Dragons 97 36ers 77
For the Dragons:
Adam Gibson 18 points (6 of 7 from the field, 4 of 4 from downtown), 8 boards, 4 assists
Joe Ingles 18 points (including 4 triples), 4 assists
Mark Worthington 13 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals
For the 36ers:
Paora Winitana 14 points, 3 assists
Jacob Holmes 10 points, 11 boards
Rod Grizzard 10 points, 7 boards
The Dragons jumped the 36ers early and were up 55 - 36 at the half. Full credit to the Dragons defence for keeping Ballinger and Schenscher to just 8 points each and forcing the 36ers in to 23 turnovers (Dragons had just 12). Adelaide, you know you're in trouble when Winitana is your top scorer! Very disappointing result for the 36ers as it show they're just not at the same level as the top teams in the league.
Taipans 89 Spirit 81
For the Taipans:
Martin Cattalini 28 points (11 of 14 from the field, including 4 triples), 10 boards, 6 assists
Aaron Grabeau 18 points, 6 boards, 4 assists
Matt Smith 5 points, 13 boards
For the Spirit:
Matthew Knight 21 points, 11 boards
Jason Smith 13 points, 6 boards
Blagov Janev 14 points
The Cat (Martin Cattalini) showed he can still put up great numbers. Is this his audition for the Wildcats for next season? Not much to say about the game itself ... two not good teams, Cairns just shot better from the field.
Hawks 103 Breakers 98
For the Hawks:
Dusty Rychart 18 points, 10 boards
Glen Saville 16 points, 4 boards, 4 steals
Kavossy Franklin 11 points, 5 boards, 4 assists
For the Breakers:
Phill Jones 25 points, 7 boards
CJ Bruton 13 points, 7 boards, 5 assists
Oscar Forman 16 points (including 4 triples)
No Kirk Penney for the Breakers and they drop yet another. I would've made the case earlier in the season for CJ being "more valuable" to the team but this stretch is showing that the Breakers struggle when they're not all fully fit. The Breakers dominated the boards 53 - 35 but hit just 39% from the field while the Hawks shot 55%.
Crocs 101 Dragons 98
For the Crocs:
John Rillie 28 points (including 6 triples), 7 boards
Corey Williams 26 points, 5 assists (but 7 turnovers)
Rosell Ellis 17 points, 9 boards, 3 steals
For the Dragons:
Donta Smith 22 points, 5 boards
Mark Worthington 22 points, 4 boards
Joe Ingles 20 points, 4 boards
Very good win for the Crocs against the #1 team. Great to see more heroics from our boy John Rillie. Two Joe Ingles sightings in two games ... what happened to him mid-season?? The Dragons could have won this but shot just 23 of 34 from the line.
36ers 102 Breakers 91
For the 36ers:
Adam Ballinger 19 points, 10 boards
Luke Schenscher 17 points, 7 boards
Brett Maher 17 points, 4 assists
For the Breakers:
Oscar Forman 26 points (including 4 triples), 6 boards
CJ Bruton 14 points (including 4 triples), 6 assists, 5 boards
Dillon Boucher 8 points, 9 assists, 5 boards, 4 steals
This game marked the final regular season home game for Adelaide legend Brett Maher. Still no Kirk Penney for the Breakers and they drop yet another one. Oscar Forman with some "old team rule" action. For some reason, import Rick Rickert came off the bench for the Breakers. NZ again let the opposition shoot 55% from the field while they shot just 43%.
Wildcats 106 Spirit 88
For the Wildcats:
Darnell Hinson 13 points, 8 assists, 6 boards
Shawn Redhage 16 points, 8 boards, 4 assists
Ben Knight 14 points, 9 boards
For the Spirit:
Clint Reed 20 points, 9 boards (but 7 turnovers and 0 assists)
Matthew Knight 11 points, 5 boards, 4 assists
Blagov Janev 14 points
A game of spurts with Perth winning the first quarter by 11, Spirit winning the second quarter by 11 and Perth dominating the third by 16. A very balanced effort from the Wildcats with 7 players in double figures and even youngster Chris "Bubbles"Goulding had 25 minutes of court time.
Blaze 93 Taipans 88
For the Blaze:
Luke Whitehead 20 points, 24 boards
James Harvey 19 points (including 5 triples), 4 boards
Justin Bowen 18 points, 6 boards
For the Taipans
Martin Cattalini 19 points, 9 boards
Gary Boodnikoff 18 points, 8 boards
Aaron Grabeau 14 points, 4 assists, 3 steals
Another game with 2 bad teams. Blaze essentially shot the ball better (50% - 42%) and outrebounded (48 - 35) the Taipans and would've won by more but had 20 turnovers (Cairns had just 11). Luke Whitehead has had a MASSIVE second half of the season!
Dragons 93 Tigers 83
For the Dragons:
Donta Smith 21 points, 5 boards
Mark Worthington 11 points, 10 boards
Joe Ingles 9 points, 11 boards, 6 assists
For the Tigers:
Chris Anstey 23 points, 11 boards
Ebi Ere 16 points
David Barlow 12 points, 9 boards
Its unfortunate that when these two teams meet its always an arm-wrestle and neither shoot great clips (both were around 40%), credit the defenses for that. Dragons won the game in the second half outscoring the Tigers 49 - 37. It'll be interesting to see what happens when these two teams battle in the play-offs.
At the end of round 21, the NBL ladder sees the Dragons on top and they have secured the minor premiership already. The Tigers are just behind and the Breakers are in third having dropped 5 in a row. The Crocs, Wildcats and 36ers round out the 6 and will fight for vital positions in the final round of the season. Not surprisingly, the Blaze are still at the bottom and will finish there.
Earlier in the week the NBL announced that John Rillie was the Player of the Week for his game-winning performance against the Dragons. Great to see John really find form in the lead up to the playoffs. Last week the NBL gave the award to James Harvey so I was wrong with my first guess of David Barlow but suspected Harvey might get the nod.
Now to the Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. The runner-up is Tony Ronaldson from the NZ Breakers (2 of 10 and 3 of 13 from the field in two losses). The Flop of the Week however goes to Ronaldson's team mate Rick Rickert from the Breakers for his 3 of 9 and 1 of 10 from the field in their two losses. When your bigmen are shooting these sort of clips its not surprising the Breakers can't get a win at the moment.
As always our Shooter of the Week is brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips. There were some great basketball shooting performances and the honourable mentions go to John Rillie from the Crocs (28 points, 9 of 18 from the field, 6 triples, 4 of 4 from the line in a win over the Dragons) and Adam Gibson from the Dragons (6 of 7 from the field, 4 of 4 from downtown and 2 of 2 from the line in a win over the 36ers). The award this week goes to Martin Cattalini (pictured below) from the Cairns Taipans for his performance against the Sydney Spirit. Like JR last week, The Cat showed some of his offensive arsenal that made him almost unguardable a couple of seasons ago. His full line was: 28 points, 11 of 14 from the field, 4 of 5 from downtown, 2 of 2 from the line, 10 boards, 6 assists and 5 turnovers. Martin essentially put his team on his shoulders and carried them to a win and for that we salute him as our Shooter of the Week.
Great basketball shooting technique from The Cat
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