The Top End Challenge

[meg]

Sept 28 7:00pm Perth Wildcats v Adelaide 36ers

Sept 30 2:00pm Cairns Taipans v Wollongong Hawks
4:00pm Townsville Crocodiles v NZ Breakers
6:00pm Melbourne Tigers v Adelaide 36ers
8:00pm Gold Coast Blaze v Sydney Kings

Oct 1 2:00pm Townsville Crocodiles v Sydney Kings
4:00pm Cairns Taipans v Gold Coast Blaze
6:00pm Wollongong Hawks v
8:00pm Melbourne Tigers v Perth Wildcats

Oct 2 12:00pm 7th v 8th
2:00pm 5th v 6th
4:00pm 3rd v 4th
6:00pm 9th v Darwin Airport Resort All-Stars
8:00pm 1st v 2nd

Not sure why Wollongong play the mystery team on the 1st?

I wish iinet were streaming this. It's the one thing that's really going to give us some sort of indication of how the season might play out.



(http://www.nbl.com.au/)

[Spiegel]

Is the game tonight 7:00 PM western standard time?

[meg]

Ah yes, that's something else I'd like to know. I took that schedule off the NBL website.

[whitewind]

Redhage and Robbins names not on the boxscore...

[angry ant]

Redhage and Robbins names not on the boxscore...
"Shawn Redhage is at home caring for his wife, Gretchen, and the couple’s two children, including new-born son Dylan. Redhage will link up with the team in Darwin tomorrow.

Co-captain Brad Robbins is underdone after spending the weekend in bed through illness."


http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/basketball/8031226/wildcats-below-par-for-challenge/

[Ted]

Ah yes, that's something else I'd like to know. I took that schedule off the NBL website.



Local times ACST

[Ted]

Quarter Time @ Alice Springs Basketball Stadium
---------------

Adelaide 32
Perth 25

[Ted]

Quarter One Wrapup @ Alice Springs

CATS
WEIGH 5pts
HIRE 1pt
KNIGHT 4pts
LISCH 4 pts
WAGSTAFF 5pts
WILLIAMSON 3pts
MARTIN 3pts

SIXERS
DE VRIES 7pts
NG 3pts
CARTER 8 pts
JOHNSON 2pts
WINDER 4pts
BALLINGER 8pts


Points in the paint 36ers 20, cats 6.
Rebounds 36ers 11 (65%), Cats 6.

[Hoffa]

Not sure why Wollongong play the mystery team on the 1st?

That should be the Breakers.

[Spiegel]

Matty Knight looks like he is having a good game. Defense tonight by the ease 6ers are scoring seems to be off though

[Ted]

WILDCATS
WEIGH 8pts
HIRE 1pt
KNIGHT 15pts
TOVEY 3pts
LISCH 4pts
WAGSTAFF 9pts
TRUEMAN 2pts
WILLIAMSON 4pts
MARTIN 3pts

36ERS
DE VRIES 7pts
NG 6pts
HILL 4pts
HOLMES 2pts
CARTER 13pts
JOHNSON 3pts
WINDER 6pts
BALLINGER 14pts

In the paint: Cats 30, Sixers 34
Rebounds: Cats 14 (40%), Sixers 21 (60%)
Lead changes: 4
Times Tied: 2
Biggest scoring run 7 sixers, 8 cats.
Biggest lead: Cats 3, 36ers 11

[Spiegel]

Adelaide cant miss

[Ted]

cats 73
adelaide 75.

currently 82 adelaide, 79 perth

[Ted]

Sixers have footage / clips at http://www.youtube.com/user/36ersTV

[Spiegel]

Luckly we pinched it right at the end.Tovey is starting to finally live upto his immense potential.15 points 8 boards 5 assists and 3 steals to boot. He is becoming a triple threat.

[WilloWildWaves]

A good win for the Cats missing two regular players, good to see Tovey having a big impact already. Well done Cats

On the side I noticed Sydney won there game against the Breakers by only two points as well

[SlowCoach]

It will be good to see how the Wildcats play against the gigantic Tigers in the next match. Will give a fair indication of how we will go against big teams.

Looking at the boxscore, the Wildcats were out rebounded by Adelaide and they are not that big of a team.

[mattic]

Thanks for the updates, Ted.

[Nerf Herder]

Great to see a good close match to kick things off... will have to check out the footage...

So is it certain that we won't be getting games streamed through the awesome iiNet service as per the Friendship Games? I've still got my fingers crossed for an 11th hour deal like where the FG stream came out of the blue... Would be great for all the fans across Australia to get to check out their teams...

Please please please please please please! :D

[Wild 1]

It will be good to see how the Wildcats play against the gigantic Tigers in the next match. Will give a fair indication of how we will go against big teams.

Looking at the boxscore, the Wildcats were out rebounded by Adelaide and they are not that big of a team.

Looking forward to the Melbourne game also. Though when you play a taller team sometimes you have a tendancy to box out and have more urgency on the glass than when you play a smaller team.

[Ted]

So is it certain that we won't be getting games streamed through the awesome iiNet service as per the Friendship Games

Yeah sorry broadcasts are tied up with One HD for NBL games (incl Top End); Friendship was a separate arrangement. At the end of the day it'll be a much better thing for the game being on free to air! Even if we miss a few in the first year or two.

I put some pics up last night: http://www.facebook.com/eventdevelopmentnetwork

And don't forget to befriend RV Sport at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Subiaco-Australia/RV-Sport/146883412011873?ref=ts

[Nerf Herder]

Yeah sorry broadcasts are tied up with One HD for NBL games (incl Top End); Friendship was a separate arrangement. At the end of the day it'll be a much better thing for the game being on free to air! Even if we miss a few in the first year or two.

Hmm... fair point... It's just a shame that they don't see the need to televise this, even on a delay (to not interupt standard programming) or even an online solution...

[Agent 15]

It will be good to see how the Wildcats play against the gigantic Tigers in the next match. Will give a fair indication of how we will go against big teams.

Looking at the boxscore, the Wildcats were out rebounded by Adelaide and they are not that big of a team.

It will be very interesting to say the least, but in the same token in reference to the Adelaide game we didnt have Redhage under the basket who has always been good for at least 6 rebounds...

[Ricnat]

Luckly we pinched it right at the end.Tovey is starting to finally live upto his immense potential.15 points 8 boards 5 assists and 3 steals to boot. He is becoming a triple threat.

Great stat line for Tovey. He hasn't been that good so far in pre-season, but he has played a lot at point - so maybe he's still adjusting. He and Wagstaff obviously benefited from Redhage not being there - but it looks like they are both able to step up when needed.

I am tipping Wagstaff to be uber important for the Cats this year - and I think he'll be amongst our best 2 - 3 players.

[curious]

Crocs ready.
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2010/09/30/173791_crocs.html

Snakes ready.
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/09/30/128865_local-sport-news.html

[Maz]

Is it just me, or is whoever is doing livestats getting their offensive and defensive rebounds muddled up?

How do you get a defensive rebound when your own team has just shot the ball, and an offensive rebound when the other team shoots?

It's making my head spin!! :D

PS Cairns leading 19-18 end of 1st quarter, btw, for those not watching livestats

[GordonG]

Cairns leading 19-18 end of 1st quarter, btw, for those not watching livestats

My livestats hasn't done anything since the end of the 1st quarter, is yours working?

[jjj]

My livestats hasn't done anything since the end of the 1st quarter, is yours working?

nope down as usual

[Maz]

Nope, so it's not us! :)

[GordonG]

"It goes off!"

You never realised that was referring to the live stats, did you?

:)

[Maz]

Woohoo! Back on the air - 36-36

[GordonG]

We'll take that, thanks...

[Barnaby]

Hawks are seriously depleted at the moment...

Positive
Ervin looks like a good find - 8 fouls on and was good from the line. I like having someone on the team who is putting pressure on the D by getting into the lane... looks like he did get blocked a few times.
Timmy C has been given a licence to shoot - didnt come off today until he filled in up in the last quarter from the 3 point line.
Grubes will no doubt be solid again this year

Negatives

Turnovers!!! not surprising with only one PG on the team, but come on we have to keep possession of the ball.
Shooting was pretty horrible as well - whether that was a function of bad looks or simply missing what the d was giving you i would only be guessing... but for a team that was deadly from down town last year and whose offence generally gave them good looks, its not really up to scratch.

[conair]

Very disappointing game led by 12 points then go under by 14.
Rebounds
Crocs 26
Breakers 41

Asst
Crocs 17
Breakers 24

[PyroCross]

Not a bad Breakers performance (I'm looking at the box score so have no idea what really happened) especially in coming back from a first-quarter deficit.

Wilkinson 24/9 - He really could be something (incl. 2 3s too)
38% team 3pt% is fairly good given we usually need to be doing amazingly from the outside
Braswell - where the heck's your shooting? Seems like you left it in the States.

[cantremeber]

Does anyone have a box score?

[DDFan]

http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/4877/02/44/62/68KnB5FNyxg0I/

[cantremeber]

Does anyone have a box score?

Never mind found it

Crocs down 100-86

Schenscher 19:58 // 10pts - 8/10FT // 4 Reb // 1 Steal // 3 T/Over
Blalock 33:35 // 14 pts - 67% / 1 Reb // 3 Ass // 1 T/Over
Freeman 32:36 // 25 pts -50% - 11/14 F/T // 8 Reb // 2 Ass // 3 T/Overs

Team
43% Field
28% 3 p


Defence leaked 100 pts

PS = Thanx DD - thats where I found it

[cantremeber]

Never mind found it

Crocs down 100-86

Schenscher 19:58 // 10pts - 8/10FT // 4 Reb // 1 Steal // 3 T/Over
Blalock 33:35 // 14 pts - 67% / 1 Reb // 3 Ass // 1 T/Over
Freeman 32:36 // 25 pts -50% - 11/14 F/T // 8 Reb // 2 Ass // 3 T/Overs

Team
43% Field
28% 3 pt

Defence leaked 100 pts

PS = Thanx DD - thats where I found it

I note Schen's FT avg last year was good...135-181 74.6%

Looks like that might be the strategy...he was 1/5 from the field but went to the line 5 times.

Good field % from Blalock but wont be happy with 3 assists

Freeman nice and solid from the stats.

[Lethal Vertical]

Some interesting stats from Tigers vs 36ers tonight.

As one would expect the Tigers dominate the boards 35-20. When you've got massive size, several 7 footers versus a small team with a soft Centre, that's bound to happen. And worringly the Tigers expected weakness also showed up on the stats sheet, with 19 turnovers including 4 to Campbell and 3 to Devendorf. I would've loved to have seen the contrast in this game between the two sides.

As one would expect also the 36ers attempted more 3's, but only 23 to 20 so not the margin there that I would've thought. The Tigers shot far more accurately though, and that could be the key to their offense this year. Nevill and Tragardh, and to a lesser extent Burston and Helliwell are gonna get a lot of scores near the basket and teams will collapse inside in an attempt to stop it, so if the Tigers guards can learn how to play around them, get themselves open on the three point line and then hit their shots, the Tigers might be tough to stop once they get their offense set. I expect their biggest problem will be getting effectively set, as teams might worry them with presses which could force turnovers mid court. Once they're set though, I can see a good balance between inside and outside scoring, with the bigs inside and three good 3 point shooters manning the 1 and 2 spots.

Probably seeing the results we'd expect from 2 of the opening 3 games, as Wollongong and 36ers should struggle this year. Bit of a surprise that the Crocs pre season form has been so bad, so they better turn around soon.

[bev]

Where's Ben Knight?

[meg]

Who is this James Maye fellow playing for the Blaze?

[DDFan]

@ LV

I'm not phased losing by 9 when DC went 5 of 5 from the arc in the closing quarter. I'm not kidding myself though, we were down by 18 several times & have work to do.

[Derek]

Is it just me, or is whoever is doing livestats getting their offensive and defensive rebounds muddled up?

How do you get a defensive rebound when your own team has just shot the ball, and an offensive rebound when the other team shoots?

It's making my head spin!! :D

Unless they're manually editing things after the fact, FIBA Live Stats doesn't allow that- the software automatically credits 'offensive rebounds' if the rebounder was on the same team as the shooter, and 'defensive rebounds' otherwise.

Or the server is doing something screwy. One of the two.

DN

[Daevo]

Where's Ben Knight?

At home :-(

Great win by the Kings... they are looking more legit every game.

[Nerf Herder]

Great win by the Kings... they are looking more legit every game.

Totally... Jules looked to step up big in the 2nd half and it was great to see once they got the lead they kept it... Would have loved to have actually watched it though as it seemed like a great ending...

Anyone know why Madge only played a bit under 8mins though? Seemed to have been going pretty well too...

In CoopWatch though... while he had a VERY ordinary shooting night (1/7FG, 1/5 3P) his other stats were pretty good... 4reb, 3ass, 1to, 1st in 26min... Could have been a lot worse...

[curious]

Crocs defenceless.
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2010/10/01/173941_crocs.html

[curious]

Snakes strike early.
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/10/01/129021_local-sport-news.html

[cantremeber]

Crocs defenceless.
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2010/10/01/173941_crocs.html

Yeah...my observation last night

Shame Gleeson had to read the riot act to the boys so early in the season - and to little effect.

I seem to recall the same sort of words, sentiments and frustrations being expressed last year

Defense is work ethic that needs to run deep within the squad...they better find it - fast!

[scottgcau2]

Braswell - where the heck's your shooting? Seems like you left it in the States.
From his stats during college and from the last year or so (france, nbl) he's pretty much always shot a poor % from the field (40% and lower). His shooting appears to be very streaky though so you'll get games where he looks like a gun, and then games like yesterday. Just have to hope his bad games are when the team doesn't really need him to produce.

[DJ Rod]

Good field % from Blalock but wont be happy with 3 assists.

I'd say HE wont be happy either - there is a difference between nice passes and assists and that is the guy putting the ball in the hole!

we didnt shoot well, but it came down to not getting any stops after the 1st Q.

[cantremeber]

I'd say HE wont be happy either - there is a difference between nice passes and assists and that is the guy putting the ball in the hole!

we didnt shoot well, but it came down to not getting any stops after the 1st Q.

Im sure youre right but at the end of the day solid consistent defense is about attitude.

[Warpig]

where can i find live stats...only found yesterdays game on nbl site...

[cantremeber]

Crocs beat Kings...

Telling line..."....but in a much-improved display from their loss to New Zealand on Thursday stymied the Kings with a lockdown effort at the defensive end of the floor."

And they did it without the big red headed galoot who was in hospital.

[Alex_Traitor]

Is it Rigamortis?

Tell me its that.

[Ted]

Times are all local ACST as per Darwin.

Redhage & Robbo were training. We'll see if they get a run.

Results thus far..

Townsville def Sydney
Gold Coast def Cairns

Currently halfway through second period Wollongong lead the breakers 37, 28.

[fan since the old snakepit]

Is it Rigamortis?

Tell me its that.

Almost. He has rangamortis.

[jake31]

Is there a table or something, somewhere, to see how the teams stand?
I guess it will have percentage as well.

[Hoffa]

where can i find live stats...only found yesterdays game on nbl site...

http://www.nbl.com.au/news/article/2010/september/top-end-challenge-hits-darwin-today/

[angry ant]

What's up with the stats for the Blaze-Taipans game?

[Ted]

Bevo confirmed both Robbo & Redhage to play against the Tigers in an hour.

[PyroCross]

Man, checking out the Breakers game and ugh.. Looks like Wilkinson's carrying the team. Webster and Abercrombie aren't showing up offensively.

But Wilkinson, 7/10 FG, 2/3 3p.. this guy is going to be something. Imagine putting him with Sean Marks at the 5.. oh man.. :)

[Marius08]

Is there a table or something, somewhere, to see how the teams stand?
I guess it will have percentage as well.

Is there a table or something, somewhere, to see how the teams stand?
I guess it will have percentage as well.

Not sure if they are running on %, have done so in the past, so would think so. But seeing as though the shift towards FIBA has become pretty strong, they may be placing points for/against ahead of that, who knows?
Either way, so far* -

Pos Team P W L For Agnst +/- Team %
1 - Per 2 2 0 189 171 +18 110.52
2 - Cns 2 1 1 158 152 +6 103.94
3 - NZB 2 1 1 182 176 +6 103.40
4 - Woll 2 1 1 165 165 0 100.00
5 - Syd 2 1 1 157 159 -2 98.74
6 - GCB 2 1 1 154 158 -4 97.47
7 - Tsv 2 1 1 168 174 -6 96.56
8 - Mel 2 1 1 180 187 -7 96.25
9 - Ade 2 0 2 180 191 -11 94.24


* I think?

Not sure how it works on standing when one team has played more than the other
I'm guessing % first, then head-to-head.
Meh!
Will definately come down to the wire in terms of placements for the final day! Not that it means a massive deal, apart from getting an extra few hours rest before a game.
Exciting tournament, will have to bite the bullet and put away the pennies to make it next year!

EDIT - I'm getting too into this aren't I? Geez I just want the season to start already! :)
But this Breakers/Hawks game looks like a good one! :D

[DDFan]

Lov'n how Oscar's going under Gordie, he's finally becoming the player I thought he could be. Bagged shitloads of rebounds & was sent to the line, nice work.

[Spiegel]

I know it's a preseason game an all, but very intersted to see how we will counter the Tigers frontline tonight. They'll probaly play alot of 2-3 zone and will clogup the lane and dare us to beat them from the 3pt land.

[Ted]

Is there a table or something, somewhere, to see how the teams stand?
I guess it will have percentage as well.

I'll post the standings late tonight.

[Spiegel]

Tovey hitting some shots tonight.

[Julian]

Champions lead 31-23 over the Cheetahs at quarter time.

[Spiegel]

Tigers have stormed back

[The Howster]

After the first three games on Friday, the only guaaranteed placing is Adelaide to finish ninth and play the Darwin Airport Resort All-Stars tomorrow.

Whichever team of Melbourne and Perth wins the final game tonight will finish top.

We are guaranteed to have seven of the nine teams finish on a 1-1 record, so they will be split by points differential in the first place and points percentage if still tied.

Cairns and New Zealand finished tied on 1-1 and and also both had a +6 points diff, but Cairns finish ahead of the Breakers courtesy of having an ever-so slightly higher points percentage (103.9% compared to 103.4% for NZ).

Will update on finishing places as soon as the last game is over but current points diffs for the teams on 1-1 who have played today are:

Cairns +6
NZ +6
Wollongong 0
Sydney -2
Gold Coast -4
Townsville -6

.

[Spiegel]

Matty Knight by the looks of it tore the Tigers into ribbons in the last quarter.

[Alex_Traitor]

Tigers have stormed back

17 point Cats run FTW

Have to call GOAT now.

I don't have any other choice.

So Cats v whom for the Top End title?

[Julian]

#1 Perth vs. #2 Cairns
#3 NZ vs. #4 Wollongong
#5 Sydney vs. #6 Gold Coast
#7 Townsville vs. #8 Melbourne
#9 Adelaide vs. Darwin All-Stars

Yes?

[Spiegel]

In the enfd the Cats mobility probaly won us the game. Guys like Knight were to nimble for the bigger Tigers frontline and probaly wore them down in the end. He by the looks of the live scores in the 4th was scoring at will. Lerts not forget Knight was a MVP runner up a few seasons ago in this league.

So much better fit then Schenscher that it's not funny.

[Alex_Traitor]

Super impressed with Knights game against a massive front court.

Gonna be tight fit for the 4 and 5 in the All Star First Team between Knight, Kazzouh and Neville.

Let's give the 4 to Knight and let the other 2 fight out the 5.

Expect Loughton and Wilkinson to be thereabouts too. Oh, and Wurvo.

[DDFan]

The large rebound disparity didn't seem to be a problem for the Cats. They could tidy up their free-throw shooting, but their assists & steals counts, with fewer TOs made a mockery of the Tigers.

[Dunkin' Dan]

The large rebound disparity didn't seem to be a problem for the Cats. They could tidy up their free-throw shooting, but their assists & steals counts, with fewer TOs made a mockery of the Tigers.

Nah, they were a mockery long before we got to 'em ;)

Nice going, Cats.

[The Howster]

Full schedule for the Final day is here: http://www.nbl.com.au/news/article/2010/october/taipans-to-face-wildcats-in-top-end-challenge-final/

Perth play Cairns in the final.

[Alex_Traitor]

While a little short I can't ignore the balance in the Cats team this year. Tovey will have a break out year and we will go about 9 deep.

Wagstaff is too good to be coming behind Redhage, hopefully we give him the minutes he deserves this sesaon.

Weigh
Knight
Wagstaff
Tovey
Lisch
Martin
Redhage

Not quite as good as the '95 rotation but as good as anyone going around right now.

You can cross Wagstaff and Lisch off the roster next year.

Wagstaff will be the Marquee player wherever he goes. I'd love to see him take the captaincy with Martin next season.

[Alex_Traitor]

Lets compare em!

Crawford - Knight
Vlahov - Redhage
Fisher - Weigh
Stewart - Lisch
Grace - Martin

4 HOFers v 1.

I feel very priveleged to have witnessed that 95 team. Utterly insane amount of talent gathered together. Should havre won more than 1 title surely.

[illusiv]

Lets compare em!

Crawford - Knight
Vlahov - Redhage
Fisher - Weigh
Stewart - Lisch
Grace - Martin

4 HOFers v 1.

I feel very priveleged to have witnessed that 95 team. Utterly insane amount of talent gathered together. Should havre won more than 1 title surely.

Apart from Crawford, the 2000 team with Rogers who will be a HOF'er too, is the same, so they did win more than one.

Considering they played in an era with the Tigers who had 3 HOF's and the greatest player in NBL history, they did well.

[conair]

Yeah, I know it's only pre-season But

Gleeson must be a little ticked off

Half time score

NBL Top End Challenge
Crocodiles 33
Tigers 52

[Ted]

#1 Perth vs. #2 Cairns
#3 NZ vs. #4 Wollongong
#5 Sydney vs. #6 Gold Coast
#7 Townsville vs. #8 Melbourne
#9 Adelaide vs. Darwin All-Stars

Yes?


yup.

[ygoslo7]

Yeah, I know it's only pre-season But

Gleeson must be a little ticked off

Half time score

NBL Top End Challenge
Crocodiles 33
Tigers 52

Tigers won 89-74. Looks like TJ Campbell had a hell of a game. 16 points on 6/7 from the field, 4/5 from 3pt range.

[cantremeber]

Tigers won 89-74. Looks like TJ Campbell had a hell of a game. 16 points on 6/7 from the field, 4/5 from 3pt range.

Geeezzzz....

Mixed bag

Freeman....again pretty damn good...seems the real deal
Blalock.....minimal scoring but 6 assists

The Good
Freeman // 31:27 // 27 pts (10/20) // 13 reb // 4 st // 2 blocks
Blalock // 26:14 // 2 pts (1/8) // 6 assists
Cedar, M....17 pts in 31 min

The Bad
Crosswell...1 pt in 13 min
Williamson....6 pts in 14:30

And the Ugly
PC...0/5 from field
Team shot 36%

Blalock, as an assists guard, may not work if the rest of the offence sputters so.

[PyroCross]

Breakers-Hawks rematch is turning into a walkover. I wish this happened yesterday so we'd actually be in the final.

Pledger could prove to be incredibly productive for the Breakers, 8/8 so far. Wilkinson with the likely arrival of Sean Marks will be the best frontcourt in the NBL, Webster looks to be adding something (finally) on the offensive end.

But one big issue: Mika Vukona. 1/6 FT. What the hang are you doing.

[Spiegel]

Tigers Frontline is better then the Breakers even with Mark returning. Mark is probaly past his used by date.

[conair]

Don't think the 6 Asst & the 2 points are going to cut it. All well and good if the PG kicks the ball out to the shooters, but if the shooters don't make the shot then it's all over red rover.

This is where our "X" MVP shone, if the shooters weren't draining their shots he'd step up and keep the score ticking over.

Now,in my opinion, if WB can't do that, I don't think he'll be around long.

[Ted]

More photos up at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Subiaco-Australia/RV-Sport/146883412011873 and www.facebook.com/eventdevelopmentnetwork

Including pics of some games (Darwin & Alice)... Sixers, Cats & Taipans in clinics around the NT and some other shenanigans.

[PyroCross]

Don't think the 6 Asst & the 2 points are going to cut it. All well and good if the PG kicks the ball out to the shooters, but if the shooters don't make the shot then it's all over red rover.

This is where our "X" MVP shone, if the shooters weren't draining their shots he'd step up and keep the score ticking over.

Now,in my opinion, if WB can't do that, I don't think he'll be around long.

Took me five minutes to realise you were referring to Blalock.

Gary Wilkinson, 8/11 FG, 2/2 3pt. Only three boards, but if Pledger can play some decent minutes at the five, that gives us the rebounding prowess (especially in a lineup with Vukona, Abercrombie and Bruton - could be our best lineup).

[angry ant]

http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/4877/02/46/49/39NgImYEIwc/

So who are these guys playing for the Darwin team? Tom Jervis plays in the SBL and Jackson Hussey played/plays for the AIS (??), who are the other guys? Have any of them played in the NBL before?

[Spiegel]

Angry, i was thinking if this is the same big Tom Jervis who plays in the SBL.

[PyroCross]

One thing about the Darwin-Adelaide game:

Jacob Holmes, 2 pts, 17 boards, 5 assists. *thumbs up* lol.

[Spiegel]

Holmes has allways been a terrefic rebounder. Especially on the offensive end. Pound for pound he probaly is the best rebounder in the NBL.

[Marius08]

One thing about the Darwin-Adelaide game:

Jacob Holmes, 2 pts, 17 boards, 5 assists. *thumbs up* lol.

Always love a guy like him in your team. Doesn't demand the ball and want to score all the time, just works hard, hustles, is strong as an ox, and plays excellent D, despite being "undersized".
Love to watch him play, cos even if he looks like he is having an off night offensively, he does so much more in other areas that many don't notice if they don't look at the stat-sheet.
He's the Ben Wallace of the NBL lol. Except a better shooter :p

[Julian]

He's the Ben Wallace of the NBL lol. Except a better shooter :p
Ha! Holmes' shot is as flat as a pancake. Watching the pain he went through on a 36ers video clip when the team were training with a shooting contraption (Doctor something-or-other?) to help with arc was hilarious. Voice(s) loved it.

[Spiegel]

22-7 after 1. Great start by the Cats, but the Snakes probaly have a big run in them so we need to keep up the intensity.

[Marius08]

Geez, big early lead to the Cats in the final.
22-7 at quarter time
Cats shooting well (9/16fg), Taipans can't buy a bucket (3/17).
Let's hope the Snakes can find the hole a bit more before half time, or the second half is going to get ugly!

[Spiegel]

Big run in the 2nd by the Snakes. Outscored the Cats by 10 to make it 30 to 25 at the half.

[Dunkin' Dan]

Looks like a pretty cruisy win for the Cats in the end. Not too much separating us in most of the team stats, except that the Taipans' shooting percentage is ordinary, while we have managed around 50% from outside.

[Spiegel]

Preseason or not, the Cats defense in the last two games has been pretty damn good. They crushed two of the more fancied teams for this seasons title and did it in a ruthless fashion in the last two games.