Hoops

Perth @ New Zealand - future GF preview?

Major props to Waxy, I didn't know he had this level of play in him.

Covering for Knight very, very nicely

Finally got to watch this game. Not entirely convincing by Perth in that it felt like NZ were noticeably down on the first 2 times we played them, but I'll take it.
Angus is still the concern for me in this matchup. Offensively he struggles when guarded by Pledger, settling for low-percentage shots. That puts a lot of reliance on creating from the perimeter to get our points, but we were able to get that done in this one.
Big win for Perth to claw closer to that #1 spot

Wagstaff great down the stretch

Competitive game but Breakers missed lots of shots they've been hitting previously. Form comes and goes, that's basketball

Perth deserves to be favs and are my title tip, this game was another example of why

NZ missed a lot of outside shots that had been falling previously but the biggest issue was the poor boxing out that saw Perth get a ton of second chance points.

Poor effort by Breakers. Wagstaff out-offnced Ili, Penney and Abercrombie. Newbill was contained. So we had trouble scoring. Wagstaff grabbed the initiative Q4 and game over.

Credit to the Wildcats, they turned up ready to play and just wanted it more.
NZ won't be panicking yet, 9-2 with losses to Cairns & Perth isn't going to raise too many alarms.
Hopefully it has lit a fire under a few asses and they won't be complacent on Sunday in Brisbane.

The people that predicted that Tokoto would be a great import in the NBL were on the money for sure!

Wonder what Walker would have been like as an import compared to Tokoto

Seems like a major blessing in disguise that injury

"https://www.flashscore.com.au/basketball/australia/nbl/standings"

Thank you kindly.

Tokoto - 9 assists (plus a couple of passes that lead to freethrows)

https://www.flashscore.com.au/basketball/australia/nbl/standings/

Anyone here know of a place to find the detailed team ladder stats like home wins/losses, road win/losses, Points for and Points against?

The NBL ladder no longer shows those.

Damo on newbill, finally

Exceptional win with Cotton not firing. Now Stendl needs to find his groove, and all will be well.

Tokoto - 25 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists (plus a couple of passes that lead to freethrows), 1 steal, 2 blocks

Perth then day light,

Best team,

Best coaching staff,

Biggest supporters.

You get what you earn, three peat near certain.

So we won't hear any complaining now when the Wildcats get home calls, 50'50's always go to the home team.

JESSE MOTHERF**king WAGSTAFF!!!! Woooooooooo!!!

Jesse = GOAT

That was a rare defensive boo-boo by Vukona to give Wagstaff the 3.

Gleeson telling his guys to watch the fouls, and he's picking up techs to put the game within reach...

Wildcats have had 14 fouls and 5 of those have come in the last 2min...

Refs messing with a good game again.

Here comes the whistle, cats need to adjust

Huge couple of minutes for the Wildcats

Nope you don't it is so annoying

Brandt is a mental midget, Pledger has his number.

Put Cotton and Brandt in the pick and roll every damn play and the Breakers win this by 25.

Newbill just over powers Cotton every play that's why he has lead the scoring each of the first 2 games between the teams.

Hire with 2 shocking 3 point attempts

I want to see Sosa make a statement in this one. Newbill is legit but Sosa has not shown me yet that his passing aside he can take over a game. He needs to be aggressive. Take it to the hoop and dish.
Abercrombie and Penney are toast marking Tokoto so they will have to compensate offensively.
Tokoto and Wagstaff are key for Perth they each need 20+ to help Cotton out to have any chance.
I think Breakers have edge right now.
Loe and Pledge have to defend pick and roll better.

I want to see Sosa make a statement in this one. Newbill is legit but Sosa has not shown me yet that his passing aside he can take over a game. He needs to be aggressive. Take it to the hoop and dish.
Abercrombie and Penney are toast marking Tokoto so they will have to compensate offensively.
Tokoto and Wagstaff are key for Perth they each need 20+ to help Cotton out to have any chance.
I think Breakers have edge right now.

Cats need to defend the pick and roll much better, remmember what a reboind is and find a way to not let newbil take advantage of the smallee cotton defending him, if they are to beat NZ.

This is maybe the first year where I wouldn't mind watching a NZ/Perth final. Historically they've been two of the more (comparatively) boring teams to watch as a non-fan, but that hasn't been the case this year.

NZ are definitely due for a loss, but not sure it happens tonight.

"At least we won't have to see another Perth/NZ game until the championship series."

until Round 16 on Jan 27th**

Steindl. Ha ha ha!

I think the cats have got this. They turned the corner last week and rediscovered their trademark defense. Should be interesting to see if they can contain the on fire breakers. With no more knight NZ feasted on dribble penetration last time round. Cooke Jr and co have improved since then and will need a vast improvement to contain Pledger etc. This game will tell us a lot. If not, it should be confirmation that a new import big will be on the way in the near future.

Friday afternoons are the best time of the working week. It’s the day of the long lunch, Friday beers, POETS day and of course NBL games.

Tonight, NBL fans will get to see the top of the table clash. NZ hosts Perth, and this is definitely the match of the round

What can we say about our sheepish cousins from across the ditch?…. Not much! They’re top of the table for a reason and look as entrenched in that position as Jay Weatherill is a South Aussie Premier. I guess it’s a good position to be in, there could be worse positions to be in, like Donald Trump’s PR Manager, or Donald Burke’s Philodendron pollinator...

They do things pretty choice over in Auckland. I’m almost tempted to join the NZ Police force just so I can be in a recruitment video.

Wildcat fans will be searching for a win tonight and it could be as rare as a sober schoolies at Victor. The Cats haven’t won over there since Dec 2013, gee that was when Rudd was PM, no… Gillard…. No Rudd. We’ve had a few PM’s since then and NZ have too.

Perth travel like a grumpy old man. They like their own bed and they like their dentures in their special glass. Travel is not a strong point. New Zealand have the wood on the Cats and I think Breakers fans will feast on roasted wildcat tonight, washed down with copious amounts of L&P. Choice, eh bro!

This might be the GF preview, but it might just show how the GF will end up.

Preview

Tussle

Learn to spell, for crying out loud.

Challenge accepted