NBL23 Rd6: Wildcats? JR would struggle playing for JR
JOHN Rillie might find it tough playing under John Rillie. The rookie Perth Wildcats coach always knew taking on the NBL's most storied franchise after a "down" year would be a difficult way to start his head coaching career and no-one should be baying for his head, despite his team's struggles.
NBL TOTW5: Time to Ditch the Doubts
OUR NBL Team of the Week regularly causes some degree of angst and again after Round 5, we have two teams strongly vying for the right to wear the ultimate and most coveted accolade in Australian team sports. This was always going to be a tough one. The Phoenix or the Breakers?
Rd5 NBL23: Super Saturday and Phoenix thrillers
A SUPER Saturday of last-gasp edge-of-your-seat thrillers, South East Melbourne winning in Perth by one point after pressure Mitch Creek free throws, then topping Adelaide in overtime, and New Zealand streaming to the top of the league made NBL Round 5 an absolute epic.
B&B: Balloons and coat-hangers for starters
TIME for a "Where Are They Now?" episode of the Brad&Boti podcast so Brad Rosen and I threw on our deer-stalker caps, grabbed our magnifying glasses and went in search of a former NBL import who rose to the position of running the league before joining BA. No, it's NOT Bill Palmer.
NBL23 Rd5: Ask Melbourne about Melbourne?
BACK in 2018, then Adelaide 36ers coach Joey Wright was fined for saying something like "why complain to Melbourne about Melbourne?" The fact the NBL - owned by Larry Kestelman, as is United - has done nothing to even reprimand one of its players after he claimed "he shoved his finger up my arse" just reiterates Wright's point.
NBL TOTW4: Three contenders rock our judges
THERE definitely are rounds when it is very difficult to select the NBL Team of the Week and Round 4 is no exception. We had three outstanding candidates in the Adelaide 36ers, South East Melbourne Phoenix and Tasmania JackJumpers, in another series where home-court advantage didn't stand for much at all.
Rd4 NBL23: Kings on throne, but only just
IF you'd asked anyone which club would be leading the NBL after four rounds, the defending champion Sydney Kings would have been a fair and reliable - and accurate - guess. But come on. Who would have had New Zealand and Cairns equal second? Perth at fifth? Melbourne eighth?
NBL23 R4: Bullets feel heat with road challenges
NOW order and common sense has been restored and the farce that was the "Trial of Jesse Wagstaff" - longtime Perth villain but this time an innocent - is in the rearview mirror, NBL Round 4 presents several marquee matchups and already desperate times for some, notably Brisbane coach James Duncan.
NBA tips off with strong Aussie/NBL presence
THE NBA's 2022-23 season tips off today with a powerful Australian presence, enhanced even moreso by an NBL influence. The opening games of the 82-game schedule are done and dusted, with a long wait ahead until we see the Golden State Warriors face Milkwaukee Bucks for the championship.
NBLTOTW3: Kings of the rings
OUR first official "Basketball On The Internet" NBL Team of the Week - even though we have backdated it - could not have been tougher, with not one, not two, but three exceptional candidates rocking it through Round 3. But then three-for-3 is probably appropriate.