Basketball On The Internet.

BOOMERS form in FIBA World Cup qualifiers shown by Perth's Elijah Pepper and Melbourne pair Tanner Krebs and Tom Wilson would have NBL fans excited on the eve of the playoffs, Pepper averaging 25.5ppg in road wins over Guam and the Philippines - including five threes in both outings.

Krebs, whose form has fluctuated at United after a promising season start, averaged 23ppg including 8-of-13 threes against Guam and an additional 4-of-8 against the Philippines.

Wilson's selection raised a few eyebrows but he had those same pundits blinking in disbelief with 11 points (at 56 per cent), eight rebounds and 10 assists in Guam, and 12 points (at 50 per cent), seven rebounds and four assists in the 93-66 rout of the Philippines.

Melbourne hosts Tasmania tomorrow night in the KO 5v6 elimination round of the playoffs and will be heartened to see potential X-factor players such as Krebs and Wilson firing in the green-and-gold.

South East Melbourne tonight hosts Perth, the clubs going 2-2 in four regular season meetings, including both scoring wins in their opponent's venue.

Clearly, little separates these 3v4 second chance playoff teams, the winner advancing to the best-of-three semi finals against Adelaide 36ers, the loser on Saturday to face the winner of the Melbourne-Tasmania playoff for the chance to tackle Sydney Kings in the rival semi final series.

Meanwhile Australia is now 4-0 in its Asian World Cup qualifying group, Mitch Creek's return for the Boomers against Philippines yielding 13 points, including 3-of-5 threes, eight rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block. It was a joy to see him back in the national team colours.

World Cup, Asian Qualifiers

Australia Boomers 93 (Krebs 28, Pepper 23, Wilson 11, Kay 10;  Kay 11, Froling 10 rebs; Wilson 10 assts) d Guam 80 (Freeman 25, Simon 19, Borja 11; Freeman 9 rebs; Freeman, Simon 4 assts)

Australia Boomers 93 (Pepper 28, Krebs 18, Creek 13, Wilson 12; Creek, Kay 8 rebs; Creek 5 assts) d Phillipines 66 (Brownlee 20, Millora-Brown 11; Brownlee 8 rebs; Brownlee 7 assts)

New Zealand Tall Blacks 69 (Darling 11, McNaught, Mennenga 10; Mennenga 14 rebs; Mennenga, Ngati 4 assts) d Philippines 66 (Ramos 16, Perez 15, De Liano 10; Edu 11 rebs; Edu, Perez 3 assts)

New Zealand Tall Blacks 99 (Andrew 20, Te Rangi 15, Rasmussen 14, darling 11; Andrew 9 rebs; Britt 9 assts) d Guam 67 (Galloway 20, Simon 19, Freeman, Borja 11; Galloway 5 rebs; Galloway 5 assts)

Pics courtesy of fiba.com