top. A contact lens. 

I think you get the picture.

The other commentator staple I'd like never to hear again is "lost the handle" on the ball.

Really? Come on. I know it was clever once, probably for the first person whoever called it. And then, maybe, for the 2,000 callers who subsequently used it. 

But, you know, couldn't the ball just have slipped out of his hands? He lost control of it? He bobbled it? He coughed it up (That's still got about 1,000 uses to go before it passes its use-by date). 

Anyway, I'm just saying repeating stuff because others have said it doesn't make you different as a caller. It makes you the same as everyone else.

But what would I know? I just stopped on a pomegranite seed.

 

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS

NEW Zealand was the biggest winner through the NBL's last round of the regular season. Twin wins over semi final opponent Melbourne stands them in good stead ahead of the playoffs while the successes also sealed the defending champion's place back in the postseason.

BOXING OUT? Daniel Kickert and Charles Jackson face off yesterday.

ADELAIDE 36ers fans saw their team for the last time at home being pantsed by the Breakers and when they closed the regular season with road losses to Illawarra and Perth, they played their way out of the top four. It qualifies them as the round's biggest loser, although, in truth, they just weren't quite good enough.

IT was tight because Adelaide Lightning winning well twice on the road clearly made them the WNBL's standout for the round's biggest winners. And I'm not about to say they weren't. But a big wrap too for Canberra Capitalists, breaking their duck and not only taking out Perth but also pushing SEQ to the brink.

WHEN SEVENTH MATTERS: Lightning players celebrate two road wins and snaring seventh.

THE round's biggest loser was Bendigo, admittedly down star Kelsey Griffin but still taking on an Adelaide team driving into town after playing the night before. It was the second time the Lightning have stopped the Spirit and if they don't now make the finals - and it's tough from here - those will be the two losses they most rue.

NBL Round 19

SYDNEY KINGS 103 (Childress 25, Garlepp 22, Thornton 16, Brandt 14, Faithfull 12; Childress 11 rebs; Cadee, Childress 4 assts) d PERTH WILDCATS 77 (Knight 15, Hire, Kenny, Redhage 11, Jervis 10; Knight 9 rebs; Wroe 3 assts) at The King-Hit, Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre. TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 85 (Samhan 14, Jett, Steindl 13, Kay 12; Kay 9 rebs; Norton 7 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 68 (Gliddon 16, Weigh 14, Worthington 13; Weigh, Craig 5 rebs; Bruce 3 assts) at The Swamp, Townsville Ent. Centre. NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 100 (Ch Jackson 18, Ce Jackson, Webster 17, Abercrombie 14, Wesley 10; Ch Jackson 11 rebs; Ce Jackson, Wesley 5 assts) d MELBOURNE UNITED 63 (Adnam 16, Patton 9, Hill 8; Holt 6 rebs; 4 with 2 assts) at North Shore Events Centre. ILLAWARRA HAWKS 106 (Ogilvy 17, Lisch 16, Weeks, Martin 14, Penney 13, White 11; Ogilvy 11 rebs; Martin 9 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 95 (Johnson 20, Randle 15, Petrie, Ere 12, Creek 11; Johnson 8 rebs; Gibson 4 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 126 (Steindl, Samhan 25, Jett 21, Kay 15, Maynard 14; Samhan 13 rebs; Jett 9 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 123 (Cadee 32, Childress 31, Brandt 19, Thornton 18, Garlepp 11; Childress 12 rebs; Cadee 7 assts) at The Swamp in Townsville. NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 70 (Wesley 23, Vukona 10, Ili 9; Ch Jackson 11 rebs; Ce Jackson 4 assts) d MELBOURNE UNITED 68 (Goulding 22, Kickert 16, warrick 8; Warrick 9 rebs; Goulding 3 assts) at Hisense Arena. PERTH WILDCATS 100 (Prather, Beal 15, Jervis 14, Wagstaff 13, Hire 11, Martin 10; 3 with 6 rebs; Martin, Jervis 4 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 84 (Creek 17, Gibson 16, Randle 14; Johnson 9 rebs; Randle 3 assts) at The Jungle, Perth Arena.

WNBL Round 17

CANBERRA CAPITALS 80 (Bishop 25, Stallworth 21, Talbot, Montgomery 13; Bishop 15 rebs; Wilson 6 assts) d PERTH LYNX 77 (Mijovic 28, Whitcomb 26, Laney 13; Whitcomb 8 rebs; Laney 6 assts) at Study Hall, AIS Arena. TOWNSVILLE FIRE 89 (Batkovic 24, Novosel 20, George 14, Cocks 13; George 17 rebs; Murray 5 assts) d DANDENONG RANGERS 49 (Cumming 13, Pickrel 12, Blicavs 8; Pickrel 10 rebs; 4 with 2 assts) at The Two Rubbed Sticks, Townsville RSL Stadium. PERTH LYNX 88 (Whitcomb 24, Mijovic 20, Laney 18; Laney 8 rebs; Laney 8 assts) d SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 85 (Ebzery 23, Boag 14, Samuels 13, Wilson 12, Tupaea 10; Boag 7 rebs; Tupaea 8 assts) at The Hydrant, Brydens Stadium. ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 88 (Standish 26, Ruef, Mitchell 17, Bowen 16; Ruef 13 rebs; Mitchell 8 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 62 (Thompson 14, Kunek 11, Madgen, Garrick 8; Thompson 9 rebs; Garrick 4 assts) at The Outback, State Basketball Centre. ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 92 (Mithell 35, Standish 15, Ruef 12, Bowen 10; Ruef 14 rebs; Mitchell 6 assts) d BENDIGO SPIRIT 78 (Snell 19, Oliver 17, Richards 16, Wilson 13; Snell 6 rebs; Wilson 5 assts) at The Bottle Shop, Bendigo Stadium. SEQ STARS 81 (Hooper 22, Ibekwe 18, Payne, Jarry 13, Allen 11; Hooper 8 rebs; Jarry 9 assts) d CANBERRA CAPITALS 76 (Stallworth 21, Montgomery 18, Talbot 12, Bishop 11; Talbot 16 rebs; Talbot, Montgomery 5 assts) at Wolverine's Place, Logan Stadium.

PS

TREVOR ... and GLEASON