Basketball On The Internet.

AND what did we learn this week? That in the NBL, only Perth, Wollongong and New Zealand - at this stage - are legit.

Every other team is either a work-in-progress, a pretender or in a state of flux.

The Big Three are noticeably advanced, having kept their cores intact.

Big changes at Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and to an extent Cairns, and import switches at Townsville have left them all drifting in between terrific and horrific, be it for games, a game, a half or a quarter.

Each has shown moments to have you chin-stroking in admiration of what might yet be, and head-shaking at some of the idiocy you have just seen.

That fourth finals berth is there for the taking.

REVIEWS

Flames v Thunder (W)

YOU can't keep Kazza down for long, right? The Sydney coach has always followed the simple principle - if in doubt, recruit more players.

So in comes Rohanee Cox, back from retirement and delivering 15 points in 17 minutes.

Meanwhile for Logan, Laurie Koehn debuted with 24 points, including 6-of-11 threes, to set up a sweet 87-79 road upset. You could say Koehn had an (Atlanta) Dream start.

Rangers v Fire (W)

NO sooner had Dandenong revealed it would be adding Minnesota Lynx guard/forward Monica Wright to its line-up, than it lost Canadian Olympic centre Krista Phillips to what looked a serious knee injury in this game. 

With Jenna O'Hea going off for 24, 8 and 8, and Kath MacLeod with 22 points at 60 percent, plus seven assists, Dandenong got this one done relatively comfortably, 92-81.

When you're up 57-37 at the half on the road team, the visitors are going to need a miracle. Kayla Standish did her best, with 26 points at 71 percent for Townsville.

Tigers v Breakers (M)

DON'T get me wrong. I like Melbourne import Seth Scott. But when you go close to a triple double, with 25 points, 10 rebounds ... but seven turnovers, there is an issue with your decision-making.

New Zealand had Tommy Abercrombie cruising to 20 points, Cedric Jackson with 19 points, eight boards, five assists and five steals, Mika Vukona not needing to heat up his teammates at a time-out.

The Tigers again showed some nice moments, but committed turnover suicide with 21.

Import Kevin Braswell had the blues against his former team, going 0-of-9 and having some predicting his imminent departure. He still had five assists on a night he would rather forget and Balls was encouraging, gathering his 15 points at 60 per cent.

Cannons v Thunder (W)

NICOLE Hunt continues to get the job done for Canberra, with 20 points in a tight 71-68 win over Logan.

Laurie Koehn wasn't quite as effective for Logan as on debut against Sydney but still hit some big shots for 11 points and Emma Langford battled gamely to compile her 24 and 10.

But Jess Bibby with 13 and Brigitte Ardossi with 14 points ensured the Caps would have some runs on the board before LJ made her triumphant long-awaited WNBL return.

Crocodiles v Kings (M)

TO say Townsville has lost its way would be an understatement, the Crocs getting stung at The Swamp by Sydney 92-87.

Aaron Bruce was alight for 25 points at 77 percent and Ben Madgen continued his evolution as a player with 23 points, 8 boards and 5 assists.

Corin Henry stuck in 18 before hitting the hardwood hard and limped off late, the Crocs mounting an ultimately ill-fated late charge after being made to look listless for long stretches by the hungrier Kings.

Hate to say it but Crocs coach Paul Woolpert was looking a little bewildered at times as it unfolded.

You gotta love NBL.TV, don't ya?

Spirit v Rangers (W)

DOWN Krista Phillips (knee), Dandenong played as women possessed for much of this contest and looked on course to lift Bendigo's scalp for the first time this season.

But from 12 down in the last, Bendigo mounted its charge and when Kelly Wilson hit a triple at 79-78, the win was sealed, Dandenong outscored 26-17 by the fast-finishing Spirit.

The Richards-Harrower Show was joined by Chantelle Perera, each scoring 18 points, Wilson with 14.

Boomers v Fire (W)

ELYSE Penaluna ran back into some touch as Bulleen swamped Townsville 87-59 with a 51-28 second half.

Penaluna went for 18 points at 70 per cent, Rachel Jarry and Alice Kunek with 15 apiece and Tess Madgen with an 11-point, 7-rebound, 8-assists line.

The Fire are still looking for Shanavia Dowdell to run into something like last year's All Star Five (Six?) form and had the road trip from hell.

Waves v Lightning (W)

TAKE out Laura Hodges, Molly Lewis and Amy Lewis with injury, then run Suzy Batkovic mindfully due to injury concerns and what have you got in Perth?

A 75-65 Adelaide win over West Coast.

The Waves also were down one stud in Deanna Smith but after Adelaide jumped out with a 24-12 first period, West Coast was in a game of catch-up it would not win.

36ers v Hawks (M)

ADELAIDE started like a house on fire and finished like a charred ruin, losing at home to Wollongong 77-63.

Adris Deleon went off in the last quarter with 14 of his 23 points after Larry Davidson and Lance Hurdle had helped the Hawks haul in an early Adam Gibson-inspired 12 point 36ers' lead. Dave Gruber also was more than useful around the boards.

Now come on. If someone had told you Oscar Forman would get zero points at his former stomping ground on 0-of-4 shooting and Wollongong would be 12 in the hole at one stage, would you boldly have predicted a 26-point turnaround?

Or a 30-14 final period?

Nah. Didn't think so. But it just means you don't know Gordie's crew.

Taipans v Kings (M)

EIGHT up on Sydney with 2:22 to go, you might have been tempted as a Cairns fan to sneak out early for a quick carpark getaway.

But a couple of big Ben Madgen triples in that run to the siren and some desperation from everyone in a Kings jersey turned this into a 71-69 upset that, like last year, the Taipans will end up fuming over.

Madgen had 23 points at 62 percent with 5-of-7 threes to put himself right in line for Player of the Week honors.

BEEF of the WEEK

OK. It has to be said. A lot of the officiating has been pretty bloody dismal.

Some of the bad calls, non-calls, non-no-what-they're-doing stuff in the Melbourne-NZ game was mind-boggling.

It's almost at the point where the refs don't seem to understand what to blow and what to let go.

And no matter how often I hear officialdom claiming the scrutiny on refs or criticism of umpires is unfair and could cost the game further recruits into the ranks, I don't believe how far away they are from calling the game as players, coaches and fans would like to see it.

Yes we understand all coaches would like the game called as THEY see it but when BOTH coaches and the multitude of players are shaking their heads in disbelief, well Houston, we have a problem.

Go back to the first round when Adelaide beat Melbourne with Anthony Petrie and Chris Goulding both turfed - watch the tape again if you can and those refs had no clue what they were doing.

That was Round One. We're at Round Four and erratic calling, inconsistency and a massive lack of commonsense or empathy are paramount pretty much across the board.

Maybe instead of worrying about the refs collapsing at the prospect of criticism - geez, they know it comes with the job as it is - more time should be spent preparing and educating them.

What input do the NBL and WNBL have into referee development?

Because I don't see a happy coach, player or fan anywhere when the question of officiating is raised.

Worse, it doesn't seem to be getting any better, either.

The Big Winners/Losers

WITHOUT any doubt, Sydney was the big NBL winner of the round after negotiating the PawPaw PowWow with a 2-0 lecture tour through Townsville and Cairns to move into the top four.

The Kings were the previous week's big losers and they would have been happy to hand that title to Townsville. The Crocs blew their chance at home against an opponent they should have diced and iced. Instead they still have a giant egg in the Wins column.

Bendigo again was the big winner in the WNBL, taking out Dandenong and with two studs still to come into their lineup. What a foundation the Spirit have laid for their season.

It was a chronic week for Townsville, the weekend's biggest losers in the women too, beaten in both road games and taking a 28-point lump in Bulleen.

PS

ADELAIDE 36ers icon Brett Maher, who before the NBL season tipped-off said the 2012-13 line-up was the best Adelaide team since the 1998-99 champion, has amended that again to 1979 Glenelg.