Basketball On The Internet.

IT was starting to look a little easy as far as predicting the NBL and WNBL top fours went.

Melbourne won nine games of NBL right off the bat and many had them pencilled in for a Grand Final berth.

But the contenders steadily have emerged and let's be honest, right now Perth and New Zealand - winners of the past six NBL titles - look odds on to meet at the thin end of the season's wedge.

Before Adelaide succumbed so meekly in Perth, I had them as the "surprise" fourth finalist and one who could upset United in a best-of-three semi.

But to be brutally frank, other than the Wildcats and Breakers, I no longer believe Melbourne is any certainty.

Illawarra, finally at full potency, definitely is well in this race.

And if you still like the 36ers to come home strongly - Joey Wright hasn't missed a playoff series with the club yet - then with the Sixers at 7-8, you also cannot completely rule out Cairns.

The Taipans are 5-8, with two games in hand.

They've got to get a wriggle on soon, for sure. But they're not out of it.

And with what Townsville has been doing - including beating Melbourne and Perth in their own venues - you know the Crocs will have a say in who actually makes the playoff quartet.

MAYBE my recent WNBL top four prediction was premature but despite the occasional unfathomable result, Townsville will be there and so too Perth.

Don't doubt the Lynx can win this - wouldn't that be insufferable if it was a Wildcats-Lynx double? - because they most definitely have all the right tools.

SEQ has to regroup now after doing a lot right early and Sydney also needs to take stock to halt the slide.

Yes, Bendigo is back in it - Snelly had 17 assists in two road games last round, pretty special - and Dandenong is a threat when it approaches the game with the right um, approach.

Melbourne is in disarray, Adelaide can cause a lot of issues down the stretch and once Stallworth suits at Canberra, the Caps will break the duck.

Let's settle back and watch it, imminently, on TV.

THE hapless Kings are back looking for another import with Josh Childress suffering another hand fracture, this time in the loss to Cairns.

Arguably the NBL's best player, he's out for a month again, having played just 21 of Sydney's past 41 games.

Truly, that sounds like a damn good reason to sack Damian Cotter yet again!

In fact, I think Kings management has Cotter on speed dial. When last I rang Damian's number, I got messagebank and DC saying: "Yes, I know, I'm sacked again. Don't bother leaving your name and number, I know who it is."

It's probably Cotter's fault Rolan Roberts got hurt too.

FLASHBACK: WAS this dunk Damian Cotter's idea too?
 

YEAH, NO KIDDING

SERIOUSLY, is Fox Sports paying any attention to the barrage of discontent any and every time Corey “Homicide” Williams butchers an NBL game on its commentary?

Clearly not. We were mercifully saved the usual “I told you, I told you,” antics from Captain Obvious and Oblivious this round until the last match between Melbourne and Adelaide.

"Somebody's got to win, somebody's got to lose". Wow. You can’t pay enough for insight like that.

Late in the game, when Jerome Randle, who apparently played his college ball at UCLA, if Corey is to be believed  - actually, University of California, Berkeley, but eh, what’s a stray fact here and there? – Williams’ ego got the better of him.

He told us he’d resisted calling Jerome by his nickname after suffering some social media backlash but no, that didn’t stop him from dragging out his Marvel super hero reference yet again anyway. Corey, mate, forget social media for a second. It’s JEROME who hates the nickname.

“If you don’t like it, I don’t care,” he told us.

RANDLE HAS THE HANDLES: Jerome is a giant of the NBL.

Exactly. You don’t care because you just have to say it. Why? Because as far as the game in front of you goes, you have zero to offer.

You can only say “CG43” a dozen or so times before it gets as tedious as the “I told you! I told you!” self praise for again, stating something earlier that was painfully obvious to even first-time viewers.

Stuff such as “the first five minutes of every quarter is very important” has added so much to the coverage!

Not nearly as much, of course, as asking Melbourne coach Dean Demopoulos about his clothes in the halftime interview.

Don’t know what the hell to ask? Congratulate a guy on what he’s wearing.

“Townsville, Homicide is coming back,” he warned the faithful of the Green Machine. Enjoy that.

MEANWHILE, Casey Frank on the coverage out of NZ again showed how good he has become, with nice turn of phrase and genuinely relevant comments for the viewers.

Brad Robbins, James Harvey – they’re all getting sharper and Shane Heal too has had those head-nodding moments when you have to agree.

Derek Rucker is by far the most polished caller so it was good to get him twice last round.

Listen to a Rucker call to hear how it should be done. No self-promotion or superficial hype masquerading as insight.

Pity no-one at Fox is listening, literally.

WHILE I think of it, why don’t clubs collude on uniforms colours ahead of games?

Cairns in black, Sydney in purple? Kings should have been in yellow for that one.

Crocs in grey against anyone with a darker uniform? Ugh.

Is this stuff really that difficult?

 

BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET, PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

THE Breakers are back and it’s no coincidence Tom Abercrombie has run into the type of form which had many touting him as an NBA player not so long ago.

Abers had 23 points, four boards, three assists, a steal and a block as the champs sent Perth packing. He backed up with 19 points at 63 per cent, seven boards, an assist and a block as New Zealand put away Townsville.

Averaging 21ppg and 5.5 rebounds, Thomas tips out a bunch of Illawarra candidates to take this week’s B.O.T.I. PotW honours and with it, a packet of Fruchocs and a pack of Maltesers, this being “sweet week” .

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

WHEN you’ve gone for a career-best 30 points, with seven assists and in the process smacked your former club by 27 points, you’ve made a case for the B.O.T.I WNBL PotW award.

But as if that wasn’t enough for Leilani Mitchell, she scored the match-winning basket for Adelaide against Dandenong in a back-up 16-point, four-assist game.

So yes, that’s a round average of 23ppg and 5.5 assists and Lei can collect her prize, a Cornish pastie, complete with corn off the cob, from the pie-warmer here at News Corp in the city.

LEI GOES: Leilani Mitchell driving, as she did to beat Dandenong.

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

 

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS, RD 9

LOOK out because the Breakers are back, easily the NBL’s biggest winner of the round after slapping away Perth and then backing up against the rejuvenated young Crocs in Townsville. Here they come.

SYDNEY was the round’s biggest loser, sacking its coach, replacing him with an enthusiastic novice, getting belted by a Cairns team which played 48 hours earlier, while losing star import Josh Childress once more to injury. That's a rough week all around.

BENDIGO was the WNBL’s biggest winner, hitting the road to Queensland again and this time beating the Fire by 16, then travelling down to SEQ and dimming the Stars as the Spirit moved nicely into the top four.

BAD round for Sydney teams all around, the Uni Flames the WNBL’s biggest loser after getting belted at home by Adelaide, then barely escaping winless Canberra’s clutches by a meagre six points. Yo Flames, wazzup?

NBL Rd 9

NZ BREAKERS 99 (Abercrombie 23, Webster 21, Ch Jackson 19, Pledger, Vukona 11; Vukona, Ch Jackson 12 rebs; Ce Jackson 9 assts) d PERTH WILDCATS 78 (Beal 23, Prather 12, Jawai, Knight 11; Knight 12 rebs; Beal 6 assts) at North Shore Events Centre. TOWNSVILE CROCODILES 90 (Jett 26, Kay 16, Steindl 13, Norton, Young 10; Young 13 rebs; Norton 6 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 76 (Craig 18, Worthington 14, Starks 11; Craig 7 rebs; Starks 3 assts) at The Swamp, Townsville. ILLAWARRA HAWKS 102 (Lisch 26, Penney 25, Ogilvy 15; Ogilvy 12 rebs; Lisch, Penney,Martin 5 assts) d MELBOURNE UNITED 87 (Goulding 25, Kickert 21, Warrick 13, Holt 10; Blanchfield 6 rebs; Holt 5 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. CAIRNS TAIPANS 101 (Craig 20, Starks 18, Tragardh, Gliddon 11, Burston 10; Craig 9 rebs; Starks 5 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 83 (Brandt, Garlepp 16, Khazzouh 14, Thornton 11, Cadee 10; Khazzouh 7 rebs; Childress 5 assts) at Cairns Convention Centre. PERTH WILDCATS 90 (Prather 23, Wagstaff 16, Knight, Beal 13; Knight 11 rebs; Beal 5 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 72 (Randle 18, Petrie 17, Sobey 11; Carlin, Petrie 6 rebs; 3 with 2 assts) at Perth Arena. NZ BREAKERS 86 (Ch Jackson 22, Abercrombie 19, Webster 17, Ce Jackson 13; Pledger, Abercrombie 7 rebs; Ce Jackson 7 assts) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 75 (Jett 15, Steindl 13, Kay 12, Norton 10; Henry 8 rebs; Maynard 4 assts) at The Swamp, Townsville. MELBOURNE UNITED 89 (Goulding 19, Majok 15, Warrick, Holt 14, Kickert 11; Holt 11 rebs; Holt 5 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 86 (Randle 25, Petrie 14, Gibson, Ere 12, Johnson 10; Petrie 13 rebs; Randle 6 assts) at Hisense Arena.

WNBL Rd 9

ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 94 (Mitchell 30, Standish 26, Ruef 13, Good, Bowen 10; Ruef 9 rebs; Mitchell 7 assts) d SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 67 (Ebzery 21, Tupaea 13, Tinkle 12; Tinkle 7 rebs; Tinkle 4 assts) at Brydens Stadium. DANDENONG RANGERS 65 (Cumming, Blicavs 15, Kennedy 12; Pickrel, Todhunter 8 rebs; Cumming, Todhunter 3 assts) d PERTH LYNX 63 (Mijovic 12, Burton, Whitcomb, Laney 10; Tomlinson 8 rebs; Whitcomb, Laney 4 assts) at Dandenong Basketball Stadium. BENDIGO SPIRIT 84 (Snell 26, Griffin 19, Wilson 18, Richards 11; Griffin 14 rebs; Snell 9 assts) d TOWNSVILLE FIRE 68 (Batkovic 17, Murray 16, George 15; George 12 rebs; Cocks 5 assts) at Townsville RSL Stadium. SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 82 (Ebzery 16, Tupaea, Tinkle 15, Wilson 12, Moffatt 11; Swords 8 rebs; Moffatt 4 assts) d CANBERRA CAPITALS 76 (Bishop, Montgomery 26, Bibby 11; Talbot 5 rebs; Montgomery 4 assts) at Tuggeranong Basketball Stadium. PERTH LYNX 84 (Lavey 21, Whitcomb 19, Tomlinson 14, Laney 10; Tomlinson 7 rebs; Laney 5 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 73 (Kunek 27, Penaluna 16, Garrick 14; Kunek 7 rebs; Veal, Madgen 3 assts) at State Basketball Centre. ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 72 (Ruef 19, Mitchell 16, Standish 12; Ruef 6 rebs; Mitchell, Dombkins 4 assts) d DANDENONG RANGERS 70 (Pickrel 23, Blicavs 16, Cumming 13; Blicavs 11 rebs; 5 assts) at Wayville Sports Centre. BENDIGO SPIRIT 97 (Richards 27, Snell 21, Griffin 20, Harrington 14, Wilson 10; Griffin 11 rebs; Snell 8 assts) d SEQ STARS 88 (Ibekwe 31, Hooper 19, Mansfield 18; 3 with 6 rebs; Mansfield 7 assts) at Logan Metro Indoor Sports Centre.

Online

36ers down to United: http://bit.ly/1NzXGtc

 

PS

JOEY - Right