Hoops

GF Series Game 3 Mar 15

Bookmakers have Melbourne winning game 4 by 9pts. Thoughts?

They have Wildcats as hot favourites to win the championship though.

Melbourne never in it. Almost from the tip off. McCarron not aggressive enough. Casper and Goulding tried to carry the load and it came off badly, poor shot after poor shot. Series over for mine even if Perth have to go to 5. Perth bigs jump and double Casper and effectively take him out of the offense. McCarron is key for Melbourne. He is the only one Casper aside to create a shot or pass.

The sacking of Trist never helped either, he was a liability on D, but Jois has been more bad, has no understanding of game plan can’t play D, but is highly athletic, has a hype machine behind him but that doesn’t make him basketballer. His dunk last night got huge commentary rap but any one in the league his height would’ve dunked it. Team harmony matters.

Semis sweeps, home blowout GFs. Only thing that would make it more disappointing is if we don't ever get the tension that goes with a game 5 GF decider.

“and judging by reactions of McCarron, Boone and Vickerman I'm thinking he got only ball. ”

Oh I see. If a player protests the right way, then it means he didn’t commit the foul! Such brilliant logic!

Of all the dumb LV comments in the past week or so, this one takes the cake.

That Perth hype man running the sidelines behind the score bench is certainly something...

LV there is no way Kay knocked over Goulding. That guy hits the deck faster Christiano Ronaldo.

You can only complain about the refs if one of your best 5 gets ejected after being head butted twice with video erasing technology that magically can't see those headbutts during the game. Oh whoops, we are not allowed to complain about that either.

Since the start of United the focus from fans across the league has been about United in name, not united in nature. That was 5 players against 1 team last night. Hence they got blown off the court.

Tom didn't rake in boards but he still more than held his own at the 5 spot while he was out there. Set good screens & got to the right spots, played proactively, defended well, all while avoiding too many of his trademark pointless fouls and general moments of unco. Any time he draws more fouls than he commits that's a win, and I thought last night was a classic case of the stats not reflecting his full value in the result.
He has been mostly underwhelming for 3 seasons so it was a timely game to step back up.

Nice to see so many points on my wish-list getting ticked.
White came back with a vengeance. (He was good in game 2, but 3 point shooting let him down.) Last night drained 7.
Jervis I thought stepped up, and I think played better than the stats indicate. I would have sworn he got more than 1 board?
Wagstaff didn't do a lot offensively, but grabbed 5 boards.
Steindl opened with that big three then went quiet, but showed a lot of defensive intensity.

Perth's perimeter defence was outstanding, but does that alone explain 14% shooting from Melbourne?

The level of defence we played last night ... I didn't think we had it in us anymore to do that over a sustained period.
First half was intense, but United couldn't keep it going after half time. Give a home team a sniff of blood and it can blow out in a hurry. So pretty much a mirror image of game 2.
Cotton still being very well contained but he's walking the line pretty well in terms of staying aggressive without forcing it too hard, and knowing that there's help elsewhere on the floor.
Greg Hire mentioned on his podcast this week the way that home court seems to be of particular benefit to the bench guys and role players and that was evident last night. I rate Melbourne's bench highly but it barely fired a shot in this game. Jervis, Wagstaff, Steindl & Norton were all important contributors for us.
I wonder what Damo's 3P% is at home vs on the road. Pretty handy when he can go 2/2 while CW+CG combine for 2/15. Going into last night's game I thought one of those two was going to get loose, and am happy to have been wrong about it.

I don't think either of these teams carry scars from big losses though, so a 50 point turnaround wouldn't surprise me at all.

Melbourne want Kennedy crashing the boards, but that’s leaving White open on the three, White has to be marked a lot closer.

Perth has 12/13 players score including 2 DP’s. Only player not to score was Greg Hire and he had a few chances in junk time. I wonder if any team has had 12 (or 13) scorers before?

The have to to be closer together in best five, it’s dragged out to long. Friday, Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday.
The refereeing has been atrocious, some of the calls are horrendous both ways but at Perth it’s even worse. The nbl have to stop the coaches getting at the refs, Gleeson in Perth refs the game, calls every play a foul on his side, Wright is the same, it’s got to stop.

That Perth hype man running the sidelines behind the score bench is certainly something...

“There is no need for a best of 5 really”

There’s a question. Is there any reason other than commercial for a best of 5 GF series in the NBL? How often has the team leading the series after 3 games gone on to lose in 5? Would be interesting to know.

I’ve never been a fan of best of 5+. It always feels like it’s being dragged out. It’s a bit like when the last 2 minutes of a fast and exciting game gets slowed down and dragged out with multiple time outs, fouls and video replays. It tends to suck the excitement out of the ending, for me.

Not over yet but very close, every team get's those calls at home. Perth go to Melbourne knowing they are playing for chip!

Oh we will ;)

I'm over this season it has dragged on long enough it would be great if Perth just get the next win and finish the season.

In other words, McCarron had 4 fouls tonight.

1 was for very minor body Contact as Cotton went past him.

Another for taking a swipe on White's drive. Got ball. Did he get arm too? Looked all ball on replay and judging by reactions of McCarron, Boone and Vickerman I'm thinking he got only ball.

Then two other fouls on White where he didn't touch him.

It's actually astonishing that he's been screwed two weeks in a row.

United really needs to shoot better though. Yes they were both defended well but Casper and CG shot terribly, and both got some decent looks.

Perth got 12 O boards, which is less than their average I'd guess. United had 10 turnovers, despite a couple of bad ones early. Those are decent numbers.

But you can't shoot 4 from 27 from 3 and expect to win a playoff game.

I'm tipping this Jekyll and Hyde series continues. Bring on Sunday.

Home cooking wins the GF

Melbs have 0 chance

Nah just over it

It really sucks watching your team get destroyed, ref bashing is a good way of letting off steam :-)

Seriously though, I can't remember a player getting done over by the refs in two games in quick succession like McCarron has been in Games 1 and 3.

1st foul- white jumpshot 305 1st. Didn't touch him.

2nd foul- Cotton fast break. Soft. Same call wasn't made on Perth tonight.

3rd foul- white drive 518 3rd. Replay wasnt shown. Looked all ball but hard to be sure.

4th foul- White fast break. Didn't touch him.

After last week, he surely can't believe his luck.

Seems I made some "friends" tonight.

On the back of totally valid comments

What a surprise. LV bitching about the refs after a loss.

29 point annihilation where a random from the crowd hit more threes in 30 seconds than United managed in the entire game, and the thread is all about reffing. Never change, Hoops!

"There are just too many anons who seem to think their opinion matters."

There are just to many people that have some wanky Nicks that have an opinion that are equally worthless.
You have a wanky nick and the bullies will target you.
Its a forum ffs. I know exactly who LV is and I have met her ;) Equally I know a few others here. But who really gives a shit about whether you have a nick or not.
Go to Bunnings, buy some wood, build a bridge and fuck off if you dont like it

[On McCarron. You are wrong. More than half of those fouls are there.]

If they were reffing Perth the same way, Damien Martin would've been fouled off both games too.

If Perth's defensive efforts in the key were reffed like McCarron, United would've had another 10 trips to the free throw line.

Kennedy goes to the hoop, Kay impedes his path. No call. That exact same play was a foul at least 10 times across the first 2 games.

Goulding gets front position to a loose ball. Someone (Kay?) Knocks him over. No call.

Boone gets hit under the hoop. No call.

Later, Boone gets a charge. Replay showed Jervis still moving across after Boone got into the air. Very similar to Casper/Norton in overtime earlier in season.

Again, to be clear. United did not deserve to win. Nowhere near it.

But again, home town reffing. The NBL does need to get better at this. It's frustrating to watch.

Also I think going back to best of 3 is best

There is no need for a best of 5 really

2013 was worse, but this is more of a letdown considering the season that led up to it and both GF teams being full strength.

Regarding the colour scheme, the venue was designed around the Hopman Cup, the colours match those of a tennis court.

For some reason I didn't enjoy 2017 Cats v Hawks GF but I'm probs wrong

I can't help but feel that those who think this is the worst GF series... Haven't watched many.

Even during the cats vs breakers recent history, there were some bad series. Combined with some great games sure. But many of them were less than exciting. From a spectator perspective.

Bad reffing has been an issue for a fkn LONG time.

Without doubt this is the worst finals series I have ever seen in 30+ years of watching the NBL.

Can’t see Melbourne over coming this smashing, Goulding and Ware can’t chuck it in the ocean.

I don't care what name you choose.


There are just too many anons who seem to think their opinion matters.


It's not hard to sign up. If your opinion is valid. A username goes a long way to show that you stand by what you say.


Especially when it's based on ref calls. Because that's all we seem to get from anons. "OMG my team got screwed... The refs caused my team to lose by 29 points"

I agree anon, perth had the same problem in game 2. Having said that perth really dictated the shots united was taking and who was taking them.

Also pretty sure cotton got smashed multiple fouls, yet they only give him the call when he did his best goulding impression on the layup...

What difference does it make whether you’re anon or using a name which doesn’t identify you anyway? I’ll sign in as Flop Warning 2.

It’s harder to hit shots when fouls aren’t being called J. I’m not talking about the 3 point shooting though.

Who is this Perth commentator talking about Hire being the standout for Perth?

United shot 4/27 from 3, perth 14/29. But it was all the refs and the late game time.

Few howlers both ways, but i thought it was probably the best reffed of the 3 games so far

Anon 2 posts up*

Wanna stake your name to your opinion. Choose a user name. Back it up with evidence.

At least LV does that. And sticks to his guns.

An anon on here with an opinion is irrelevant. (I learnt that this season)

I'm more than willing to back my opinion up with evidence. If you wanna be taken seriously

Btw this is directed entirely at the anon above.

Then grow some balls. And sign up

Love the spectators calling what is a hard foul or a soft foul is. Last time I reff'd they were either fouls or unsportsmanlike.

The McCarron fouls are very soft if they are there but at other end you get hammered and no call.

Overly*

I don't know what overage aggressive is

This grand final series has been a real let down so far. Last year’s was a lot more entertaining.

LV

No offence. But you are way to biased to be taken as a credible source.

On McCarron. You are wrong. More than half of those fouls are there.

You can use as much slowmo footage as you want.

But in both games here he has been overage aggressive and has put himself in a position to be called.

You ignore obvious calls for the cats. But keep barking about how he is being screwed. I'd argue that 5or6/9 are definitely fouls.

Without doubt this is the worst finals series I have ever seen in 30+ years of watching the NBL.

I also agree Angus. Game 1 wasn't too bad.

2 and 3... Yeah

Has been too many home calls for comfort.

In every game:

- The home team has played much better

- The home team has been helped by the refs

Boone and Kennedy getting fouled, no calls or wrong calls, Perth getting away with contact tonight.

Meanwhile McCarrons been called for 9 fouls in about 40 minutes of time in Perth, and maybe 2 of them were there

I’ve seen more flops from perth’s Players tonight than Melbourne. Elaborate on the flops from Melbourne tonight.