Hoops

Cairns back in Top 4

Cairns really need to beat Illawarra on Friday, as it will bring the Hawks into the pack and the Taipans have the series there (and will go 4-0 which is handy in case of multiple teams tying).

Two wins and they'll be second with one round to go, one win and they'll probably have to win their last two, no wins and they're probably done.

I can only take partial credit for Cairns' reversal of fortunes, having only been engaged as Alex Loughton's personal hair colourist and fist-pump coordinator since early January. However, the effects of my time spent with Alex have been remarkable, both on his own form and on the confidence of the team as a whole, inspired as they are by his lustrous flowing locks, subtle coordination of highlights and base tones, and the galvanising effect on team morale after a perfectly executed celebration fist pump.

Alex is a keen student of the noble art of celebratory fist-pumpage, and his accomplishments have thus far been remarkable. Should his execution of more complex forms continue to improve I have no doubt the Taipans will be nbl championship winners, and Alex will challenge other renowned fist-pump luminaries on a global stage.

That one slip-up can't be against Perth I think. The Snakes really have it tough.

"Hey Paul. I'm just letting you know Cairns have got four games left and have played two less games than Sydney and have a game in hand against other top four teams."

They might have two more games to play than Sydney, but the Kings are one game ahead and have the season series, meaning the Taipans have to win two more games than them to jump ahead.

Cairns are effectively fifth and have either lost or are well behind in the series against the three teams they're likely to be competing against, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. They can get there, but they can probably only afford one slip-up.

I'm all in with you Freethrows. 100% ;)

**Sigh**

I can dream, can't I?

The ideal scenarion for Cairns is as follows (he said, thus ensuring it didn't happen. D'oh!) Teams in ALL CAPS winning is the ideal.

Illawarra CAIRNS
Perth BRISBANE
ADELAIDE New Zealand
Sydney MELBOURNE
CAIRNS Perth
Melbourne ILLAWARRA
CAIRNS Adelaide
NEW ZEALAND Melbourne
PERTH Sydney
Illawarra BRISBANE
Adelaide CAIRNS
MELBOURNE Perth

The ladder would finish:
Adelaide
Cairns
Illawarra
Melbourne*
_____
Perth*
Sydney*
New Zealand*
Brisbane

* All of Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and New Zealand would end on 13/15, which is a bit of a nightmare to work out... I know Melbourne and Perth have their series over Sydney in this scenario. I couldn't be arsed to work out how it would finish for places 4 to 7, and frankly don't really care to spend the time on it.

The important part is that Cairns would finish second and face Illawarra in the semis, against whom they have an excellent record this year. In this scenario, they've also beaten Adelaide in their last two encounters, so will have the wood over the minor premiers come finals time, and...

CAIRNS WILL BE 2016/17 NBL CHAMPIONS!!!

"Cairns will get a soft ride home, which sucks, but is par for the course with the weird scheduling."

Yeah, soft ride having to play the top team twice and also the second place team.

All this tank talk is stupid. I don't really see what Sixers would gain by tanking on purpose to not let the Cats in, why should they care about the Cats? I imagine they'll give their stars a few less minutes each game but play to win, no professional athlete plays to lose.

They're on a hot streak, keep it going into the playoffs and don't lose momentum. They've been building all year to this moment and they're only side with a solid record who has managed to get some long lasting momentum int he second half of the season. Why would they want to lose 2 games and go into the Playoffs on a losing streak? Plus give confidence to a side (Cairns) they'll likely face in the playoffs at some stage possibly even right away.

I'm sure ending the Cats playoff streak has not been Adelaide's goal for the year and I'm sure it's not their top priority or focus right now.

Adelaide have locked in top spot but looked to be taking it pretty seriously against Illawarra last game. I imagine they'll reduce minutes in those later games, but Cairns still have Illawarra and Perth who will be keen for wins before then.

So no one wants to see Perth in the playoffs., They are boring and dirty. They ruin basketball

Not surprising

I flagged this as a possibility here last week: http://www.hoops.com.au/forum/40717-cairns-still-in-play-off-hunt/#p620638

Even then they were $5.00 to make the 4.

Cairns has been underrated all season. If it wasn't for two overtime losses in Perth- a fadeaway 3 from Johnson getting the first into OT, a dodgy foul call against Gliddon achieving the same result the second time- they would already be almost assured a spot and would still have a chance of getting 1st off 36ers.

A pathetic offensive team like Perth will not make it..They will lose to Cairns away and probably lose in Melbourne. Hell if the Kings get their form back they can win in Perth.

I don't think the 36ers would tank, but if any of the guys have niggles they'd probably want to make sure they're right for the finals.

A few seasons back the Crocs tanked so they'd play us in the finals, nek minute they got to stay home and watch us play NZ in the finals.

You have to admire what Cairns continually achieves despite not being in a major city and with limited funding. I really hope they make the top 4(hopefully not at the expense of Perth).

Tanking would be a dick move anyway, it won't even register as a thought, Adelaide will play to win like any other game, they just won't register as important enough to go over board with minutes for players like Randle

Best of 5 gf, 2-0 ain't gonna be enough.

To finish off my ladder here is my GF perdiction

Ade V Perth we smash the pussy cats 2-0

My perdiction

Ade
Perth
ILLAW
Cairns

Very happy to see Weeks performing so well. He's one of the keys Snakes are there for sure.

"Cairns will get a soft ride home, which sucks, but is par for the course with the weird scheduling."

Yeah, soft ride having to play the top team twice and also the second place team.

J, adelaide are clear first. They can't drop back they have little to play for right now accept form. They have earned the right to dictate terms of who they want entering their arena for the playoffs.

Hey Paul. I'm just letting you know Cairns have got four games left and have played two less games than Sydney and have a game in hand against other top four teams.

Based on last night's game, Mitchell looks like he might be the type of player Cairns have been sorely missing all season long... and right in the nick of time.

If the season ends today Cairns miss, so they have a bit of work to do still. They are in form, but that generally hasn't meant much this season!

Can we just stop the season now?
Illawarra, Sydney and Cairns is probably the best case scenario.

As a 36er fan I'll be brutally angry if they allow the cats to make the finals. Lose to cairns and help punish the cats. How sweet it is to own the cats destiny.

From my reckoning the current season series between Cairns, Hawks, Sydney and Perth sit at

Cairns vs Hawks Cairns won series
Cairns vs Sydney Sydney won series
Cairns vs Perth perth lead 2-1 cairns must win by 15 or more to win series
Hawks vs Sydney sydney won series
Hawks vs Perth perth won series
Perth vs Sydney perth lead 2-1 sydney must win by 8.

Should be interesting if they all end up on the same win/loss

I can't see the Sixers doing Cairns any favours in the last two games with the possibility of then playing them in the semi finals.

We saw how well that worked for Melbourne last year!

perth didn't lose games they should of won. they lost because they are not very good anymore. if anything the refs won them a couple of games they should of lost. it would be great for a regional club on a budget to keep the arrogant rich powerhouse out of the 4. go snakes!!

Cairns finishes with FIVE straight doubles, which is a bit rude, so if they do end up getting it a bit easier against Adelaide, that's probably fair enough.

I not only think Cairns will make it, I'm tipping them to finish 2nd, because they've already won the split against the Hawks.

Yes, it will be bitterly disappointing if the Cats miss out on a spot because Adelaide don't give a rats about those last two games. BUT you make your own luck.
Perth have been inconsistent this season, and lost games we should have won.
We have 4 games left, and they are all potentially winnable. Do that, we finish on 16, and are in like stink. 3 Wins I reckon still gets us in, 2 I don't think will.

There are a bunch of teams, who in any other season would probably have made it. Whoever misses out could be considered unlucky. Cairns will get a soft ride home, which sucks, but is par for the course with the weird scheduling.

Hard to tell still, this will definitely come down to the final couple of games. A lot depends on Adelaide and how motivated they are heading into finals. Good chance still that Cairns could go 0-4 from here and finish 12-16.

Damn right we can :)





(I hope)

The National Basketball League has made some further adjustments to both its iiNet NBL Championship game schedule and its broadcast schedule on ONE HD, Basketball Australia has advised.

In Round 23, the Townsville Crocodiles’ home game against the Perth Wildcats has been moved forward from the originally scheduled Saturday 19 March to the new date and time of Friday 18 March at 7:00PM local Queensland time.

The change was made at the request of the Crocodiles to avoid a clash with a North Queensland Cowboys (NRL) home game against the Newcastle Knights and was done with the full agreement of the Wildcats.

The Crocs-Wildcats game will also now replace the previously scheduled Adelaide 36ers-Melbourne Tigers game as the ONE HD live broadcast match on Friday 18 March.

In Round 25, the ‘Reptile Rumble’ between the Cairns Taipans and the visiting Townsville Crocodiles on Friday 1 April has been moved forward half-an-hour to the new tip-off time of 7:00PM (local).

The move allows the Taipans-Crocs match to become the ONE HD live broadcast game on 1 April, replacing the previously scheduled Sydney Kings-Gold Coast Blaze match.