Sponsored by:
Specialising in Action, Team and Portrait Photography.
---
Advertising opportunities available.
Please contact me.
---
ROUND ABOUT: NBL17/WNBL18
TweetIT IS developing into a dream season for the NBL, even if tipping winners is a weekly nightmare.
Townsville is in the bomb shelter but it beats leader Perth, then backs up 24 hours later on the road, defeating the old foe Cairns.
So the Crocs escape last place and Wollongong slips down a rung, only to get back up after thrashing the league’s #2 ranked Adelaide.
What the?
That’s after Sydney has beaten a New Zealand team it lost to by 18 a week earlier.
The WNBL’s last round and playoffs also have become even more interesting with the events of this past week.
Melbourne losing Rachel Jarry to injury was a blow but the Boomers carried on regardless. Then centre Chelsea Poppens was lost for the duration and I recall writing last week – No Jarry, No Poppens, No more Ws.
I’m allowing myself the luxury of guessing a Boomer fan’s tweet of: “No Jarry No Poppens No worries” after Guy Molloy’s team put up two Herculean weekend efforts was no coincidence.
What a great effort to beat Dandenong, then back up against Bendigo, forcing the reigning and regular season champs into double-overtime.
The Spirit have their issues now too with Elyse Penaluna requiring a knee reconstruction after going down early against the Rangers, Kristi Harrower with an ankle roll and Kelly Wilson struck by concussion.
Bendigo’s twin wins then also had plenty of merit, while Townsville left no doubt on Sydney and Canberra that they missed the playoffs for a reason, the Fire severely burning both.
YEAH, NO KIDDING
WOULD one of our erstwhile coaches please take some time to chat with ONE-TEN TV guru Steve Carfino and please explain to him exactly what a “Euro-step” actually is?
These days, any step past a defender, even biggish steps on a layup becomes “Insert-Player’s-Name with a Eurostep!” for Carf.
Please. If no coach will step forward, how about Drewie or Brad or JVG taking a moment to point out a layup or step-around doesn’t really constitute a “Euro-step”?
Next time there’s a “Time-out on the floor” – another term I don’t really understand if it’s not a player calling it ON THE FLOOR – maybe take a minute fellas to clue Carf into the Euro.
Speaking of the on-air TV calls, enjoyed Brad Rosen’s efforts at the Hawks-36ers game, just not his maths. Bradley’s contention a team needs “18 points a quarter for 76 for the match” was acceptable as a miscalculation once. But it wasn't only once.
Perhaps while Brad is pointing out the “Euro-step” to Steve, he could point out 18 points a quarter means 72 for the game to Brad. Everyone wins!
Though I truly did laugh when Brad said the Hawks had … “shot the … air … out of the ball.” Pretty sure “air” is not the commonly used term in that sentence so it was a nice save in a good call.
Basketball On The Internet's Player of the Week
STEVE Markovic is BOTI’s first dual winner of the Player of the Week award after outstanding performances in wins over Perth and Cairns.
Gary Wilkinson was big against the Kings but The Marksman averaged 23ppg in Townsville’s double and also dished six assists as the Crocs rattled the Wildcats.
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
Rd 16 Steve Markovic
Rd 17 Steve Markovic
THE WNBL will reveal its PotW winner within hours but before it does, let me just quietly remind PLOCH the Prosperous to take ALL weekend performances into consideration.
So, how do you rate Kelsey Griffin’s 20 points and 8 boards, then her 24 and 17 (for averages of 22 points and 12.5 boards) in twin wins over Dandenong and Melbourne, against Laura Hodges’ 22 point, 13-rebound effort against West Coast?
How about Katie Ebzery’s 46 points, 10 assists and 10 boards totals from two Sydney games? Kristi Harrower’s 26 assists in two games?
Jenna O’Hea’s 32 points at 75 per cent, eight triples at 72 per cent, plus five rebounds and eight assists worthy of a thought?
Well, at the risk of accusations of bias, The Batgirl gets the PotW for mine. Pairing 36 points and 13 boards with 31 and 17 for averages of 33.5ppg and 15.0rpg in two Fire road wins is the round’s stand-out individual performance.
Suzy certainly is finishing the year with a late run at the MVP award which, sadly, Basketball Australia forgot to announce two weeks ago, for some odd reason.
Reviews
Boomers v Rangers (W)
DON’T you love it when basketball is played like this? Melbourne, down but so very clearly not out, Jenna O’Hea nailing 32 points on 12-of-16 from the floor with 8-of-11 from the land of plenty, with 8 assists and 5 boards.
And then, when it is there to be won, Tess Madgen wins it on the buzzer for the Boomers 85-84 to send a message Melbourne is not quite the playoff passenger some idiot scribes prematurely suggested. Knuckleheads!
Crocodiles V Wildcats (M)
TOWNSVILLE strung together its best 40 minutes of the season, Todd Blanchfield with some amazing moments, Steve Markovic winning his duel with Damian Martin, and all of the Crocs' cast taking turns in the spotlight as they fought back from 57-66 in the third and produced a 26-9 final period.
Yeah, it’s a very WA thang to have a single-digit quarter, only West Coast really understanding as the Crocs went from 73-73 to 88-75 and Rusty Hinder declaring if more fans came to games, it would be harder to find and point to family in the stands when he does something right.
Flames V Fire (W)
SYDNEY looked the goods here for a long while, with Katie-Rae Ebzery (28 points) leading the charge of the light-on brigade as the Flames led into halftime.
But once Suzy flexed her muscles for 31 points and 17 rebounds, Townsville was on its way to an 87-71 win and looked every inch a championship contender again.
Kings V Breakers (M)
IF only Gary Wilkinson had not let his emotions get the better of him, New Zealand might still be in the thick of the playoff hunt instead of having to start relying on other results, Sydney reversing two losses to the Breakers with a heart-stopping 98-96 win.
Sam Young and The Madge led the way for the Kings, The Garfish bobbed up yet again and Wilko – who stroked it beautifully for a career-best 33 points – spent some key minutes off the floor due to strained relations with Sydney players, fans and officials. As Kerron Johnson, who had a great game, missed his shot for the win, the Lone Ranga was left to contemplate the age-old question: What’s a Hindu? (As any of his Kiwi teammates could tell him: It lays iggs.)
Rangers V Spirit (W)
KELSEY Griffin seized the day for Bendigo, reminding all she has to be in any MVP conversation – unless Basketball Australia has given up taking votes for that award and plans to announce it in an email to its state associations marked “please let whoever cares know” later this week – with 17 first-half points.
Bendigo made it nine straight wins over Dandenong with an 85-67 return, the Rangers seeking solace in the fact O’Hea didn’t o’plea.
Taipans V Crocodiles (M)
LOSING a season series 4-0 to Cairns just wasn’t going to happen as Townsville again turned it on for a 90-82 win that avoided a sweep and may also have put the Taipans out of the top-four equation.
Marko was on the mark and Josh was on the pace as Townsville took its winning streak to 3-0, currently the best form in the NBL.
Waves V Lightning (W)
MELISSA Marsh may be retiring after 13 seasons but her 16-point final quarter was vintage stuff and brought West Coast within nine after trailing by double figures.
But Laura Hodges’ 22-point, 13-rebound double and a 24-9 second quarter by Adelaide, followed by a 17-4 third period – “Hey, we take our cues from the Wildcats,” no-one at the Waves said – underpinned a 70-57 Lightning win in Jo Hill’s 350th game.
Hawks V 36ers (M)
WOLLONGONG’s 32-point second quarter and 60-point first half left Adelaide in a 20-point hole it never dug out of, the Hawks convincingly winning 102-80 and with seven players hitting threes and six in double digits.
It was a perfectly executed game-plan for which the 36ers had no answers after dropping a 17-15 lead and struggling to find anyone to play with Mitch Creek or Adam Gibson’s intensity.
Capitals V Fire (W)
WHEN Suzy goes off for 36 points and 13 rebounds, expect Townsville to fire and that’s exactly what happened in Canberra, the visitors in a barnstorming 90-68 win.
The Fire’s 27-10 first quarter virtually determined it, Rachael McCully with 13 points, 8 assists as the Caps missed Natalie Hurst, released last week to play in Turkey.
Spirit V Boomers (W)
YOU had to love the Boomers’ weekend, this time Melbourne going down fighting in Bendigo 80-88 after extending the contest into overtime, twice!
This was a game of numbers, Kelsey Griffin with 24 and 17, Gabe Richards with 20 and 21, Kristi Harrower with 19 assists, forcing Melbourne to dig deep, Bec Allen’s three forcing the first extension before Griffin’s free throws had to save the Spirit in the second.
Thunder V Flames (W)
SYDNEY’s 71-54 road win was no huge surprise, KRE again leading all scorers, this time with 18 and the Flames showing some fortitude to pull this off without Ro Cox.
A 20-7 final period by the Flames made it hard for me to get any more excited about this fixture than the majority of Logan’s lineup.
BEEF of the WEEK
SERIOUSLY now. NBL.TV, is this as good as it’s going to get?
The complaints have been a constant this season and rarely moreso than for the Cairns-Sydney game a few weeks back.
“That game was a Renaissance painting,” Hawks captain Oscar Forman said.
Not that I personally have anything against pixilation. It has saved many a felon from acute embarrassment.
But at what point does PERFORM actually live up to its name?
BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS
TOWNSVILLE was the round’s biggest winner, taking out the Wildcats, backing up against the Taipans and now owning the NBL’s current best winning streak. Coach Shawn Dennis reckons they’re still in the finals mix too, but I think he meant 2014-15.
ADELAIDE was the round’s biggest loser, squandering yet a further chance to pick up a game on Perth’s top spot, losing dismally to Wollongong and instead now opening the door for Melbourne and/or Sydney to steal a march on their second ranking.
MELBOURNE was the WNBL’s biggest winner despite going 1-1. Beating Dandenong and then backing up against Bendigo and only going down in double overtime is a tribute to coach Guy Molloy and his gutsy charges who clearly didn’t get the message they’re supposed to fall apart now without Chelsea and Rachel. What a weekend performance! Fabulous.
DANDENONG losing to a depleted Melbourne, then for a ninth time to Bendigo meant a weekend when it could have made a statement instead became little more than platitudes. Losing form ahead of finals is never a comfort.
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 Sydney reversing an 18-point road loss and beating the Breakers this week is some sort of conspiracy designed to keep NZ out of the top four. Those bastards.
