Basketball On The Internet.

MUM'S the word, apparently, if you are employed by the NBL to commentate on its games and someone slips on an advertising decal, so it's going to not only take a serious injury but also that player suing the league for negligence.

That appears  the only way NBL management will truly take seriously the risk to which it exposes its most important commodity - the players - with slippery advertising decals plastered over the playing surface.

It was an issue earlier this season, then simmered down - not even the players association uttered a word - when the league declared it was returning to a different decal.

Yet this round, when league MVP and current era megastar Bryce Cotton virtually did the splits under the basket, losing his footing on the totally unnecessary NBL logo under the basket, the silence was deafening.

"A slip that would have sent a shiver through the Perth camp," from Andrew Gaze on the TV call was the best the commentary team could muster.

It is an ongoing league disgrace which it now is obvious only will be resolved when someone is hurt badly and takes issue with the NBL in a court that doesn't have decals on its floor.

While the league, as usual, chose to stay quiet and hope the noise would die down again, social media outrage was swift and incisive. Here's a sample from twitter, including the thoughts of a past league MVP:

Bryce Cotton going down DID send a shiver across the Red Army but also anyone who loves seeing champion players in action. There have been others.

Given the NBL's consistency in living in denial about the decals, it is only a matter of time before a key player is badly injured. When they seek commensurate compensation, the decal issue may for once genuinely be addressed.

 

 

 

 ROUND 19 (Part 1) - GAME BY GAME

 

 

ANYONE who believes Melbourne captain Chris Goulding arrived in Wollongong intending to make his case in front of Illawarra's Olympic coach Brian Goorjian for Tokyo Games consideration, doesn't really know him.

That said though, his 25-point first half on 7-of-11 threes had to leave a major impression as United had the game at their mercy by the interval.

Apart from surrendering too many open 3-pointers, and surely by now everyone is aware David Barlow is a wicked long-range sharpshooter - Lord knows, he can't defend anyone anymore - the Hawks worked through a competitive first quarter.

They lived with Melbourne for a portion of the second too before drowning under what would finish as a 17-of-33 long-range missile bombardment and 61 per cent accuracy from the floor by the visitors.

Again Illawarra was exposed for its distinct lack of offensive options - such a shame Deng Adel and Cam Bairstow didn't pan out as anticipated.

Jock Landale with 21, 11 and five assists, Scotty Hopson dishing eight assists with his 13 points - Melbourne basically had its own way for much of the contest.

MELBOURNE UNITED 102 (Goulding 25, Landale 21, Hopson 13, Lual-Acuil, Peatling 10; Landale 11 rebs; Hopson 8 assts) d ILLAWARRA HAWKS 87 (Deng 15, Jessup 11, Froling, Harvey 10; Deng, Froling 7 rebs; Harvey 5 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 1,794

* * * 

CRUISING again just before halftime after weathering a second Bullets wave, Perth had its lead out to 53-35 behind a career-best Clint Steindl shooting night and on course for a comfortable win.

Missing Todd Blanchfield (quad soreness), Steindl seized his opportunity, burying 6-of-7 threes in his game high 25-point haul. It matched his career-best, achieved at Townsville, and consequently also was his best return as a Wildcat.

Having never overcome an 18-point deficit during Andrej Lemanis' five years at the helm, Brisbane still refused to accept its fate and mounted a further response. It was led by Lamar Patterson and possibly also fuelled by some on-court byplay between ex-Bullet Will Magnay and several of his former teammates.

Tracking along nicely, Perth looked to have sealed it when Bryce Cotton and John Mooney conspired on consecutive plays to bump the buffer to 80-69 midway through the last quarter.

Patterson, however would not be denied and when Jason Cadee sank a super-long 3-point bomb from the top of the key, the Brisbane crowd was sensing the momentum shift.

Cadee with a sweet pass to Anthony Drmic's cut for a reverse lay-up had the Bullets accumulating an unforeseen 11-0 run.

Perth again assumed control but when Cadee stole a ball meant for Cotton and laid it in, the Bullets were back to 85-87.

Patterson from the stripe with 27.1 seconds remaining tied it at 87-apiece. Mooney's made free throw at 16.1 gave the Wildcats back the lead 88-87 before Patterson's neatly controlled left-hand drive gave Brisbane the edge 89-88.

With 8.8 seconds left, Perth took time-out, advanced the ball and unsurprisingly, Brisbane left Kevin White open on the wing.

An erratic shooter at best, he shot an airball from near the same spot only minutes earlier but he still caved in to that "Charlie Brown - I can be a hero" moment and jacked up a threeball which never looked likely.

He easily could have dribbled toward the hoop, drawn heat and fed it off but had a rush of blood instead. Fouled on the rebound, BJ Johnson completed the scoreline from the free throw line. 

BRISBANE BULLETS 91 (Patterson 23, Hodgson, Cadee 16, Johnson 13, Sobey 12; Hodgson 12 rebs; Cadee 5 assts) d PERTH WILDCATS 88 (Steindl 25, Mooney 18, Magnay 11, Cotton 10; Bairstow, Mooney 7 rebs; Cotton 7 assts) at The Armoury, Nissan Arena. Crowd: 1,332

* * * 

THERE was a genuinely perceptible buzz of anticipation in the air at Trusts Arena as the Breakers ran out for their first home game of this season and first time on home soil since February, 2020.

The Sydney Kings could feel it too, weathering an early 3-point barrage and battling to stay in the game while the Breakers surfed those early waves of emotion.

After that early 26-26 shooting display by both teams, New Zealand went 48-28 over the next two quarters as Finn Delany showed his class and just how far he has come over the past season and three quarters.

Levi Randolph was hot early but Delany was a monster throughout, virtually scoring at will during the third period, NZ's lead blowing out to 72-51 on his 3-point bomb.

The match over for all intents and purposes, Casper Ware then slung the Kings onto his back to produce a 15-point final quarter showcasing all of his silky skills, whether going to the hoop or pulling up from range.

When Craig Moller struck a 3-pointer inside the final four minutes, Sydney was back to 80-85 and sphincters tightening all across the Arena.

It was 81-87 inside three minutes and counting, but scoring dried up until Rasmus Bach laid one in for 89-81 and the homecoming fairytale was complete.

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 89 (Delany 28, Randolph 13, McDowell-White 12, C.Webster, T.Webster 11; Delany 13 rebs; McDowell-White 7 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 81 (Ware 20, Martin 18, Cooks 15; Martin 6 rebs; Bruce, Ware 3 assts) at Trusts Arena, Auckland. Crowd: 3,800

* * * 

YOU ever recall that chill that ran through you when a parent sat you down as a kid and stared at you for a while, letting you simmer in your own sweat over whatever indiscretion landed you in this pickle?

Enter Brian Goorjian.

Minutes into Illawarra's road clash with Adelaide, his Hawks down 6-14 after giving up a 9-0 run by the 36ers and playing listless defenceless basketball, he stared at his playing group in his forced timeout.

The "Goorjian Glare" let's call it, for want of a better description. That, followed by a few choice words about his team's identity and priorities. Bingo!

An 18-0 explosion which had 36ers' fans talking about that boy Isaac - and no, not Humphries but White - a Sturt and South Aussie junior overlooked or displaced, en route to an NBL rookie season career high 16 points, with 4-of-6 threes.

Ahead 24-14 at the first break, the Hawks continued their eruption with a 26-14 second period to have this one safely tucked away 50-28 by halftime.

WHEN YOU KNOW YOU'VE MADE IT: A 36ers fan showing some love for Jack McVeigh.

At 56-30 during the third, this was so over that only players such as Brendan Teys - who has been to war and back in Sixers' blue (whatever the hue) - Jack McVeigh and anyone else not in Adelaide just for the pay-cheque, could get them out of an ultimate homecourt humiliation.

Dan Dillon, after a shaky start, also stepped up for his best game as a 36er, Adelaide rallying to draw within eight.

Consecutive big-time 3-pointers by Tyler Harvey ended the excitement.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 81 (Froling 19, Harvey 18, White 16, Simon, Deng 10; Deng, Froling 7 rebs; Naar 7 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 73 (Dillon 17, Johnson 13, Teys 10; Dillon 8 rebs; Dillon 5 assts) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 6,090

* * * 

CAIRNS fired its best shot in a 28-26 first quarter at The Jungle, Nate Jawai with eight of his 10 points and Orange Army fans glued to their TV sets wanting desperately to believe.

But there's one thing you can believe in for sure and that's the Wildcats coming through in Perth.

It may have only taken the Taipans one quarter to score 28 points before Perth tightened up defensively. It then took Cairns two quarters (14 and 14) to score a further 28 points.

During the same time, Perth added 51, took its buffer out as far as 26, cleared its bench and ultimately still secured its biggest home win of the season.

Will Magnay went scoreless but dragged down eight boards and coach Trevor Gleeson showed just how focused he is on the big prize at the end of the season by calling a time-out with just seconds more than two minutes left, to pull his second stringers into line after a couple of loose turnovers.

The toughest sight in the game was watching Cairns replacement forward Venky Jois destroy himself from the free throw line, aborting seven of the worst freebies ever seen.

Every one of them, even the airball, was different, including the one he finally made on his eighth attempt. You know just how badly you are going when 10,000-plus Red Army fans - the most parochial in the land - cheer in support of an opponent finally making a free throw.

Maybe it is time for Venky to go the FT route of NBA legend Ricky Barry (below).

PERTH WILDCATS 100 (Cotton, Blanchfield 19, Mooney 16, Steindl 11; Magnay, Mooney 8 rebs; Norton 5 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 79 (Djeric 15, Machado 11, Jawai 10; Jois 5 rebs; Dufelmeier 6 assts) at The Jungle, RAC Arena. Crowd: 10,671

* * * 

HOW often have you heard "defence wins big games?" If you've been around basketball a while, you will know it for sure and tonight, the Sydney Kings proved it in New Plymouth.

Clutching a 75-73 lead inside the last half-minute, the Kings knew what was coming after New Zealand subbed all of its major 3-point shooters on the floor.

Finn Delany rolled off a screen to the hoop, caught the pass, drew heat and dished it to Rasmus Bach in a corner.

Bach's shot for the win missed but William McDowell-White produced a miraculous offensive rebound and dished to Corey Webster who decided it was time to play hero.

Shaun Bruce played defence on him magnificently to force him into his worst shot of the night. He still took it, regardless. and missed, Sydney ahead 77-73 after the resultant free throws.

Then the Kings' aggressive defence forced a five-second inbounds violation in what turned into a most hectic of a final minute.

There still was time for a Corey Webster monster triple and Bruce to run down a key offensive board off a Casper Ware free throw miss, Jarell Martin the mainstay all night for Sydney with 29 points and nine rebounds.

It also was Levi Randolph's time to shine for New Zealand, his 15-point first half anchoring the Breakers and driving their 44-38 halftime lead.

McDowell-White's driving slam dunk through traffic gave the Breakers a 44-36 buffer before Ware's last shot was secured through a goal tend, Bach smacking the net.

Both coaches copped technical fouls on either side of three quarter-time - good to know everyone was equally happy - Xavier Cooks' 3-pointer a millisecond too late, New Zealand leading 61-56 with a period to play.

The Kings needed the win badly and their 25-15 last quarter proved the difference.

SYDNEY KINGS 81 (Martin 29, Ware 15, Hunter 14; Martin 9 rebs; Bruce 5 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 76 (Randolph 25, C.Webster 13, T.Webster 12, Iverson, McDowell-White 10; Iverson, T.Webster 7 rebs; T.Webster 5 assts) at TSB Stadium. Crowd: 2,066

* * *

ROUND 19 (What We Learnt, So Far) 

*Who would've guessed but turns out if Chris Goulding hits a couple of early 3-pointers and Dean Vickerman then chooses to leave him on and not sub him out, he can have a 25-point first half and make the rest of the game virtually redundant;

*Psst. Cannot tell a lie. Many of us did suspect that would be the case;

*Felt as though caught in a time warp watching old stagers David Andersen and Tim Coenraad catching up at the conclusion of the Hawks-United game;

*No apologies necessary for Andrej Lemanis' expletive-riddled time-out invasions - if you're taking a microphone into a huddle for the benefit of TV viewers, you're always taking a chance - but he really could do with expanding his wordpower;

*Hands up if you said "Kevin White" when asked which player on the Perth roster you would choose to take a game-winning shot. Kevin, you're the only person with your hand up;

*William McDowell-White may need extra tape and reinforced ankle braces after the way Sydney's Shaun Bruce sat him down with his behind-the-back, step-back move in their first clash across the Tasman;

*It was great to hear Casey Frank and Andrew Mulligan calling Breakers games across the ditch on TV. It makes all the difference knowing they are in the venue, not in some isolated coccoon perpetuating their own in-studio BS but actually giving measured reactions to what they are experiencing;

*Adam Forde attends the same elocution lessons as Andrej Lemanis;

*How absurd on the TV preamble of the Adelaide-Illawarra game for there still to be speculation about the 36ers' chances of reaching the playoffs? If they had even a skerrick of a chance, Josh Giddey would not have stepped away to focus on the NBA, making the whole segment so disingenuous as to look ridiculous;

*Jesse Wagstaff was rested from Perth's home match against Cairns. Not 100 per cent sure but apparently pre-game a cyclist passed him while he was walking toward the stadium and the gust of air knocked him to the pavement, bruising his side;

*Dear Andrew Mulligan. It's "Jarell Martin" ... not "Jarell Marden".

QUOTE of the WEEK

"Wagstaff ... (you) can't give him the flopportunity cause he'll take it."

TV caller Liam Santamaria after Perth's Jesse Wagstaff was called for a foul, hitting the floor the instant he felt contact from Lamar Patterson.