Basketball On The Internet.

IT was interesting to see how Markel Starks at Cairns and Marcus Thornton at Sydney responded to the pressures of life as an NBL import this past round.

With the Taipans definitively ruling out any 2015-16 return of last season's import playmaker Scottie Wilbekin ahead of Cairns' rematch with Adelaide, Starks grew an extra foot.

Cairns' GM Mark Beecroft said the club was confident Starks could take it where it needed to go and with the spectre of Scottie removed, his import turned in his best game of the season, including a 3-point match-winner over the 36ers.

Starks' 27 points at 56 per cent was so far and away his best performance that even the doubters mumbling within the OrangeArmy had to concede he is better than advertised.

Meanwhile at the Kings, where managament always needs someone to blame for under-achievement - checking in the mirror is rarely an option - both Thornton and coach Damian Cotter were under the gun last week.

Cotter went 1-1 and Kings management had to pretend it was his tie they were straightening, not the noose.

But Thornton is still under scrutiny, despite scoring 14 in the win over Townsville and a career-best 29 in the loss to United.

Keep an eye on this one as it unfolds.

BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET - PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

WOW, that was a round and a half with some sizzling performances. If the B.O.T.I. PotW was just on a quarter or a half, Chris Goulding would be chomping into our prized cheese-and-Vegemite sandwich right now.

But Melbourne played two games during the round and so his overall performance just fell tantalisingly short of Corey Webster's career-high 35-point avalanche which buried Cairns and gave New Zealand a thorough 90-67 win.

Webster's 35 points were at 53 per cent and in the words of Taipans coach Aaron Fearne: "He just killed us."

Goulding or Webster (above) shooting for your life? It's a tantalising prospect and we can see it on Sunday!

Sadly I have missed the post-pack so will have to eat Corey's sandwich myself, but I'm not sure he's a big Vegemite fan anyway

NBL PotW

Rd1 Todd Blanchfield
Rd2 Kirk Penney
Rd3 Jerome Randle
Rd4 Corey Webster

WNBL PotW

NOT yet. Come back tomorrow. There's a game to go tonight.

YEAH, NO KIDDING

OK, I've worked out what I missed with the poorly-named "NBL Blitz" TV show last week.

The Top 10 Countdown.

Come on. Everybody has it, be it the NBA or FIBA shows and while we can see this highlights package is done on the cheap, how hard would it be to cut together the Top 10 plays of the week?

I mean, we all know #2 this week would be Majok Majok blocking Jermaine Beal's shot to beat Melbourne and #1 would be Markel Starks' 3-point game-winner over Adelaide. But the other eight? That'd be fun.

And yes, while I will continue to lament the very poor choice of name for the show, there's still time to change it to "NBL Hardball" which, in light of the league's hashtag, makes so much more sense.

Not making quite as much sense was Shane Heal on the Illawarra-Crocs call when in came #97 for the Hawks, Jarrad Weeks. Heal said, and I'm paraphrasing, but it was something like: "They're calling him Agent 87 - I love it."

Maybe Heal could love it more if he got the number right? Then again, maybe he confused it with Agent 86?

And sorry Corey Williams, but the (e)mails I'm getting aren't giving "Homicide" any love for his "all personality - no substance" calling so far.

Twice now "guaranteeing" us Majok Majok will get 20 rebounds or that Chris Goulding won't be in the NBL next year are virtually meaningless comments.

Constantly saying Goulding will be gone is tantamount to saying the NBL may be good now, but Goulding is too good for it, which is a backhanded compliment if ever there was one.

Switching to the NINE Network Sunday coverage for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised to find Bill Baxter and Brad Rosen providing a relaxed, productive studio summary which made me feel as if I was being treated as a mature, intelligent viewer instead of a potential fan needing to be revved at every opportunity.

Nice work fellas.

BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS

MELBOURNE United was the round's biggest NBL winner, beating Perth in a controversial finish, then entertaining 8,000-plus as they spanked Sydney, Chris Goulding putting on a show.

ADELAIDE expected to repeat its win over Cairns from nine days earlier and never dealt with the Taipans' desperate attitude, Anthony Petrie's missed late lay-up huge as the Taipans came up big in the end-game.

ADELAIDE was the biggest winner in the WNBL in a repeat of the NBL game of the previous night. Except this time it was Bendigo who expected to win and never dealt with Lightning's desperate attitude, Kelly Wilson's missed late lay-up huge as Adelaide came up big in the end-game.

BENDIGO scored a key win over the Lynx in Perth, then erased it by losing to Adelaide at the Lighthouse. Lightning wins will be scarce this season and that one will haunt the Spirit, making them the round's biggest loser.

NBL ROUND 4

NZ BREAKERS 90 (Webster 35, Wesley 26, Ce Jackson 10; Wesley, Ce Jackson 8 rebs; Ce Jackson 5 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 67 (Craig 17, Starks 13, Burston 9 rebs; 5 with 2 assts) in Auckland. ILLAWARRA HAWKS 96 (Ogilvy 28, Lisch 25, Penney 24, Coenraad 11; Ogilvy 13 rebs; Lisch, Penney 5 assts) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 88 (Steindl, Conklin 19, Maynard, 13, Kay 12; Conklin 11 rebs; Conklin, Norton 3 assts) at The Swamp. MELBOURNE UNITED 75 (Goulding 19, Holt 15, Majok, Kickert 12; Majok 11 rebs; 3 with 2 assts) d PERTH WILDCATS 73 (Knight 17, Jawai 13, Redhage 12; Knight 12 rebs; Redhage, Beal 4 assts) at Hisense Arena. SYDNEY KINGS 87 (Khazzouh 22, Thornton 14, Cadee, Harrington 12, Garlepp 11; Khazzouh 9 rebs; Thornton 4 assts) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 78 (Jett 22, Kay 11, Henry 10; 4 with 5 rebs; Jett, Steindl 3 assts) at Qantas Credit Union Arena. CAIRNS TAIPANS 104 (M Starks 27 T Craig 19 M Worthington 13 c Tragardh 12; Worthington 6 rebs; Worthington 5 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 101 (D Johnson 29 J Randle 25 A Gibson 13 A Petrie 10 E Ere 10; Johnson 14 rebs; Randle 9 assts) at Titanium Security Arena. PERTH WILDCATS 91 (Prather 18 Beal 17, Jawai 16, Knight 10; Knight 9 rebs; Martin 8 assts) d ILLAWARRA HAWKS 62 (Penney 19, Lisch 15, Weeks 10; Ogilvy 4 rebs; Ogilvy 3 assts) at Perth Arena. MELBOURNE UNITED 96 (Goulding 25, Kickert 21, Blanchfield 14, Holt 11; Majok 11 rebs; Holt 6 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 82 (Thornton 29, Khazzouh 12, Cadee, Harrington 11; Cadee 7 rebs; Garlepp, Carter 2 assts) at Hisense Arena.

WNBL ROUND 4

SEQ STARS 97 (R Jarry 27 I Ibekwe 17 L Mansfield 16 N Payne 15 D Stallworth 13; Ibekwe 15 rebs; Mansfield 5 assts) d SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 89 (C Swords 25 A Wilson 18 J Tinkle 15 K Ebzery 13; Swords 9 rebs; Ebzery 8 assts) in overtime at Logan Metro Indoor Sports Centre. BENDIGO SPIRIT 73 (B Snell 19 K Wilson 16 K Griffin 13 G Richards 11; Richards 12 rebs; Wilson 5 assts) d PERTH LYNX 67 (T Lavey 17 B Laney 16 S Whitcomb 13; Laney 13 rebs; Lavey 3 assts) at Bendat Basketball Centre. TOWNSVILLE FIRE 83 (S Batkovic 26 C George 26 M Murray 11; Batkovic, George 11 rebs; Cocks 5 assts) d DANDENONG RANGERS 75 (S Cumming 22 S Blicavs 20 A Pickrel 15; Pickrel, Blicavs 6 rebs; Cumming 4 assts) at Dandenong Basketball Stadium. MELBOURNE BOOMERS 91 (T Madgen 20 M Garrick 17 E Penaluna 13 O Thompson 12; Penaluna 14 rebs; Penaluna, Madgen 5 assts) d CANBERRA CAPITALS 63 (A Bishop 21 R Montgomery 9 J Bibby 8; Talbot 12 rebs; Wilson 3 assts) at AIS Arena. ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 76 (L Mitchell 22 K Bowen 17 M Dombkins 13; Ruef 17 rebs; Mitchell 4 assts) d BENDIGO SPIRIT 68 (K Griffin 17 B Snell 16 G Richards 15 K Wilson 10; Griffin 15 rebs; Wilson 7 assts) at The Lighthouse, Wayville.

Online

Teys back for 36ers: http://bit.ly/1P55oxg

Lightning win: http://bit.ly/1iwGtUP

TIME-OUT

SIXERS coach Joey Wright may be the best dressed coach in the NBL - and weren't some of the TV grabs of comments by Joey, Bevo and Shawn insightful? - but the WNBL's Carrie Graf is the most articulate.

"We're a broken record right now. We executed well in the first half and got a lot of shots but we missed a plethora of lay-ups and wide open perimeter shots," she said after the Caps' loss.

Plethora? Bet the journos were confused when she said that.