Four rounds in an who would have thought the Hawks would be looking down on the league from the top of the ladder? We did, and we don’t have the team preview to prove it đ
Breakers keep Tigers from first win, 75 – 64
When you look at the roster of the Melbourne Tigers, would you really believe that a team with that kind of size and depth on their roster could be winless, well the truth is they are.
Given that they have had a tough couple of rounds recently, facing the undefeated Wildcats last week and then having to back it up against the defending champs this round, one could be forgiven for feeling sorry for the tough task they had ahead.
Tigers import Seth Scott has been on a rampage since his debut in the league, his 25pt 10reb double double just a dominant performance, the Tigers shining light though is the production of Chris Goulding with 15pts and the resurrection from injury of Adam âBallsâ Ballinger like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Ballinger in his second game back also put up 15pts.
The Breakers though were just in another class in this game and offensively shot almost 10% higher in field goals and 3pt shooting as a team compared to the Tigers, Thomas Abercrombie living up to the reason why we put him on the cover of NBL 2K13 as the Breakers representative with a dominating performance and his ever reliable point guard Cedric Jackson as the Robin to Abercrombieâs Batman providing the backup.
The Breakers are off back to Breaker Cave to rest up for next week and to try and see if they can get last weekâs award winner Mika âWolverineâ Vukona back into beast mode.
Kings manage to keep Crocs winless, 92 – 87
The Kings just keep going from strength to strength and this week managed to take out a team many expected to be right up there come playoff time and kept them as the other winless team in the league.
The expectations on the Crocs are always high, having a rising star and a former league MVP makes those expectations even higher.
Gary Ervin is settling in well with his new team and proving he is still the player he was when he won league MVP, Ben Allen is finally starting to live up to the expectations and potential many hoped for from a guy of his size and skill, and Peter âPCâ Crawford is still the backbone of the team from Croc Nation, these 3 players did their part to keep the Crocs in it but it was the Kings who wanted it more.
Sydney decided to unleash its young dynamic back court like they were out on day release, Ben Madgen and Aaron Bruce having their way with the Croc defence with both players scoring over 20pts, Madgen also adding 8reb and 5ast to his outstanding game.
The Kings have put themselves in a great position at 2 wins and 2 losses to keep themselves in contention for the playoffs, can they continue to be competitive and build on their previous disappointing previous season, current form seems to point towards yes.
With Corin Henry sitting on the bench rubbing ice on his knee the Crocs turned on the gas for one final charge home. Peter Crawford connecting multiple times from deep, the Crocs back court ripping the ball on what seemed to be every possession. Time ran out and the Crocs were left without a win.
Hawks still undefeated, beat Adelaide 77 â 63
Adelaide were poised to serve Wollongong their first defeat of the season, then came quarter time. After heading into the second quarter with a nine point lead Adelaide gave up more points (65) in the last three quarters than it scored itself in the whole game.
With the 36ers looking like accomplishing nothing after quarter time, Anthony Petrie took it upon himself to keep the 36ers in it but he soon realised that he canât win a game by himself. When Adam Gibson realised that his shot was off he found a way to contribute, dropping some impressive dimes on the way to a total of seven.
Coach McLeod stated that his squad âdodged a bulletâ with the win but probably closer to the truth was the 36ers dodging Wollongong players, particularly the Hawks backcourt in Adris DeLeon and Lance Hurdle, DeLeon piled on 16 points alone in the final quarter at an almost perfect clip.
The Hawks electric starting back court were responsible more or less 50% of the teamâs scoring, 65% of its assists and 55% of team steals. This allowed the front court to concentrate on frustrating Adelaideâs tall timber.
Kings edge Taipans, 71 â 69
Maybe it is the Daniel Joyce influence, but the Kings find themselves 2-0 when Brendan Joyce is dressed and on the positive side of the Sunshine Swing. Just days after the Kings hold out against a fast finishing Crocs outfit they pull off a come from behind win against a highly fancied Taipans squad.
Taipans fans were all smiles and high fives as Cam Tragardh found it easy around the basket but those smiles quickly disappeared as the Kings erased an eight point lead in the space of two minutes then turned to frustration when Corin Henry shook off a sore knee buried a lead taking shot with 20 seconds to go in the game. The Snakes had an erratic effort to regain the lead but it was to no avail.
Ben Magden capped off a fantastic week blasting a confident 22 points. Corin Henry and Darnell Lazare showed flashes of brilliance but you canât help but feel that Lazare will be living in Jerai Grantâs shadow from last season.
Gimme my change award
With electric point guard Corin Henry and veteran James Harvey coming into the team, Aaron Bruce was pushed to the bench. A weaker man would have bitched and moaned at having a smaller roll on his team, however for Bruce, when Harveyâs ancient body broke down Aaron saw more game time and through using the âCarpe Diemâ method put up an exciting game high 25 points, shooting an amazing 77% from the field and 100% 4/4 from the charity stripe, missing only three 3pt attempts for the whole game.
That was very well, but Ben Magden tore the Queenslanders a new one, so he should get this weekâs award, but we will give it to the whole Sydney team. This is the first time they have been above 0.500 since their resurrection.
Mad props to the Cairns Taipans too, for donning the pink get up to show their support for breast cancer research. Great job guys
Canât buy a damn thing award
Some pretty pathetic shooting clearly nabs this weeks âhonoursâ. The âpoorsome foursomeâ of Kevin Brasswell, Matt Burston, Tommy Greer and Benny Lewis failed to hit a field goal despite launching 20 âshotsâ between them, Brasswell to worst of the offenders threw up nine shots. These guys were so ordinary that they made Liam Rushâs 1 from 4 seem like fillet mignon. Ladies and gentlemen, crack out the champagne as watching these guys shoot was pure champagne comedy.
