NBL Wrap Round 3: De Ja Vu and De Ja Me

It was looking like a familiar scene in the old kingdom of the Kings, a 0-2 start to the season when expectations were high and the hopes of being competitive in season 11/12 were looking more like a pipe dream than reality (This pipe dream is different to Corey Webster’s. More on that later).

Chants around the Kingdome to “fire Moose” are not the sounds any team want to be hearing in the 3^rd round of the season, but a message to the Kings from a band known as Queen, if you “Fire Moose, Fire Moose……will he do the fandango”, not likely, and it’s not likely to be your saving grace either.

The 36ers at 0-2 were also having a feeling of De Ja Vu (yeah we rhyme good here) and were looking at a bottom of the ladder spot again if a W was not put on the board. A return to the 36ers of their Red Headed Rocket, Captain and inspirational leader in Adam “Balls” Ballinger was a positive sign of possible things to come, but alas it was not meant to be.

With 4 players in double figure scoring it was just not enough on this night, Ballinger struggled after a long layoff and only went 4/11 from the field but did have 7 rebounds to provide another presence on the boards.

Daniel Johnson produced the numbers more expected of a player of his size and skills, DJ having 14pts 9reb and 3blk’s but using 15 shot attempts to get those 14pts is not the type of efficiency coach Clarke would be looking for from him, having Diamon Simpson there to help on the boards and be a post help defender should help DJ for his reported on lack of post defence, Simpson also had 10pts and 9reb but only took 6 shots to get those 10.

Chris Warren and Stevie Weigh were the other double digit scorers for the 36ers, Warren with 14pts 3reb and 2ast but also 4 turnovers, not the kind of assist to turnover ratio hoped for from your starting import point guard, Stevie Weigh also had 4 turnovers to go with his 11pts and 3reb.

But this was the night of the Kings, and the first Knight in Sydney can only be one man, and we dub thee Julian Khazzouh, the only other player to be considered other than Kevin Lisch as a candidate for MVP, and with numbers like 26pts 13reb and 2blk’s, it’s hard for anyone to disagree, go on, we dare you.

It was also the coming out party for Anatoly Bose in front of his home crowd Kings supporters, Bose turned it up louder than the speakers that are his namesake and had 14pts and 10reb, Aaron Bruce showed he is also not one to be forgotten as just another player on the team with 18pts and 6ast and Kevin Ratzsch probably saved his job with a decent showing of 12pts 7reb and 3ast.

OH MY…………………………………….what more can be said here about this game, with all due respect to one of our twitter friends Mili Simic, the Hawks were just flat out bad in this game, and that’s letting them off lightly.

The Hawks had 20 turnovers, 7 just from Rhys Martin who was showing signs of stepping up a level with his recent play, Zac Delany had 1 minute of court time and had one turnover to go with it, Demos and the Sav also caught the turnover bug.

Only 2 players scored in double figures for the Hawks, import Joevan Catron who looks more out of shape than Eddie Curry after he left the Knicks was the Hawks top scorer with 13pts, but at least he didn’t have a single turnover all game, Tyson Demos was the only other scorer in double figures with 10, even Big O Oscar Forman was mediocre with only 3pts and 3reb, and with the way Oscar has been playing since becoming a Hawk, with those types of numbers it just wasn’t a good night for anyone in a Hawks uniform.

For any of our long time readers and fans, we used to have a segment called “Where’s Wortho”, well we had been considering revamping it for a return to CBAB, only this time it’s going to be called “Where’s Wortho’s Offence” after another mediocre offensive night by his standards.

As one of the elite players in the NBL for many years, Wortho has been the measuring stick for production for many players as far as offensive production is concerned, what could possibly have happened to Wortho’s offence, at least he still rebounds well which is a bonus.

Luckily for Wortho his team mates decided to help the old fella out (we know Wortho, you’re really not that old), Chris Goulding, probably inspired by the return of his life partner James Harvey took the scoring reigns and had 16pts on the night and even almost shot 50% from the floor, something he isn’t known for being more a volume shooter than an efficient one.

 Gibbo, Will Hudson and young star Jason Cadee all had 11pts a piece, wily veteran Stephen Hoare proved he is still a veteran who can produce with 10pts and the resurgence of previously injured big man Anthony Petrie back into game shape with 13pts and 5reb is a good sign for the Blaze who expect to be up there fighting for a playoff spot at the end of the season.

Don’t worry Wortho, we got a case of beer with your name on it for when you come back to WA, but the only case you need to concentrate on right now is the “Case of the missing offence”.

(Box Score)        

               

Not a term we like to use at all but this game deserves it and that term is SLOBBERKNOCKER!!

While both teams are known more for their offensive prowess rather than defensive intensity, it could only be a defensive battle that kept these 2 teams to less than 70 points each. The Breakers have the usual horror opening schedule reserved for the Wildcats and have been on the road to open their campaign.

They seem to have found a great back court mate for CJ Bruton after losing Kirk Penney to the European leagues, allowing Bruton to play more off the ball and be a spot up shooter than a creator, Cedric Jackson compliments CJ well by being a penetrator, and while he wasn’t quite at his usual production level against the Tigers, he did create for CJ and carved up the Tigers D like a freshly sharpened ginsu knife.

Bruton had a fair outing with 11pts and nothing else to add to the stat sheet, Gary Wilkinson is playing like a man possessed and is locking down the low block for the Breakers, he lead the team with 19pts and 13reb.

It was also the return home for Daryl Corletto, back to the team he had played for since he was 14 years old and who he left in mysterious circumstances, after a few tense moments early on all was forgiven and even had a mid court embrace with Seamus McPeake pre game.

It was much the same for the Tigers, only 2 players in double figures and a usually potent offensive team struggling to score, unless your name is Cam Tragardh or Patty Mills that is.

Mills used his speed to cut through the Breakers defence like a ninja and made it seem at times as if it wasn’t there, Tragardh is doing the work down low and even though undersized has been locking down the starting 5 spot.

The baller who refers to himself as Patty Cakes and self proclaimed leader of the Ambush Army did his duty and produced a decent 19pts 3reb and 2ast but also once again had a high ratio of turnovers with 5, Tragardh dropped in 18pts but only pulled down 2reb, not something you would expect from the man starting at centre for your club and getting out rebounded by the point guard off the bench is something that needs to be changed if the Tigers intend to compete for a playoff spot.

The game was close for the duration with no more than 5 points between the teams at any given break, a style of game loved by fans of the NBL, only with a few more points on the board.

(Box Score)        

               

With the Cats undefeated so far this season and looking like the title favourites as many tipped them to be before the season started, it was still going to be a tough ask to go into a place where the home team doesn’t like to give away games.

The Crocs came into the game with the best intentions of pushing the Cats hard without their starting point guard Damien Martin but after being down 33-11 in the first quarter and then being down 34-57 at the half, signs were not looking good.

The Crocs however rallied back in the 2^nd half to get the game back to within 3pts with former Wildcat Peter Crawford leading the charge. PC as he is known around the league dropped 21pts to lead the Crocs and was helped on the score sheet and on the boards by Jacob Holmes who had 17pts and 13reb and by import duo Elvin Mims and Eddie Gill who had 12 and 15 points respectively.

With Holmes clearing the boards, nobody else on the Crocs got so much as a sniff of a rebound in the comeback, but the Crocs dug deep and pushed the Cats all the way until the end where the Cats depth and scoring power was just too much.

Perth was lead once again by the unstoppable Kevin Lisch who showed why he is the current league leader in scoring and who is also getting in on the MVP talk. Lisch once again shot an unbelievable clip at 58% from the floor including 4/7 from beyond the 3pt arc.

Jesse Wagstaff is proving the time spent with the Boomers this offseason improved his game and contributed 14pts to help with the offensive load and Drew Williamson saw more court time with Martin out and stepped up with a helpful 10pts off the bench.

Shawn Redhage proved that he doesn’t always need to score for the Cats to win, and even though he had an off night by his standards with only 9pts, he dished out a team high 7ast to control the game in another fashion.

With the Cats now being 3-0 and showing they can dominate teams on any given night, this is a warning to the rest of the league that the Perth Wildcats like having the top spot on the ladder and are on the prowl, so watch out if you’re in the way.

(Box Score)        

               

(Box Score) 

It is true that Aaron Bruce lit it up from outside in the Kings v 36ers game shooting 80% from deep; but it is his fellow sovereigns that  failed to register one from outside. Outside of Bruce’s  4 from 5 the rest of the monarchs shot a ‘blistering’ 0 from 9.

Off the court Corey Wester has been handed a one year ban from sport after testing positive to a synthetic marijuana drug known as Kronic. Webster who has tested positive for marijuana previously claimed that he was unaware the cigarette contained substances other than tobacco at the time of smoking. Not only does this raise a question on why a man who relies on their athletic performance would choose to smoke the odd dart but how could a man who has tested positive for smoking pot before not know that there was a similar substance in the (I assume handmade) cigarette. Anyone want to explain that?

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Games are won and lost at the free throw line. Not that the Wildcats have been relying on late game freethrows to win games but Kevin Lisch has gone 15 from 15 in the three rounds to date. Thomas Abercrombie is up there do with an equally impressive 14 from 14 as id Aaron Bruce who is 12 from 12.

This leads us to our new segment called “FTW” which isn’t an acronym for ‘for the win’. It is for ‘Free Throw Watch”. Who is going to miss first? Are you ‘Camp Kevin’ or ‘Team Thomas’ or ‘Band Bruce’? Share your thoughts.