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WITH his club in the doldrums and his form there to match, Cairns import Shane Edwards must be feeling the heat of Far North Queensland.

Edwards played less than eight minutes in the Taipans' overtime loss to Sydney and is averaging 7.3 ppg at 35 per cent, 5.0 rebounds and not quite an assist per game.

The sad truth - fair or not - in our sport is if a team is failing, the first place ownership looks is at its imports. The second place is often the coaching.

Doubtful Aaron Fearne has anything to fear and in the past, he has shown faith to stay with under-performing imports until they run into the touch he wants. Look at Drew Warren last season.

Or Ron Dorsey before that. But at 3-6, there will be some baying-for-blood soon, especially now local rival Townsville has swooped on Luke Nevill, the type of player the Taipans needed. 

FAR be it from me to point out the bleeding obvious, but just in case you haven't been paying close attention, the Perth Wildcats have now beaten the reigning champion New Zealand Breakers at home and away, and by a total of 46 points.

Just saying.

BENDIGO and Dandenong have broken from the WNBL pack and there's good reason for it.

Talent-rich, well run and making the most of their opportunities, they look bound for a showdown on the season's last day with only, perhaps, a Canberra WITH Lauren Jackson looking likely to throw a spanner in the works.

REVIEWS

Wildcats v Breakers (M)

YOU know how people say: "I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so," and you know they don't really mean it because they actually couldn't wait to say: "I told you so"?

Well, what makes you think I'm any more evolved?

I hate to say I told you so but if any team was going to draw Perth out of its slump it was going to be New Zealand. No way would the Wildcats live with losing AT HOME to the club which cost them the 2012 iiNet NBL championship.

They thrashed them in the season-opener in Auckland and with another 11,086 fans on hand at Perth Arena, the Wildcats made their record 1-1 at the spectacular new venue with an 89-64 rout.

Shawn Redhage had some indifferent form to shake off and started with seven points and two assists in the opening 3:22 before finishing with 20 points at 60 per cent and five assists.

New Zealand was alive, down 27-28 at the end of the first but the vaunted Wildcats defence then choked the visitors to consecutive eight-point quarters as 11,000-plus fans celebrated in the Jungle.

"We thought we were Cairns in the second and third quarters," Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis definitely did not say. But he could have.

Hey, you know you are on a high when Cam Tovey shoots at 100%, right? (OK, it was only 1-of-1 but the way he has been going, that was HUGE).

Fire v Flames (W)

WHAT happens when Fire and Flames get together? You usually have a white-hot contest and this was no exception, Townsville winning 89-81.

This is a heated rivalry for sure and most likely has some origins with the respective coaches, dating back to a Sydney-Adelaide semi final in 2005. The Lightning were in a car accident en route to the game and had several players hurt and others understandably in shock - the players in the mini-bus following saw the intersection smash as well - and a distinct lack of compassion shown by the Flames in relation to delaying tip-off that evening speaks to some of the feeling between Chris Lucas and Karen Dalton.

So there's always a little extra on any games involving these particular sideline protagonists. It even was evident in their PSST clash which also was won by Townsville.

But this time Mia Newley produced a career-game with 31 points at a wicked 73 per cent, including 5-of-6 three-pointers.

Kayla Standish had another consistent 18-12 double-double.

For Sydney, April Sykes had 26 points and Rohanee Cox 22 against the club where she won her league MVP award.

At 1-8, Sydney's season is well-and-truly shot, Townsville's faint light flickering at 4-5.

Boomers v Waves (W)

AS Adelaide and Canberra falter just a little bit, Bulleen slowly is creeping back into playoff calculations, making this game more interesting than it should have been.

After breaking out to a 26-15 lead at the end of the first quarter, treading water for a term and then remembering this was the week's TV game (so they better make it interesting), Bulleen went off the rails and Toni Edmondson led West Coast back into the contest.

The lead even changed hands a few times before Bulleen held on to win 67-61, Elyse Penaluna with 27 points at 69 per cent to guide the Boomers' ship safely away from the rocks hiding beneath the Waves. (You see what I did there?)

You do have to wonder what may have happened though if Deanna Smith was healthy and played for the Coasters.

Taipans v Kings (M)

LET'S make it official. I definitely am OFF the Cairns Taipans for the rest of this season (or at least until they play Townsville again).

Having said that, Sydney is definitely playing up to its potential and rewarding coach Shane Heal with effort, energy and enthusiasm. You have to love that and you have to love the manner in which the Kings fashioned this 83-76 win in Cairns in overtime.

Does that make them a play-off team? Hmm. Well, it makes them a play-off contender.

The Kings had it done in regulation really, but Jamar Wilson (7-of-20) missed yet another lay-up (remember when he used to get them all the time last season? Ah, them good olde days...) but the ever reliable Dustman cleaned up and put back his rebound.

Rychart tied it at 68-68 to force the extension but Sydney, which led 44-32 at halftime and had passion where the Taipans had only poison, steadied again and never really gave Cairns a peek in the five-minute overtime.

Ian Crosswhite's dunk to end the contest was an emphatic punctuation point which said in no uncertain terms, don't respect us at your peril.

Ben Madgen with 29 points at 57 per cent is posting MVP-like numbers and Darnell Lazare (14 and 12) earnt his pay packet.

Cairns has to start asking questions soon, surely? Shane Edwards' one point in 7:53 of action is not what the Taipans want from an import who must be in Aaron Fearne's doghouse. Kerry Williams, four minutes after Fearne has defended him in print? Clint Steindl under-utilised.

Time for changes?

Spirit v Lightning (W)

VERY little separated both teams all night before Bendigo nailed some big shots down the stretch to escape 68-62 and move their win-loss record to a remarkable 9-1.

Kelsey Griffin again was efficient for a game-high 22 points, Kristi was Kristi and Adelaide did not help itself one iota by shooting 8-of-19 from the free throw line.

Suzy was the full-on Batgirl with 21 and 12 and Laura Hodges recalled what it means to be an offensive threat with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Jenni Screen had the "match from hell" with 6 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists - 666. 

That is now 0-3 for Adelaide in its mini-slump as sharks such as Bulleen and Townsville start to circle in the waters outside the top four.

Crocodiles v Wildcats (M)

YOU have to hand it to Townsville, at least the Crocs made a real game of this after being thrown around early like cheap luggage by Perth's notorious baggage-handlers.

Kevin Lisch had 10 points in the first five minutes and with Matt Knight prowling the keyway, the Wildcat's lead ballooned to 16 during the second period.

Brad Robbins copped an unsportsmanlike after claiming the "secret sound" on the "Rusty & the Birdman" breakfast radio show was "whimpering" and the indignant Crocs mounted a fightback which gave them a shot at winning.

Rusty though, still looking rusty, had a couple of forgettable moments which opened the door and Perth burst through it, winning 68-63.

Right when it mattered, Perth up by three and Townsville with a shot at saving it, Shawn Redhage made a big steal with 2.1 seconds left, was fouled, and converted the freebies for the final scoreline.

"We're getting talked about everyday about how we're not very good... and it hurts," Jacob Holmes said. He then tripped and stumbled into Russell Hinder who recklessly slapped Michael Cedar as the Crocs tried to leave the stadium in an orderly fashion.

Rangers v Waves (W)

STARTING with a 32-20 first period, Dandenong basically turned the Waves into a puddle before jumping in that puddle to the tune of a 95-64 trampling.

West Coast looked like cask wine compared to champagne as Stephanie Cumming swished 7-of-8 three-pointers in a 28-point haul, Jenna O'Hea dished another nine passes-on-a-platter and Dandenong had 21 assists to the Waves' 10.

The Rangers also forced 24 turnovers and won the boards 46-35, Krista Phillips grabbing 11 despite a painful pinky.

Like I said last week, it is hard to see an on-court weakness with this talent-rich Dandenong team.

Tigers v Hawks (M)

MELBOURNE led this 62-61 on a Jonny Flynn free throw, going into the final five minutes but from there, it was Wollongong showing the benefit of team-belief and self-confidence, winning 74-66.

No-one stood out more in that than Adris Deleon who should change his moniker from "2Hard2Guard" to "4thQuarterSlaughter", such has been his penchant for finishing off games, and opponents.

Deleon finished with five assists and 18 points, 11 of them coming in that 13-4 run to the finish over the last five minutes.

The game really unravelled again for the Tigers when called for an unsportsmanlike foul inside the last four minutes. Wollongong was attempting an inbounds pass and Lucas Walker was called for the USF. Watching the original replay, I thought it may have been on Matty Burston but it really did not look like much.

Instead, Deleon went to the line and made both free throws. On the additional possession, Larry Davidson ran down a big offensive rebound, then on the additional possession, Oscar Forman came up with a big offensive board for a further shot-clock.

Those were huge and kept Melbourne in defence for what seemed an eternity.

Then Burston turnoved over an inbounds pass meant for an idle Flynn at mid-court and it was virtually game over.

Thunder v Flames (W)

A BIG three by Logan import Laurie Koehn for a 70-69 lead, then a steal by venerable Kristen Veal after Sydney's time-out and bid for the match-winning last play sealed a thrilling home win for the Thunder.

With 12 boards and eight assists, Veal again showed success can be about more than scoring, her big final play consigning Sydney to a 1-9 record with questions surely due to be asked about this club's hierarchy.

April Sykes played like an import should for another Flames and game-high 26 points, Sydney coming out fired up after halftime with a 20-10 third period.

That undid Logan's 24-12 second quarter and set this up for its thrilling finish and it certainly delivered. 

BEEF of the WEEK

OK, NBL.TV boys, the reigning league MVP's name is pronounced Lish (with a silent "c" in Lisch) NOT Leash. That. Is. All.

The Big Winners/Losers

PERTH was the NBL's big winner this week, stalling a temporary three-loss skid by belting the reigning champion Breakers in front of 11,000-plus, then sending Townsville to its 10th straight loss this season at The Swamp.

Cairns was the biggest loser, squandering another home game and seemingly out of ideas. 

DANDENONG was the WNBL's big winner, smashing West Coast to reinforce its position as the pre-eminent team, the road to the championship most likely to go through the Rangers.

With twin road losses to Queensland teams who are hardly setting the world on fire, Sydney remains the biggest loser in the women's competition.

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 the 1982 City of Adelaide Eagles.