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ROUND ABOUT: NBL 11
TweetWHAT a way to close out the 2013 portion of this gripping NBL season with just about every team back in the playoff mix.
New Zealand clearly now in the picture, a double-overtime belter in Wollongong, Cairns delivering Perth’s second loss of the season, Adelaide ending a 14-match drought in Townsville by a point – you couldn’t script this stuff.
You sure as hell couldn’t predict too much of it, that’s for sure.
Adelaide played without Gary Ervin (knee) and the Crocs without Josh Pace (cracked thumb) so that sort of evened out.
Gary Wilkinson was back to his cheeky best for NZ and the Breakers came back into calculations.
So has Cairns. And despite twin losses, would you bet against Wollongong?
Let 2014 roll on and let’s get on with it!
Basketball On The Internet's Player of the Week
RIGHT, this round’s BOTI’s Player of the Week will raise a few eyebrows because his team lost twice and one of those was to a sizzling 30-point performance by Chris Goulding which included 7-of-11 threes.
But even in that tough loss, Hawks import Rotnei Clarke led Wollongong with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting and that was before his 37-point season-high effort in the New Year’s Eve double-overtime thriller.
Clarke hit 13-of-19, 68 per cent from the floor, 9-of-10 threes (he was 9-of-9 before his only miss), to make it a two-game effort of 26.5ppg at 60 per cent, 11-of-15 from long range (73 per cent).
PotW Winners
Rd 1 Daniel Johnson
Rd 2 Shawn Redhage
Rd 3 Chris Goulding
Rd 4 Charles Carmouche
Rd 5 Brian Conklin
Rd 6 Gary Ervin
Rd 7 Damian Martin
Rd 8 Mika Vukona
Rd 9 James Ennis
Rd 10 Mark Worthington
Rd 11 Rotnei Clarke
YEAH, NO KIDDING
EARLY in the ONE-TV call of Friday’s Melbourne-Wollongong game, color man Andrew Gaze mentioned he hadn’t called Scott Morrison’s name very often.
Could that be because when Drewy introduced the starting lineups, he had the Tigers’ centre as “Adam Morrison?”
Meanwhile on Sunday, Steve Carfino not once, but twice – maybe more but I confess the sound was down after that – confused Kings import Sam Young with Sydney teammates.
At one point he confused him with Brad Hill - admittedly, very easy to do - and later spoke about Sam’s missed long jumpshot which actually occurred while Young was under the basket, the shot taken by Ben Madgen.
Again in Steve’s defence, Sam and The Madge are almost mirror images of each other.
Reviews
Tigers V Hawks
JUST when I thought Wollongong was going to come through with a road upset, Chris Goulding engineered a 74-67 Melbourne win with a 14-point last quarter in a 30-point haul, including a career-best 7-of-11 threes.
Held to 29 first-half points, the Hawks exploded with a 29-18 third period but could not build on it, held to a miserly 9 points in the last quarter, impressing only the West Coast Waves.
Kings v Breakers
ALEX Pledger’s loss was Gary Wilkinson’s gain, the big import reinstated to NZ’s starting lineup against Sydney and looking every bit his former self with 31 points at 57 per cent, a few dunks, some threes and the old (annoying for all bar Breakers fans) swag.
The Lone Ranga had help from Tonto (Kerron Johnson with 21 points) as the Breakers’ ruthless 36-18 final period turned what had been a contest into another bout of extended introspection from a Kings team which, dare I say it yet again, looked much better when Jesse Sanders was part of the furniture.
Hawks V Tigers
EASILY one of the best games of the year, Wollongong did a great job to seize the momentum after trailing 17-30 to peel off an 18-0 run for a 35-30 halftime lead, holding Melbourne to just six points in the second quarter.
(Even we can do that, someone at West Coast said.) But it was full on from there as Rotnei Clarke put on a long-range bombing clinic and Chris Goulding, Mustapha Farrakhan and Mark Worthington elevated their games when it was truly needed, the game going to overtime at 67-67 and into a second extension at 79-79. That’s value-for-money.
Taipans V Wildcats
THE Taipans proved Perth’s overtime escape on its previous trip to Cairns had been just that – a great escape – by inflicting only the Wildcats’ second loss of season with a 99-90 victory to thrill its fans.
After losing by 24 to Adelaide in their previous outing, the Taipans executed a much better game plan, although they were helped by James Ennis and Shawn Redhage being in foul trouble and Matt Knight suffering a head injury. That said, Demetri McCamey had his stroke going with 6-of-9 threes in his game-high 22 points.
Crocodiles V 36ers
THE last of the NYE fixtures also was a ripper with Townsville ahead 81-72 into the final five minutes but unable to withstand an amazing 14-0 Adelaide run which completely swung the momentum and the contest.
Joey Wright’s 300th NBL game as a coach was a great success, going to the wire before Adelaide prevailed 90-89, another one-point win and very similar to the one-point win over Wollongong where Oscar Forman hit a three on the bell for the final scoreline. This time it was Peter Crawford doing the same.
BEEF of the WEEK
SERIOUSLY sick of NBL.TV commentators who cannot get players’ names right. What do they think, they’re on FTA television?
Trevor Roberts up in Townsville cannot wrap his mind around the fact Jarrid Frye is Jarrid Frye, NOT Jarrid Friar.
Even though his co-caller is getting it right, he cannot understand the simple single syllable which constitutes Frye’s name.
It is beyond unprofessional. It is pathetic.
Sure, every caller gets a name wrong here and there but to continually call Frye as Friar is just beyond salvation and insulting to the player and the viewers.
Yes, Roberts also had trouble distinguishing Anthony Petrie from Mitch Creek, insisting on calling Creek as Petrie despite the massive size of the numbers on the 36ers’ uniforms.
Petrie wears #17. Creek is #23. Oh. Yeah. And they also have their names on the back.
Guess that’s all just too hard and people paying for the service should just accept mediocrity.
Lord knows, it's mostly what's dished up.
BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS
CAIRNS was the biggest winner. Beating Perth at any time this season qualifies as the round’s biggest win, although, just quietly, Melbourne came out of it pretty well too.
SADLY, after losing twice to Melbourne in the round and blowing the home game after having it all-but-won in regulation, Wollongong ends 2013 as the round’s biggest loser.
Online
PS
NZ guard Daryl Corletto says the new refereeing style is a deliberate Basketball Australia ploy to stop the Breakers winning a record fourth straight NBL title. DC also suspects the Kings didn’t suit Cody Ellis to confuse and distress the Breakers.
