Basketball On The Internet.

SYDNEY tonight took its first steps at the NBL Preseason Blitz, snaring five championship points off Townsville with its 81-70 win at Penrith.

(That's a journey I won't take again without food and water!)

Don't cry any tears for the Crocodiles though as they were down injured Olympian Peter Crawford and Steve Markovic.

Markovic's FIBA-approved clearance has yet to arrive. Either the carrier pigeon is on holidays or the boffins at FIBA all have their heads together at EuroBasket debating whether Mr and Mrs Dragic erred in naming their daughter Horan. Their Slovenian superstar sons, Goran and Zoran, were unavailable for comment.

Back to Penrith though where the prospect of it being an interesting night was heightened greatly by the large banner at the stadium proclaiming: "Colonial Hotel - Proud Sponsers of Penrith Basketball Association". Clearly, the Colonial doesn't sponsor the annual spelling bee.

(Apologies in advance for this one.) The local MC quickly demoted new Kings import Jesse "The Colonel" Sanders to sargeant when he introduced him as Jesse Saunders. (Unless you know the 60s TV series "Combat" and its lead character Sgt Saunders, as played by the late, great Vic Morrow, please disregard this paragraph entirely.)

Townsville looked good early when it went in to Brian Conklin and it showed a versatile game with fullcourt pressure, zones and an upbeat approach.

It led at the first break to claim one of its two championship points towards the inaugural Loggins-Bruton Cup.

AJ Ogilvy was the story of the second quarter, with 13 points and no-one able to contain him at all.

The Kings were ahead by halftime but Ogilvy pulled up sore early into the third quarter and played no further part.

Kevin White stepped up to nail three straight triples in an 11-point third quarter and the Kings were on their way to a double-digit lead that was only threatened very late, Townsville outscoring Sydney by a point to claim their second point from the game.

Here's the game wrap at News Limited: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/sydney-defeated-townsville-in-pre-season-affair-at-penrith-basketball-stadium/story-fnii09gt-1226721312935 although it was written by my doppelganger in the Bizarro world.

SYDNEY KINGS 81 (Sanders 19, Ogilvy 17, White 14, Hill 10; Sanders 11 rebs; Sanders 6 assts; Sanders 2 stls) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 70 (Conklin 16, Pace 14, Holmes 10; Conklin 10 rebs; Djeric, Norton 3 assts; Pace 1 stl) at Penrith Basketball Stadium.

WHAT DID WE LEARN?

*Sanders is very quick and has terrific handles. Don't expect too many to pick his pocket this season. He had eight points in the first quarter so his offensive game, which has come under some minor scrutiny, obviously was an early focus.

*Charles Carmouche was in early foul trouble, as was Brad Hill, so didn't put his best foot forward.

*Ogilvy effectively had a 17-point half so if Sydney can keep him healthy, he will be an impact player for sure.

*Tom Garlepp was his usual serviceable self but will need to be that and more until Cody Ellis arrives. Ben Allen was only good for two points, zero rebounds, three turnovers and five fouls in 9:57 of bewilderment.

As NBL writing colleague Mookie Schiralli succinctly summarised: "Maybe Ben Allen's best shots are after the siren."

*Ben Madgen (ankle) is making excellent progress and those projections for his return in December? He will most likely have a couple of months of NBL under his belt by then.

*Townsville has some weapons but is still at least a month away from knowing how to best utilise them.

*Conklin can play but will need to keep out of foul trouble.

*Those who for years advocated Josh Pace could handle the NBL will be back-slapping each other this year. He is certainly on the, well, pace.

*Scott Kenny and Mirko Djeric, a combined 4-of-19, certainly don't mind a shot - well, apart from the obvious for Mirko. They just need to slow down and not be in such a lather to get one off, so to speak.

*Todd Blanchfield took a poke in the eye and also wasn't then able to contribute greatly.

*The word "Soft" is the one we are certain to see players mouthing most often this year. (I am tipping it will supercede that other popular four-letter word when a player cops a foul).

Yes, compared to the MMA-on-a-basketball-court of recent years, there will be some calls players won't like as they adjust to having to play D correctly again and how to set screens correctly again.

But the second and third quarters in this game were a very good advertisement for our sport.

There will be teething issues, as we knew. But the payoff is worth it.

EXCLUSIVE - Loggins-Bruton Cup Ladder

Team   P   W  L  QtrsWon  Pts

Cairns        1   1   -   4   7

Melbourne 1   1   -  3.5   6.5

Sydney      1   1   -   2   5

Townsville  1   -   1   2   2

New Zealand 1   -   1   0.5   0.5

W'ongong   1   -   1   0   0

*Adelaide v Perth in last Blitz "regional" tomorrow at Trinity College in Sydney.