Basketball On The Internet.

IF you missed any of NBL Round 18's match summaries, here they are for you all in one place! How's that for convenience? And how's this for ridiculous? The NBL's Games Review Panel today gave Tasmania's Will Magnay a one-game suspension or a $1,550 fine for "unduly rough play" against Cairns. 

Presumably it was for his clash with Patrick Miller in the third quarter.

But the GRP only saw fit to fine Tahjere McCall, who blatantly ran into and hurt Magnay, a $1,165 fine, downgraded to $775 with an early plea. That also was for "unduly rough play" which the esteemed panel viewed as "careless, medium impact and low contact."

Say what?

As in WTF?

Magnay cops a fine for a hard foul against a willing recipient who set him up for it, but McCall is charged far less for lining him up and smacking him in the ribs?

Absolutely absurd. You can read my view on it, written in the incident's immediate aftermath.

But for once I do agree with the NBL. Decisions such as these reveal it IS the world's #2 league. But only if you know what a "Number Two" means. 

Here are the match summaries:

POPULAR Cairns Taipans import Tahjere McCall let himself down, let his club down, let the league down and let his legion of fans down with his vile and violent act against JackJumpers centre Will Magnay as Tasmania sent the Snakes' 2023-24 NBL season into mothballs with their 94-86 road win.

No-one other than McCall himself can know what went through his mind when he lined up a vulnerable and unsuspecting Magnay and hip-and-shouldered him in the ribs, forcing him in clear discomfort from the court.

But from the outside looking in, the action and its subsequent replays made it very much appear as a premeditated act by McCall. And it did not only look as if he wanted to hit Magnay but wanted to hurt Magnay.

Again, only McCall knows what truly crossed his mind but the last time we saw anything even remotely similar, it was in Perth long ago and involved then Sydney Kings import Josh Childress lining up and decking Jesse Wagstaff.

Childress was ejected, suspended for one match and fined $3750 for another charge of unduly rough play, plus an additional $3750 for bringing the game into disrepute.

McCall received an unsportsmanlike foul.

Childress at least had cause for aggravation with Wagstaff after previous clashes but it would be only the most one-eyed Taipans fan who would claim McCall had similar grievances after watching Magnay deck his buddy and fellow import Patrick Miller during the third quarter.

Let's be clear what happened there. Magnay was running forward into offence and Miller stopped in front of him. As soon as Magnay saw him, he knew he did not have sufficient space to avoid contact and would cop a cheap offensive foul.

All Magnay did was get value for the foul by making sure Miller felt the contact he'd invited.

Typically Miller threw his head back and fell on the floor, further infuriating Magnay who rightly copped the offensive foul but nothing more.

Those pretending Miller was hurt are stretching reality to suit their narrative. Miller is built like a brick outhouse. Long-time NBL fans have not seen arms like Miller's since Mark Davis' heyday.

Yet anytime he drives to the hoop, he will throw himself on the floor and squeal "Hey" in a way even Nathan Sobey would find embarrassing.

The two incidents were not and should not be connected or related, except as a mechanism of defence for McCall's crude and violent act. As a long-time fan of his wildly entertaining style of game, he lost me on that one.

And coach Adam Forde's post-game defence of it also was sad to hear. Call it out for what it was - a moment of ill discipline by a frustrated player. Don't give us the "move along, nothing to see here" spiel.

While many were lauding the play of Miller (31 points at 56 percent) and McCall's 20-point contribution, particularly in the second half when they were "saving" the Snakes by over-handling the ball on practically every play, truth was their heroball antics proved costly.

For the amount of time the ball was stuck in his hands, Miller had one assist. McCall doubled that.

Bul Kuol, whose growth as a player has been a treat to follow - upto this season - again showed he simply does not learn and had three fouls in the FIRST quarter.

Lead referee Vaughan Mayberry surely must tire of Kuol's endlesss explanations, frustrations and relentless and remorseless pontifications when a simple adjustment by the player would suffice.

But Kuol keeps being this new Kuol and, of course, he fouled out.

Meanwhile Jordon Crawford was carving up a succession of defenders, en route to 25 points with 6-of-10 threes and five assists.

Milton Doyle was pairing together 17 points and 10 rebounds, his seven assists none-too-shabby either.

The Jackies jumped away after halftime with a 27-18 third quarter and that lead was out to 15 (91-76) deep into the last quarter after Clint Steindl (14 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor, embracing 4-of-4 threes) also joined the party.

Taran Armstrong and the Miller-McCall "dynamic duo" succeeded in making the final scoreline more respectable but Cairns' solo adventuring never was going to outgun Tasmania's teamwork and talent.

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 94 (Crawford 25, Doyle 17, Steindl 14, McVeigh 10; Doyle 10 rebs; Doyle 7 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 86 (Miller 31, McCall 20, Armstong, Mennenga 8; Miller 7 rebs; Armstrong 6 assts) at Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 3,645

UNIVERSALLY picked to finish dead last - a rung they sat comfortably on under previous coach CJ Bruton - Scott Ninnis' Adelaide 36ers head to Tasmania starting the day in seventh position and with their long-shot dream of post-season action still alive, courtesy of former Kings Isaac Humphries and Dejan Vasiljevic sinking Sydney.

Humphries closed the match with a 10-point final quarter as the Sixers left Sydney gasping on their fumes with a 31-19 coup de grace.

Vasiljevic, mixing completing three-point plays - often at Angus Glover's expense - with slick assists, also bamboozled his former team and even another Sydneysider, Jason Cadee, hurt it with some big shots in key moments.

As they did last time they lost in Adelaide, the Kings once again fell wildly in love with the 3-point line, a love which simply never was reciprocated.

Sydney went 8-of-35 (22 percent) from long range, imports Denzel Valentine (2-of-10), Jaylen Adams (2-of-6) and returnee DJ Hogg (0-of-3) the main offenders.

From tip-off, Adelaide's resolve to take its win-loss record to 11-14 - that's now 7-5 under Ninnis - was evident in its defensive commitment.

A dour 17-18 first quarter evolved into an equally eye-scratching 37-41 half, which belied the truth the 36ers were playing the better basketball.

A Trey Kell three-point play, a Cadee three and a Humphries turnaround J all were part of a 9-0 start to the third period that swept Adelaide 46-41 clear.

Vasiljevic from the stripe (he was 7-of-7) and Kell with another 3-pointer pushed Adelaide on to 53-43, a 16-2 reaction that had another huge crowd roaring its approval.

From there, Sydney played arguably its best ball of the night, Adams, Valentine, Hogg and Jordie Hunter all active in a 16-1 reply of its own to put it ahead 59-54 with a quarter left.

Humphries and a Cadee three-point play quickly tied it up and it was a war of attrition, Sydney 69-66 ahead inside the final five minutes.

A 12-0 run capped by a Kyrin Galloway three and driven by its defence and some woeful heroball Sydney shot selection, blew the match apart for Adelaide, ahead 78-69.

Sunday Dech closed proceedings with a long 3-point swish, capping off some fine defence he played on Adams, the latter's two late long bombs inflating his score to a 21-point game which overall though came off 6-of-21 shooting.

ADELAIDE 36ers 85 (Humphries, Vasiljevic 20, Kell 15, Cadee 12; Humphries 11 rebs; Kell 7 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 78 (Adams 21, Valentine 12, Hunter 10; Valentine 9 rebs; Valentine, Adams 5 assts) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 9,434

ILLAWARRA levelled its record at 12-12 and threw Brisbane (now 12-14) under the bus when Gary Clark shone and the Hawks shut down Nathan Sobey, ahead of South East Melbourne again showing great pluck, only losing to NBL leader Melbourne by 16 in a Throwdown which had great potential for a blow-out.

With another fine crowd rallying behind the Hawks in Wollongong, they had an edge over Brisbane throughout the first half, despite under par games from stalwarts Tyler Harvey and Sam Froling.

Rightly maligned import Justin Robinson stepped up again off the bench for 16 points at 54 per cent and five assists as Illawarra coach Justin Tatum found his rotation players more than ready to step into the breach.

Todd Blanchfield continued to show value and Mason Peatling, AJ Johnson and Lachlan Olbrich all provided valuable relief minutes.

But it was Will "Davo" Hickey who stepped up to chase Sobey around when it mattered, the Bullets' leading scorer restricted to 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting, plus four turnovers.

Trailing 44-50 at halftime, the Bullets produced their best quarter of the afternoon, going 22-12 to secure a 66-62 buffer going into the final quarter.

Sobey had seven of his 11 points in the breakout period and Josh Bannan five of his 11, Casey Prather (9 points in 15 minutes) starting to look frustrated with Justin Schueller's far-too-regular rotations.

Illawarra hit back hard in the last quarter, Clark en route to a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double, his top-of-the-key 3-pointer to break the Hawks from 78-76 to 81-76 inside the final minute a death blow.

It ignited an 11-0 run to the siren, capped by a Hickey slam dunk and which left the margin looking considerably less reflective of the contest than its preceding 39 minutes. 

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 89 (Clark 19, Robinson 16, Froling 12, Harvey 10; Clark 10 rebs; Robinson 5 assts) d BRISBANE BULLETS 76 (McDaniel, Bannan, Sobey 11, Harrison 10; Harrison, Bannan 8 rebs; 6 with 2 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 4,991

FROM the moment South East Melbourne announced Mitch Creek was joining its laundry list of injured and sidelined players, any Phoenix chance of a Throwdown boilover against league-leading Melbourne evaporated.

Abdel Nader had the all-clear to return but Creek sidelined alongside Alan Williams, Gary Browne, Craig Moller and Matt Kenyon meant only the margin of United's victory was up for discussion.

Melbourne pulled away steadily rather than dramatically, ahead 26-17 after one and 57-44 at halftime, SEM coach Mike Kelly judiculously using his timeouts to stall those occasions when United appeared likely to bolt away.

And every time his team responded by dragging deficits back into the "manageable" range, Nader in particular growing his game in the second quarter, attacking the hoop and heading into the main interval with 14 points.

Melbourne had Tanner Krebs stepping up in the second period and the Phoenix had to scramble defensively to keep this from getting out of hand.

But giving up 57 first-half points suggested a blow-out was imminent and when Nader picked up his fourth foul within about 90 seconds of the third quarter, and Ben Ayre his third on the next play, the die was cast.

Matthew Dellavedova and an active Jo Lual-Acuil with a pair of dunks led to Shea Ili's 3-pointer which closed an 11-0 third quarter United start, bulging the margin out to 68-44 before Gorjok Gak responded.

Dellavedova's 3-pointer and Luke Travers' dunk forced Kelly to call time, Nader scoring consecutive baskets ahead of more Melbourne misery as Flynn Cameron and Ian Clark pumped the lead to 77-50.

Luke Rosendale, who scored a wicked inside basket off an Ayre feed in the second quarter, converting it into a three-point play, swished a 3-pointer but this was United's quarter, going 31-15.

Ariel Hukporti bumped the lead out to a game-high 31 at 88-57 before Kody Stattmann pulled a bucket back ahead of the last break.

Owen Foxwell, Stattmann, Rosendale and Ayre all continued to hustle in the final period which South East won 24-11, leaving many wondering where had this sort of heart and fight been when they were losing at home by 25 to Adelaide or 30-plus away in New Zealand.

MELBOURNE UNITED 99 (Lual-Acuil 16, Cameron 15, Clark 14, Krebs, Travers 12; Hukporti 10 rebs; Dellavedova 8 assts) d SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 83 (Nader 18, Foxwell 14, Ayre 13, Gak 10; Gak 11 rebs; Ayre 9 assts) at John Cain Arena. Crowd: 10,175

TASMANIA took a giant leap toward sealing third spot on the NBL ladder as Adelaide hit the wall in Hobart, and New Zealand's post-season picnic plans stayed alive with a Lamb-less win in Perth, the Breakers taking the edge off the post-game #53 uniform retirement party for Wildcats' legend Damian Martin.  

Jack McVeigh (26 points at 76 percent, 4-of-6 threes, eight rebounds) got the ball rolling with a three-point play for the JackJumpers, Dejan Vasiljevic countering with a 3-pointer and continuing to score the 36ers' first seven points before an Isaac Humphries three-point play gave the visitors a 10-7 lead.

Unsung hero Trey Kell (29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists) extended the Sixers' lead to four at 13-9 but McVeigh was having none of it. Combining with Sean MacDonald - playmaker Jordon Crawford sin-binned after two early fouls - and Milton Doyle, they constructed a mini 9-0 outburst to lead 18-13.

Kell pulled three back but MacDonald was feeling it, as was McVeigh, and when Fabijan Krslovic joined the scoring celebrations, Tasmania was ahead 31-21 and laying the foundation for a strong win.

The Sixers' successful recent strategy of going inside to Humphries largely was ignored through the first half and when he did finally get the ball, his confidence and shot deserted him.

MacDonald's early second quarter 3-pointer and more McVeigh mastery had alarm bells ringing, the avalanche stalled by Alex Starling's fledgling umbrella which led to consecutive baskets by the naturalised veteran.

When Will Magnay and Anthony Drmic joined in on the Tassie offence, the JackJumpers were swarming from everywhere, Adelaide heavily reliant on Kell and cameos.

Crawford and Doyle (17 points, career-high 10 assists) found their rhythm after halftime, McVeigh still hot as the Adelaide offence fell stagnant and increasingly dependent on too few to do too much.

Conversely, Tasmania had no shortage of contributors as it built its lead out to 23 several times during the third quarter, Starling, Kell and Jacob Wiley able to drag the deficit back to 69-83 by the last break.

Keeping alive their slim play-in hopes, the 36ers clawed to 73-83 and looked alive until Clint Steindl killed them with a three-bomb. A MacDonald drive had the lead back to 15 and the Sixers' will was broken.

Even the exhortations of coach Scott Ninnis to keep the final margin from impacting too greatly on Adelaide's overall negative percentage could not keep the Ants from absolutely running away with this.

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 109 (McVeigh 26, Doyle 17, Crawford 15, MacDonald 14, Magnay 11; Magnay 12 rebs; Doyle 10 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 86 (Kell 29, Vasiljevic 21, Wiley 11, Starling 10; Kell 10 rebs; Marshall 4 assts) at Mystate Bank Arena. Crowd: 4,340

LOSING key scorer Anthony Lamb to a foot injury after just 8:44 of action - at which point he had six points on a perfect 2-of-2 FGs and 2-of-2 FTs, plus three rebounds - should have derailed New Zealand in Perth.

Instead, the Breakers stayed right on track, Zylan Cheatham (24 points at 58 percent, 8 rebounds) opening with a three-point play, then another basket and a Mantas Rubstavicius 3-pointer making it an 8-0 opening.

Hyrum Harris collected three fouls in a record 78 seconds, subbed out with the first quarter clock showing 8:42 and never a factor. Rarely was Bryce Cotton either, the Breakers lifting a page from Illawarra's playbook and consistently running a second player at him.

Consequently, Cotton was a frustrated man, contained to 13 points on 3-of-14 shooting, 6-of-10 from the free throw line, and a game-high four turnovers.

Perth never led, catching NZ at 10-10 but back in the chase after Izayah Le'afa's 3-pointer.

Keanu Pinder (21 points, 15 rebounds) was carrying the Perth offence but once the second quarter began, the match became the Parker Jackson-Cartwright Show.

Driving at super speed or pulling up short for a mid-range jumper, PJC turned an agitated Red Army crowd from PG to R as he added to his four first-quarter points with 15 in the second.

No-one could contain the pocket rocket, New Zealand 46-32 clear before Cotton from the stripe and Pinder with a three-point play and late basket edged it back to 39-46 at halftime.

Jackson-Cartwright had 19 points at halftime but it was Cheatham, Rubstavicius, Mangok Mathiang and Finn Delany - making a timely return with Lamb fried early - whose work took the lead out to 60-44.

William McDowell-White swished a three and at 63-44, New Zealand was rolling. It was Pinder again and Cotton with his solitary 3-pointer that kept Perth alive, Cotton's assist for a Jesse Wagstaff three drawing the Wildcats to 54-67.

Wagstaff swished another - also off a Cotton feed - and by the last break, the margin was back to eight.

Inside the last four minutes and Perth down 74-79 but coming, Mathiang's defensive rebound freed Cheatham on the break who drove down the lane but dished to Le'afa in the corner.

As Le'afa's three swished to restore an 82-74 lead, it was clear NZ was not going to stall and also that Perth's game of catchup was not going to bear fruit, Cheatham closing this from the free throw line.

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 89 (Cheatham 24, Jackson-Cartwright 19, Mathiang 11, Rubstavicius 10; Mathiang 9 rebs; Le'afa, Jackson-Cartwright 5 assts) d PERTH WILDCATS 78 (Pinder 21, Wagstaff, Cotton 13, Usher 11, Doolittle 10; Pinder 15 rebs; Cotton 6 assts) at RAC Arena. Crowd: 12,975