Then there were two, United, Jackies for the crown
MELBOURNE versus Tasmania for the NBL crown. It's the best-of-five Grand Final Series most craved - other than the stampede of fans Illawarra corralled during its extraordinary season and post-season, or anyone living in Western Australia. Shea Ili and Jack McVeigh ensured we'd get it.
Brad&Boti: LJ to Olympics, WNBL Final, NBL Semis
THE WNBL already is into its Grand Final Series, Perth owning a 1-0 lead in the Best-of-3 Final. But the NBL settles its issues in a double-header basketball bonanza of Game 3 semi final deciders tonight, and Brad Rosen and I are down for it at our Brad&Boti podcast.
The odds don't look great for underdogs
SHOULD it really be a surprise come NBL playoffs time that suddenly a number of factors fall the way of our Melbourne, Perth or Sydney-based clubs? They run marquee programs in our biggest cities, regularly drawing five-figure attendances. Places such as Hobart or Wollongong can't match that.
Milton 'the monster" as Jackies tame Wildcats
DESPITE the outrageous intervention of the NBL's amorphous "Games Review Panel" which ridiculously and quite embarrassingly outed Tasmania centre Marcus Lee from its semi final Game 2 against Perth, Milton Doyle was an absolute monster as the JackJumpers levelled the series at 1-1 tonight in Hobart.
Hickey leaves a bruise as Hawks rally in G2
FOR the second time in their NBL best-of-three semi final series, Illawarra and Melbourne could not settle the issue in regulation but this time Will "Davo" Hickey, Gary Clark, Tyler Harvey and Sam Froling led their Hawks to a home 113-108 overtime win, sending it back to Melbourne for a decider on Wednesday.
That well? Yep. Atwell did that well and better!
PERTH Lynx are one win away from claiming only the club's second WNBL championship and first since women's basketball legends Tom Maher, Michele Timms and Robyn Maher clinched the 1992 crown after Amy Atwell and crew today blew Southside off its home Melbourne floor 101-79.
BOB'S CORNER: Taking scoring to new levels
BOB'S CORNER: Our USA resident and regular correspondent BOB CRAVEN has all the big news this week, mainly about scoring! First it's Caitlin Clark raising the NCAA scoring bar for women AND men, then it is LeBron James going above and beyond the 40,000 NBA points mark. remarkable stuff.
Pinder tears up JJ's scouting report
KEANU Pinder last night ruined Tasmania's gameplan with a career-best outside-the-arc blitz JackJumpers coach Scott Roth - nor anyone else - saw coming and which ensured Perth would head to Hobart and Monday's Game 2 full of confidence nursing a 1-0 NBL Semi Final Series lead.
Choking happened before screwing for beaten Hawks
YES, there is absolutely no question the referees last night screwed Illawarra down the stretch of regulation before Melbourne brushed the Hawks aside in overtime. But it's just as key how badly the Hawks choked, lacked on-court leadership and played with abject fear as Matthew Dellavedova led his crew to a 1-0 NBL semi final lead.
Action Jackson soars and Flyers feast
SHE is Australian basketball's G.O.A.T. - Greatest Of All Time - and even at 42, you had to know those competitive instincts would kick in for a WNBL semi final Game 3 decider. With 38 points and 11 rebounds, she absolutely dominated proceedings as only she can, Southside beating Melbourne 93-77.