Bryce 53, Phoenix by 40, surprises for United, JJs
BRYCE went off for 53, the Phoenix doused the Hawks by 40, Brisbane made a game out of it against United and the Breakers took care of a depleted Tassie to bring us to Sunday in NBL Round 5 with more questions than answers, other than one. That Mr Cotton is quite good at basketball.
Casey, Tyrell ignite Bullets, Tyger roars, Phoenix phalter
CASEY Prather and Tyrell Harrison breathed life into Brisbane's season by tag-teaming Perth into submission, Tasmania again beat the odds - and the whistle - to dethrone the Kings, and Bryce Cotton was sufficiently near his best, in the first half at least, for Adelaide to send South East Melbourne back to the NBL drawing board.
Hobart hosting Boomers-Tall Blacks FIBA clash
AUSTRALIA's Boomers will face their age-old cross-Tasman rival, the New Zealand Tall Blacks, late next month in Hobart as part of the qualifying process for the 2027 FIBA World Cup, current national captain, Olympian Will Magnay, rapt to open the series at the home of his Tasmania JackJumpers.
Time Out-NO FLOP ZONE: Geelong, trades, import status
BACK when he was an import player in the NBL and setting the record for free throw attempts in a game - Bryce Cotton eat your heart out! - Joey Wright was The Man at Geelong. Now there's talk Geelong may return to the NBL and we're all over it at our Time Out-NO FLOP ZONE podcast.
Brad&Boti: WNBL tipping off as NBL imports go
THE WNBL is about to launch and Brad Rosen and I are excited to preview the teams ahead of Round 1 at our Brad&Boti podcast, but there was plenty to savour from the NBL's fourth round too and we get stuck into it, isolating the players and plays of the week.
Xu coup a head turner for Perth as WNBL tip-off nears
TOWNSVILLE is almost unbackable as favourite to win the 2025-26 WNBL championship but Perth's Han Xu coup has thrown a 211cm wrinkle into that confidence, although banking early wins without her will be critical for the Lynx who open their campaign in Adelaide on Sunday.
What We Learnt #4
HALLELUJAH brothers and sisters. What we learnt in Round 4 is the G.O.A.T. of NBL coaching, Brian Goorjian, still has it. Last season at the Kings was forgettable and losing to Melbourne had the doubters out in force. But that masterplan for the 36ers in Adelaide was solid gold and made Bryce Cotton look more like Bryce Courtenay.
Breakers outfoxed, United cavort on Snake-skin rug
OWEN Foxwell led South East Melbourne to its historic first win over New Zealand at Auckland's Spark Arena today before United took out the garbage in Melbourne, dumping Cairns' game-plan, terminal execution, statue defence and lack of earnest desire in a dumpster outside John Cain Arena.
Hawks soar and Kings reign in Adelaide
IT was a basic case of "addition by subtraction" as Illawarra farewelled Jaquori McLaughlin and played its best game of the season, while Brian Goorjian showed he hasn't lost his coaching chops, producing his finest performance since returning to Sydney, masterminding a thorough 103-79 rout in Adelaide.
AA takes a last shot and blows last chance
WHAT the hell was Andrew Andrews thinking? Is he the only player in the NBL who hasn't seen Jack McVeigh's long shot that turned the Tasmania-United championship in 2024? Can he be so blissfully unaware the Olympian is "The Man" when it comes to a last shot, not an import who is 3-of-11 from range but still jacks up a prayer?