Basketball On The Internet.

PERTH expects to introduce replacement signing Michael Dunigan to his new team today and he should make his NBL debut on Friday against Wollongong.

Dunigan, 208cm, played at University of Oregon and was a Memphis Grizzlies NBA free agent.

He also has logged time in Israel's Super League.

Not bad for a 23-year-old, who played in Estonia in 2010-11 with championship-winning BC Kalev/Cramo and was named All-Estonian League Centre of the Year.

Dunigan replaces the injured Matt Knight (calf).

"I have a huge respect for Australian basketball and the Wildcats are the most successful club in Australia," he said.

"I’ve seen video, I can’t wait go get out there, show Perth what I can do, and help the Wildcats get some wins."

Clearly another satisfied NBL.TV customer, Dunigan will play his first road game against the Wildcats nemesis Adelaide 36ers at Adelaide Arena.

"He’s tall, strong and athletic, and I’m excited to see what he can bring to the team," Perth coach Captain No-Beard said.

"And if he can't play, we'll keel haul the buzzard," the Buccaneer added, though no-one understands why.

 

REVIEWS

Lightning v Fire (W)

AND so the bad tipping begins. Townsville looks very sharp in the first quarter before Kayla Standish picks up a couple of fouls. But ahead 28-24 after one, the Fire is smouldering.

Jess Foley then cuts loose to take them ahead 33-28 in the second before, wait for it, Adelaide holds Townsville scoreless for more than six minutes while compiling a back-breaking 19-0 run built on relentless defensive pressure and run.

The Fire make another run behind Foley's 11-point third quarter but are now hooking into the officiating and losing perspective.

Adelaide's 90-75 win ultimately even flatters Townsville a little, Suzy Batkovic with a 25-point, 11-board, 5-block tour de force, Ang Marino with 14 points, 9 assists, Amy Lewis terrific for her 14 points, Laura Hodges with 13 and Nadeen Payne efficient for 10. Steph Talbot had some nice moments with seven rebounds and six assists, five turnovers highlighting her inexperience though.

It really did look like Adelaide Lightning v Adelaide Lite there at one stage with Chris Lucas running Foley, Mia Newley (a coach and a couple of ex-Adelaide captains right there), Rachael Flanagan, Olivia Thompson, Nicole Romeo and Cherie Gallagher.

Standish looked a stand-out before her foul-out while Lynx recruit Jessica Adair was 0-of-7 and closer to Jessica Ad-airball before she fouled out a frustrated player. I see where the "Townsville Bulletin" ran a story how Adair was on a mission to stop the Batgirl. How'd that work out?

Breakers v Tigers (M)

DARYL Corletto must really hate smacking his former club. Or not.

Teammate Cedric "The Entertainer" Jackson did just that, putting on a captivating show with a triple-double of 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, leaving no doubt again who should be the first name mentioned in any (albeit, premature) 2012-13 MVP conversation.

"I just wanted to kick Johnny Flynn's butt," Jacko might have said but I highly doubt it. At least, not publicly.

The 94-64 rout accurately reflected the difference between the two teams, New Zealand putting on a clinic and Cedric throwing one down for good measure.

"Good teams don't lose by 30," Tigers coach Chris Anstey said. 

Maybe that should be "good teams win by 30" then?

So was Melbourne good when it beat Adelaide by 30? Or was Adelaide bad?

Regardless, the Tigers need to turn it around quickly as this season rapidly is getting out of the salvagable range.

By the way, Jackson's triple-double came in just over 25 minutes of action, and his 28 points at 71 per cent.

Capitals v Thunder (W)

AND so my crappy WNBL tipping continued as Logan stepped up to Canberra and handed the Caps a 74-59 beating.

"Did they really only score 59?" someone at Cairns asked. "Wow, that's low, even for WNBL."

Kristen Veal and Laurie Koehn did much of the early damage for Logan as their 25-13 first period and 22-16 second set the upset in train.

Brigette Ardossi had eight turnovers and Nicole Hunt six, Canberra's 22 ball-burps cancelling its 38-27 boards edge.

The loss put the Capitals outside the top four, with Dandenong still to come this round.

Crocodiles v 36ers (M)

ANY team in an NBL slump looks hurriedly through its schedule to see when the 36ers are next in town.

There's a reason for that, and everyone in Adelaide knows it. When it comes to shooting yourself in the foot, the Sixers have been the NBL's peg-legs for the past 20 years.

You knew Townsville would be buoyed by having Luke Nevill filling the hole in the middle into which Ben Allen inexplicably disappeared without trace. (Where's Anthony LaPaglia when you need him?)

But who knew Big Luke would play less than 14 minutes and, instead, it would be Little Gary Ervin who would be the architect of this upset?

Ervin had 22 points, six rebounds and five assists, putting Townsville beyond reach with a jumpshot for 75-70. Adam Gibson (17 points) hit a consolation three for the final scoreline.

Jacob Holmes grabbed 16 rebounds, which was more than any two of Luke Schenscher, Daniel Johnson or Anthony Petrie combined.

This game was always going to be unlucky for someone, 0-10 Townsville staring down its 13th straight loss since last season's semi-finals, Adelaide looking at its 13th consecutive loss at The Swamp.

Thank heavens you can always count on the 36ers to give a sucker an even break.

Wildcats v Kings (M)

THEY just keep dragging in the fans, Perth Arena with more than 11,000 wild cats roaring their approval for the third successive game at home by Perth.

Down Matt Knight and The Buccaneer, you had to like Sydney's chances. At least, I did.

But yet again Perth showed it is the embodiment of Rudy Tomjanovich's famous quote: "Never under-estimate the heart of a champion," winning 75-56.

Shawn Redhage - hasn't he come good since stinking it up against Adelaide? - stepped up again with 24 points, nine boards and three blocks.

Jesse "The Stuart" Wagstaff had 11 points and Jeremiah put on a Trueman show, relishing his extra minutes with 10 points.

Sydney played the first half without Corin Henry who was ill. I'm guessing watching the second quarter and Sydney scoring five - "Five? That's not very much," someone in Cairns just said ... what irony, eh? - made him think he could not do any worse than what he was seeing.

Kevin Lisch quietly compiled 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, coach Rob Beveridge overwhelmed by his Wildcats.

"We had Damo (Damian Martin) in the change rooms vomiting and he had to have a needle to stop that before the game, he was that sick. JT (Trueman) was the same, he has a vomiting bug, Kev is sick and it was just incredible to have an illness go through the team," Beveridge said.

"But I have learnt my lesson," Bevo didn't add. "And that is definitely the last time I'll make the Wildcats watch video of the Kings before a game without turning off the Steve Carfino-Brendan Joyce soundtrack."

Rangers v Capitals (W)

CANBERRA shot out of the gates at Dandenong to lead 20-17 after the first quarter.

But it didn't win another period and limped out of the top four, beaten 91-72 by the reigning Rangers.

Jenna O'Hea led the way with 22 points, 5 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals and a partridge in a pear tree.

Sara Blicavs had 17 points at 67 per cent, plus six boards. And Krista Phillips had 14 points at 83 per cent, plus six boards in less than half the game AND despite a toothache.

Alex Bunton (AB) and Brigette Ardossi (BA) had 13 apiece for the Caps, but, as any ABBA fan can tell you, the winner takes it all.

Flames v Thunder (W)

SYDNEY doubled its season Wins tally by finally breaking its Logan hoodoo - as predicted - 81-67.

It was a hot night and the thunder just couldn't get cracking, Sydney led by Katie-Rae Ebzery's 19 points but with import April Sykes (15), Alicia Poto (13) Rohanee Cox (12) and Ellie Manou (12) all getting amongst it.

The Flames' 22-13 third quarter put them into the box seat and a 30-19 finale had Logan buried.

Laurie Koehn led Logan with 16 points but this one was nothing to write home about. Not even in an email.

Or a Facebook message.

A tweet?

OK.

Maybe. 

Boomers v Spirit (W)

THEY packed them in at the Veneto Club for this one - though half the fans believed it was "all-you-can-eat pasta night" - and Bulleen lit out with a 30-point first quarter.

Of course, 31 was all Bendigo gave up the rest of the way, the Spirit winning 73-61.

In fact, the Spirit were so cantankerous that after taking the lead by halftime, they held Bulleen to 7 in the third quarter and 8 in the last.

"That is pretty crook offence right there," someone said in Cairns.

It wasn't helped much by Tess Madgen fouling out, Bendigo sticking to the theory that if you contain Elyse Penaluna, you contain Bulleen.

Penaluna still had 11 and 11, but Bendigo's Gab Richards had 13 and 13. Plus its WNBA import Kelsey Griffin had 20 and 10.

By virtue of its loss, Bulleen moved in to the top four.

Yeah. Sometimes these things make no sense.

Waves v Fire (W)

TOWNSVILLE moved within a win of the top four, overwhelming West Coast with its talent and depth, 78-65.

In control from the outset, Townsville drew a solid game from Olivia Thompson (14 points, equal game-high 8 boards), who had looked aggressive in Adelaide too.

Mia Newley was sharp for 17 and 6, Kayla Standish with 15 and 6 and Rachael Flanagan with 10.

Jessica Adair improved on her 0-7 offensive output in Adelaide with 2-8 (yikes) but grabbed eight rebounds in less than a half of action.

Deanna Smith's long-awaited return did not ignite West Coast sufficiently, Lisa Wallbutton with 17 and 6 but the Waves still waving at that dream of embracing a winning culture.

36ers v Kings (M)

SOMETIMES you wish Adelaide would beat a Townsville, or a Sydney, rather than a Perth, because then life might make more sense.

I expected Sydney to get a split on this version of the Doomsday Double, but figured a depleted Perth might be the softer touch.

Huh!

Adelaide had the Kings floundering, ahead 17-10 when Anthony Petrie practiced his "hey, watch me make like Superman and jump out of a building" on top of Ben Madgen.

The Madge went down like a sack of potatoes and was clearly in agony, his right shoulder having "popped out".

It looked grim for the Kings at that point but Kevin White and Graeme Dann stepped up appreciably and they were in front at the first break.

Sydney got better and Adelaide attacked the Kings' zone as if it was in a maze wearing a blindfold.

Aaron Bruce was a factor now and when Madgen re-entered, Sydney was energised.

It led by 16 but Adam Gibson uncorked a champagne 18-point last quarter to give the 36ers hope, before a number of ill-conceived fouls ensured Sydney would escape with an 88-85 win. 

Just what the upshot of Madgen's risky bravery will be will not be known until he has scans on his shoulder today.

Taipans v Hawks (M)

I KNOW I tipped Wollongong to win this, but I actually won a bottle of wine on this result because I switched my allegiance back to Cairns in the office yesterday.

He shall remain nameless but there is an ardent Taipans fan on the Editorial floor at The Advertiser (two, actually) but this one has become a little jaded with their efforts this season.

Understandable I guess. But he was adamant they would find a way to lose to the Hawks while I was revisiting my thinking. The thought of Aaron Grabau (400th game) and Dusty Rychart (300th) having to recall their milestones as losses just didn't ring right.

The Taipans did it right and commemorated the milestones and Cairns did the right thing, locking down Wollongong with a 46-25 run through the second and third periods.

They had four guys in double figures (including Grabau with 10 at 80 per cent, 2-of-2 triples), two with nine and one with eight. Shaun Bruce banged in 2-of-2 threes as well, perhaps inspired by his brother Aaron's exploits on national TV against Adelaide earlier in the day.

Now remember this is Cairns, which can go whole quarters scoring less than eight, as a TEAM.

Wollongong coach Gordie McLeod said the Hawks would go home with "their tails between their legs".

Who knew Hawks had tails?

 

BEEF of the WEEK

YES, it's another one I've mentioned before but NBL (and WNBL) clubs surely must employ, or at least enlist, teenagers or adults as floor wipers.

It happened again at Adelaide Arena yesterday when two frightened little guys sat unsure whether they should move after several Kings and 36ers had grappled on the floor.

As play went to the other end, Kings players were calling to the kids and pointing to the sweat spot but they sat frozen for another play phase before they mopped up the wetness.

I don't blame the kids at all. They are kids, for heaven's sake and probably part terrified and over-whelmed.

But must it take a $150,000 player slipping on a wet spot and tearing an ACL for clubs to recognise that getting away with giving children a lollybag to wipe the floors is a cheap exercise which ultimately might prove extremely expensive?

 

The Big Winners/Losers

PERTH was the NBL's big winner again this week.

The Wildcats belted a rousing Sydney, and did it minus two of their first seven. They had their third straight 11,000-plus home crowd. And now they have Michael Dunigan into the line-up while Matt Knight is out. Win. Win. Win.

Adelaide was the round's biggest loser, first failing in Townsville for the 13th straight time and giving the 0-10 Crocs their first win. Then letting a seven-point lead when Kings co-captain Ben Madgen left, injured, evaporate at home to the Kings.

It cost them the game, cost them a spot in the top four and cost them their credibility. Thank heavens Perth is next on the schedule, right?

BULLEEN has to be the WNBL's biggest winner this week. When you lose, but go up into the top four, the Hoop Gods assuredly are smiling on you.

Canberra was the big loser, dropping to Logan and then, inevitably, to Dandenong to fall out of the four and down to sixth. Has anyone seen LJ's schedule?

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 1980 West Torrens.