Basketball On The Internet.

WHAT we learnt from NBL Round 9 is that Brisbane Bullets coach Stu Lash is the latest "teflon kid". Nothing sticks. Nothing is his fault. Sack Jaylen Adams. Makes sense. Then sign Terry Taylor and look, Javon Freeman-Liberty is coming back. The concern when he left was his wellbeing.

Can't help wondering if the axing and the return are in any way connected.

After turning in the worst performance by a Bullets team in Brisbane in the humiliation to New Zealand and tragically losing Casey Prather in the process, it is amazing everyone on staff is still intact.

The Bullets were going so badly the refs even turned a blind eye on Taine Murray's clear travel on the game's last basket. If the Bullets couldn't care less, why should the refs?

But what we did learn is management is not about to admit to a single mistake it has made this season (and preseason) even though that's where more scrutiny should be directed.

And what did the Taipans' social media people realise? That when the Phoenix announce Hunter Maldonado will not be playing, that's just ONE player. It doesn't mean Maldonado and Jordan Hunter are both out. D'oh!

So what else did we learn this round?

Breakers: Petteri Koponen's men just cannot string together consecutive competent 40-minute performances, New Zealand's best (road massacres of Illawarra and Brisbane) contrasting dramatically with its inability to finish off winnable games against Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane (x2) and even Perth last round. Where would they be with those numbers in the W column?

Bullets: Fought it out against United after such a humiliating home loss to NZ, giving up 41 points in the second quarter and 68 by halftime. Embarrassing and inexplicable, Jaylen Adams finally paying the price. Mitch Norton and Lamar Patterson in the final quarter almost orchestrated a shock upset in Melbourne ... when Stu didn't have them sitting off. Lamar wasn't worth more than 20 minutes?

Hawks: A lot is being asked of guys who very recently were "role players" and Tyler Harvey must be reined in. When things are going poorly, he is - probably out of good intent - the one player consistently selecting the worst options. If Illawarra don't pick up a win from Adelaide or Melbourne this round, they may finally be too far off the pace and cooked.

JackJumpers: Losing Will Magnay to injury was always the big risk for Tasmania which no longer has the backup insurance of players such as Marcus Lee or Fabijan Krslovic. Magnay, David Johnson, Anthony Drmic, Sean MacDonald are huge "outs" with Perth and Sydney to come this round but the club's DNA suggests they could snatch a split if one of them isn't vigilant. Always competitive.

Kings: What we learnt is Kendric Davis can run Sydney from the point, Tyler Robertson was great as his backup and, though few might dare say it, the Kings looked thoroughly competent and defensively exceptional without Matthew Dellavedova and Shaun Bruce. Maybe Goorj has more options at his disposal than he realised.

Phoenix: What we learnt is what we already know - South East will always give an honest, hard-ass effort and John Brown will run down and reach that ball Admiral Schofield has lazily given up on. SEM will beat the teams it is supposed to but games against Brisbane and Adelaide this round will show whether they can take the necessary step forwards and upwards. 

Taipans: OK, so Andrew Andrews is 1-of-12 on the night but he hits the first basket in overtime in Adelaide for a 94-91 lead. So now it's hero time, time for a bad shot, a bad turnover and fouling out! And he STILL was miles better than fellow import Admiral Schofield who needs to be on a boat sailing for home. Thank goodness for Jack McVeigh, Mojave King, Kyrin Galloway and Marcus Lee.

United: How good was Uncle Milty all game and Shea Ili from the stripe as Melbourne turned away Brisbane's exciting late challenge? This is why most expect United to be there at the business end, because it has more match-winning options than any other roster. (Except maybe one now in the city of churches.)

Wildcats: What a blow losing Jaron Rillie for eight weeks with a hamstring injury. It was just starting to come together for Perth who still finished all over New Zealand with Kristian Doolittle sizzling in the final quarter and David Okwera rising to the occasion. Doolittle is a talent but he won't always get away with coasting for three quarters. Perth needs him more active all game.

36ers: All the pieces are in place and Troy Brown Jr is the X-factor who now takes Adelaide from wannabes and into the championship equation. Coach Mike Wells' insistence on gifting court-time to players he obviously likes though looms as this talented team's potential downfall. If they exclusively play Bryce, Flynn, Troy, Zylan, Isaac, Dejan and Nick, with brief energy-infusions from Kenyon and/or White, there's no telling what could happen.

TV: It remains a mystery as to how good Damon Lowery is on the WNBL calls - insightful, amusing, knowledgeable and succinct - but then come NBL and he is dropping in Rucker Park references no-one outside basketball will even understand. Oh, and for Naismith's sake, STOP GOING TO REPLAYS DURING LIVE ACTION FFS. How many times must we miss key moments while the AAMI Replay sign is flashing up, sometimes without even enough time for the actual replay before jumping back to live action? Is every guy in the director's chairs a work experience kid?

Officials: What we learnt is that YES, they can get worse. Adam Forde cops a technical for "entering the court" when the first period against the Phoenix is completely done and dusted. Absurd. (That tech was actually for winning all those Coach's Challenges Fordey.) Bryce Cotton only has to grab his face to convince a ref he missed a foul and must now call it. Xavier Cooks cops a tech for touching Davo Hickey's knee after the prostrate latter refuses a help up offer. Really? That's a tech foul? Bryce Cotton can hammer Kyrin Galloway on the very last play in regulation, scores tied 91-91, only to have all three refs looking in the wrong direction? 

Rumour: If Brisbane loses another game badly, Lamar Patterson will be sacked immediately. And Aron Baynes is also on notice.