Basketball On The Internet.

BRIAN Conklin sacked. Damian Cotter sacked. A spectator tipping beer on a player. What the hell is going on?

The past week has been the most tumultuous of the NBL season, with Conklin's axing the final straw today.

Yes, the big fella who last year was our MVP has been well down on the form he showed in his two previous seasons and his part in a couple of unsavoury on-court accidents has been unfortunate.

His profane halftime response live on Fox TV after he had decked 36ers swingman Mitch Creek - for which he copped a week - also did nothing for his image.

Then when the Crocs beat Melbourne in Melbourne without him, I'm guessing the Crocodiles board became very restless.

"Brian Conklin has been a tremendous player and we cannot praise him enough for what he has done for his team, on and off the court, in the past three seasons," Crocs GM Rob Honan said.

"There are no outside factors or reasons behind this decision – we simply want to give this club the best chance of being successful in the competition."

Conklin released the news himself on social media, saying: "Thank you to all the Crocs fans teammates coaches for this season and for 3 seasons prior the club has terminated my contract Good luck boys"

Given it largely was at the preseason urging of Crocs fans Conklin finally decided to return, the board has taken a huge chance in cutting their popular import.

My (e)mail is there is no contingency in place to replace him, no secret import on a flight as we (cyber)speak and a lot of scurrying going on with home matches against Cairns and New Zealand to come this week.

Just as the crowds were starting to pick up too, maybe even a few of them forgiving the club for sacking John Rillie when it did.

HAVE to commend the NBL for how quickly it responded when that 83-year-old with the beer can at Wollongong decided to baptise Kings import Marcus Thornton as the week of turmoil started.

The Hawks "supporter" was banned from The Swamp for the rest of this season and Thornton's personal stocks also rose with the cool, mature, professional manner in which he handled it.

Unfortunately for Kings coach Damian Cotter, Sydney didn't handle Illawarra quite as well and the long-poised axe finally fell, Joe Connelly (surprise surprise) today upgraded from recently-arrived American "here to help" to "interim" coach.

Meanwhile, back in Queensland, Melbourne's Chris Goulding and a spectator had a post-game disagreement in Townsville before Cairns' Matt Burston got overtly physical with Adelaide's Jerome Randle.

Subsequent investigations cleared Goulding of any wrongdoing - it does take two to tango and it's not as if he initiated the exchange - and also found Burston should have been called for a foul for his over-exuberant screen on Randle.

Still in Queensland and the WNBL's SEQ Stars quietly gave Denesha Stallworth her walking papers, Iffy Ibekwe unsure whether she wanted to stick around.

On the verge of a maiden playoff appearance, the Stars appear to be self-combusting at a time they should have been stabilising.

FINALLY Hawks guard Tyson Demos has been ruled out for the rest of the 2015-16 season with his injury.

With Demos out and Rhys Martin to return, does that give Illawarra a means to retain Agent #97, Jarrad Weeks?
 

BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET, PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

SOME weeks this is tough and other weeks it is even tougher.

The vast team here at B.O.T.I. no longer disrespects the weeks and years of arduous work Marc Howard did for the NBL in trying to determine that league's weekly winner. Marc, we feel your pain.

That said, Kirk Penney has won his second PotW award here which comes with a tuna, lettuce and mayo on rye. And because it's the Illawarra Hawks swingman's second win, the roll is double cut!

The Kirkster went for 24 points and a career-high eight assists as Illawarra brought Damian Cotter's NBL coaching career at Sydney to an end.

He then backed up with 31 points in the Hawks' rout of the Crocodiles, revealing just how big the previous game's eight assists were, given this time out, he had none.

But hey, that's a two-game Rd8 average of 27.5 points and 4.0 assists (plus 3.0 rebounds) per game, which unquestionably shows Penny is still money.

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

CAYLA George (pictured below) was the WNBL standout this round, with 21 points at 64 per cent, plus a whopping 17 rebounds (two assists, a steal and a block) as Townsville came from behind to beat Perth in a top-of-the-table battle.

Cayla was magnificent, pushing the Fire back to the top of the WNBL ladder, until Perth bounced back to belt SEQ in Logan.

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

 

YEAH, NO KIDDING

IT was interesting feeling the tensions in the commentary box during the Illawarra-Townsville game on Saturday.

Having a three-man team isn't unique but the pairing of Andrew Gaze and Andrej Lemanis was a combination of oil and water early, at least until Vossy asked: "Are you guys going to fight all night?"

AJ Ogilvy got the waters boiling, Andrew sugesting he should be in Boomers' calculations, Andrej reading that as a BA Board member pushing an opinion on him.

A brief terse exchange followed, then another over a disagreement on a foul call.

The tension was way more interesting than the game at that stage, although Jarrad Weeks' slam dunk was definitely special.

The call of the Perth-New Zealand game was shambolic. Whoever is doing the commentary rosters at Fox Sports clearly is star-struck by Corey Williams' personality.

Whoever you are, get over it mate. Derek Rucker is who we want to hear and in Perth, Brad Robbins has been a find so save the $$$ and don't fly Homicide anywhere. Except Bali maybe.

This was Williams' halftime question to a fairly bemused Perth coach Trevor Gleeson.

"Hey coach Gleeson, I played wich you and I've been in games like this wich you. I know exactly what the tactics is. What, am I correct. I said you got to make sure Beal, you pick him up on that challenge, you challenge him on that backcourt, between him and Cedric Jackson. Am I correct with that?"

Um ... WTH?

It's 58 words, verbatim, and, to his eternal credit, Gleeson managed some kind of answer far more coherent than the question, or the next one Williams posed.

Gleeson's parting words were the gently chiding: "I can't believe you're getting paid for this."

Neither can anyone else Trevor.

With 56 seconds remaining and the game still delicately poised, Williams gave us the typically insightful: "This last 56 seconds are critical, critical."

Well thank Naismith our fabulous Captain Obvious was there to tell us poor viewers that. We'd never have guessed. I was about to grab the remote and try to find a Test Pattern somewhere but, fortunately, Corey kept me tuned in.

Just for the benefit of Williams and his compadre Dwayne Russell, Casey Prather's surname rhymes with bather, not with lather. I only know that because I was with Damian Martin when Perth's skipper clarified it with him for me at the Blitz (the tournament, NOT the ridiculously-named TV highlights show.) That's all it takes, a wee bit of effort.

That effort might also extend to the knowledge of most people in basketball now that Nathan Jawai particularly dislikes a certain nickname. You know, the one Homicide kept calling him.

THERE'S only one of this guy. He doesn't have a smaller double in Perth.

OH and yes, a WNBL TV deal is still "imminent". As it has been since Round 3.

 

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS, Rd 8

ILLAWARRA bounced back (as predicted) to enjoy two home wins - let's toast them with a beer? - and returned to contention, making the Hawks the NBL's Biggest Winners of the round.

SYDNEY was the Biggest Loser, hiding its woes behind the coach and consigning him to Taronga Park's Scapegoat Exhibit, along with five GMs. If Smoking Joe's arrival and the club publicly endorsing Cotter weren't sure signs he was a goner, I don't know what was.

GETTING up to beat the Capitals in Canberra when they were fired up as not once before in nine losses, and also weathering some fairweather officiating, makes Melbourne the WNBL's Biggest Winner this round. That's even if Alice was in Wonderland, with hardly a stat in 23 minutes!

DON'T doubt for a second SEQ was the Biggest Loser, with import Denesha Stallworth sacked, Ibekwe iffy about staying, some coaching practices more in tune with a men's program and the place in danger of self-destructing, a 21-point home loss to Perth speaking volumes.

NBL Round 8

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 96 (Penney 24, Ogilvy 20, Lisch 17; Ogilvy 10 rebs; Penney 8 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 90 (Childress 20, Thornton 18, Garlepp 17, Khazzouh 11; Childress 15 rebs; Carter 3 assts) at the Sandpit. MELBOURNE UNITED 66 (Holt 20, Warrick 15, Kickert 9; Blanchfield 8 rebs; Goulding 5 assts) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 63 (Steindl 25, Jett 17, Conklin 8; Kay 10 rebs; Kay, Jett 4 assts) at The Swamp. ADELAIDE 36ERS 88 (Randle 28, Johnson 17, Petrie 11, Ere 10; Creek, Gibson 6 rebs; Gibson 4 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 83 (Worthington 19, Weigh 17, Gliddon 13; Worthington 6 rebs; Gliddon 5 assts) at Cairns Convention Centre. PERTH WILDCATS 86 (Beal 19, Prather 18, Jawai 15, Jervis 10; Jervis 10 rebs; Knight 5 assts) d NZ BREAKERS 80 (Webster 23, Ce Jackson 15, Ch Jackson 11; Ce Jackson 8 rebs; Ce Jackson 8 asts) at Perth Arena. ILLAWARRA HAWKS 108 (Penney 31, Lisch 15, Ogilvy 13, Coenraad 12, Forman 11; Davidson 9 rebs; Lisch 5 assts) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 70 (Conklin 20, Kay 14, Jett 11; Maynard, Conklin 5 rebs; Djeric, Norton 4 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre.

WNBL Round 8

DANDENONG RANGERS 85 (Cumming 23, Pickrel 15, Kennedy 12; Todhunter 7 rebs; Todhunter 7 assts) d SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 65 (Ebzery 16, Swords 15, Tupaea 12, Samuels 10; Swords 13 rebs; Ebzery, Tupaea 2 assts) at Dandenong Basketball Stadium. MELBOURNE BOOMERS 66 (Madgen 19, Penaluna 15, Smart 13; Oliver, Penaluna 6 rebs; Garrick, Madgen 3 assts) d CANBERRA CAPITALS 61 (Montgomery 21, Talbot, Bishop 12; Bishop 8 rebs; Wehrung 5 assts) at Tuggeranong Basketball Stadium. TOWNSVILLE FIRE 91 (George 21, Tatham 18, Batkovic 16, Novosel 15, Cocks 14; George 17 rebs; Novosel 6 assts) d PERTH LYNX 81 (Whitcomb 28, Laney 20, Lavey 15; Burton 8 rebs; Tomlinson, Whitcomb 3 assts) at Townsville RSL Stadium. BENDIGO SPIRIT 89 (Snell 22, Harrington 18, Griffin 16, Richards 14; Snell 7 rebs; Wilson 8 assts) d ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 73 (Mitchell 16, Standish 15, Dombkins 10; Ruef 7 assts; Ciabattoni 4 assts) at Wayville Sports Centre. PERTH LYNX 85 (Laney 18, Whitcomb 17, Tomlinson 16, Burton, Lavey 12; Tomlinson, Whitcomb 9 rebs; Tomlinson 5 assts) d SEQ STARS 64 (Ibekwe 17, Lewis 13, Allen, Jarry 12; Lewis 7 rebs; Mansfield 3 assts) at Logan Metro Indoor Sports Centre.

TIME OUT

IS there any other player in the NBL who spends more time taking time out to chat, advise, cajole and challenge the referees than Cairns Taipans captain Cam Gliddon?

There's a typical action shot of Cam in action, above. When the play has swung to the other end and you're running back but still with head turned, moaning to the refs, maybe your focus isn't entirely where it ought to be?

Just a thought.

PS

AARON ... with fern.