Basketball On The Internet.

YOU have to hand it to our NBL clubs - no-one is afraid of pulling the trigger and if that means getting a No.6 NBA draft pick into our competition, you have to love it.

The Tigers made the call this morning on Kevin Braswell who was playing nobbled by injury, even as Melbourne swept into the Wins column by making the Crocs's 2012-13 iiNet season extinct.

Jonny Flynn is quite the coup, the highest-rated ex-NBAer to make it into our league and one who should set tongues wagging.

He is only 23 and has played 163 NBA games since being drafted by Minnesota Timberwolves out of Syracuse. He had stints at Houston and Portland and was most recently at Detroit where he was cut on October 22.

That was bad news for Braswell, who had been struggling to get it done for the Tigers but throughout, maintained his professionalism and reputation for being a good guy.

Maybe when he is naturalised, there will be a spot back for him in the league.

In the meantime, Melbourne will be trying desperately to get Flynn in uniform by Friday when it hosts the 36ers at Hisense.

SO even though Melbourne's move wasn't the year's most outrageous - the Crocs culling of Jason Forte and Curtis Withers still owns #1 spot - Townsville is now back under the pump after slumping to 0-7.

Jacob Holmes' knee is not appearing to be on the fast-track back to normal and Larry Abney has looked more like he's 45 than 35.

The club today gave coach Paul Woolpert an endorsement, quieting Joey Wright rumours and rumblings, but the truth is, no team in NBL history has reached the play-offs after a 0-7 start.

STILL in Townsville, the Fire now also have a lot of work to do to repeat last season's finals effort, especially after Shanavia Dowdell joined Elvis by leaving the building.

It doesn't take very long to fall off the pace and that's where the Fire look headed.

WITH Melbourne and Townsville dominating the news, it might be easy to miss Wollongong managed to fall across the line against NBL title favorite Perth ... by a lazy 33 points.

33.

That's now a standard James Harden haul at Houston.

Or a halftime score in a lot of NBL games.

Don't worry though to those emailers who thought I had "lost my mind" when I tipped Wollongong as a top four team after the PSST. Pretty sure I hadn't. (But a bit relieved anyway.)

REVIEWS

Thunder v Rangers (W)

Logan really needed to do better than this, Dandenong handing it a 102-81 black eye.

A 32-13 second quarter made this academic, Kathleen MacLeod's 19 points just pipping Jenna and Tegan's 18 apiece, Cunningham's coming at 64 per cent, O'Hea's at 63. 

Krista Phillips would like to have played but she is an import and you know how they get if they feel a little sore.

Breakers v Kings (M)

WHO could have guessed it would come down to Mika Vukona - of all people - draining a three to break the 76-76 deadlock with Sydney and clinch a 79-76 win?

Ben Madgen had a 30-point explosion to lead the Kings and state his case for consideration for back-to-back PotW awards, as the Kings again showed plenty of heart.

New Zealand was a combined 5-of-21 from behind the arc so maybe it made sense for Vukona to launch his only scud missile of the night.

It certainly hit the target.

Capitals v Flames (W)

BRIGITTE Ardossi went off for 22 points and 14 boards and Mikaela Dombkins remembered she is a good player as Canberra made it 2-0 over Sydney, winning 60-56.

The Flames did a good job curtailing influential Caps guards Nicole Hunt and Jessica Bibby but in the end, it didn't count for much.

Worse than Sydney being 0-6, coach Karen Dalton is now uncertain who else to recruit.

Crocodiles v Taipans (M)

HAPPY to stand corrected (or even to slouch or slump) but Townsville lost this when the siren sounded to end regulation, scores locked at 77-77.

Cairns had squandered a 13-point lead and looked terrified as the contest unfolded in the last quarter, Jacob Holmes and the Crocs' "small team" leading them back from the brink of oblivion.

The Taipans were caught up trying not to repeat the errors of their previous round's loss to Sydney and instead were endeavoring not-to-lose, rather than playing-to-win.

Jamar Wilson hit a big shot to give them a three-point buffer before Gary Ervin swished his best three of the season to tie up the game.

Cairns had 12 seconds to run a play for the win and took time-out for Aaron Fearne to set up one of his game-winning set ups. He is the best in the business at that.

Townsville, meanwhile, had a foul to give and should have done just that as Wilson dribbled down the clock and passed to Cam Tragardh.

Trigger's shot missed, Alex Loughton had a chance but his shot missed too and we had overtime.

Ah, but instead of feeling good about salvaging the game, containing Cairns to 10 last-quarter points and maybe being en route to their first win, the Crocs were ropable at each other.

Ervin was barking at Todd Blanchfield and there was serious discontent at what MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

That's the point, and it's for another time to discuss where you went wrong defensively when you have managed to escape being beaten.

Instead of the relief at saving the game and having that turned into a positive, it looked as if the opposite occurred. As in, everyone was fuming at how narrowly they just averted another loss.

Wrong mindset but not surprising for a team which was 0-5. Cairns blew them off the floor with the first 11 points of overtime before winning 92-80 and consigning Townsville to its sixth straight reversal.

Waves v Boomers (W)

WITH a 21-12 first quarter, then a 20-10 second, Bulleen had this wrapped by halftime.

West Coast rallied with a promising third quarter but a 25-9 last made this a cakewalk for Bulleen, 78-50.

Deanna Smith's absence could not have been more pronounced and West Coast was not helped with Melissa Marsh going 0-of-8, Toni Edmondson 2-of-11 and Lisa Wallbutton 3-of-12.

It's not as easy to turn around a losing culture as Kennedy Kereama thought.

Kings v 36ers (M)

ADELAIDE found a way to win on the road, big late shots by Stephen Weigh and polish at the free throw line from Adam Gibson and Jason Cadee clinching it 88-81.

Sydney started like a side still fired up after losing by three to the reigning champs, racing to a 14-2 lead with a 12-0 run.

The steady injection of the benchmen, Anthony Petrie, Mitch Creek and CJ Massingale - having his best game so far, albeit in micro-time - pulled Adelaide back into the game and when Corin Henry gave up an unsportsmanlike foul, the complexion changed.

Creek made two free throws and on the extra possession, scored inside and was fouled. He missed the bonus but Petrie put back the rebound and Adelaide in 11 seconds had swept from 26-29 to 32-29.

Massingale had nine points in the half to lead all scorers - as good a reason as any to not see any action after the interval. But the third belonged to the 36ers as Luke Skyhooker had 10 of his team-high 18 points while DJ, Weigh and Nathan Crosswell knocked down triples.

Ahead 64-51, the 36ers looked safe but Ben Madgen and Kevin White knocked down late threes which spilt over into the last quarter and a 14-0 run.

Aaron Bruce and Tommy Garlepp jumped in to take the lead 65-64 and again at 79-78 before the Sixers came up with the right plays down the stretch.

Lightning v Boomers (W)

TAKE out Laura Hodges, Nadeen Payne and Molly Lewis, bring in a fired up Bulleen and what have you got?

A late tech foul on a frustrated Tom Maher watching a 74-55 Adelaide rout.

Suzy Batkovic was big with 27 points and 11 rebounds, and that was despite having three fouls in the first half, as did Jo Hill after an altercation with Rachel Jarry.

Alice Kunek, Jarry and Tess Madgen were still showing fight when Bulleen closed to 40-46 with three minutes left in the third, Adelaide taking time-out.

From there, Lightning scored the next 14 points as the unlikely trio of Steph Talbot, Lauren Mansfield and Hannah Bowley joined with Batkovic and a creative Angela Marino to steer the lead to 70-40.

Game over.

Tigers v Crocodiles (M)

WHEN you get battered 45-23 on the boards, you know your big men aren't giving an honest effort and that's what Townsville's bigs mustered against Melbourne.

Two clubs without a win and that's what the Crocs produced?

The Tigers just ran rampant, Adam Ballinger shooting his way back into touch with 23 points in 23 minutes at 75 per cent, including 4-of-5 threes. Welcome back Balls.

Chris Goulding, Seth Scott, Lucas Walker all chimed in with impressive moments and any predictions Ben Allen would step up this season were premature, the big softie back into his more familiar role of zero rebounds and three fouls to keep him anchored to the bench.

Benny, if all you really want is good sight lines, buy a courtside season ticket fella.

Larry Abney mustered 10 points to possibly extend his stay-of-execution.

Hawks v Wildcats (M)

WAS there a game at The Sandpit this round?

I hate to say "I told you so "- no I don't. In this game you get bugger-all gloating opportunities so I'm taking it - but I picked Wollongong to be the only unbeaten outfit at the end of this round.

But boys, boys ... 100 to 67???

Really?

Really? (With apologies to The Miz)

The 4,026 fans had to be as stunned as anyone outside Wollongong with the emphatic nature of the victory, which started with a mesmerising 38-19 first quarter, the Hawks shooting at 76 per cent.

At one point they ran off 19 unanswered points to lead 34-10.

Wollongong never relented and led 78-50 with a period to play, a little heat coming into the game when Shawn Redhage and Tyson Demos clashed.

It didn't ignite the Wildcats, who suffered their biggest loss of Captain Silverbeard's time at the helm.

Adris Deleon had 26 points at 73 per cent, Oscar Forman 21 at 62, with 5-of-8 three-pointers, six Hawks were in double figures and 12 hit the hardwood.

It was one for the time capsule.

 

BEEF of the WEEK

UMPIRING again. It must be a religious thing.

So many of them are Shi'ite.

 

The Big Winners/Losers

WOLLONGONG was the round's biggest winner, no question.

Beating perennial powerhouse Perth is rare at the best of times.

To turn them into Therp is even more rare. (Don't look it up. It's not really a word. Just like the Wildcats weren't really allowed to be themselves on Sunday)

To confuse Therp to the tune of 33 points? Yes. The Hawks are the big winners of Round 5.

Townsville, again, is the round's biggest loser, blowing another one at home, then blowing smoke in Melbourne if they thought that was an NBL-level performance.

In the WNBL, Dandenong was the big winner, doling out coal to Logan and Townsville to raise the question whether the top four - Bendigo, Adelaide, Dandenong, Canberra - is already set in stone.

Sinking like a stone is Sydney who are, it must be said, going down in Flames.

 

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 2008 Lightning.