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Breakers add to Tigers woes and defeat them, 91 – 77
Breakers add to Tigers woes and defeat them, 91 – 77
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| Artist impression of McPeake striking down Ubaka |
As if the Tigers didn’t have enough bad going on for them recently, they had to face off against the leagues in form team which just added insult to injury after the sacking of import Ayinde Ubaka in controversial fashion.
With Daniel Dillon now having to take on the ball handling and playmaking the Tigers the Tigers were short handed in the back court with their new import not suiting up.
Dillon and Liam Rush picked up the slack and both player scoring a team high 18pts, Dillon did also have 5reb 4ast and 2st but also committed 6 turnovers which cost the Tigers dearly, Rush also added 6reb and 3ast.
Probably the most positive sign for the Tigers was the return of big man Matt Burston to relieve some pressure of Cam Tragardh, while Trigger probably enjoyed not having to play the pivot, he did have a mediocre game both offensively and on the boards by his standards with 12pts 5reb and 4ast, with extra help on the low block you would think those numbers would have gone up and not down.
Matt Burston was the only other player in double figures but was nowhere to be found on the boards, you can expect that from a player returning from injury and not being in game shape, but if the Tigers are to go anywhere except down the ladder, that really needs to change.
The Breakers on the other hand were once again in outstanding form and were lead by the red headed wonder Gary Wilkinson who was again leading the way for the Breakers with his consistent level of productivity with a 21pt 7reb effort.
Import Cedric Jackson who is a consistent tripe double threat week in and week out again had solid numbers notching up 13ast to go with his 10pts and 5reb, Mika Vukona, Alex Pledger and Darryl Corletto all scored 12pts for the game, Pledger including a huge dunk over Lucas Walker and Vukona adding 7reb to go with his scoring.
Thomas Abercrombie had a slightly less impressive game than his usual scoring night but his 13pts added to the great work done by Wilkinson to comfortably lead the Breakers to a convincing victory over the struggling Tigers.
So with the Breakers now on top of the table and looking to stay there with the Wildcats, who possibly can say they are not the current form team of the competition, more than likely nobody.
The Tigers on the other hand do not have such a great outlook, unless their new import is a volume scorer and half decent defender, their lack of size is going to be their downfall, quite a different problem than last season where their overabundance of size was the issue, a seemingly unstable or unprofessional dictator of an owner who expects results now rather than building a Tigers team of old and with that a reputation of mistreating players.
Pray Tigers fans, pray really hard.
Wollongong Break Streak, beat Taipans 74-80
Yes, you read correct. Wollongong have broken their losing streak. In what seems like their first victory since the 1991 season the Hawks withstood a late game Taipan charge to hold out for the six point victory.
After plastering on 20 third quarter points and containing the Taipans to 9, Wollongong were almost scared of winning as they watched a 14 point lead slip to 4. Cairns had the momentum but the Hawks were ice cold at the line.
It is no secret that Cairns struggle to put points on the board and rely on a slower, scrappier game to get the job done. Averaging a league low 72 points per game it took the Taipans a 26 point final quarter to eclipse that mark, and that was only just.
Joevan Catron was more Joevan ‘Can’tron’. Joevan unable to get into the swing of things mustering a paltry 5 points and 3 boards in a foul plagues 15 minutes of action. Maybe the Hawks are embarrassed by Catron’s season as it progresses given that Catron still doesn’t have a profile page on the Hawks website.
Not only did the ‘Gong spread the love, they spread the workload with six players scoring double figures. Oscar Forman 13, Tim Coenrad 12, ‘David Larryson’ 11 and guards Glen Saville, Mat Campbell and Tyson Demos with 10 apiece.
Jamar Wilson, as usual led the way and the charge for the Snakes scoring 18 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. No doubt Wilson will be alarmed by his 5 turnovers. Wilson’s partner in crime, Andrew Warren was the only other Snake to shed its restrictive skin. Warren scored an inefficient 17 points and grabbed three steals.
Wildcats steal one against the Kings, 76-75
Word going around was that the Kings were going to get more than 8,000 through the gate against the top of the ladder Perth Wildcats. Much like the anticipated crowd attendance the Kings came in to the game optimistically, but it was Graeme Dann’s two botched free throws that left them misty optically. Losing by a point Dann found himself on the free throw line with 0.4 of a second left. Not one to take his time at the line the Kings folk could only look on as both shots clanged off the rim and the Wildcats walk away winning by the narrowest of margins.
The Kings looked sketchy at times and brilliant at times. Shooting a crummy 3/16 (19%) from the land of plenty you could argue the Kings slat out sucked from outside; but it wasn’t the 13 they missed, it was the three they hit at the right parts in the context of the game. It was just their free throws that they couldn’t hit at all, collectively shooting a little north of 50% (18/34). In stark contrast the Wildcats shot 5/6 for a lot better percent but a lot smaller amount.
Anatoly Bose pump faked himself to the free throw line for a lousy 8/15 (53%) but did finish with 16 points and 10 boards whilst Jerai Grant finished with 17 and Ben Magden 16. Sydney hero and Gilette endorsee Julian Khazzouh couldn’t get going against Luke Nevill but that didn’t stop the Kings putting up a fight.
Perth may wonder why they barely got the charity stripe, or they will just put it behind them as they charge the court 100 miles per hour.
Luke Nevill has shown he has found his spot within the team led the way with 19 points whilst Shawn Redhage was much in the clutch and Jesse ‘I should really wear a headband’ Wagstaff both finished with 15 points. Kevin Lisch had an uncharacteristically off night and I fear those who man up against him in his next game. The kid is going to look to rebound.
Blaze add salt to Tigers Wounds: 92-78
With the leagues losing a Showron the Tigers took it upon themselves to add a Myron. Yes, Myron Allen had only just touched down in Australia before being require to ‘suit up’ and lace up his hi-tops. Luckily for Allen the Tigers remembered to bring a spare outfit for him otherwise he would have been playing in his birthday suit.
It was possible to think that it was the whole Melbourne team that had just flown in and experiencing jet lag as the Blaze ran off to a quick 8-0 lead before Gleeson called on of his timeouts. Dorsey was the only person who took any notice to Gleeson as he almost singlehandedly put the points on the board.
No doubt a lot has changed in Tigerland in a week and this has certainly changed the Tigers mojo and affected their collective efforts on the court. An owner allegedly coming in to the changeroom after the game to blast and berate the players before firing an import is hardly going to increase team morale and despite this it was good to see the Tigers knuckle down in the third quarter and cut the lead from 18 to 10. The Tigers run capped off with a steal and lovely Daniel Dillon fast break dunk.
The Blaze clearly had the Tigers number and this game never looked in dispute. The Blaze owned their home court tonight delighting themselves if not the crowd. After beating the Tigers twice in a week the Gold Coast are ready to make their charge at the final four. It’s going to take a lot of smiling and high-fiving to get there. Adam Gibson put his name in serious boomer consideration after a beautiful 23 points and showed that he can rebound like Damian Martin collecting 7 rebounds. Mark Worthington easily piled on another 19 points and 9 boards whilst his hi mentee Anthony Petrie added 12 points.
Cameron Tragardh capped of a week he is hoping to forget going an almost Graeme Dann Free-throw like 5/16 from the floor for 10 points. Myron Allen provided some hope for Melbourne fans with 13 points and 8 assists playing for a team whose system he doesn’t know. It was Ron Dorsey who carried the hopes of the Tigers. Last year’s dunker and this year’s three point jacker, Dorsey scored a game high 24 points whilst going 4/5 from outside. Shane McDonald who the Tigers were proud to announce that they signed didn’t get any game time.
Crocs hold out on charging Hawks, 65-63
Hot off their victory against the Taipans they Hawks though they were all that and ventured to the swamp to get their feet dirty.
After eradicating a nine point deficit at the final break the Hawks levelled the game with a Larry Davidson field goal with a little more than a minute to play. After both teams ran the shot clock fown and missed clutch shots Eddie Gill who wasn’t able to hit the side of barn managed to nail a 2 pointer with 4 seconds to go. Time promptly ran out for the Hawks and they could only look at each other stunned, disbelieved that they didn’t win this one too.
Firstly, 65 points should never be enough to win a game and it is a shame that the Hawks couldn’t capitilise on the Crocs scoring woes and take this one from out of their hands. Townsville, count yourself lucky that you weren’t going up against any other team as you would have been buried, by a lot, after all the Hawks had played the night before on the road and could be excused for being a little worn out.
Todd Blanchfield was red hot going 6/7 (3/4 from outside) on his way to 15 points and pulled in 8 boards, Elvin Mims added 12 and Eddie Gill shit 5/13 for his 11 points. Jacob Holmes, Peter Crawford and Luke Schenscher although dressed, had the night off from contributing.
In what is becoming a typical affair Joevan Catron failed to impress. Mat Campbell’s old legs weren’t up to the stresses of a double head and Tyson Demos put in a stock exchange effort leaving Tim Coenraad (16 points 9 rebounds), Oscar Forman (16 points, 6 boards) and Rhys Martin (11 points) were left to pick up the slack.
Gimme my Change Award
Adelaide thought they would sort this game out in the first 10 minutes blowing out to a 12 point quarter time lead. Cairns took advantage of the 36ers shutting up shop early and pounced in the second quarter scoring 27 points to the 36ers 12.
Nothing is more frustrating for a coach than blowing a good start. The NBL is a very strong competitive league and if you want to win games you need to show up for 40 minutes. Then again it took the Taipans 12 minutes to turn this game into the slowed down rugged-fest that suits their tastes. Tempo is major factor in the success of a team and more often than not the Taipans know how to set the tempo.
The fans who until last week were considered the league’s ‘most knowledgeable’ were treated to a rarity in professional basketball. Andrew Warren nailed a four point play, much to the dismay of the crowd.
Daniel Johnson has a slow game but eventually changed gear in the final stanza and finished with 13 points and 9 rebounds whilst Stephen Weigh (that is a name that hasn’t popped up much this season) was hot, finishing with 21 points but with 5 disappointing turnovers. The rest of the 36ers failed to get into the swing of things instead taking their talents to the stock exchange.
Jamar Wilson finished his week with another 25 points whilst Alex Loughton pounded away for 18 points and 7 boards. Ian Crosswhite and Aaron Grabau both chipped in with 11 points each. Although the Snakes walk out with the win, perhaps what is most disappointing was Andrew Warren’s 6 points, 1 steal and nothing else in 31 minutes running aimlessly around the court. Warren couldn’t even manage a foul in that time, something most players manage to do on an off night.
Can’t Buy a Damn Thing Award
This week we go back to the fundamentals of the game, and this week’s award was more a work in progress. Coming off a 19/30 (63%) effort from the line last week the Sydney Kings followed up with a terrifying 18/34 for a meagre 53%. We are looking forward to next week’s 43% effort boys.
A special mention goes to the whole Seamus McPeake and Ayinde Ubakalaka circus. We have paid visual homage to it earlier in this piece and we would love to hear from you guys in the comments section below.
Gimme my Change Award
Arguably there is no better saying in the world than ‘it is better to give than to receive’; and this phrase rings true for Cedric Jackson and the Breakers. Whilst Jackson took 6 shot attempts, the electric import dropped 13 assists against the Tigers on Thursday night.
A point guard loves to see his team hit their shots and when the Breakers are shotting the ball at 50% from the field a man like Jackson is going to have a field day distributing the ball to his men in good position to make a shot.
Trevor Gleeson stripped back his team’s offence that enabled Myron Allen to get 8 assists in his first game on his first day in Australia and Bread Robbins dished 7 assists against the Kings, what makes this impressive is that it was in only 19 and a half minutes of action.
