Basketball On The Internet.

ONLY someone not entirely aware of history or consistency would write off Wollongong before the NBL season even tipped off.

They have one of the iiNet Championship's most outstanding coaches in Gordon McLeod.

They bring back a big part of their core group - with the exception of "the Saviour'' Mat Campbell and the imports - and have added some nice new pieces.

So no, I wasn't surprised they went on the road and beat Melbourne Tigers in a couple of preseason outings last week.

But, well, to be honest, the 90-66 belting the Hawks dished out in the second game did surprise me some.

Not so much because I doubt Wollongong.

I know better than to do that.

I just thought the Tigers would have more in the tank.

This is going to be some NBL season.

OK. Your guess is as good as mine as to where Elkhart Express hail from.

Yes, we know the club is based in Elkhart, Indiana and in 2006-2007 went back-to-back with International Basketball League championships.

The IBL is a US-Canadian pro league which has a club drop-out rate comparable to the NBL.

So post-IBL, the Express "folded'', then came back to play in the American Basketball Association.

Now the ABA has as many teams as the SEABL and a fairly high drop-out rate too.

And other than in name, it has no connection to the ABA of Dr J.

I only bring up Elkhart Express because the team is the 36ers' first opponent in China this weekend on the club's preseason tour.

The Sixers already beat Nicholls University last month but the China tour is their first real hit-out as a group.

THE 36ers next come up against a Serbian team, OKK Belgrade, or, if the 36ers' initial press release is to be believed, OKK Belfast, that well known Irish-Serbian team.

"Would you like potatoes with your borscht?'' apparently is their catch-cry.

Then it is on for a shot at Brian Goorjian's Dongguan Leopards.

Foshan Long Lions will be Adelaide's fourth opponent, with a fifth game to come, the opponent determined by the tourney results.

NEW Zealand guard Corey Webster, whose career almost went up in smoke - literally - has done what we all love to see and beaten his demons.

Yes, I know Webster is a repeat offender in the illegal substance stakes, but he has done his year-long ban for his second strike so it's great the Breakers have given him another chance at bat.

"I am only halfway there, though, I have to earn the respect of the players and the Breakers family, and I have to prove I have made the right changes," Webster told stuff.co.nz and yes, while that sounds great, Corey knows he will be scrutinised every day.

It will not be an easy road, but it is great to see he is on it.

SPEAKING of the Breakers, at the risk of upsetting their passionate (A)NBL fans, let me say that matching the Kings' threepeat of 2003-04-05 will take some doing.

Andrej Lemanis has done a sterling job converting that program from something of a basket case into one of the league's all-time best franchises.

But when I look at this team, I cannot help thinking while Will Hudson is a solid import pick-up, he is no Gary Wilkinson.

A lot will be expected again of Tom Abercrombie and Alex Pledger as the core gets just that little bit older. It doesn't take long to lose half a step.

Admittedly, I also was in the vanguard of disbelievers last year who thought losing Kirk Penney meant the Breakers would come back to the pack.

And I was wrong.

This time though, NZ is a known quantity and - sue me - I think they are back to the field a little.

THAT said, I feel the same about Perth.

Not replacing Lurch, er, Luke Nevill (Herman Munster wasn't available?) means an awful lot will hinge on Matty Knight staying healthy - the guy is a superstar when healthy - and Jesse Wagstaff maintaining his game at its highest level.

Again, the core is solid and well used to success.

The Wildcats are just in for a tougher road this season.

A GRIZZLY bear, a polar bear and a Russian bear 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?"