Basketball On The Internet.

THE greatest last round of an NBL regular season just about is upon us and who'd have thought New Zealand-V-Perth would be the least interesting fixture?

In fact the Grand Final preview at Perth Arena is almost irrelevant with the mouth-watering options on offer in every other fixture.

But before continuing, apologies to regular readers that while travelling home from overseas and starting back at The Advertiser and adelaidenow.com.au, it threw me out with this week's Around Rounds summary.

I'll get back to that in a second but first, let's look at what tips off tonight?

For starters, Sydney and Townsville have everything to play for and, when at or near their best previously, the Kings have prevailed.

Just FYI, Wollongong is currently third on 12-15, Cairns and Sydney on 11-16, Melbourne and the Crocs on 10-16.

Adelaide is out of contention but can still determine the final shape of the top four if it beats the Hawks.

Townsville and Melbourne BOTH have to win both of their weekend games to sneak into the four - which cannot happen because they play each other on Sunday. One of them must, therefore, miss out, regardless of other results.

But other results are very pertinent and could easily do your head in.

For example, Wollongong wins tomorrow, it finishes third.

But if Sydney beats Townsville and Cairns beats Melbourne and the Hawks then lose to Adelaide, they plummet to fifth.

It is that volatile, all five teams contesting for the two spots able to make it.

THE Hawks will be relieved centre Larry Davidson came through his tripping report unscathed - if you can call being found guilty and a $1,500 fine unscathed - leaving him free to play the 36ers tomorrow night at The Sandpit.

Always thought Shaggy would get off, especially after he called Jacob Holmes as a character witness.

But while Jake escaped the Finemeister last round on a similar charge, Davo was not going to be as lucky, having been reported by the refs, not Chequebook Chuck.

Importantly, he can suit in what should be an emotional farewell for club stalwart and the quintessential Hawk, Glen Saville.

My (e)mail is Davo's fine was $1,000 for tripping, $500 for wearing the bandana.

WHILE it will be the final sighting of the Sav as a Hawk staple, Nathan Crosswell will draw the curtain on his NBL life in his milestone 350th game.

Spoke with Crossy for adelaidenow and this http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/nathan-crosswell-to-play-final-game-for-adelaide-36ers-will-play-on-in-seabl/story-fne5r4t9-1226603569979 was the upshot.

Further to those remarks though, he also said he had become a believer in young Tom Daly, a long-time Sixers development guard, last year's Woollacott Medallist as the fairest and best male player in South Australia, who is now heading for a SEABL stint with Mount Gambier Pioneers.

"He's proven to me he can be a very good quality back-up guard at NBL level,'' Crosswell said.

"He's worked very hard and deserves any success he gets.''

Crossy also said he and his family had thoroughly enjoyed their Adelaide experience.
"We've loved living in Adelaide,'' he said.

"The club's been great to us, the people have been great, the guys have been great and the coaches have been terrific.

"I don't regret a second of coming to Adelaide.''

SPEAKING SEABL, the second-tier comp launched last weekend amid minimal fanfare here in SA, unfortunately, with Mount Gambier the state's only participant.

Might be time to revisit that too but maybe that's a yarn for another time. Would love to see another combatant in the renamed Aussieleague next year.

By the way, I see where CJ Massingale was still "struggling to get his shot off,'' with 29 points at 52.4 percent for Knox against Frankston.

That was after 24 against Bendigo.

Titus Robinson had a pretty fair debut in Mount Gambier's road win in Ballarat with 36 points and 15 boards, leading the league in both categories.

ALEX "the Pledge'' Pledger has gone back-to-back with NBL Player of the Week awards, with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 12 boards as the Breakers whupped Melbourne 114-84.

That was New Zealand's 16th straight win but despite the Breakers best intentions, they cannot catch Miami Heat's win streak. At least not this season.

 

MUST admit to having a giggle reading Kristina Keneally's press comments today about the future aspirations for the WNBL.

Some of it read as a direct rebuttal to my blog at http://www.botinagy.com/blog/opals-wnbl-losing-their-way/ though, as is often the case, it was a fact-free Basketball Australia response.

But here's the thing. Should it really be the WNBL's goal to be, as KK suggests, the "country's premier women's sporting competition''?

Really?

Isn't that just a wee bit like being the tallest of the Seven Dwarfs?

I mean, who cares if the WNBL is more recognisable than women's cricket, or softball or lacrosse?

Seriously. Shouldn't the goal be just to make it the best league it can be with all attendant kudos, publicity, TV, sponsorship etcetera?

With all due respect to women's sport, netball is No.1 in this country and all else a distant fifth.

But does that even matter? Where does the WNBA rate in the USA in terms of "premier women's competitions'' and who cares?

What tangible benefit is there in being the "premier women's sport''? Does netball have an easy ride now or does it still work its tail off to be where it is?

That's what it's all about?

Geez.

AROUND Round 23 - a quickie recap...

Breakers v Tigers

Depleted Tigers (Seth Scott on minimal time, Jonny Flynn out), fired up Breakers with Corey Webster bagging a career-best 23 points.

NZ's last game at North Shore this season was a triumph after Melbourne faded from a 34-point first quarter.

Hawks v Kings

Wollongong had it 81-74, Sydney showing grit with a 25-12 final quarter to draw within six points at one stage.

Adris Deleon led the scoring with 25 for the Hawks and Larry Davidson had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. He also had one TO, that's "turnover" not "trip over".

Taipans v 36ers

Adelaide battled it out gamely again but it was Cairns which held firm, winning another tight one 76-73.

Gibbo fouled out late in his 250th game trying to get stops, Anthony Petrie with another game-high 19 points, matched by Taipans import Jamar Wilson.

Crocodiles v Tigers

Melbourne looked like it had this one, right up until Crocs guard Gary Ervin hit what would prove the match-winning three with 16 seconds left for a 75-73 win.

Losing Lucas Walker to a foot injury probably kills Melbourne's playoff dreams off but you never know if there's a tank in the Tigers.

Wildcats v Taipans

Bolting from the blocks with a 21-13 first quarter, the Taipans slithered to a halt the rest of the way as Perth won 70-53 at Perth Arena.

After halftime, it was a Rhys Carter tour-de-force with his best game as a Wildcat yielding 12 points, four steals, four rebounds and three assists.

Unfortunately though, the win didn't move Perth in the NBL Rankings....

Rankings

This Week ... Prev

8 (8) 36ERS - And so it goes, the 3-year plan has its final farewell fandango.

7 (5) CROCODILES - One stumble is all it will take for that 0-10 start to loom large.

6 (7) TIGERS - Boneheaded plays and now injuries make for sad bedfellows.

5 (4) KINGS - Right in the mix to the bitter end, testament to great self-belief.

4 (3) TAIPANS - Fate is in their own hands, just as they would want.

3 (6) HAWKS - Third place or a sleepless weekend is an easy call.

2 (2) WILDCATS - 11,000-plus for the GF preview but it won't mean a lot.

1 (1) BREAKERS - Will not want to finish the season with a loss but looks likely.

THIS WEEK'S TIPS

SYDNEY hosting Townsville, both at full strength (Corin Henry notwithstanding) and both with their backs to the wall. What a tough place to start. Coin toss - Townsville.

Lucas Walker's absence and Cairns' late charge has me thinking Melbourne will fall short tonight.

Perth has to beat New Zealand to make a statement and although the result ultimately is meaningless, I'm expecting a Wildcats' home win.

Wollongong will formally be seeing off Glen Saville while Adelaide will have Nathan Crosswell suiting up for the last time. Makes it tough, especially with the 36ers winning by one in overtime at their last meeting at the Sandpit. With what's at stake though, I'm tipping the Hawks.

So much hinges on how these teams fare tonight when weighing up their chances, mindsets, injuries and circumstances for Sunday's possibly meaningless, possibly essential meeting. At home for the last time, maybe Melbourne falls in.

Should results go the way I'm analysing, then the final table would be:

New Zealand 24-4
Perth 22-6
Wollongong 13-15
Cairns 12-16
Sydney 11-17
Melbourne 11-17
Townsville 11-17
Adelaide 8-20

That would mean the Grand Finalists since the league's salvation four years ago would be the clubs involved, the NZ-Cairns semi revisting the 2010-11 championship series, the Perth-Wollongong semi revisuiting 2009-10.

 

A HORSE walks into a bra. The barman looks up from where he is cleaning glasses and says: "Why the wrong phrase?''