Basketball On The Internet.

EXPECT the next Melbourne-Perth NBL game to be full of feeling on Sunday, and not because of Mark Worthington’s huge three to win the clash at The Jungle.

No. It won’t be because the Tigers ended Perth’s winning run at home. Or because Wortho and Shawn Redhage tend to get under each other’s skin.

It won’t be because Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson wants nothing more than to beat Melbourne, considering he was cut loose after the first year of his contract as coach there.

Or because his replacement was Chris Anstey – or “Chris Ainsty” as ONE-HD’s graphic had him.

It’s because more than one alleged Tigers player allegedly saw Perth’s super import James Ennis allegedly shoot an alleged punch-like jab into Chris Goulding’s alleged ribs as the alleged players allegedly mingled in the aftermath of the alleged game. Allegedly.

(Phew. That should keep any solicitors happy. But just in case – I’m not saying it happened. I am merely saying there is some chance the NBL might be investigating that it might have happened, even though there have been no charges laid and Melbourne have not formally complained.)

My (e)mail is the Perth match DVD sadly excludes the incident – wouldn’t you know it? Darn it.

And ONE cut to an ad break as the players mingled, only coming back in time to show Ennis speaking in a manner some gentile folk may consider slightly aggressive as teammates dragged him away and Melbourne assistant coach Darryl McDonald herded the Tigers toward the changerooms.

Actually, it’s not the first time The Menace has taken a shot, so to speak, at rivals, firing up in Cairns, apparently, and not too inclined to shake hands after some of the games.

OF COURSE, if the NBL does choose to investigate – I do believe Melbourne’s copy of the DVD shows the whole thing unfold – will we, the humble public ever know about it?

I mean, what did the league do with last week’s “investigation” of Anstey’s post-game remarks or alleged report for abusive language toward two of the referees in Sydney?
 
See? It’s that kind of nonsense by the league which still leaves you wondering how far into the real world it has come – announcing an investigation last week, then sounding like crickets at twilight ever since.

Unprofessional? Sadly. Yes.

BEEN having a regular moan about flopping in the NBL - which is growing to plague proportions - so forgive me for NOT supporting referee Tim Mills for effectively going from one extreme to the other in Friday’s Dandenong-Adelaide WNBL game.

Mills, who has not called a single flop in an NBL game – no-one has, despite all the warnings – hit Adelaide with two on consecutive plays inside the last two minutes. TWO.

Jo Hill copped the first and maybe it was borderline. But after the tech foul free throws, Mills hit Jenni Screen with one on the additional possession, even though Screen had perfect position and the baseline referee – who had perfect vision – didn’t make the flop call.

So what Mills in effect did was give the Rangers four free throws and two possessions in a game decided by six points and which ended any Adelaide chance of contesting the finals.

Nice.

Here’s the thing, or a couple of them. Leilani Mitchell fouled out on a charge seconds after the flop controversy, after she drove into Hill, who hit the deck.

“If he was being consistent, then Jo should have copped another tech,” Lightning coach Richard Dickel said. “I’ve never seen anything like that called in the last two minutes of a game.”

OK. Here’s the other thang. Hill drove through and contacted a Dandenong double-team seconds later. There was clearly a foul of some description. But the call was out-of-bounds off Hill. No charge. No block. The two Rangers fell to the side. No flop.

Oh wait. Here’s the final thing. At 7:57 of the last quarter, Mills issued Adelaide a warning for flopping immediately AFTER Screen had drawn an offensive foul.

Say what?

Either that should surely then have been a no-call or a warning to Screen. But no. She gets the charging call against Dandenong, but her team is warned for flopping. That makes zero sense.

Clearly, Timmy was trying to make some kind of point. Love to see him do that in an NBL game – twice in the last two minutes of a contest which could seal one team’s finals fate.

That’s why my anti-flopping stance is to ignore it in the game but issue an automatic one-match ban after video-review. And if the culprit flops again, double the ban. Then double it. And double it.

Don’t be alarmed. It would never happen. Once the first player on video review is found guilty of flopping and cops an automatic one-game ban, it will never happen again.

Then again for those of you thinking flopping is the way to go, then this is for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoZdwP2x20o

 

YEAH, NO KIDDING

ABC commentators at the Dandenong-Adelaide game had no idea Hill and Screen had been technical fouled for flopping, wondering whether Dickel or the players had said too much to incur the officials’ wrath.

No, I am not having a crack at the callers for not knowing because no-one could have guessed flopping was the reason for the techs. Not when one hasn’t been called in either national league all season.

Just ridiculous.
 

 

Basketball On The Internet's Player of the Week

IT was another tough round to select the BOTI Player of the Week, starting with Mark Worthington's match-winning three in Perth.

Teammate Chris “The Unicorn” Goulding had 23 in that game, including a huge three for the lead from 77-78 to 80-78 and also had the match-winning assist to Wortho after Damian Martin tied it again at 80-80.

Goulding backed that up with 31 points in Wollongong, a fairly compelling case.

Jamar Wilson killed in Townsville with 23 points and eight assists for Cairns while AJ Ogilvy had a very unusual stat line against Adelaide with no FG attempts, seven points from the stripe, seven rebounds, four assists and a whopping eight blocks. They were game-changers.

Ben Madgen also was huge with his 25 points. But, in all fairness, opponents would prepare for Madgen, or Ogilvy, or a Sam Young.

But Sydney power forward Tom Garlepp going off for 21 points – ALL in the second half – and at 56 per cent, is not something Adelaide could see coming and qualifies him as Round 15’s BOTI Player of the Week.

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
Rd 13 AJ Ogilvy
Rd 14 Adam Gibson
Rd 15 Tom Garlepp

THE WNBL will reveal its PotW winner within hours but before it does, let me just quietly remind PLOCH the Pontificating to take ALL weekend performances into consideration.

Abby Bishop was big in Canberra’s overtime win over Melbourne, with 23 points and 14 boards, for example. Suzy Batkovic had a 27-17 double. And while I think there were some exquisite efforts – Laura Hodges with 28 and 20 points in Lightning’s double - Sara Blicavs’ 25 points at 77 per cent, with seven boards for Bendigo in the win over Townsville, following up 13 points at 75 per cent in the Spirit’s win over Logan, stood out for me.

But maybe that’s just because we’re related and I’m hoping for a better birthday present this year than the crappy annual signed 8x10 profile photo she continues to send.

 

Reviews

Breakers V Hawks (M)

WOLLONGONG wanted this badly but with the Breakers having five players sticking three threes apiece – and no CJ or DC in sight – the weight of the long-range missile assault finally broke down its defences.

A late four-point play by Kerron Johnson allowed New Zealand to get clear enough to win 106-101, everyone in the Hawks team with an American accent scoring 21 points or better.
 

Spirit V Thunder (W)

ONE loss is enough for Bendigo, the Spirit riding the legwork of Elyse Penaluna and Kelsey Griffin in a 71-57 beating of Logan to stop any thoughts of slippage.

Logan, with Natalie Taylor continuing her comeback smoothly and a concerted missile bombardment, was ahead at halftime but a 25-10 third period by Bendigo made this academic.

Crocodiles V Taipans (M)

JAMAR Wilson put on a show and Cairns made it 3-0 so far in this season’s Reptile Rumbles with a 90-79 win over the Crocs in Townsville.

Stevie Weigh struck 3-of-3 threes and Demetri McCamey 4-of-5 as Cairns pulled away from Townsville in the third after consecutive triples by Cam Gliddon, Brian Conklin, the home team losing Greg Vanderjagt to a wrist injury.

Rangers V Lightning (W)

THIS was a terrific game marred by the officiating in the last two minutes, taking some of the gloss off great performances by Alice Kunek for Dandenong and Laura Hodges for Adelaide.

The Rangers’ 90-84 win was strongly built on Kunek’s 27 points (10-of-12 shooting) while Adelaide built around Hodges' 28 points (11-of-14) in a game decided by Dandenong’s decisive 24-14 final quarter and two huge calls.

Wildcats V Tigers (M)

MELBOURNE hit The Jungle with a plan and managed to sustain it right down to the wire where Mark Worthington stepped outside the arc and struck the match-winning three in an 83-80 victory.

It gave him a game-high 24 points and a match-winner in his home state, Chris Goulding also big throughout while Tom Jervis had a break-out game for Perth in the middle with 22 points. It ended Perth’s home win streak at eight.

Boomers V Flames (W)

MELBOURNE pulled off a thrilling 65-62 win over Sydney with a Tess Madgen triple in a game which had everything and, unfortunately for the Boomers, a knee injury to import centre Chelsea Poppens in the last quarter.

To gut it out without Poppens was huge for Melbourne, Sydney attacking through Rohanee Cox (game-high 20 points) and Madgen having to come up with one of the big shots in a weekend of big shots.

Kings V 36ers (M)

SYDNEY came out of the blocks strongly and received huge performances from Ben Madgen, Tommy Garlepp and AJ Ogilvy, posting a 105-93 win over Adelaide making it now a total of 25 points by which they have torched the 36ers in their past two clashes.

Madgen scored 25 including a back-breaking late three, Garlepp had 21 – all in the second half – and Ogilvy completed the game without a field goal attempt but with seven points from 7-of-10 free throws and eight blocks, all of them significant in a huge victory.

Capitals V Boomers (W)

NICOLE Romeo’s successful successive three-pointers sent this one into overtime, deadlocked at 68-68. But in the extension, Canberra prevailed 78-75 in a corker, Abby Bishop leading all scorers with 23 points.

The Caps finally pulled away in the overtime to record a win that wnbl.com.au breathlessly reported “kept Canberra’s finals hopes alive”. Um. Do you reckon they mean next season?

Hawks V Tigers (M)

WHEN Tommy Greer goes off for a season-best 21 points including 14 in one quarter, it is time to throw out the scout, the performance by Melbourne’s captain underpinning its 86-78 win over Wollongong .

Chris Goulding knocked down 31 as the Tigers swamped the Hawks who were led by Oscar Forman’s 21 points off 7-of-10 threes.

Fire V Spirit (W)

BEATEN twice this season by Townsville, Bendigo had to make a statement and certainly did with a 78-57 road victory over the Fire.

Suzy Batkovic battled gamely for Townsville with a 27-point, 17-rebound double, ably supported by captain Rachael McCully. But it fell away from there for the Fire while Bendigo had Sara Blicavs stroking a career-high 25 points at 77 per cent and all the Spirit rallying to end this season’s “hoodoo”.

Lightning V Flames (W)

A QUICK opening foul on Laura Hodges and the Adelaide champ accumulating three in quick time allowed Sydbney to seize the initiative, which it duly did, Rohanee Cox huge early.

But it was Katie-Rae Ebzery who stood out with a monumental performance, scoring 25 points including the 71-68 game-clinching free throws after Hodges had scored 10 straight points to lead Adelaide back to tie it 51-51 with a period to play.

 

BEEF of the WEEK

STILL going on about the floor-wipers, can I just say Perth Wildcats have it right at The Jungle?

Teenagers, decked in Wildcat colors, come on and do a swift and efficient job.

Truly, it’s the little things which continue to set Perth aside as the NBL-WNBL pacesetter.

On the WNBL's TV game from Dandenong, Sturt junior girls (attending the Eltham-Dandenong junior tournament) were co-opted to wipe the floor and in Adelaide for Lightning’s match against Sydney, the floor wiper chairs at both ends were empty until an usher finally rounded up a couple of children from the crowd.

Quality work? Hardly.

 

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS

MELBOURNE beating Perth in Perth, then backing up to beat Wollongong in Wollongong took some of the sting out of Sydney’s revival and made it the round’s biggest NBL winner.

WOLLONGONG again took two games that were within their range to add to the W column and flushed them, most likely with its finals hopes, making it the round’s biggest loser once more.

BENDIGO was the WNBL’s biggest winner, finding multiple ways to win over Logan, then Townsville, burying growing theories the Fire had its measure this season and reinstating its own position as the team to beat for the flag.

SADLY, Adelaide’s finals dream coming to an end makes it the round biggest loser, even though its loss to Dandenong was in such controversial circumstances and its demise against Sydney was largely self-inflicted.

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. But DC has no suspicions the Breakers squeezed him out of the three-point bonanza against the Hawks, with five teammates scoring three in a 15-of-26 triple-threat from which he was excluded.