Basketball On The Internet.

IF THERE was one result which may have surprised a few people yesterday from the opening day of the NBL-WNBL Preseason Tournament at Dandenong, it most likely would have been Melbourne beating Cairns.

Before even a ball had been fired in anger - or joy, whatever suits - a number of people quietly already earmarked our two great cities (Sydney and Melbourne) to be supplying the iiNet NBL Championship's easybeats this season.

Sure, the Kings look like their primary aim will be to be competitive and to build, having lost two quality players in Julian Khazzouh and Anatoly Bose, not to mention some decent support crew including Alex Gynes and Luke Cooper.

(I'm surprised Gynes didn't find a new location because guys his size, versatility and attitude aren't overflowing in abundance. Why aren't players like him re-signed, I'm sure Luke Kendall is wondering at home.)

But "rebuilding" generally suggests "we won't be that good this season but we still want fans to buy tickets" or "we're hoping we can win a few games, especially at home" so you can usually categorise any team which opens with the R word as a team not expecting to be active in the post-season.

(That is unless Perth's Rob Beveridge says he is rebuilding. Quite frankly, I wouldn't trust any man with red hair and a silver beard.)

So generally, the Kings are being factored as likely battlers, which, I'm sure suits them and their ability to sneak up on teams.

That brings us to Melbourne, which looked completely out of sorts in its previous hit-outs against Wollongong, prompting the question marks.

Could Adam Ballinger be the player he was again? Can Kevin Braswell handle the lead guard role? Can Matty Burston stay healthy? Is Lucas Walker serious about that hair? (That's right, I don't avoid the big issues.) Will Chris Anstey cut it as an NBL coach? 

All valid questions, especially Walker's hair, which even raised Dillon Boucher's eyebrows.

Given these queries and a few others - will Seth Scott stick? - it was good to see how far the Tigers had come in a short time.

As Anstey said yesterday, losing to the Hawks in the manner in which they had was just the wake-up, shake-up call his group needed.

BUT let's start at the beginning with the "launch" at Federation Square during the day.
Why, pray tell, did Marty Clarke, Aaron Fearne, Andrej Lemanis, Rob Beveridge, Shane Heal, Paul Woolpert and Gordie McLeod have to attend?

The only coach interviewed was Chris Anstey, which probably makes some sense from a Melbourne audience perspective. But the two grand final coaches from last season were there, our two Olympic assistant coaches were there - hell, EVERY coach was there - and it begs the simple question: Why?

Melbourne's fickle weather went from rain in the morning, to sunshine for the launch, to such vicious rain in the evening that there were leaks on the two game courts (great to be back in the 'burbs) at Dandy.

The only WNBL coaches I saw launching were grand final duo Mark Wright and Tom Maher who were representing the local content anyway with Dandenong and Bulleen. Yes, having local coaches made sense.

Having the others standing around in the sun swapping off-season anecdotes for fun made none.

Otherwise, it was OK and crowd-interactive. MC Nathan Strempel is great at that.

JUST in case you haven't checked out the comprehensive game wraps at nbl.com.au or my Sixers-centric piece at adelaidenow.com.au, the opening matches were won by Perth over Sydney and Wollongong over Adelaide.

Then Melbourne beat Cairns and New Zealand held on to hold out Townsville.

WHO was missing?

Tim Coenraad warmed up but didn't hit the court for the Hawks with a slight knee niggle and Anthony Petrie didn't make the trip with the 36ers after some back twitchiness early in the week.

In both cases their absences were merely precautionary.

Chris Goulding was missing from the Tigers line-up and Dusty Rychart and Aaron Grabau were not in orange for Cairns.

Townsville's imports were no-where to be found, although they did play, apparently.

WHEN I sauntered over to watch a bit of the Wildcats-Kings game, I wanted to check out Sydney guard Corin Henry but he was off at the time and I couldn't see him.

Apparently someone put the team esky in front of him.

WHAT did we learn?

1) That even preseason games can be exciting, the Hawks-36ers going to double-overtime, Luke Schenscher forcing the first extension with a Luke Skyhooker, and Daniel Johnson forcing the second with a well-executed play for a triple. Then, finally, Lance Hurdle made the big bucket which sealed the 105-104 win for Wollongong.

2) The NBL coach who boldly predicted DJ might be an MVP shot this season may not be too far wrong, Johnson with a round-high 32 points.

3) CJ Massingale will be able to make the transition from SEABL to NBL without too many issues.
He swished a bucket to close the first quarter, then had seven straight points in a mini-run and possibly could have made a difference late in the game when it was all on the line. Well, you know. As much as is on the line in preseason.

4) Rhys Martin will ensure the Hawks have two great options at the point, Adris Deleon pushing a little too hard at times for seven turnovers.

5) Anyone who dismisses the Hawks this season will surely regret it.

6) Perth is very good.

7) New Zealand is very good.

8) That if you didn't already assume points 6 & 7, you slept through March-April.

9) Speaking of sleeping, Ben Allen has buried his Rip Van Allen persona completely and recognised he has height, strength and athleticism to burn. The young man looks cut and finally on his way to being an NBL beast. I tip my toupee to him and annoint him my preseason tip for Most Improved.

10) You never have Brad Hill make the inbounds pass on a set play to win the game.

11) That refs can be trigger-happy in the pre-season too. The Hammer got tossed, and not by Thor, during the third quarter of the Kings' 27-point loss after debating a call. Seriously now. In a preseason game? Was he that far out of line?

WHAT did we notice?

1) That the draw for this tournament makes no sense and there again will be calculators and chin-stroking later today when the "minor" games are finished to determine who plays who tomorrow.

1v8 and 4v5 in one half of the draw, 2v7 and 3v6 in the other (from last season's finishes) would have made this SO simple and easy to follow.

Whoever devised this draw must have been standing in the sun yesterday before the coaches even arrived.

2) That Dave Gruber probably should have been tested post-game for performance-enhancing drugs. He was terrific at getting open whenever he rolled off the pick as shooters were double-teamed, his confidence growing in-and-around the basket too.

Gruber had 19 points and 12 rebounds - no, it's not his total preseason tally, he did that against the 36ers - and at one stage even scored for Adelaide, tipping a lob pass meant for Luke Skyhooker.

3) That perhaps Larry Davidson's slight knee jar might have occurred as a result of "friendly fire", even if Jason Cadee copped the foul. It didn't look too bad post-game but the Hawks may not risk him the rest of the way.

4) Larry Davidson should lend Lucas Walker his bandana.

5) Chris Anstey looks a little awkward when he prowls the sideline. He needs a prop. Maybe a can of soft drink (see Brian Goorjian), a rolled up program (see Brian Kerle) or a ten-gallon cowboy hat (see Ken Cole) to really annoy season ticketholders up in the 15th row.

6) Leon Henry's license to shoot should be revoked indefinitely.

7) Seth Scott looks like a throwback to those hard-a$$ imports Victorian clubs routinely would pick up through the 70s and who would terrorise the gentile guys being recruited by interstate teams.

8) A photograph from the launch of Jesse Wagstaff, Alex Loughton, Adam Gibson and Tom Abercrombie all clasping the Dr John Raschke Trophy may yet prove prophetic.

9) CJ Bruton has dedicated this season to Ray Hunt.

10) Cedric the Entertainer had six steals against the Crocs and is very adept at sneaking up behind dribblers and tapping the ball loose.

11) That someone at the NBL should "hang down your head, Tom Dooly" (obscure song reference for the over-50s in case you're playing at home) for listing third-year 36ers development guard Tom Daly as Tom Dooly. They make these mistakes daily.
  
LUCKY enough to have the Cairns Taipans on my floor at the hotel. Yep, it's all snakes on the floor.

Shame on you if you smirk and mutter that pretty much rules out any vague notion I may have entertained of shandying up some of the hotties from the Dandenong RSL Bingo session tonight and sneaking them up to my room.

(Darling if you're reading this, that was just a gag. No-one drinks shandies anymore and sherry is too expensive for me.)

FOR those who love milestones, yesterday, as the 36ers were going down to Wollongong, was the sixth anniversary of the Singapore Slingers' first NBL game on September 20, 2006.

Who did they beat?

Adelaide.

Who was coaching Singapore?

Gordie McLeod.

OK. Let's go watch the gals play.