Penney Happy to be Back Home

Here's the Kirk Penney update, unfortunately he was cut by the San Antonio Spurs and his dream of returning to the NBA looks to be over.

"Making it" in the NBA is often about being in the right place at the right time and like many of his NBL counterparts (Gaze, Heal, Anstey, etc), it seems that Kirk just couldn't find that place. The NBA's loss in the NBL's gain and it will be great to watch Kirk in action this season.

(Click on the title to read the full story)

National Basketball League: Penney Happy to be Back Home

Kirk Penney is back with the Burger King NZ Breakers after exhausting his options to play in the NBA and he doesn’t regret a moment of his time and effort.

Penney was given leave of absence by the Breakers to pursue his dream of returning to the NBA to add to his brief stints earlier in his career. An opportunity was extended to attend veterans camp with the San Antonio Spurs but when that was cut short and nothing else was forthcoming for the 30 year old shooting guard, he made the decision to return to the Breakers.

Clearly it has been an emotional time for the former ANBL MVP but he knows he has returned ‘home’ and is focused on doing well with the Breakers.

“Getting into the NBA was my dream, I had an awesome time with the Spurs and feel like I gave it my best shot, but it wasn’t to be. Staying on the extra week after being cut gave me the mental space to prepare to return to the Breakers and the ANBL. I’m excited to be back with the Breakers, home to the team and the club I love.”

Kirk Penney one step closer to an NBA return

I got word a few days ago that Kirk Penney has been signed by the San Antonio Spurs. Going from the article below, he's actually been signed to the training camp roster, so he's still in with a shot of making the roster.

He's got a long way to go yet but if he can bring his World Championship form with him to camp, there's no reason he won't get picked up. As any Aussie who's been to the NBA will tell you, its about being in the right situation at the right time, hopefully this is it for Kirk.

Who Is Kirk Penney? | Air Alamo | A San Antonio Spurs Blog

Those of you may have known by now that Kirk Penney has made his way to the Spurs training camp roster. You maybe asking to yourself who is Kirk Penney?

Lucky for you we will be glad to share the information in which we have compiled.

Penney is a sharp shooter out of New Zealand and made an impression on the Spurs scouts as training camp is underway.

At the recent World Championship Penney averaged 24.7 points per game putting him second overall in the tournament in scoring and more per game than USA’s Kevin Durant.

Okay, okay so he is not Kevin Durant status but the kid can obviously shoot the rock and that is what we need on our roster.

Penney who has been signed to the training camp roster can now be offered a deal. It will though be a challenge for Penney as he is expected to go head-to-head with Gary Neal whom led the Spurs summer league team in scoring. Both are great shooters but many would give the upper hand to Penney given his international experience.

Before making his way to the states, Penney told media that he wanted to give this one last shot to see if he had what it takes to make it to the big time.

“I have to see if I have what it takes to make it in the toughest professional league in the world,” Penney said.

“There is no guarantee of an offer at the end of this process (but) it is up to me to impress the right people and show I can be of some value to the Spurs. I am going to give it my best shot and have no regrets.”

Kirk Penney gaining international attention

Good to see one of our blog favourites getting some respect on the international stage. After an impressive performance in the World Champs, Kirk Penney has people thinking he can get back in the NBA.

I was pleased to see the following story on Dime this morning, unfortunately no mention of his feats in the NBL, but hey, can't have everything.

Kirk Penney Is Back Banging On The NBA’s Front Door | Dime Magazine (dimemag.com) : Daily NBA News, NBA Trades, NBA Rumors, Basketball Videos, Sneakers

By Aron Phillips

If you look at the Top 5 scorers from the World Championship this summer, it probably wouldn’t surprise you that all of them currently play in the NBA. That is, all of them except one. So while Luis Scola led the field with 27.1 points per game, it was New Zealand’s Kirk Penney (24.7 ppg) who scored more buckets than even Kevin Durant.

You may remember Penney from his All-American days at Wisconsin. But after brief stints with the Heat (2003) and the Clippers (2004), along with stops in Israel, Lithuania and Germany, he found his way back home.

This past season, Penney (6-5, 212 pounds) joined up with the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the D-League right before the playoffs and rained murder on his opponents. For example, in only his third game back, Penney dropped 40 on 16-23 shooting (5-6 from three) to go along with eight rebounds and two assists. After his impressive outing in the Worlds, he definitely deserves another look from the NBA.

Kirk Penney, Kirk Penney, Kirk Penney

Its been a tough season for one of our NBL favourites, Kirk Penney. Coming off an MVP season in 2008/2009 his team was tipped as the favourites for the NBL title and he is their team leader (along with CJ) and number 1 scoring option. A few months later and Kirk has been injured for much of the season and the New Zealand Breakers find themselves outside the top 4 and looking like they will miss out on the post-season.

Last night against the 36'ers, with the Breakers' season on the line, Kirk delivered like only he can: 49 points, 16 of 23 from the field, 9 of 15 from downtown and 8 of 11 from the line ... all in just 34 minutes of playing time. Along with 4 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and ZERO turnovers.

This performance left him just one point short of the club's record for individual points in a game held by star import Carlos Powell. Carlos of course had 48 minutes to set this record unlike Penney who of course was playing in a 40 minute game.

Kirk is definitely one of our favourite shooters in the NBL and last night he showed just why we love him. Season on the line, his team's confidence in tatters, Captain Kirk delivers!

Hawks starting to falter

Don't look now but the Cinderella-Wollongong Hawks are starting to falter. Despite being tipped to finish last in the comp by many experts the Hawks jumped out of the gates early and have led the NBL over the opening rounds.

After their hot start tho, Wollongong are starting to come back to the field and tonight they crashed back to earth losing at home to the 36'ers, 59 - 82. They got thumped in 3 of the quarters and only won the 3rd term by 2 points. A convincing loss considering how strong the home-court advantage has been this season.

Hopefully it was just one of those nights that the team can put behind them and move on from. Other than Tywain McKee the rest of the team struggled to hit the broadside of a barn. Larry Davidson was 1 of 10 from the field, Tim Coenraad was 0 of 8 and Cameron Tragardh was just 1 of 6 from the free-throw line.

This is the team's 3rd loss in their last 4 games. Can they rebound or was their hot-start just an abberation? Things dont get much easier as they fly to New Zealand to take on a Breakers outfit that should have their superstar Kirk Penney back in action.

John Rillie - back in the NBL

Welcome back to the NBL, John Rillie!!

The news officially broke today that John Rillie has been signed by the New Zealand Breakers to replace import Awvee Storey. Rumours of this signing have been floating around on Twitter between the people in the know for the last two weeks or so but I was waiting for John or the NBL to make it official.

JR himself has kept it very much under wraps with no hint of the signing on his blog or on FaceBook until putting a note on the latter today.

New Zealand are now stacked with shooters as Rillie joins fellow gunners CJ Bruton, Oscar Forman and the currently injured Kirk Penney. Look for it to rain triples when the Breakers play!

Rillie in, Storey out

The Burger King NZ Breakers are flying in an NBL veteran to supplement their playing stocks ahead of Thursday night’s home game against the Perth Wildcats with John Rillie jetting into the club late last night. And as the club considers the ideal playing mix for the remainder of the season, the decision has also been made today to release American import Awvee Storey.

The call to release Storey was not one taken lightly by the club, with Head Coach Andrej Lemanis wishing the American well in the future.

“Awvee has acted like the true professional he is throughout his time with us, working hard on and off court. But from time to time you are faced with making tough calls and this was one of them, things simply weren’t working out and we needed to make a change. All of us on the team and at the club wish Awvee and his family all the best for the future.”

Meanwhile former Boomer Rillie has arrived at the club, a decision that was taken prior to that of letting Storey go. With Kirk Penney still out injured and back up centre Alex Pledger out for at least a further 3 weeks with a knee injury, Breakers General Manager Richard Clarke said the club simply needed another body on the floor at training and on stand by for Thursday night and the 38 year old Rillie has answered the call.

Basketball shooting

As well as reporting on the NBL and the NBA, the focus of this blog is basketball shooting. Today we have two shooting related stories from the NBL. The first is from the team at the Wollongong Hawks interviewing Larry Davidson about a basketball shooting drill they use. Full credit to Asa and Joel for the video work they've been doing with the team.



And just reward for one of the best shooters in the league, CJ Bruton from the New Zealand Breakers picked up the Player of the Week award for the display he put on in the first game of the season against the Cairns Taipans. CJ was a red-hot 10 of 11 from the field and 8 of 9 from downtown on his way to 28 points. After off-season surgery I expected CJ to ease back in to form on court but he's come out with a bang!!

Bruton wins Player of the Week

New Zealand Breakers star CJ Bruton has ridden a hot shooting streak to capture the National Basketball League’s Player of the Week award for Round One.

Opening the Breaker’s quest to become the first Kiwi team ever to capture a championship in a major Australian professional league, Bruton was instrumental in guiding New Zealand to their season-opening 95-75 win over the Cairns Taipans at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland on Thursday.

The popular point guard scored 28 points and added five rebounds, two assists and one steal but it was his sizzling shooting performance that really caught people’s attention. Bruton went 10-of-11 from the field, including an amazing 8-of-9 from three-point territory, to form a lethal one-two punch with backcourt partner Kirk Penney.

Five shooters to watch this season

Damn you JR, I had this idea on the weekend but hadn't got around to blogging it yet and then on Monday he releases his "Five I watch with interest". Sort of me reminds me of this.

Anyway, since our blog focusses more on the shooting aspect of the game, its time to have a look at the five shooters to keep an eye on this NBL season. Unlike JR, I didn't have the benefit of seeing any of the new imports in action in Darwin, so I'm going to stick with the local talent.

1. Kirk Penney - NZ Breakers
No surprise here, Kirk led the league in scoring last season and was regularly talked about in our blog. This season, the Breakers have been tipped as the favourites after getting knocked out in the semis last year and if they are to have any hope they'll need Penney to be at the same level as he was last season.

2. James Harvey - Gold Coast Blaze
Harvey (pictured right) had his moments last season but due to injuries missed a number of games. His team wasn't good and his frustration was evident. I know firsthand Harvey has put in plenty of work in the off-season and the experience he got with the Boomers should pay off this year. With a new coach and much better ensemble cast around him, look for Harvey to put up good numbers for the Blaze.

3. Michael Cedar - Townsville Crocs
Cedar had a break-out season of sorts last year. He's been in the league for a number of years but never seen enough minutes to really show what he can do. Last season he got that shot and delivered on a number of occasions. The Crocs cleared out veteran leader John Rillie to make room for the young guards in Michael Cedar and Brad Williamson and if they don't really step up and deliver there will be many disappointed people.

4. Tim Coenraad - Wollongong Hawks
I've mentioned him numerous times this off-season for his play with the Northside Wizards and also his strong start in the Top End Challenge. He might not see consistent minutes in the early rounds so look to him to provide a scoring spark off the bench for the Hawks. He's playing with old friends Rhys Martin and Cameron Tragardh so hopefully their off-court mateship will provide some good on-court chemistry.

5. Nathan Herbert - Adelaide 36'ers
I've rounded out the top 5 with a youngster who showed glimpses of shooting greatness last season. Herbert was a spark-plug off the bench for the champion Dragons but with that club no longer around he finds himself in Adelaide. The 36'ers have lost sharp-shooter Brett Maher and will need Herbert to be a threat from deep. If he gets consistent minutes, Herbert could be a candidate for Most Improved Player.

Now, I'm not saying these are the 5 best shooters in the league but these are 5 that could have a big impact on their team's fortunes. At the moment, I'd say the top 5 shooters in the league are: Kirk Penney, James Harvey, CJ Bruton, Phill Jones and maybe Oscar Forman. The last spot could go to Cedar, Williamson, Crawford, Kendall or a few others.

Let me know what you think of the five shooters to watch or even the my pick as the top five shooters in the league right now.

NZ Breakers

Although I have made it quite clear already that my NBL team this season will be the Gold Coast Blaze, my second team will be the New Zealand Breakers. They're considered by many to be the favourites for the championship this season, but that's not why I like them, because I almost always side with the underdog.

The reasons I like the Breakers are:
1. They are a great three-point shooting team
2. They have a couple of ex-Brisbane Bullets on the team (CJ Bruton & Dillon Boucher)
3. They don't play a lot of defence so the games are usually high-scoring and fun to watch
4. They have Kirk Penney ... one of our favourite basketball shooting man-crushes from last season

So with the Breakers getting the season underway in New Zealand on Thursday night, here are a couple of stories in the news about them.

Title or bust this year for Breakers - Boucher | Stuff.co.nz

Dillon Boucher isn't looking to hide from the pre-season hype surrounding the New Zealand Breakers ahead of Thursday's tipoff of the new Australian NBL season against Phill Jones and the Cairns Taipans at the NSEC.

In fact you could say that the Breakers' hard-nosed do-it-all forward is embracing the favouritism being heaped upon the New Zealand club who are being strongly tipped to become the first Kiwi franchise to win an Australian national league.

Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze has labelled the Breakers the team everyone's chasing this season, and it's a view that's pretty much universal across the Tasman, even if bookies Centrebet have the Melbourne Tigers as slight favourites ahead of the Breakers. Boucher has heard all the talk, all the speculation that this is the Breakers' year and, what do you know, he agrees with it.

NZ Breakers owner about making a difference | Stuff.co.nz

Who is this faceless, publicity-shy owner of the New Zealand Breakers? And why does he shell out his hard-earned fortune to keep a basketball club afloat. For the first time Paul Blackwell has opened up to the media about his motivations. MARC HINTON sat down to hear his special story.

Paul Blackwell is an enigma dressed up as a riddle. He's successful, rich and is in the select group of Kiwis who own professional sports teams.

Yet he's much happier parting with his hard-earned profits as the owner of New Zealand's busiest supermarket than he is giving up his story, and by association his privacy.

In a business all about ego, this God-faring, sports-loving everyday bloke doesn't just break the mould, he shatters it.

Kirk Penney & Corey Williams

With the NBL season long finished, its been ages since I've been able to write anything about one of our favourite shooters from last season, Kirk Penney. This article was on the NBL website last week and I just had to post it here. When you look at the names missing from the New Zealand team, that indeed must be a young inexperienced squad they're running with. Look for our man Kirk to get plenty of buckets with many of the other scoring options not in action.

NBL > News

Breakers star Kirk Penney says he is enjoying being the New Zealand Tall Blacks captain and mentoring the younger players on the Europe tour.

Penney is leading the young side in its current tour of Europe, without stalwarts Sean Marks, Pero Cameron, Dillon Boucher, Paul Henare and Phill Jones.

'I'm just hoping that the boys can understand what it is to be part of the Tall Blacks culture that we have established over the last ten years that I've been a part of.'


Also, thanks to John Rillie for pointing it out, there was a good article on Corey "Homicide" Williams on Slam Online. The announcement came last week that Corey has re-signed with the Townsville Crocodiles which is great to see as he's a fan favourite and the type of personality the league needs right now.

My question from the article below tho ... if Corey is shooting 500 jumpers per day, he's either got to start shooting 1000 or instead start counting his makes rather than his takes (quick basketball shooting tip). Click on the title below to read the full story.

SLAM ONLINE | » Where They At?

Homicide wasn’t one of those child prodigies that took the courts seriously as a youth. Quite the opposite; Hom was somewhat of a late-bloomer, and didn’t get serious about hoops till he was about 13. Even then, the Bronx native’s game didn’t take flight immediately. Nope. Nobody was hyping him as the next great thing from New York—that title was left to the likes of Lenny Cooke and Stephon Marbury. When he was in high school (Rice) and college (Alabama State), and not receiving the attention he thought he deserved, Williams may have regretted the late start, and resented the scouts and critics for overlooking his game. Now, nearly two decades since his love of the game developed, Hom has put it all in perspective.

“Being overlooked, starting late, all of that, that why I play with a chip on my shoulder,” says Williams. “I felt jaded. I thought coaches couldn’t and didn’t want to help me. All of that built up inside of me. So now when I come at you, I come full steam, with all of that pushing me forward.”

That “steam” is the same force that drives Corey to trek up mountains, and work out for hours on end. If he isn’t taking 500 jumpers, Homicide is working on his handle or is teaming up with dudes on the court, sweating to better his pick-and-roll offense. The first place that the effort and drive paid off was on some of the hallowed parks dotting the five boroughs of New York City.

Semi-final facts

I've been down in Sydney for the last 3 days so I'll catch up on the basketball world over the next day or two. Tomorrow night I'll be around at some friends place watching JR and the Croc Nationa take on the Dragons in game 1 of their semi-final series.

In the meantime, here are the semi-final facts from the NBL:

Notes

Only six times in the 46 Semi-Finals games since the best-of-three series began in 1987 has a team lost Game One and recovered to take the series. The last was the West Sydney Razorbacks in 2002, who fought back from a 21-point loss in Game One to win the next two matches against the Melbourne Tigers.

Ten of the last eleven Semi-Finals series have required just the minimum two games to decide a winner, with a three-game series between the Sydney Kings and the Perth Wildcats last year the first match up to go the full distance in five years.

Eleven of the last twelve Semi-Finals series have ended up with the first ranked team on the ladder going through to play the second-ranked team in the Grand Final, with the exception being the third placed West Sydney Razorbacks getting through to play the first-placed Sydney Kings in 2004.

The last four teams remaining in the 2009 NBL Finals were also the top four scoring teams in the competition.

Top scorers in season 2009:

103.8 ppg – New Zealand

101.0 ppg – Melbourne

98.9 ppg – South

98.7 ppg – Townsville

98.6 ppg – Adelaide

97.6 ppg – Gold Coast

97.5 ppg – Wollongong

96.0 ppg – Perth

94.1 ppg – Sydney

86.3 ppg - Cairns

Andrej Lemanis is the only remaining coach that has been this deep in the finals as a player. He played 42 career games including three playoff matches and was a part of the South East Melbourne Magic’s winning team in 1992 under Brian Goorjian against the Melbourne Tigers. Alan Westover played 48 games for the Tigers and Supercats in 1984/85 and his former Melbourne teammate Brian Goorjian played 24 games in the Tigers’ debut season in 1984, with neither appearing in any finals matches.

Coaching playoff experience:

Brian Goorjian (Kings) 107 games - won 63, lost 44

Alan Westover (Tigers) 18 games - won 13, lost 5

Trevor Gleeson (Crocs) 5 games - won 3, lost 2

Andrej Lemanis (Breakers) 3 games - won 2, lost 1

Incredibly, for the 20^th straight season, Brian Goorjian will be coaching in at least the Semi-Finals. In every season since 1990, Goorjian has coached his team to at least a top four finish. Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis and Townsville head man Trevor Gleeson are both in the final four for the first time.

Coaching appearances in the final four (numbers include this season)

20 – Brian Goorjian

8 – Brian Kerle

7 – Lindsay Gaze, Bruce Palmer

6 – Bob Turner, Alan Black

5 – Cal Bruton, Phil Smyth, Brendan Joyce

4 – Barry Barnes, Ian Stacker, Joey Wright, Alan Westover

3 – Brett Brown, Ken Cole, Adrian Hurley, Mike Dunlap, Ken Richardson,

2 – Geordie McLeod, David Lindstrom, Gary Fox, Dave Claxton, Murray Arnold, Scott Fisher

1 – Dave Ankeney, Andy Campbell, Jim Ericksen, Brett Flanigan, Jerry Lee, Don Shipway, Cal Stamp, Ray Tomlinson, Andrej Lemanis, Trevor Gleeson

The 24^th of February marks the 30^th anniversary of the first ever NBL matches played, which kicked off at three venues on the opening night of the inaugural 1979 season. At Nunawading Stadium, the Spectres defeated the Newcastle 78-62 with Falcon Dave Ankeney the game high scorer with 28 points. The Glenelg Tigers won just one of their three victories in 1979 with a 68-65 win over the City of Sydney Astronauts at Apollo Stadium in Adelaide and the Brisbane Bullets hosted Canberra Cannons but went down 70-77 at Auchenflower. Future Hall of Famer’s Cal Bruton and Herb McEachin both made their debuts in that match.

SOUTH DRAGONS VS TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES

Game 1 – Hisense Arena, Tuesday February 24

Game 2 – Townsville Entertainment Centre, Thursday February 26

Game 3 – Hisense Arena, Saturday February 28 *(if required)

All-Time: Dragons 3, Crocs 6

In Melbourne: Dragons 2, Crocs 2

In Townsville: Crocs 4, Dragons 1

2009 meetings:

Round 2: 25/9/08 Crocs 91 Dragons 89 at Hisense Arena

Round 14: 20/12/08 Dragons 88 Crocs 84 at Hisense Arena

Round 16: 31/12/08 Crocs 105 Dragons 95 at Townsville

Round 21: 6/2/09 Crocs 101 def Dragons 98 at Townsville

Finals history - South:

2007: Quarter Final lost at Cairns

Semi Finals history - Townsville:

2000: Semi Finals lost to Perth 1-2

2001: Semi Final beat Victoria 2-1: Grand Final lost to Wollongong 1-2

2003: Semi Final lost to Sydney 1-2

2005: Semi Final lost to Wollongong 0-2

Coaches head to head: Brian Goorjian 5 wins, Trevor Gleeson 5 wins

Trevor Gleeson will coach his 100^th NBL match in Game Two of this series back in Townsville. Coincidently he made his coaching debut at The Swamp in September 2006 against Brian Goorjian’s Sydney Kings, who were the defending Champions at the time, with the Crocs winning 117-103. John Rillie top scored in that match with 37 points – the equal most he has ever scored for the Crocs. Gleeson won his first four games as coach in Townsville, with his first loss coming to the Dragons by 13. It remains South’s only win at The Swamp and the Crocs answered with a run of eight straight wins immediately after.

Currently the Crocs are on a nine-game winning streak at home, which is their best-ever run under Gleeson’s watch and is equal-third best in franchise history. Game Two of this series will also be Gleeson’s 50^th game at The Swamp and in that time he has 39 wins and just 10 losses.

In 152 games played this season there was 22 times where the team that was behind at three-quarter time got up to win. However, South and Townsville were the only two teams that never gave up a lead to lose a game this season. The Crocs fought back from being down at the last change to win a record five times this year – with four of those in the top eight comebacks - while South came back four times from deficits.

Best comebacks from 3/4 time deficit this season to win:

13 – Townsville vs Cairns round 2

10 – South at Melbourne round 13

9 – Townsville at Cairns round 11

9 – Wollongong vs Cairns round 7

8 – Townsville at Wollongong round 19

8 – Sydney vs Adelaide round 2

8 – Cairns at Adelaide round 8

7 – Townsville vs Sydney round 6

Brian Goorjian has not got a good recent record at The Swamp, with just two wins in his last seven visits. At Hisense Arena his record has been very good, with 12 wins from 14 games with the only losses being to the Crocs (by 2) and the Wildcats (by 9).

With a 1-3 record against Townsville this year, it is just the second time in Brian Goorjian’s 22 seasons as coach in the NBL that he has lost three regular season games to another team. His Victoria Titans in1998/99 lost all 3 games that year by 15, 9 and 25 against Townsville.

Dragon Rhys Carter is the most experienced player making his playoff debut this season with 162 games under his belt – all in the regular season. Carter made his NBL debut at Hisense Arena for Victoria against the Melbourne Tigers in October 2002 and just completed his sixth season in the league with no finals to this point of his career. Last year Breaker Paul Henare made his finals debut after 155 games. League records are not complete in this area but Bullets and Crocs shooter Jason Cameron was one example of having a long career without team success by appearing in nine seasons and 207 games without playing in a finals game in his career.

Last week, Croc John Rillie became the first man to connect on 10 three-point baskets in an NBL playoff game when he helped his team eliminate Perth. Rillie has a career best of 11-from-14 long range baskets and also has the record for most points by an Australian player in a playoff game when he scored a career-high 45-points against the Wollongong Hawks in the 2003 Semi-Finals.

Most three-pointers in a playoff game:

10-from-17: John Rillie for Townsville vs Perth 2009 Quarter Final

9-from-16: CJ Bruton for Sydney vs West Sydney 2004 Grand Final

9-from-14: Marcus Timmons for Melbourne vs West Sydney 2002 Semi Final

9-from-13: Michael Johnson for Newcastle vs Brisbane 1993 Quarter Final

9-from-14: Shane Heal for Geelong vs Nth Melbourne 1991 Elimination Final

Crocs guard Corey Williams has averaged a team-high 22.5 ppg against the Dragons this year with Brad Williamson also causing problems at 13.8 ppg. Williams has only fouled out once this year and that was in the Crocs’ win in Melbourne. Twice this year Williams has picked up double-figure rebounds and both were against the Dragons.

Average points scored against Dragons this year:

25.3ppg – Kirk Penney (Breakers)

22.5 ppg – Corey Williams (Crocs)

22.5 ppg – Chris Anstey (Tigers)

21.0 ppg – Derrick Low (Spirit)

19.7 ppg – James Harvey (Blaze)

After averaging 10.1ppg in his first seven games with the Dragons, Donta Smith appears to have turned the corner with 20.7ppg over his last three where he led the team in scoring with 22, 21 and 19. His results from long-range have also been improved in the last three, hitting 6-from-10 after going just 1-from-13 in his first seven matches.

In Game Two of this series, Daniel Egan will become the 17^th man to play 100 games for the Crocs. Egan and John Rillie have both played every game for the club under Trevor Gleeson since the start of the 2007 season.

The Dragons are a perfect 12-from-12 when scoring 100 points or more in a match this year, with Perth the only other team this year that were not beaten when scoring triple-figures (10-from10). Townsville were also one of two teams that the Dragons weren’t able to score 100 points against this season – in four games - with Perth the other (three games).

Townsville could not win a game when scoring 90 points or less this year with eight losses. Their lowest winning score was the 91 against the Dragons in Round Two. South scored just 82 points in their last game in Cairns, which was their lowest score of the year but it was enough to win by two points.

MELBOURNE TIGERS VS NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS

Game 1 – State Netball Hockey Centre, Wednesday February 25

Game 2 – North Shore Events Centre, Friday February 27

Game 3 – State Netball Hockey Centre, Sunday February 29 *(if required)

All-Time: Tigers 14, Breakers 5

In Melbourne: Tigers 9, Breakers 1

In Auckland: Breakers 4, Tigers 5

2009 meetings:

Round 2: 25/9/08 Breakers 120 Tigers 111 at North Shore

Round 8: 8/11/08 Breakers 86 def Tigers 84 at The Cage

Round 19: 22/1/09 Tigers 103 def Breakers 85 at North Shore

Round 19: 24/1/09 Tigers 96 def Breakers 89 at The Cage

Melbourne’s Semi Finals history:

1992: Semi Final beat Sydney 2-1: Grand Final lost to Magic 1-2

1993: Semi Final beat Magic 2-0: Grand Final beat Perth 2-1

1994: Semi Final lost to Adelaide 0-2

1996: Semi Final beat Canberra 2-1: Grand Final lost to Magic 1-2

1997: Semi Final beat North Melb 2-0: Grand Final beat Magic 2-1

1999: Semi Final lost to Victoria 0-2

2002: Semi Final lost to West Sydney 1-2

2006: Semi Final beat Perth 2-0: Grand Final beat Sydney 3-0

2007: Semi Final beat Cairns 2-0: Grand Final lost to Brisbane 1-3

2008: Semi Final beat Brisbane 2-0: Grand Final beat Sydney 3-2

New Zealand’s Finals history:

2008: Quarter Final beat Cairns 1-0

2008: Quarter Final lost to Brisbane 0-1

2009: Quarter Final beat Adelaide 1-0

The Tigers won their first eight straight games at The Cage against New Zealand before they lost by 2 points in Round Eight in a game that the Breakers led by as much as 22 points early in the third.

In their first meeting this year, New Zealand dropped 20 three-pointers on the Tigers, which is the Breakers’ all-time best in their history and the most any team had ever connected against Melbourne. In their first two wins over the Tigers this year, New Zealand made 32 baskets from outside the arc at 48%. In the next two losses, they could manage just 15 makes at 31%.

New Zealand’s last two games at North Shore have produced wins by 34 over Cairns and 30 against the Sixers. In their history the Breakers have never won consecutive home games by anything more than 14 points. Their 18-point loss to the Tigers in Round 19 was their heaviest home defeat of this year so far.

New Zealand are the only team in the NBL that has not been blown for a technical foul all year and could be the first team to go through a season without picking up at least one since records were kept. Last season the Breakers had racked up eight techs, which was second most in the league to the Sydney Kings (14). This year’s overall tally of 62 is also the lowest in history and 15 less than the 77 recorded in 2008.

Technical fouls this season:

12 – Gold Coast

8 – Adelaide; Cairns; Perth

6 – South; Wollongong

5 – Melbourne; Townsville

4 – Sydney

0 – New Zealand

Breaker Kirk Penney has a career scoring average of 24.3 ppg but in his three playoff games so far he has elevated that to 28.3 ppg with scores of 30 against Cairns, 24 versus the Bullets and 31 last week against Adelaide. In the last 10 years of the NBL Finals, his average is the best of any player who has played more than one game.

Leading career playoff averages (last 10 years only):
28.3 ppg: Kirk Penney (3 games)

26.5 ppg: Willie Farley (10 games)

25.7 ppg: Corey Williams (3 games)

24.0 ppg: Kevin Brooks (6 games)

23.8 ppg: Chris Williams (8 games)

22.4 ppg: Lanard Copeland (16 games)

Alan Westover is in his fourth year as full-time coach of the Tigers and has a perfect record in the Semi-Finals with six wins from six games in his first three years in the job. In 2006 it was Perth who were swept 0-2 with Cairns in 2007 and Brisbane (2008) suffering the same fate. Last season he became the first coach to ever make three appearances in the Grand Final in his first three years as coach.

Oscar Forman needs three more games to reach 250 in his career. Forman has hit 98 threes this season to lead the league in makes. Last year five players had made at least 100 triples in the regular season - Ebi Ere, Kirk Penney, CJ Bruton, James Harvey and Troy DeVries. Forman’s previous career best was 81 makes in 33 games for the Breakers in 2007.

Last week the Breakers clocked up a new club record 131 points in their thrashing of Adelaide, beating their previous high of 127 coming against the Bullets last year. In a runaway final term, New Zealand also set a new quarter scoring record for the club with a 45-point term.

Breakers best NBL quarters:

45 – vs Adelaide 2009 (4^th)

44 – vs Adelaide 2004 (1^st)

44 – at Perth 2009 (4^th)

43 - vs Townsville 2007 (4^th)

Chris Ansey is averaging a team high 21.8 ppg against the Breakers this year but he has shot just 4-from-20 from outside the arc against the Kiwis. It was his second worst long range percentage against any team this year behind only the Sydney Spirit, who he went 0-from-11 against in three games.

The Tigers had the best record of any team this season when on television, losing just one game and that was against the Breakers in Auckland. Sydney was the only team that never enjoyed a broadcast victory on either Fox Sports in Australia or Maori Television in New Zealand.

Combined television record this season:

Melbourne - 6 wins, 1 loss

South - 5 wins, 2 losses

New Zealand - 11 wins, 5 losses

Adelaide - 4 wins, 4 losses

Townsville - 3 wins, 4 losses

Gold Coast - 1 win, 2 losses

Wollongong - 1 win, 3 losses

Perth - 1 win, 3 losses

Cairns - 1 win, 5 losses

Sydney - 0 wins, 4 losses

Tigers Dave Thomas and Luke Kendall are attempting to be just the third and fourth players in league history to change clubs during the season and find themselves in a Grand Final. Thomas played 16 games with the Taipans and Kendall 12 games with Perth before both found their way to Melbourne. In 2002, Matt Garrison left the Taipans after 10 games and signed with Adelaide to eventually find himself with a Championship ring that year to add to the one he won with the Hawks in 2001. In 2004 Brad Williams spent time at both New Zealand and Cairns before playing out the year at the Razorbacks and qualifying for the Grand Final in which they were runners up to the Kings.

NBL quarter-final facts

Thanks to Marc Howard from the NBL for sending through these historic numbers regarding quarter-final match-ups. With the Crocs playing in Perth tonight, hopefully they can buck the trend and advance to the next round.

NBL Fast Facts - Quarter Finals

There have been five previous seasons where the finals format has included sudden death Quarter Finals and no team has ever made it through them to win the Championship. The closest anyone has gotten was the West Sydney Razorbacks in 2004 – the first year of sudden death - and they made it to the Grand Final after finishing third, only to lose to the Kings in the first ever five-game Grand Final series.

15 of the 20 sudden death Quarter Finals under the current format have been won by the home team.

Last season, New Zealand was the only road team to win a Quarter Finals match when they defeated the Taipans in Cairns by 22. In 2007, every home team won the four knockout matches.

The first and second ranked teams have ended up playing off in the past four Grand Final series. In the 30 Championships that have been decided already, first and second seeded teams have taken the title 24 times with only one team ever winning the Championship from outside the top four. That was the Perth Wildcats who came from fifth to take the title in 1990 and win the club’s first ever Championship.

Ladder positions to end up Champion:
First – 13 times
Second – 11 times
Third – 3 times
Fourth – 2 times
Fifth – 1 time

Perth’s Conner Henry and Adelaide’s Scott Ninnis have both qualified for the playoffs in their debut seasons as coach in the NBL. Surprisingly, the last time the league had two rookie coaches make their playoff debuts in the same year was way back in 1993 when Don Monson was in charge at the Adelaide 36ers and Brett Brown coached North Melbourne, with both losing in the first round of finals.

Coaching playoff experience:
Brian Goorjian (Kings) 107 games, won 63, lost 44
Alan Westover (Tigers) 18 games, won 13, lost 5
Trevor Gleeson (Crocs) 4 games, won 2, lost 2
Andrej Lemanis (Breakers) 2 games, won 1, lost 1
Scott Ninnis (36ers) Debut season
Conner Henry (Wildcats) Debut season

Adelaide’s Brad Davidson is the most experienced player in this year’s finals that is yet to win a Championship with 392 games under his belt. Maybe his 13th season will be lucky for him. In 2009, the Gold Coast’s Scott McGregor was the active player with the most games without playing in a title winning team (413) with both players now in reach of the all-time league record holder in that category - 15-year veteran Andrew Goodwin on 431 matches. Davidson has played 245 matches since his Crocs lost the Grand Final to the Hawks in 2001 with just one playoff win in that time – a home win by his Taipans over the Wildcats in 2004.

Current most games without a Championship amongst players in this year’s Finals:
392 – Brad Davidson (Adelaide)
312 – Peter Crawford (Perth)
264 – David Cooper (Adelaide)
231 – Russell Hinder (Townsville)
188 – Matt Burston (South)
185 – Paul Henare (New Zealand)
162 – Rhys Carter (South)
159 – Adam Caporn (Perth)
147 – Shawn Redhage (Perth)
146 – Luke Kendall (Melbourne)

Tony Ronaldson begins his 19th post season as the second-oldest player in the NBL Finals and he hopes to celebrate with a trip to the Semi-Finals, which begin on his 37th birthday next Wednesday night.

Oldest players still in finals: (as at Feb 18)
37 years 3 months – John Rillie (Crocs)
36 years 11 months – Tony Ronaldson (Breakers)
35 years 10 months – Brett Maher (Sixers)
35 years 0 months – Phill Jones (Breakers)
34 years 9 months – Brad Davidson (Sixers)
34 years 1 month – Chris Anstey (Tigers)
33 years 11 months – Rosell Ellis (Crocs)
33 years 3 months – Stephen Hoare (Tigers)



PERTH WILDCATS VS TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES
Challenge Stadium
Wednesday February 18

All-Time: Wildcats 33, Crocs 17.
In Perth: Wildcats 19, Crocs 6
Perth have won their past six home games against Townsville dating back to 18/9/05

2009 meetings:
Round 3: 4/10/08 – Crocs 97 def Wildcats 80 at Townsville
Round 5: 17/10/08 – Wildcats 107 def Crocs 93 at Townsville
Round 8: 8/11/08 – Wildcats 115 def Crocs 78 at Perth
Round 15: 27/12/08 – Wildcats 97 def Crocs 76 at Perth

Previous finals meetings:
24/3/00 – Semi Final game 1 – Perth 104 def Townsville 101 at Challenge Stadium
31/3/00 – Semi Final game 2 – Townsville 101 def Perth 78 at the Swamp
2/4/00 – Semi Final game 3 – Perth 104 def Townsville 84 at the Swamp
22/2/08 – Quarter Finals – Perth 96 def Townsville 78 at Challenge Stadium

The Crocs have finished fifth for the third straight season under Trevor Gleeson with a record of 19-14 in 2007 and an identical 17-13 the past two years. In the past two seasons, Townsville have been eliminated on the road in the Quarter Finals. In 2000, Townsville made the playoffs for the first ever time and Perth were their opponents in the Semi-Finals after the Crocs automatically made it after finishing the year second. That year, three teams were equal on top of the ladder with 22-6 records. Townsville have qualified for the playoffs in seven of the last 10 years since.

Perth are the league’s most experienced playoff teams with this being their 23rd straight season in the finals. The Wildcats have played 95 finals, which is well ahead of Melbourne (84), Adelaide (72) and Brisbane (66). They have played five years without making the Grand Final which is nothing out of the ordinary for most clubs, but the worst run for Perth since their first five years in the competition. They have never had six straight years without playing in a Grand Final.

Townsville have a poor record away from ‘The Swamp’ in playoff games. In the last nine seasons since their playoff debut in 2000, the Crocs have played in 10 ‘away’ games for just the one victory. That was when they evened the 2003 Semi-Finals against the Kings 1-1 in Sydney, winning by a whopping 22 points (113-91).

There was a dramatic difference in the free-throw shooting for Perth in their series against the Crocs. In the first two games at The Swamp, the Wildcats had 17 and 16 attempts (average: 16.5), but back at Challenge Stadium they had their two games with the most trip to the charity stripe – 41 in game three and 46 in game four (average 43.5).

For the second year in a row, Crocs guard Corey Williams has led the league in free-throw attempts with 201 this year, just ahead of ‘Cats forward Shawn Redhage (197). Williams’ percentages from the stripe took a tumble at just 62.6% following 71.8% last year. Redhage on the other hand connected on 84.7% of his attempts, an improvement on the career 74.5% he started the year on.

Perth finished the year as the league’s best free-throw shooting team at 76.1% while Townsville were the league’s worst at 62.8%.

Townsville averaged 98.5 ppg over the season and scored 100 points or more in 14 of their 30 games but there was only one team they couldn’t score triple-figures against all year long – Perth. The Wildcats restricted the Crocs to just 86 ppg in their four meetings with only Wollongong (84.7) and Cairns (81.3) scoring less against the Westerners.

Despite playing four times this year, Perth only had one 20-point scorer against the Crocs this year, with Isiah Victor posting 23 in their final meeting. The Wildcats had six players average double-figures against the Crocs with Shawn Redhage the team leader at 15.5 ppg and Victor next highest on 14.8 ppg. Rosell Ellis was the best for the Crocs against Perth at 16.3 per game with Corey Williams averaging 13.8 ppg. Kelvin Robertson scored 27 for the Crocs in game one of the series but his season is unfortunately now over due to a knee injury.

The Crocodiles’ biggest loss of the year came against the Wildcats in Perth in Round 8 and strangely the four biggest defeats by Townsville came in their four trips West. Their biggest home loss of the year also came against Perth back in Round 5.

Crocs biggest losses in 2009:
37* – at Wildcats Round 8
27 – at Adelaide Round 1
21 – at Perth Round 15
21 – at Adelaide Round 13
16 – at Melbourne Round 22
14 – vs Perth Round 5

* Also Perth’s biggest win of the year



NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS VS ADELAIDE 36ERS
North Shore Events Centre
Thursday February 19

All-Time: Breakers 6, Sixers 11.
In Auckland: Breakers 5, Sixers 4

New Zealand have won 56% of their home games against Adelaide (5-from-9) while Adelaide have won 87.5% of their home games against New Zealand (7-from-8). The home team has won seven of the last eight games played between these teams, the only exception being the Sixers’ 10-point win in Round 8.

2009 meetings:
Round 3: 2/10/08 – Breakers 118 def Sixers 80 at Auckland
Round 8: 6/11/08 – Sixers 96 def Breakers 86 at Auckland
Round 21: 7/2/09 – Sixers 102 def Breakers 91 at Adelaide

These teams have struggled to have consistent line-ups this season with key players missing in each of the three contests. The Sixers also had import Mark Tyndale for the first two clashes and Rod Grizzard for the third. (Julius Hodge never played against the Breakers in his time with the 36ers).
Absent from 1st match: Adelaide: Adam Ballinger, Aaron Bruce New Zealand: Paul Henare
Absent from 2nd match: Adelaide: Brad Davidson, Brett Maher New Zealand: CJ Bruton, Phill Jones
Absent from 3rd match: New Zealand: Kirk Penney


This is the first time in NBL playoff history that two players that were teammates on a Championship winning team have coached against each other in a finals match. Both Andrej Lemanis and Scott Ninnis were a part of Brian Goorjian’s South East Melbourne Magic team in 1992 that won the title in the franchise’s first season. There have been just seven men in the history of the competition that have won a title as a player and come back to coach a winning playoff game, with Lemanis last year being the most recent.

To make this equation all the more historic (and complicated), it is also the first time two playoff coaches will have a player on their roster that they shared a Championship with as a player. Lemanis (and Ninnis) celebrated with Tony Ronaldson in the South East Melbourne Magic’s Championship season in 1992 and Ninnis was also a teammate of Brett Maher’s when they shared a title for the Sixers in 1998 in Ninnis’ last match of his 318-game playing career.
There have just been a handful of occasions this has happened to one team in a finals match with Shane Heal coaching Kavossy Franklin for the Dragons in 2007, Scott Fisher leading Ricky Grace for Perth in 2005 and then it goes back to Andy Campbell in 1989 and Jerry Lee in 1987, who both coached a long list of ex-Cannons from their 1983 and 1984 Championship years.

Kirk Penney played just twice against Adelaide this year and scored 34 and 24 points. Spirit import Derrick Low was the only other player to score more than 24 twice this year against the Sixers. Penney’s 29-point average against Adelaide was the second-best scoring average by any player this year, only topped by his 35.5 against the Hawks.

Best season averages by a player against another team:
35.5 ppg – Kirk Penney (Breakers) vs Wollongong - 2 games
29.0 ppg – Kirk Penney (Breakers) vs Adelaide - 2 games
29.0 ppg – Ebi Ere (Tigers) vs Wollongong - 3 games
27.5 ppg – Justin Bowen (Blaze) vs Perth - 2 games
27.0 ppg – James Harvey (Blaze) vs Sydney - 3 games
26.7 ppg – Shawn Redhage (Wildcats) vs Wollongong - 3 games
26.5 ppg – Kirk Penney (Breakers) vs Townsville - 4 games
26.5 ppg – Adam Ballinger (36ers) vs Perth - 2 games
26.0 ppg – Ebi Ere (Tigers) vs Townsville - 3 games
25.3 ppg – Kirk Penney (Breakers) vs Dragons - 3 games

Kirk Penney’s 24.2 ppg was good enough to lead the league in scoring and he becomes the second Breaker to do that after Carlos Powell averaged 28.2 in 2007. Only once in the last nine years has the team of the league’s highest scorer won a playoff series in the same season and that was Matthew Neilsen’s Sydney Kings, who went on to win the Championship in 2004. Last year Penney took 508 shots in the regular season – it was 507 this year – and shot the ball at 47.2% in 2008 compared to 45.5% this year.

Adelaide have lost their past four playoff matches, which is the worst ever run in their 28th season in the NBL. They have been knocked out in sudden death in 2004 (at Melbourne 107-103), 2005 (vs Brisbane 110-125) and 2006 (vs Cairns 103-106 in overtime).

The Sixers last won a playoff game in March 2003 but it was a famous one. After losing 116-119 to the Wildcats at home in the best-of-three series, Adelaide looked certain to be heading home when they trailed 54-80 at three-quarter time, but outscored the home team 45–11 in the final quarter to win 99-91 and set a new league record with the 26-point comeback. Perth did however recover to win Game Three at home 107-99. That comeback win remains the only winning finals match that Adelaide’s Jacob Holmes has played in during his 244-game career.

This will be the first-ever NBL finals match played in Auckland and is probably the most important game played in New Zealand since the Breakers debut game in October 2003, which was also against the Adelaide 36ers. That match was won by the Breakers 111-110 and featured four players for the home side that will be playing in this match in Phill Jones, Paul Henare, Dillon Boucher and Paora Winitana (who will be wearing the opposition colours this time around as a member of the 36ers). Brett Maher and Jacob Holes represented Adelaide that night with another man that has since switched clubs in Oscar Forman.

Paora Winitana is featuring strongly in the milestone games with his debut for the Breakers in their first-ever game against Adelaide and last year he was a part of New Zealand’s first ever team in the NBL playoffs when they were eliminated by the Bullets in Brisbane. This year he will feature in the Breakers first ever home playoff game but in the role of the spoiler. Winitana did not suit up in their first game in Auckland but played 18 minutes in the return clash which was won by the Sixers.

Tony Ronaldson is completing his 20th season in the NBL and has the unbelievable record of his teams never having missed the playoffs in his career. Ronaldson chose to miss the 1991 finals for the Eastside Spectres to attend college at Arizona State but has never missed a post-season since his return the following year. This will be his 13th campaign since his last taste of a Championship for the Magic back in 1996.

NBL quarter finals set

With the final round of the NBL regular season run and done, the quarter-final match-ups have now been set.

Game 1 sees the inconsistent Perth Wildcats host the streaky Townsville Crocodiles. Perth have the home-court advantage which is a big plus in this contest. The Crocs aren't great on the road (5 - 10) and give up a lot of size to the likes of Loughton, Victor, Knight and Redhage. If the Crocs are to win they will need their bigs (Ellis and Hinder) to hold their own while their guards (Rillie, Williamson, Cedar) need to be hitting their shots.

In the second game, the Sixers travel across the ditch to take on the Breakers. This is another great game that either team could win but again the likely result sees the home-team getting the W. With Kirk Penney back in the line-up and CJ Bruton finding form after his stint on the IL, the Breakers should have too many guns for the Adelaide team. Adam Ballinger and Luke Schenscher will need to dominate the paint to keep their side in the game.

Both should be great match-ups so check them out on Fox, details below.

NBL > News

The schedule for the National Basketball League Quarter Finals has been set following the completion of the NBL regular season on Saturday night.

The Perth Wildcats secured fourth position on the ladder after their 101-86 win over the Melbourne Tigers in the final game of the regular season. The victory also secured a crucial home Quarter Final for the Wildcats, relegating their first round opponents, the Townsville Crocodiles, to fifth position and the role of visitors.

The Wildcats will now host the Crocs in the fourth versus fifth Quarter Final on Wednesday 18 February at Challenge Stadium at 6:30pm local time.

The New Zealand Breakers, who finished in third position on the ladder, will play their historic first-ever home Finals game when they host the sixth-seeded Adelaide 36ers at the North Shore Events Centre on Thursday 19 February. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm local time.

Both games are sudden-death elimination, with the winning teams advancing to the Semi-Finals series.

The winner of the New Zealand – Adelaide Quarter Final will face the second-seeded Melbourne Tigers, with the best-of-three series opening at the State Netball Hockey Centre on 25 February.

The winner of the Perth-Townsville Quarter Final will advance to face minor premiers, the South Dragons, with Game One scheduled for 24 February at Hisense Arena.

All NBL Finals games will be broadcast live on FOX SPORTS.

Schedule (all times local)

Quarter Finals (single game elimination)

Game 1 – 4th vs. 5th
Wed. 18 Feb.
6:30pm WDT
Perth Wildcats vs. Townsville Crocodiles
Challenge Stadium

Game 2 – 3rd vs. 6th
Thurs. 19 Feb.
7:30pm NZDT
NZ Breakers vs. Adelaide 36ers
North Shore Events Centre

NBL wrap - round 20

Here are the numbers that matter from round 20 in the NBL:

Tigers 92 Dragons 86

For the Tigers:

Chris Anstey 26 points, 10 boards, 4 blocks
David Barlow 20 points (including 4 triples), 6 boards
Tommy Greer 7 points, 8 boards

For the Dragons:

Mark Worthington 25 points, 4 boards, 4 assists
Donta Smith 10 points, 11 boards
Matt Burston 10 points, 11 boards

I was at a friend's place and because the cricket was going so badly for Australia I was able to watch this game in the background chatting with friends. The game was exciting as the Dragons made several runs down the stretch but fell just short. I didn't realise the clips were so bad with the Tigers shooting 40% from the field and the Dragons just 36%. Ebi Ere was 3 of 18, Adam Gibson was 3 of 14 and Dave Thomas went 1 of 7 from the field.

Wildcats 88 Spirit 78

For the Wildcats:

Darnell Hinson 16 points, 6 boards
Peter Crawford 16 points (including 4 triples), 4 assists
Ben Knight 14 points (7 of 8 from the field), 6 boards

For the Spirit:

Jason Smith 15 points
Matthew Knights 12 points, 7 boards
Damian Martin 9 points, 7 boards

My guess is that the Spirit tried to slow this game down to give themselves the best shot at winning an ugly one (like Cairns do). The Wildcats shot 50% from the field and still only scored 88 points. The teams combined for 44 turnovers (22 each) ... that's how not to look after the ball.

Dragons 101 Breakers 94

For the Dragons:

Matt Burston 17 points, 8 boards
Adam Gibson 16 points (8 of 8 from the line)
Donta Smith 9 points, 7 boards

For the Breakers:

Phill Jones 28 points (including 4 triples), 7 boards
Kirk Penney 17 points, 4 boards (but 7 turnovers)

The Breakers went in to this game having won their last couple against the Dragons so to lose at home was costly. The Dragons basically just outshot the Breakers (58% to 43%) which is essentially beating them at their own the game. Oscar Forman's dry spell continues with just 5 points in this one.

Tigers 113 Hawks 104

For the Tigers:

David Barlow 23 points (7 of 11 from the field), 6 boards, 4 assists
Ebi Ere 23 points
Chris Anstey 11 points, 11 boards

For the Hawks:

Kavossy Franklin 28 points, 5 boards, 5 assists
Anthony Petrie 18 points, 9 boards
Glen Saville 12 points, 11 boards, 6 assists

The Tigers jumped out to an early 9 point lead scoring 37 points in the first quarter and controlled the game from there. Hawks shot 55% from the field but had 19 costly turnovers to the Tigers 11. Both teams shot just under 50% from downtown which is pretty impressive.

36ers 107 Wildcats 92

For the 36ers:

Adam Ballinger 27 points (including 5 triples), 6 boards
Luke Schenscher 18 points, 8 boards, 5 assists
Brett Maher 10 points, 8 boards, 4 assists

For the Wildcats:

Isiah Victor 20 points, 11 boards
Shawn Redhage 18 points, 18 boards, 5 assists
Peter Crawford 7 points, 12 boards, 7 assists

56 fouls called in the game and the teams combined to take 81 shots from the line. Both teams shot 40% or under from the field. Costly loss for the Wildcats. Peter Crawford shot just 1 of 12 from the field. Adam Ballinger is having a stellar season!

Crocs 123 Taipans 92

For the Crocs:

John Rillie 26 points (8 of 9 from the field, 6 of 7 from downtown, 4 of 4 from the line), 7 boards
Russell Hinder 17 points, 11 boards
Daniel Egan 15 points, 5 boards, 3 assists

For the Taipans:

Martin Cattalini 18 points, 8 boards (but 6 turnovers)
Matt Smith 10 points, 12 boards
Darnell Mee 14 points

There was plenty of talk in the media prior to this local derby. It didn't fail to deliver the fireworks with Ian Crosswhite getting ejected inside the first 2 minutes. Click here and here for the recap of the "action". Everyone's favourite NBL blogger John Rillie EXPLODED in the first quarter scoring 21 points and essentially ending the game before it had started. The score at half time was Crocs 71, Taipans 45. The Crocs shot an impressive 16 of 30 from downtown.

Blaze 139 Spirit 119

For the Blaze:

James Harvey 42 points (including 8 triples), 6 boards
Shane Heal 31 points (including 7 triples), 7 assists
Luke Whitehead 18 points, 13 boards

For the Spirit:

Matthew Knight 35 points (15 of 21 from the field), 5 boards
Blagov Janev 21 points, 7 boards
David Gruber 19 points, 6 boards

When two of the worst teams (no offence Sydney but you've run out of steam) both shoot over 50% from the field and combine for 258 points, you don't have to ask was anyone playing D ... clearly they were not. Only a dream game by fantasy basketball standards as there were some massive stats on both sides. Justin Bowen wasn't far off an ugly quadruple double (if you include turnovers). The Blaze shot an impressive 22 of 39 (56%) from downtown. The Blaze wish they got this sort of production from the duo of Harvey and Heal every night.

At the end of round 20 in the NBL, the Dragons are just 1/2 a game ahead of the Tigers in second who are riding an 8 game winning streak. The Breakers slip to 3rd just ahead of the Crocs and the Wildcats. The Blaze are still at the bottom while the Hawks and the Spirit are on 5 game losing streaks.

Now, the NBL Player of the Week is yet to be named but I'm going to go out on a limb and predict David Barlow will get the nod. He had two very good games in two wins for the Tigers. If not Barlow they'll probably give it to James Harvey for topping the 40 point mark.

Our Vlade Divac Flop of the Week nominations go to Graeme Dann from the Spirit (1 of 8 from the field and 6 turnovers in a loss to the Wildcats), Ebi Ere from the Tigers (3 of 18 from the field in the blockbuster against the Dragons) and Aaron Grabeau from the Taipans (1 of 8 from the field in a loss to the Crocs). The award has to go to inconsistent Taipans bigman Ian Crosswhite for getting ejected within the first two minutes of the game against the Crocs. Without Crosswhite on court its no wonder this game was over so soon.

As always our Shooter of the Week is brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips. The honourable mentions go to Blaze backcourt Shane Heal and James Harvey for their long-distance shooting display against the Spirit. The pair combined for 73 points and 15 triples but it was a meaningless/nothing game. The winner tho (and you can call me biaised) is our boy John Rillie from the Townsville Crocs for his 21 point offensive explosion in the first quarter against the rival Taipans. JR hopped in the DeLorean and took us back in time for a vintage display of basketball shooting. With the game over in the first half, JR didn't worry about scoring anymore and instead jumped on the boards. His final line for the night was 26 points on 8 of 9 from the field, 6 of 7 from downtown, 4 of 4 from the line, 7 boards, 2 assists and just 1 turnover. No news whether or not JR wins a CD like he gives away on the OT.

Look at that focus and concentration