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ROUND ABOUT: NBL12/WNBL13
TweetWHAT’S cooking in Sydney? The coach and a board member having a sideline exchange? A co-captain saying the players are to blame.
Meanwhile down the road, Masterchef Gordie McLeod has spent the past week working overtime to get his Hawks off the rotisserie and back into the playoff hunt.
Up north, Townsville “fans” have had some silly shite to say considering the Crocs are ultra-competitive and have been down an import for the past two games.
Still, it’s all water off this little fat duck’s back because I am feeling like the Aussie cricket team after going 5-0 in my NBL tips for the last round.
Yes, that is what gloating looks like but it will end very quickly if you ask about the WNBL round….
YEAH, NO KIDDING
ANOTHER fine ONE moment during the Kings-Taipans game with Steve Carfino talking over Brad Rosen during the halftime interview and the network not clever enough to cut away from Rosen as he continued like a scene out of Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie.
Ah technical glitches. Don’t you just love them?
You know, like having Ayinde Ubaka in the Tigers’ lineup in the NBL.TV game at Wollongong too.
At least we weren’t subjected to two hours of You-baker, a la some fine work on Ten last season.
Basketball On The Internet's Player of the Week
ROTNEST Island again was a very pleasant destination for Hawks fans, while DJ in Adelaide, Jamar from Afar and The Unicorn (Chris Goulding) all looked the part. But the BOTI Player of the Week for NBL Round 12 will surprise many.
It will surprise because his numbers aren’t the greatest of the round – those probably belong to Rotnei Cant-stop-mei – but his significance in clinching two wins for Melbourne could not have been greater.
Adam “Balls” Ballinger showed he still had a pair of good ones in him - games I meant, geez - hitting the triple which broke Townsville’s back on Friday, then going off for 13 final-quarter points against Cairns to lock away that victory too for the Tigers.
The Crocs had rallied from a 23-point deficit to pull within seven with three minutes left when Ballinger hit the game’s biggest three, his 11 points including 3-of-4 long bombs.
Then he rallied Melbourne again after Cairns closed to within five in the final period by sticking eight straight points in a two-minute spurt.
He finished with a game-high 19 points at 62 per cent and walks away with the round’s Player of the Week award.
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
Rd 12 Adam Ballinger
THE WNBL will reveal its PotW winner within hours but before it does, let me just quietly remind PLOCH the Ponderous, you have to take in ALL weekend performances. Abby Bishop was superb again as Canberra went 1-1 against Bendigo and Sydney. Abs averaged 23 points and 11 boards for the double.
It was a great performance but for mine this round, Adelaide Lightning guard Jenni Screen gets the nod. Screeny stuck 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting, 6-of-7 threes, with five rebounds, three assists and a steal to be the game-changer as Lightning romped to a completely unexpected 20-point rout of the Rangers.
Reviews
Kings V Taipans (M)
SYDNEY looked a million dollars as it rampaged to a 20-5 start over Cairns at The Kingdome but it proved to be counterfeit bills as the Taipans cashed in 73-62.
Cam Gliddon started the game with one of the season’s best flops – not even a warning – when Charles Carmouche made a minor move but that aside, Stevie Weigh had a good one and Jamar Wilson was his active self. Sydney can console itself with Sam Young’s thunder dunk, AJ Ogilvy’s slam … and not much else.
Capitals V Spirit (W)
DIDN’T see this coming but Canberra gave Bendigo an almighty scare before the champs held on 84-81 with Gabe Richards, Kelly Wilson and Kelsey Griffin all going for 18 points.
Nicole Hunt’s 24 points included 6-of-10 threes and Alex Bunton delivered 16 points at 62 per cent in support of Abby Bishop, the Spirit just sneaking home.
Crocodiles V Tigers (M)
STILL minus Josh Pace (thumb), the Crocs could not keep pace with Melbourne as the Tigers had Chris Goulding unfolding yet another highlight reel performance.
But from 23 down, Townsville worked its way back to seven before Adam Ballinger delivered the dagger, Melbourne then running away to win 95-77.
Waves V Thunder (W)
MAYBE it was making a rare television appearance – or Logan missing several players - but West Coast did the near-impossible and almost won a game.
The nation was on alert but Logan, almost ready to pull the leaky roof stunt – Rebecca Dudic was on the roof with a hose - escaped 69-65 with Tegan Cunningham going 6-of-7 from the floor for her 15 points.
Hawks V Wildcats (M)
WOLLONGONG took this in overtime 96-91 after it was locked up at 85-85 by an Ennis The Menace triple. But what a match-up it was with Rotnei Clarke and Damian Martin going head-to-head – the best offensive point guard against the best defensive point man – for 45 freakin’ minutes!
It was a red-hot battle too with Clarke taking the honors this time, his 28 points and seven assists the key component in the Hawks erasing that 43-point hiding in Perth from their memories.
Lightning V Rangers (W)
WHEN Jenni Screen is sticking threes from the get-go, Chay Shegog is going off for a 15-15 points-boards double and Adelaide’s defence has Dandenong wondering which time zone it is in, an upset is certainly there in the making.
In the end though, it was an 84-64 spanking of some very mischievous Rangers who appeared to think they had a divine right to any 50-50 call. Guess it is easier to focus on the refs when you have no clue what the opposition is doing defensively.
36ers V Breakers (M)
ADELAIDE produced its best four-quarter effort to give NZ a 99-73 whack, Daniel Johnson and Mitch Creek towering offensively and Luke Schenscher a huge impact off the bench.
With the Sixers’ guards erasing KJ and DC, Mika Vukona in foul trouble and fairly disengaged all night, it was left to Tom Abercrombie to carry the visitors and he did it well for one quarter.
Flames V Capitals (W)
HERE’s the thing when you are tipping. You never know how a team will respond in its second game of a round. Take Canberra for example. Knowing it has just given champion Bendigo a helluva run for its money, it hits Sydney feeling great about itself.
The Flames, unable to recruit any new studs this past week, are therefore inexplicably beaten again at home 84-77 with Abby Bishop enjoying a 27-point, 12-rebound evening. Poor old Sydney. It’s a funny old world, eh?
Tigers V Taipans (M)
THERE wasn’t much in this until Adam Ballinger caught fire late, Cairns drawing solid contributions across the board and Jamar Wilson still pushing at the end of the game, mindful points spreads might matter later on.
Melbourne got it done regardless 76-66, with Balls, The Unicorn, Mustapha FreeThrowCoach and Wortho making the plays that delivered the W.
Spirit V Boomers (W)
REFER to the Flames-Caps game review for how agitating it is selecting games in a two-game round. Who knew Canberra would push Bendigo and that the wake-up call would then result in the Spirit taking all the boom out of the Boomers 83-49?
Damned annoying if you ask me. But no-one did so I’ll just suffer in silence while applauding the Spirit’s 15th consecutive victory with Gabrielle, Sara and Kelsey leading the way. That’s right. I didn’t use their surnames. You know who they are.
BEEF of the WEEK
OH my God but when, oh when will we not be subjected to the same anecdotes being trotted out every time certain players/coaches/referees are in the featured TV game?
OK, we all now know – or have been reminded a zillion times – how Dean Vickerman “schooled” Lanard Copeland at Copes’ first Tigers training back sometime in the last century.
How about a new Vickerman yarn? Maybe how he saved lives in Samoa?
Pretty sure Copes, with his Hall of Fame career, shouldn't need to be subjected to that hilarious tale even one more time.
Or let’s not hear again about Stevie Weigh’s “potential”. Jayzus. He has played college basketball, been a championship starter at Perth, played unlimited minutes during a red carpet ride for three years in Adelaide.
Can we get off the guy’s potential and talk about why he HASN’T been a Boomer yet?
And how well does Aaron Fearne recruit, getting all that young talent blah blah.
Where’s John Casey with a non-preferred hand?
Doing a lap of honor I’d be guessing.
BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS
MELBOURNE was the round’s biggest winner after collecting two important road-home wins over Townsville-Cairns while identifying even more firepower in the process.
SYDNEY narrowly pips New Zealand as the round’s biggest loser, players now in the media expressing their support for the coaching staff when everyone knows what the problem is but doesn’t want to address it.
ADELAIDE was the WNBL’s biggest winner, finally knocking over a top-three team and doing it in a style which does augur ominously for its remaining opponents.
AND by extension, Dandenong was the biggest loser, dropping a spot on the ladder after clearly having complacency slapped out of it but still somewhat in denial about what happened, pointing to the Lightning’s 3-point shooting and not its own inability to master Adelaide’s defensive strategies.
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 his 0-of-5 against the 36ers was a statistical anomaly perpetrated by something in the Adelaide water.
