Basketball On The Internet.

WOLLONGONG at Sydney is the NBL's game of the night tomorrow?

Really?

Is ONE-HD and the NBL's television agreement with TEN so inflexible that no-one can see the merit possibly in switching tomorrow's planned broadcast game down to Melbourne town?

I am happy to slouch corrected but I have a feeling in my bones - and no, it's not alcohol poisoning - that the debut of Jonny "Come lately'' Flynn with the Tigers against Adelaide might carry more cache with fans nationwide.

Not that we get too much of the Kings.

Perish the thought.

Why, we haven't seen them on national TV since Sunday!

We ALL just can't wait to see how those Movember growths have developed in five days.

But now here we have a guy who is the highest-placed NBA draft pick OF ALL TIME, to come into our league, he does it at age 23 and, no doubt, he will be revved to make a Showtime impression for Melbournites.

The Tigers have just won too, run Adam Ballinger into form, have a stud frontcourt import in Seth Scott and are at Hisense Arena where they again should draw a crowd which could fill The Cage, twice.

Not to mention, the 36ers have mostly been fun to watch.

YES I recall last week I suggested the top-of-the-table clash between unbeaten teams Wollongong and Perth at The Sandpit might have greater nationwide relevance than the fourth-v-fifth Kings-36ers clash TEN deigned to show.

As it turned out, Sydney-Adelaide was highly entertaining while the Hawks blew Perth out the door by 33 points.

You never can tell, for sure, before tip-off whether a game will be a dud or forever etched in the memory.

But let me assure you, hardly a soul among the 4,000-plus at The Sandpit left early as Wollongong put on a breath-taking show, Adris Deleon emerging as NBL Player of the Week.

So I still lean toward believing the chance to see Jonny Flynn on debut is one ONE should not blow.

But I remain forever thankful for the arrival of NBL.TV regardless.

THIS may be a little belated now but fining Sydney forward Graeme Dann $750 because he "recklessly made contact with his left hand to (Russell) Hinder's face'' was a curious one.

What the hell is that charge, by the way, in English?

Is it striking?

So vague and vacuous.

The charge and fine was issued by "Basketball Australia's General Manager of Professional Leagues and Operations and a Few Other Aspects We can't Think of in this Horribly Worded New Title'', namely Chuck Harmison.

"Let's be absolutely clear on this,'' Chucky railed, just in case any of us were not (clear, that is).

"The NBL will not tolerate players making deliberate contact to another player's head, full stop.''

Thrilled by his punctuation instructions - being grammatically correct is important when blustering - Chuckles went on to say: "We're taking a zero tolerance approach to this kind of unsportsmanlike behaviour, and we've instructed our referees to do the same.''

Well can I just humbly submit, nothing says "zero tolerance'' more than strongly-worded post-event press releases and feeble fines.

THE Black Pearl Basketball Academy, run by the Black Pearl himself, Cal Bruton, is taking its Bruton 2-on-2 tournament nationwide, next stop Perth.

No, the Hall of Famer is NOT saying 5-on-5 is extinct and 3-on-3 a dinosaur.

But he IS saying, grab a buddy and that's all you need to explore the two-man game of screen-and-roll, give-and-go, pick-and-pop, fries-with-that.

It's coming up on November 24-25 with a 9am start at Arena Joondalup, with comps for boys and girls in 14-and-under, 15-20, 21-30 and 31-overs.

There's prizes for divisional winners, the chance to rep your state in the national finals and more.

The first 100 registrations will receive a signed basketball by some of the best guards to wear the Wildcats' uniform, including Ricky "Amazing" Grace, Mike Ellis, Eric Watterson, CJ Bruton and, of course, the Black Pearl himself.

Want to know more? Go to www.blackpearlbasketball.com.au

THE Batgirl, Suzy Batkovic is WNBL Player of the Week, despite Bendigo fans trying hard to vote in Gabrielle Richards for her stellar performance in the Spirit's bye.

With a ZAP! BAM! KAPOW! Batgirl swung in for 27 points at 57 per cent and grabbed 11 rebounds to send Bulleen's villains scurrying and Adelaide to a 74-55 win.

"Riddle me this,'' said the Riddler, a.k.a a Tom Maher looking increasingly more like The Penguin.

"Were you girls joking with that performance?''

Let's hope so.

After winning at West Coast and whining at Adelaide, the Boomers were looking more like Twoface.

HEARTFELT congratulations to Basketball Australia for getting it right - better late than TOO late - and inducting the legendary Ken Cole into the Hall of Fame next month.

The full story is here at adelaidenow.com.au http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/old-ken-cole-in-the-merry-old-hall/story-fndekpx4-1226512539354 and if you want a more personal back story of The King, you can go here: http://botinagy.com/blog/the-king-should-be-in-hof-castle/

To Ken's daughter Kimberley and everyone else who leant their support or weight to achieving this and simply righting a fairly heinous wrong, well done. He certainly deserves it.

Unreserved plaudits to BA for not only recognising what needed to be done and then doing it, but also for doing it so promptly and appropriately.

It is so great when you can get a win-win.

IS Jonny Flynn truly the highest-credentialled NBA baller to make it Down Under?

Well, I did the research so you can put your mind at ease and check out my weekly "Around the NBL" column at adelaidenow or here: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/around-the-nbl-all-you-need-is-money/story-fndekpx4-1226512497497

HERE they are, this week's rankings after Round 5, with precious little movement in the NBL and none in the WNBL.

NBL Rankings

This Wk ... Prev

8 ... 8 CROCS - Blew it Friday, mailed it in Sunday. And now New Zealand?
7 ... 7 TAIPANS - Had Crocs wrapped, then Snakes got the shakes before finding best.
6 ... 6 TIGERS - Won as expected, now with Jonny Flynn, the landscape changes.
5 ... 5 KINGS - Tough 0-2 run after last-gasp loss to NZ and out-of-gas loss to Adelaide.
4 ... 4 36ERS - Found way to win on the road but facing a very tough double this round.
3 ... 3 BREAKERS - Plucky escape (with a silent `P') but still cruising along nicely.
2 ... 1 WILDCATS - What the? Would hate to be in Perth's crosshairs this week.
1 ... 2 HAWKS - Off to best start in centuries, but staying level-headed.

WNBL Rankings

This Wk ... Prev

9 ... 9 WAVES - On road to Logan and Townsville, season almost shot.
8 ... 8 FLAMES - Low on ideas but catch Adelaide on a back-up night/travel day.
7 ... 7 FIRE - Must veer out of extended losing streak or risk losing touch.
6 ... 6 THUNDER - Disappointing against Dandenong but can weather West Coast.
5 ... 5 BOOMERS - Lacked spirit in Adelaide and don't get a break with Dandenong.
4 ... 4 CAPITALS - Finding contributors to hold the fort till the Jacko-cavalry arrives.
3 ... 3 LIGHTNING - 5-win streak without studs says plenty about team's character.
2 ... 2 RANGERS - Look potent and in grand final re-match should breeze by Bulleen.
1 ... 1 SPIRIT - Is there some reason to tip against unbeaten Bendigo, at home?

THIS WEEK'S TIPS

NEVER should have trusted Townsville to topple Cairns, even if the Crocs did force overtime before dying in the tail. But had the rest right last round.

This week, just the momentum of Jonny Flynn's arrival should carry Melbourne past Adelaide in a thriller, and after last round, if Wollongong does not beat Sydney, it should be drug-tested.

Townsville has been struggling to get its big men acting like big MEN - don't remind me - and against guys such as Mika Vukona, Alex Pledger, Dillon Boucher, Will Hudson, that spells 0-8.

Backing up against Cairns will test the Breakers and this is the fixture where the Taipans either will show they are in the hunt, or be exposed as pretenders. I'm tipping the former.

Perth? After losing by 33 last round? I would hate to be Adelaide.

LIGHTNING have struck so well on the road, expect them to get Canberra, though Sydney will be hard going 24 hours later.

(Was this draw Lorraine's farewell present?)

Logan and Townsville both should spray the Waves, Bendigo at home should put a cap into the Caps and Dandenong?

Cannot tip against them again, especially after seeing Bulleen last week. Krista Phillips should be back too, barring a late hang-nail.

JULIA Gillard, Kevin Rudd and Mark Latham walk into a bar.
The barman looks up from where he is cleaning glasses, stares at them and says: "What is this? Some kind of joke?