Hoops

Breakers vs Wildcats, 20 Oct 2010

King James, you really think that any NZ team in an Australian Sports Comp gets any love from the refs let alone at home, even when they are Kiwi refs it's like they are too scurred to give the home team any love in case they don't get another NBL Reffing gig, yet any other team gets those home calls rightfully so. Redhage got away with a fair bit throughout that whole game so what comes around goes around so to speak.
Im not saying that the Breakers don't foul, cos that would be total rubbish, I'm saying it's not very often that we get away with it ;)

Jacob re: stephen weigh

You still haven't explained what he actually does? He had 7 boards against 36ers, yes but they are the smallest team in the league. For a player who people are saying is an athlete he doesn't show much, gets pushed out of the contest and is limited in what he can do with the ball when he is in a pressure situation.

Where was he in the big games last year? Thats right chillin on the bench while catt and young got things done.

Even last night he only managed 7 points & 5 boards while his opposite number tom abercombie went to work with 17 & 7.

The same could be said for Ben Allen in Townsville. A lot of hype leading into the season yet he saw a DNP in his first game. Individuals underestimate the strength of this league and what a huge jump it is from college ball to the NBL. Especially coming from such a poor conference as the WCC.

Good call Clarky, would have been rubbish to call BJ Anthony for an offensive (possibly warranted) when so many other physical plays went unpunished, good consistency from the refs and one was right there to make the call.

Nutwork, that is perfectly acceptable use of the english language in a situation like that, especially in NZ. If it was still on Maori TV it would have been "aow that fulluh got smashed up hard g by that big fullah bro" :)

Isaac - I think generally that screen would have been called an offensive foul, but in the context of that game and how physical it had been, I think it was a good no call.

Commentary on that screen: "Oh wow, he smashed him Bro!"

Agree Mystro, good teams might give an opponent playing well a sniff once in a game, (conceding early lead) but having wrested the initiative in the 4th, we needed to be ruthless and not give them a second sniff with turnovers and dumb fouls.
Perth could have and probably should have got up with that last play. Then we would all be saying "Breakers of old".

Any player will look like crap when the defence has their number.

Weigh only looked back because half the possessions he had ended up leading into double-teams. Not much you can do when you're driving the lane, you get cut off and you have no support.

Redhage will always get heat wherever he goes; doesn't matter about the flops unfortunately. The ref either buys it or doesn't. Laugh at him for failing and hate him for getting the O.F.

I won't say the Breakers look legit yet. I'll let the Tigers game do that.

Isaac on the screen, at first look I'm going offensive foul. I don't know he was set in time. BJ was moving forward right up to the point of contact. Used elbows a little.
To me those mid court screens have to be stationary and well set before contact. That was almost set directly behind player.

Agree Beantown, Perth will improve as the season goes on. They did everything but win that game.

The Breakers have the Tigers next, a real chance to go 3-0 and build some momentum. Can't see the lumbering Tigers bigs having much luck with Vukona and Abercrombie although the NZ guards will have to step up and put some pressure on Davendorff, Corletto and T.J Campbell if they are going to have a chance and ball security was a real issue against Perth especially right at the end when it looked like the Breakers were going to sneak away with a win, they made it so much harder than it needed to be

Totally Agree , looked much better tonight to

The Truth, I reckon Perth will come good pretty soon. They just need to rest up and get a game at home under their belts. Having to play Adelaide on opening night and then back up in NZ three days later would not be easy. Sure they lost, but they were a threat to win in both contests.

Their intensity was there for all but some of the final quarter today and Lisch and Redhage are both gun scorers. Matt Knight won't get outrebounded too often and is a threat to put up points as well. Martin is playing great D, penetrated and created at will tonight and is even nailing threes! Wagstaff and Robbins are still looking good off the bench too. I find it hard to believe that they won't be top two at the end of the season.

Is Steve Weigh the most OVER RATED player in the NBL? What does this guy actually do? He seems slow on the court, lacks the ability to create his own shot, doesn't rebound well and cannot move his feet on D. Above all he is as soft as butter.

Don't know why coaches around the league keep talking him up. Abercombie made him look second rate tonight.

Perth really miss the veteran leadership of Catt and Young. Redhage is the oldest guy on the roster and he is worried about one thing. Shawn Redhage.

Not sure all the hype surrounding Perth in the pre-season is warranted, don't underestimate that veteran savvy, especially come playoff time!

ouch - where am I?

Yeah that screen was huge, the Bear would have been proud. Big ups to the Breakers for sneaking away with that one. Braswell was massive down the stretch as was Abercrombie and Vukona's hustle on the boards. In that third quarter NZ would have been sunk without Bruton creating his own shots and it looked like Vukona and Abercrombie were gonna foul out and it was going to be all over. Perth now 0-2, who would have thought lol. Breakers great start to the season

Another brutal game tonight. Did anyone tell the refs they were umpiring a basketball game?

Wildcats looked like they were in control most of the game, but I reckon they ran out legs in the 4th quarter. No surprises there, considering how hard they had to play against the Sixers Sunday night.

First time I've seen Shiny Brasswell play and I'm feeling a lot better about taking him as my PG in Hoops FNBL too. The guy was clutch in that last quarter!

Redhage and Lisch were phenomenal for the first three quarters but some good old fashioned All Blacks TLC in the final quarter quietened them down. (No sympathy from me - the Wildcats are probably the dirtiest team in the league!)

Marto was not only a pest but once again made clutch shots and constantly broke down the opposing D off the dribble.

What's the deal with the scorers only giving Matt Knight 2 blocks? I saw three clear blocks from him in the space of 5 secs either late in the 1st or early in the 2nd quarter! I hope you didn't get to them Lockie!

Damn this is a tight game. The way the breakers have been playing reminds me of sixers last season. poor turnovers.

For sure. that was such an epic screen. i love that basketball can be as rough as that without a foul call. I tell you what if the season stays like this, every minute of every game will be a highlight

SRT that screen was BRUTAL!

Those are the types of picks that the Sixers bigs should be setting each and every time!

MASSIVE SCREEN! that had to hurt!

Wow, watching Livestats and the Wildcats have scored more in the first 8 minutes of the game than they did in the first 20 against the Sixers.

Is the Sixers' defence that much better than the Breakers, Perth having an off day last Sunday, or a combination of both?

Seeing as the AIS are losing 5-7 players from this years squad i would like to no who some of the candidates would be for the scholarships

Leaving

Andrew Ogilvy (NSW)- Indianna University or Utah(same collage as Bogut). Foward/Center

Patrick Mills (ACT)- Utah. Point Guard

Steven Weigh (QLD)- Utah. Small foward

Joe Ingles (SA)- Southern Dragons - Small Foward

Nathan Jawai (QLD)- American Collage still undecided on which one. Center

Daniel Johnson (WA)- Being sent back home for dissapointing results. ONLY A RUMOR. Power Foward

Jadranko Jusufagic (VIC)- Being sent home for dissapointing ressults. ONLY A RUMOR. Shooting/Point Guard

The departure of DJ and JJ are not concrete and are like i said before only rumor but the previous 5(and starting 5 of the team) are all concrete and will be leaving next year.

Some Possible Replacements

Alex Gynes(Small Foward/Power Foward, NSW) - After his 18s tournament and inclusion into the Emu's squad by AIS and Emu's head coach Marty Clarke he has gotta be the most logical and obivious choice to get a scholarship. Having said that alex gynes had a very good under 16s tournament and did not make the australian camp. He is very unconventinal inhis style of play which makes him hard to guard, but at the same time his height doesnt fit the AIS and international style of big men. I still think he will be offered a scholarship though.

Cameron Witt (Small Foward/Power Foward, TAS)- Has been involved in some Emu's camps and trainings. Very athletic and unlike gynes definantly fits the international mould for the swingman/big guy position. Doesn't have the skills right now to go and make an instant impact, but has the potential to. He needs to eb hitting the weights room big time if he wants a scholarship.

Cameron Gliddon (Point Guard, WA) - Very good scorer and is a decent size for his position. His great tournament as a bottom age player in under 18s earned him a spot in the Emu's team. He i think like gynes is one of the more obivious and logical choices for a scholarship.

Taylor Goodall (Center, NSW) - A very big, big, big, big, big, big, big body. Not tall but i would say he weighs about 150 kilos almost and knows how to throw his body around. Has like Witt been involved with some Emu's training but not selected in the team. Again like gynes does not fit the mould of the perfect big man only being 6'6 or 6'7 but can really play above his height and match it with the big guys.

Zach Natoli - (Point Guard, VIC) Extremely quick. Was part of the all australian camp as a bottom age player. Is the classic Victorian MEtro player in that everything he does is text book. Very good defender not the greatest offensive player to pick from but there are plenty of scorers around him. Can be a play maker. Mills has left huge shoes to fill and they probably can't be filled by one player. I think Gliddon and Natoli will both be selected, gliddon the scorer and natoli the defensie player.

Corey Collier - (Small/Power Foward, VIC) Very dynamic player. Has a very good understandong of the game and is quite skilled. Has showed good rebounding skill and defensive efforts. Is very coachable and has a good body to work with.

Cody Ellis (Power Foward, WA) - Very raw and young. Is a bottom age player so that is attractive to the coaches. Has the genes to get to that level and has shown in his performances as a bottom age player that he has the ability.

These are only under 18s players that will prbably be at the all australian camp. If there are any good young ABA players or players that are there abouts please let me know.

Anon, NZ are a far better team defensively this season so I wouldn't read too much into last seasons home win/loss record

Hard to see Perth getting up.
Breakers defence will be as good as Sixers and we should execute a lot better offensively.
Perth were rattled against Sixers and really struggled to get anything going. I expect more of the same tonight.

If Penney was playing I'd be a lot more confident but I think the Breakers have enough depth to get this one.
I'm expecting Wilkinson to top score followed by Bruton and Abercrombie to get his 2cnd Double Double of the season and Vukona to pester the opposition relentlessly.
lol @ Jack Toft's comment re:
If a player got a bit peckish, he could always reach over and get a mussel or a glass of NZ Sav Blanc, or an "L&P". "Cheers!"

P.S. i would have put a bigger margin if Penney was back for this round.

Yeh i agree with you guys too, NZ are damn hard to beat at home. and as said at the start it is hard to see perth 0-2 but in saying that they are having 3 road games to start the seaon, and they are not the easiest away games either. i think at the end of the week they will be 1-2, after Sydney beating melbourne at home i dont see why perth cant beat melbourne at the cage. But tonight will be pretty tight between them. Cats will be hungry, NZ will be hungrier in front of the home crowd.

It's hard to see the Wildcats pull a win. IMO, they were playing the man too much (refer against the Sixers) and the Breakers are hard to beat on their turf.

There are a few things I love about their games there. They have these two middle aged guys wearing wigs called "The Noize" who bash drums right behind the opposition bench - man they are annoying. They are not pleasant on the eye either. Look for them on the TV. To quote Blackadder, "I think someone has been hit with the ugly stick"
They also have a drum crew there as well. When the opposition line up for a FT, they fill the stadium with the sound of drums.
Their dancers just prove how good the Sixers dancers are.
Their corporates are right on the floor with their tables of food. If a player got a bit peckish, he could always reach over and get a mussel or a glass of NZ Sav Blanc, or an "L&P". "Cheers!"

If Spenda is back in the lineup, Wildcats should spend the time bungy jumping off the Auckland Tower - it'll be more productive

Im with you SRT070, won't be a big win but I believe they'll do enough to get the win over the Cats

Brilliant. cheers for that big sexy.

is this one on One HD? i know i should check the schedule but cbf. my tip is Breakers by 6