Basketball On The Internet.

RENEE Montgomery is coming, Jerome Randle has already arrived ... and can Scottie Wilbekin or Al Harrington be far behind?

Montgomery, 28 and 170cm, joins the Canberra Caps off a WNBA championship run with Minnesota Lynx and will ensure her new club's winless start will end very soon.

Randle made an enormous impact last week, leading the 36ers to two wins.

The first, over Cairns, has pushed the production of import Markel Starks right into the spotlight, especially with last season's import Wilbekin finding out overnight if he has held an NBA roster spot with Philadelphia 76ers or if he is free to return.

The point guard spot is the most fiercely competitive one being contested at the 76ers this off-season.

Randle's second win as a 36er has thrown the spotlight onto Marcus Thornton at the Kings, where luckless Josh Childress also now is out again with a hand fracture.

Harrington's name again is in the conversation to replace Childress while he recuperates over the next four weeks. And why not? He logged 16 years and 1000-plus NBA games and has plenty still to offer our league.

With Sydney slumping into the bomb shelter, Thornton is under the pump, Kings hierarchy also looking at coach Damian Cotter.

My (e)mail is they are contemplating an American "mentor" for Cotter which is nonsensical.

Maybe if the club hierarchy didn't pick the team, then Cotter could be held more responsible.

RENEE ON HER WAY: Renee Montgomery in action for the WNBA champion Lynx.

But backroom guys are very rarely held accountable.

HOW great was that round of NBL?

The WNBL probably had a few too many blow-outs, though it did have a couple of gems. But the NBL was terrific.

Adelaide back-to-back beating Cairns and Sydney, Townsville upsetting Perth in Perth, Melbourne going to 5-0 with a tight one over Cairns before Perth turns up the heat in the end-game to climb past Illawarra in a barn-burner in Wollongong.

The crowd was back and loud at The Sandpit, also a positive sign. And there was plenty to cheer about. But the Hawks sure blew this one.

Ahead 92-84, they made a succession of poor choices while the Wildcats, hoisted onto Matty Knight's broad but sore shoulders and with Greg Hire stepping up to the plate, just ground away until they stuck their way into the lead.

There again, Knight and Hire made big plays, Jermaine Beal and Jesse Wagstaff very handy as Illawarra completely lost its way.

The Hawks played about 35 very good minutes but down in the clutch, Perth showed it has character to match the talent.

 

BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET - PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

IT came down to two options for the B.O.T.I. PotW in the NBL.

Jerome Randle came, saw and conquered, averaging 20ppg over two sizzling wins for Adelaide 36ers, despite stepping off a plane from the US on Tuesday.

Yeah, he was running on empty in the second game against Sydney, but still gave Adelaide enough to have the city of churches buzzing as it hasn't since Willie Farley ruled.

Randle was a lot to handle but Matty Knight also had two nights to remember. He battled so gamely against Townsville, even after wrenching his left shoulder. Knight was an inspiration and he took it to another level again in the win in Wollongong, just an ever-reliable battling, talented big man giving honest, consistent effort.

He too averaged 20ppg for the round and was an absolute warrior.

But the Wildcats did go 1-1 while Randle helped the 36ers go 2-0 and did it on back-to-back nights in different cities. So it is Randle who gets the grilled cheese sandwich this week. If I had two, well, it might be a different story...

NBL PotW

Rd1 Todd Blanchfield
Rd2 Kirk Penney
Rd3 Jerome Randle

HOW well did Tess Madgen go for the Boomers against Sydney?

Try 28 points, five rebounds, five assists - the girl can flat-out work.

But for all that, Tahlia Tupaea did go for 29 and the Flames did win, which is why Perth's Sami Whitcomb gets the Violet Crumble this week as the B.O.T.I. WNBL PotW.

Perth had to make a statement and it did, ending Dandenong's unbeaten streak at the top of the table. Whitcomb threw down a season-high 36 points in the process, with 6-of-12 triples, six rebounds, two assists and two steals to boot.

It was a great shooting performance, overshadowing Tessa Lavey's terrific all-round contribution of 18 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. So, before Brendan Joyce calls to say "I told you so," let me again congratulate Whitcomb for her outstanding game as the Lynx showed they are definitely in any playoff converstaion.

WNBL PotW

Rd1 Tess Madgen
Rd2 Suzy Batkovic
Rd3 Sami Whitcomb

 

YEAH, NO KIDDING

NOT too many TV complaints this week as everyone starts settling into the familiarity of calling and covering the NBL.

But I did find Shane Heal's contention Sydney was regaining MVP Josh Childress for the match against Adelaide a bit disappointing for Brian Conklin, who was the actual MVP last season.

Conk got to enjoy his time on the court a few hours later in Perth as he led Townsville to a rare victory in the West, and we had Mitch Norton (X2) and Leon Henry stepping up in the end-game to emulate Corey Maynard against Sydney.

That said, whoever told Brad Robbins that repeatedly saying "Hooley Dooley" as some sort of exclamation of disbelief is entertaining, was lying to him.

Once Brad, maybe. Twice? Ugh. Three times? Come on man, even "Arr arr me hearties" is more interesting than that.

And finally, thank you to Dwayne Russell for mentioning "as the music keeps blaring" at his last game of the round in Melbourne, because Fox is our greatest hope the DJs are reined in and the game remains the show.

 

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS

HAVING to substitute an import at short notice, facing a desperate Cairns, then backing up in Sydney 23 hours later, Adelaide's two wins made it easily the round's biggest winner.

THE Kings are the biggest losers, dropping two games, not doing nearly enough to draw fans to Josh Childress' (short-lived) comeback game - 3,500? Seriously? - and flailing about looking for fingers to point instead of finding a nice wide mirror.

IT'S easy to give the nod this week to SEQ after going 2-0 and +67. But I'm leaning instead to Perth. The Lynx needed to make a statement against previously unbeaten Dandenong and did just that, declaring themselves as genuine playoff contenders and the week's biggest winners.

WHEN a 30-point loss is the weekend's best return after going down by 63, you are not only the biggest loser figuratively but also literally. It was not Adelaide's week.

 

NBL RD3

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 74 (Webster 22, Abercrombie 15, Ce Jackson, Wesley 11; Abercrombie 10 rebs; Ce Jackson 6 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 62 (Thornton 18, Khazzouh 13, Cadee 13; Khazzouh 8 rebs; Prewster, Garlepp 2 assts) at North Shore Events Centre. MELBOURNE UNITED 93 (Kickert 22, Holt 19, Goulding 14, Hadziomerovic 12; Majok 13 rebs; Tomlinson 4 assts) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 62 (Steindl 19, Kay 9, Young 8; Conklin 9 rebs; Norton 3 assts) at Hisense Arena. ADELAIDE 36ERS 88 (Randle 24, Gibson 15, Johnson 13, Petrie, Ere 12; Petrie, Johnson 8 rebs; Gibson 8 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 79 (Tragardh 16, Starks 15, Gliddon 13, Weigh 10; Worthington 9 rebs; Worthington 5 assts) at Titanium Security Arena. ADELAIDE 36ERS 91 (Johnson 19, Walker 17, Randle 16, Gibson 14, Ere 13; Johnson 9 rebs; Gibson 11 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 80 (Childress 23, Khazzouh 17, Thornton 10; Khazzouh 8 rebs; Childress 5 assts) at Qantas Credit Union Arena. TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 66 (Norton 20, Jett 10, Conklin 9; Kay 8 rebs; Jett 4 assts) d PERTH WILDCATS 63 (Knight 18, Jawai, Beal 9; Redhage 8 rebs; Redhage 5 assts) at Perth Arena. MELBOURNE UNITED 89 (Goulding 26, Holt 19, Kickert 12, Warrick 11, Blanchfield 10; Majok 10 rebs; Goulding 3 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 80 (Craig 18, Weigh 14, Gliddon 12, Starks 10; Craig 10 rebs; Gliddon 3 assts) at Hisense Arena. PERTH WILDCATS 106 (Beal 25, Knight 22, Wagstaff 18, Hire 13; Hire 11 rebs; Beal 7 assts) d ILLAWARRA HAWKS 99 (Ogilvy 21, Forman 16, Lisch, Weeks 15, Penney 11; Forman 6 rebs; Lisch 7 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre.

WNBL RD3

SEQ STARS 95 (Payne 27, Stallworth 17, Mansfield 15, Farley 12; Stallworth 12 rebs; Mansfield 9 assts) d CANBERRA CAPITALS 58 (Bishop 16, Talbot 15, Wehrung 9; Bishop 9 rebs; Wilson 4 assts) at AIS Arena. DANDENONG RANGERS 89 (Cumming 18, Blicavs 15, Kennedy 11, Bunton, Pickrel 10; Blicavs 7 rebs; 3 with 3 assts) d BENDIGO SPIRIT 57 (Griffin 17, Richards 16, Wilson 11; Burke 9 rebs; Wilson, Snell 4 assts) at Dandenong Basketball Stadium. BENDIGO SPIRIT 77 (Griffin 25, Richards 22, Snell, Wilson 10; Richards 12 rebs; Wilson 6 assts) d CANBERRA CAPITALS 66 (Talbot 27, Wehrung 12, Fadljevic 10; Talbot 9 rebs; Bishop 5 assts) at Bendigo Stadium. SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 93 (Tupaea 29, Ebzery 20, Tinkle 14; Boag 6 rebs; Ebzery 6 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 86 (Madgen, Penaluna 28, Oliver 9; Madgen 5 rebs; Madgen 5 assts) at Brydens Stadium. TOWNSVILLE FIRE 104 (Tatham 19, George 18, Murray, Novosel 17; George 17 rebs; Tatham 5 assts) d ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 41 (Ruef 9, Bowen 8; Ruef 9 rebs; Mitchell 3 assts) at Townsville RSL Stadium. SEQ STARS 104 (Lewis 22, Jarry 21, Ibekwe 17, Mansfield 15, Payne 12, Stallworth 10; Ibekwe 13 rebs; Mansfield 8 assts) d ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 74 (Mitchell 21, Ruef 19; Ruef 18 rebs; Ruef, Mitchell 4 assts) at Logan Metro. PERTH LYNX 83 (Whitcomb 36, Lavey 18, Laney 13; Lavey 11 rebs; Lavey 3 assts) d DANDENONG RANGERS 74 (Cumming 22, Blicavs 19, Bunton 13, Kennedy 10; Blicavs 14 rebs; Blicavs 6 assts) at Bendat Basketball Centre.

 

Online

Brendan Teys in doubt: http://bit.ly/1R7K0Fb  

 

TIME-OUT

"My buddies and I have a new drinking game for United games. Every "Aiigghht" means a swig. The last few games have gotten messy by the fourth. We all channel Gorj and want to see Dean (Demopoulos) take up swigging Diet Cokes at will. The new rule as of now is if Dean cracks a smile or laughs it will result in the entire bottle being consumed in one fell swoop." Good to see Melbourne is bringing joy to the masses in so many different forms. Thank you Matt.