Basketball On The Internet.

WOW! What we learnt from Round 5 is what we've all known or suspected for years since Scott Butler has been at the helm of the NBL referees - never have they, as a collective, been worse. And that's saying something. Where are the Bill Mildenhall, Ray Hunt, Mal Cooper, Geoff Weeks types now who umpired with common sense?

Men who respected other men and treated them accordingly, allowing for a degree of banter and communication without rushing to the (in)security of their whistles.

As someone succinctly wrote on social media today, some referees' whistles go to their mouths, others go to their heads.

The level of physicality allowed in the opening few NBL rounds has vanished entirely and this week it was as if an edict of zero tolerance was activated ... without anyone outside the officials' circle knowing.

Now I am all for player BS being instantly shutdown. When I see a wannabe NBL player such as a Dontae Russo-Nance running around twirling his finger after a call, that to me should be an immediate warning at the very least.

A warning. Remember those? When someone is getting out of line and a ref says: "Cool it or there will be consequences if there's a next time."

Was Kings coach Brian Goorjian issued with any sort of warning before James Grigoul, across the other side of the court at Qudos Bank Arena, decided the fact he jumped in dismay at an offensive foul against Tim Soares was worthy of a technical foul?

No. It was simply tech foul mania, with more techs thrown out in Round 5 than in the previous four combined.

Grigoul, who also T'd up Perth's John Rillie later in the same game for his reaction to a blatant missed call, will no doubt be calling matches this round. And that points directly to the complete absence of public accountability for NBL referees.

These new ref faces, ex-G Leaguers or nicotine lovers also have a penchant for wanting to not only control the show, but be a focal point of it. No-one comes to see referees or to watch them ruin contests.

It is high time the league hierarchy called a meeting with the coaches and the officials. That's a meet where the refs shut up and the coaches say how they want our sport officiated, within reason and acceptable to the league.

It should never be the officials telling coaches/players how they are calling the game tonight. As in "We're going to be giving techs at the drop of a hat but we will be extra vigilant this round on three second violations."

There's not a coach at any elite level who hasn't heard something like that from an officiating crew, as in "tonight we'll be calling blah blah." How about just call the game, not what you imagine you see or hear?

How about you call flops as they happen, in real time, give coaches a warning if they're getting antsy and try to act human? It's really not a big ask, though what we learnt this week is what we've known a while, that the problem with commonsense these days is that it's not that common.

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What I learnt this week is a lot of NBL TV viewers enjoy the work or Ariana Prather and were keen to hear those thoughts validated or otherwise.

Well I am (not) sorry to say as a basketball lover, I pay zero attention to the rah rah pre-game stuff and never, but never pay any attention to halftime or fulltime courtside interviews with players just wanting to hit the locker-room. To me they are a total waste of time.

Not knocking those asking the questions but really, in years and years of watching these supposedly illuminating two-question grabs, how often have you seen or heard something that was of genuine interest or insight?

My answer is? Extremely rarely. So my MO has been for years now to record the game and start watching after a half hour has passed.

That way I can fast forward past those fascinating insights into what this match may or may not offer and basically zoom to tip-off. I can zoom through those same repititive adverts, time-outs, halftime stats reviews and rejoin the action. I usually catch up to the live broadcast early into the last quarter. Perfect.

I'm not saying there isn't a place for all the fill-in material or that it doesn't have an audience. I just personally don't care. I only want to see the game.

As a result, whatever the three studio heads are pontificating during Ignite Cup games is thumb-on-remote time for me so I cannot comment. On what I have seen of Ariana, she is professional and on point. Beyond that, I can only fast forward to the next email.

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Like most, I do have to endure the in-game commentary, except when it gets too much and it is time to mute for a while.

It is not hard to recognise Damon Lowery is endeavouring to be the next Corey Williams but the late, great Homicide had a charm and a manner that let you know he was in on the joke.

Lowery is no Homicide.

Pesticide? That seems a much better fit. 

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So what else did Round 5 teach us?

Breakers: Were much better when Petteri Koponen gifted minutes to Carlin Davison, Max Darling and stuck with Karim Lopez longer, than continuing to imagine the best years are in front of Reuben Te Rangi, Izayah Le'Afa and Rob Loe. When the Breakers value the ball - two turnovers against Tasmania, the lowest in 43 years - and work for the best shot, they look a post-season contender. But Izaiah Brockington remains a big key to any success, PJC reliable but Rob Baker either needs to play or stray out to Auckland Airport.

Bullets: Benched Jaylen Adams and got a quality win over the Wildcats in Perth. Coincidence? Casey Prather has to be in any early MVP candidate conversation and Tyrell Harrison also recovered his form in the west with a career-high in points and one more offensive rebound than Perth. Benched Adams again and drew a 20-point final quarter from him! Do you cut or keep? What we learnt is he can still play, when he chooses to, which makes him a bona fide coach killer. 

Hawks: Slumping from bad to worse to hideous, only Javale McGee able to hold his head up. Ignore any narrative that paints him as a liability. He is killing it and showing moves we never knew he had. The losses of Trey Kell, Lachie Olbrich, Hyunjung Lee and Sam Froling, plus Davo Hickey and now down an import have come home to roost, leaving Justin Tatum with a lot to do. Tyler Harvey is increasingly frustrated, and the manner of defeat at Phoenix was humiliating, Illawarra running a one-pass or no-pass offence reminiscent of days long, thank goodness, past. Find that import PG. Oh, and Jackson Ball has promise.

JackJumpers: Josh Bannan is thriving at Tasmania, Tyger Campbell's critics needed to be patient, Nick Marshall made an outstanding career move, and so too did Ben Ayre. But Tasmania cannot afford to keep losing players to injury, Anthony Drmic missing its last game. Referess treat Ayre like a red-headed stepchild. The alleged offensive foul he copped on a 3-ball against NZ was among the most absurd imaginary calls of the year. He didn't kick out his legs, landed where he shot and was then called for an offensive foul. Offensive call? Yes. Offensive foul? Ridiculous, but in keeping with the round's refereeing.

Kings: Went to Adelaide on a mission, went to Hobart for the fishin'. Alternate games seem to show the best and worst of Kendric Davis, another 4-of-17 over Bass Strait where Delly also felt the need for a shoulder bump on the Tasmania Tyger, reminiscent of his ugly hits on Tyson Walker. Don't taint your legacy Delly, but congrats for hitting your first three of the season on the 13th attempt. Who says 13 is unlucky? As for the triumph over the Wildcats? A great win under duress, though KD's 25 points again were on a non-flattering 8-of-22 shooting.

Phoenix: Couldn't buy a basket in Adelaide but were magnificent against Illawarra, Angus Glover's 7-of-8 threes in the first half mesmerising. Maybe should have started him in the second half because he cooled from there, but then, it was a cakewalk. Josh King had the luxury of not having to rush new import Wes Iwundu into the line-up but Hunter Maldonado's shooting woes continue to stand out, 4-of-16 in Adelaide, 4-of-10 at home.

Taipans: Jack McVeigh's wrist injury explains a lot about his shooting numbers being down. The Taipans effort against Adelaide could not be faulted. Without The Mac and having lost at home only about a fortnight earlier to the 36ers by 30-plus, to keep the game alive for a five-point loss was more than commendable. It still goes into the L column though, with no asterisk for *good effort. Andrew Andrews again was great early but grating late, a series of errors gifting the game back to Adelaide. Kyrin Galloway played too, apparently.

United: Don't give the fact Brisbane gave Melbourne a slight scare another thought. Up by 20 in the last quarter, United erred by figuratively putting the cue in the rack but when he was required, Milton Doyle was there delivering the KO shots. Chris Goulding has been amazing, 61 points in 56 minutes since his on-court return, Tanner Krebs growing as a starter and Tom Koppens flourishing in a steadily increasing role. Took the Breakers' best shot and won by 16. Next round against Adelaide will be a challenge, though not as great as many believe.

Wildcats: What a mess. That home loss to an injury-depleted, down-on-their-luck Bullets outfit was beyond embarrassing. Russo-Nance still wasting a starter spot, wild and crazy rotations, token defence and a struggling import in Mason Jones identified as the scapegoat and sacked. And that was after his one half-decent game! Desperately need a playmaker and in the meantime, for Jaron Rillie to be elevated into a starter's role, Dylan Windler now on one leg and Ben Henshall's mind on some magical mystery tour.

36ers: What we learnt is that when Bryce takes the whiteboard from Mike Wells in a timeout, we don't have to guess for who the next play will be run. In reality, just as he was in Perth, Bryce Cotton is the solution to every Adelaide woe, or so it would seem. If in doubt, trot him out. This was supposed to be a super team, right? But it needs a 15-point first quarter from Bryce to shunt South East, then a 53-point tour de force to stop a depleted Cairns? Some super coaching in there for sure.

Officials: What the hell was that in Hobart? An outrageous unsportsmanlike foul call on Will Magnay after he scores a basket AND receives a bonus free throw for a foul. Then we get an imaginary USF on him for the play? Jayzus H Christ. In the third quarter, he cops a technical which easily could have been avoided - by a) he doesn't say what he did; or b) the ref shows some discretion and warns him - he is ejected due to that erroneous USF earlier. What about Ben Ayre's over-and-back in the third quarter? Or was it a backcourt violation when he is well over the line? Or did he throw the ball out off a Sydney player? Or no, it didn't go out. What the? So OK, give Tasmania back the ball? WTF are these clowns calling? Again, hitting Mason Jones in Perth with a technical was a heinous over-reaction and led to his ejection (previous USF). But then he's allowed to sit with his team? He should have been on a locker room conference call with Magnay. Four tech fouls for some minor argy bargy in the Phoenix-Hawks game? What a bird-brain stunt by the refs. Tell them to cool it and get on with the game. Two techs per team, they cancel out, what was the point?

TV: Damon Lowery, pick up your chair cushion and leave the room. "Who's that?" when the camera pans to Al Green, MVP, multiple-NBL champion, holder of the highest individual score ever in an NBL game with 71? Forget it mate. If you don't know that, you don't know squat. Or maybe wait for Derek Rucker to speak first so your ignorance isn't quite so stark? Then we also have Joel Peterson dropping the ill-informed remark when Bryce Cotton hits 53 points with his "second highest score IN THE MODERN ERA". The what? What was the Ancient Era? The most points scored in the NBL in a 40-minute game is Reg Biddings in 1982 with 63. The NBL did not take full stats in its first few years so we'll never truly know how great a rebounder Larry Sengstock may have been. But it ALWAYS kept scoring stats, so let's stop the pretence. And how soon they forget, even the NBL's Hall of Famers. The WNBL coverage crossed to two of Hofers at Geelong. So it seems who cares if that's not how you spell Danny Morseu? We should be pleased we didn't get Carl Burton.