Basketball On The Internet.

WHO saw that coming? Other than ardent fans of the relevant teams, of course.

Come on now. Did even Perth's most one-eyed fans expect them to not just win in Auckland but to embarrass the reigning champs?

I'd be pretty impressed to know how many bets for "Wildcats to win by +20" were made before Friday.

Or how many expected Glen Saville to be the star against Sydney?

Or Adelaide to beat Melbourne by 23 and be on top of the mountain today?

Or how competitive Townsville would be against Cairns, even without two imports who, some might suggest, may make a modicom of difference.

Talking WNBL, who thought it would take clutch free throws for Townsville to beat Logan?

Or that Bendigo would score the last eight points to beat Lightning in Adelaide?

Or that the Spirit would back up in Perth within 24 hours and again score the last six points to clinch victory over West Coast?

REVIEWS

Breakers v Wildcats (M)

DO you reckon unveiling the 2011-12 championship banner in front of the guys you beat for it was a good tactical idea?

I'm thinking maybe, just maybe, it helped fire up an already fired up Wildcats crew and underpinned the 93-72 win.

A 17-0 run against the champs in their own building? Is that normal?

Matty Knight and Kevin Lisch go for 20 apiece and a full house sees the Breakers broken down and beaten.

Thank Naismith it's only Round One.

Lightning v Spirit (W)

FOR a girl her size, Gab Richards has great hands and a deft touch around the hoop but this was the story of Kristi schooling the kiddies.

Harrower was harrowing again as she paired 10 assists with 20 points and grabbed eight boards for good measure, always looking dangerous.

What a superstar she was/is/and remains, her performance setting up the 73-71 victory.

Hawks v Kings (M)

A BUMPER crowd of 4,323, the biggest season-opener Hawks attendance in more than five years, got to see Lance Hurdle open his NBL career with a lob-catch-dunk and Glen Saville wind back the clock a few years to his injury-free days.

Sav had 21 points and put the finishing touch on the 79-76 win.

The Kings did little to suggest they won't be causing their share of angst around the league as Corin Henry and Darnell Lazare continued to show their bona fides as NBL-quality imports.

My mail is Zac Delaney was really miffed he didn't get on so he could post up Henry.

Rangers v Boomers (W)

DANDENONG's two AIS pick-ups, Sara Blicavs (19 pts, 8 rebs) and Carley Mijovic (12 pts, 6 rebs) aren't going to do the reigning champs any harm as they iced Bulleen 90-75.

They just had too many weapons, with Aimee Clydesdale another asset as the "quarter-finisher".

Love that the ABC-TV commentary called Hollie Florance as Hollie Grima pretty much all game, even though Hollie is now married, has had a baby AND had "Florance" on the back of her uniform.

D'oh!

Fire v Thunder (W)

JESS Foley is one of my favorite players so I won't hide the fact I'm thrilled she knocked down the free throws which clinched a 63-61 home win over Logan.

Olivia Thompson made a promising debut for the Fire as Nat Taylor led the Thunder scoring with 18 points, including 4-of-5 triples, Townsville playing catch-up for most of the night.

Losing at home on opening night is not an option - just ask Lightning or Breakers or Flames or Waves how they're feeling today - so Foley getting her team out of jail was a big save.

Taipans v Crocodiles (M)

CAM, Cam and Clint got all the post-game plaudits and probably rightly so in this 84-72 win by Cairns over the import-free Crocnation.

Tragardh led the scoring with 20 while Gliddon and Steindl made impressive rookie debuts.

Keeping Townsville to 39% shooting (and the Crocs were 59% from the stripe to boot) made this one easier than it should have been.

Import Shane Edwards' one point in 22 minutes ... cause for alarm?

Flames v Capitals (W)

JESS Bibby had a great PSST and followed up with 18 points as Canberra gave Sydney a 74-61 black eye.

Carly Wilson's 16 points at 75 per cent was also eye-catching, but when isn't she?

The Flames shot at 33% and hit 2-of-11 threes, still better than Lightning's 0-of-12, losing at home opening night the other thing they had in common.

Waves v Spirit (W)

KRISTI went off for 28 points (at 58%) with eight assists and four boards to inflict a gaping hole in West Coast's plans to develop a winning culture.

Talking "winning culture" is one thing but a key ingredient of it is actually winning.

Catching Bendigo down Renae Camino, having the Spirit at home and travelling on game day from Adelaide-to-Perth were about as many gifts as West Coast could ask for and it still went down.

Harrower is a freak, yes. We all know that. But wow, this is definitely one the Waves will be lamenting when they are watching the finals on TV.

36ers v Tigers (M)

FIRST things first. The Anthony Petrie-Chris Goulding disqualifications were harsh over-reactions (national network TV have anything to do with it?) for two former Gold Coast buddies who were grinning when they realised who they were grappling with, before being wrestled to the floor by others joining the commotion.

It looked far worse than it was and any further action would just be absurd.

That said, the Sixers looked good and so did Melbourne until halftime. After that, Adelaide still looked good but the Tigers faded away, scoring 20 for the half, five in the last quarter.

DJ and Stevie Weigh led the way with 21 apiece in front of 3,988 rowdy fans at Adelaide Arena, numbers affected by the SANFL grand final, Bathurst, A-League and the San Fernando Mardi Gras.

PS

ADELAIDE icon Brett Maher, who pre-game said this was the best 36ers team since the 1998-99 champion has now amended that to 1986.

The Big Winners

BENDIGO in the women, Perth and Adelaide in the men were the round's big winners.

Conversely, of course, Adelaide Lightning in the women and New Zealand in the men were the round's big losers.