Mark Worthington and the rest of his Blaze cronies managed to finally play good for a mo-ment in time. More on that later. Though not quite ‘Hulkamania’, will ‘Blazamania’ finally set in on the Gold Coast?
Crocs steal game in OT. Townsville 95, Melbourne 88
With the game down the stretch, both teams hit big shot after big shot, trying to shake the other team. Crawford, Mills, Gill, Ubaka, Greer all hitting shots when it mattered…. Greer? Yep its true, he did. With 1.8 seconds left on the clock Eddie Gill is at the line after being fouled on a game winning drive. The ice cold Gill comfortably knocks down the first shot and rattles out the second. Bot teams looking stunned as the clock counts down to overtime.
NBA wash up Eddie Gill clearly got the better of NBA benchwarmer Patty Mills, Gill not only winning the game but also the head to head. Mills though is clearly winning the referees hearts, some calls clearly stating that Mills is a protected species in the NBL.
It is apparent that the Crocs would have won this in regulation if Jacob Holmes didn’t fancy himself as a scorer, just stick to what you do best son. Rebound. Eddie Gill lead the way with 30 points and 7 dimes, no doubt he will be upset with himself over the 6 turnovers. Peter Crawford was solid finishing with 23 points whilst Jacob Holmes jacked up 14 shots for his 13 points and 13 boards.
Cam Tragardh has found some terrific form as of late, scoring 26 points and hauling in 14 boards against the Crocs. With the possibility of a NBA season Mills might be heading to the US soon and the impact of that will be nullified is Tragardh continues to be on fire. No doubt Ubaka, who was quiet tonight will come alive when he gets the ball in his hands more often Mills finished with 16 points and continues to try to silence his critics by passing the ball ten dimes for ten assists. Tommy Greer had a captain’s knock, notching up 14 points and 9 rebounds.
Breakers Belted by Hawks. 81 – 63
Most consider the Breakers contenders but this week they looked more like pretenders getting schooled by the tight knit Hawks. Though like most Breaker games, this one started at a blistering pace however that quickly changed. The Breakers game became just as ugly as their home court. In a gritty game more suited to the Hawks style of play Wollongong held true and showed the few Kiwi fans that turned up, their style of play that is so frustrating for opposing fans to watch. The Hawks ability to find the open shot time after time is uncanny and they all play their roles beautifully. The longer the game went the more they looked a whole grade ahead of the Breakers.
Rhys Martin’s confidence has been sky high ever since his Boomers campaign before the season. Martin added another 20 points to his season tally whilst the next best performer was Joevan Catron with 10. The Hawks don’t beat you individually; they beat you as a team. Larry Davidson finally got back out on the court with who knows how long out with concussion. Godd to see you back in the action big fella.
The Breakers aren’t really know for their stock exchange, but on this night they got to exhibit their ‘all ordinaries’. Bruton had 10 and a stack of other players had 8 apiece. Don’t fret too much Breaker fans, sometimes your team just plays terrible. This was one of those nights.
Kings beat 36ers in OT, 111 – 104
Not to be outdone for game of the round the 36ers and the Kings decided to take their game to overtime also. Though this one was a little less exiting than the Crocs v Cubs game. With just less than a minute to go in regulation Stephen Weigh buried a three pointer to even the scores. Both team from there botched potential game winning shots until the buzzer sounded.
Adelaide promptly fell asleep in overtime allowing the Kings to go on a 7 point run. Julian Khazzouh fouled out when his team needed him most. In turn the 36ers nailed a couple to make it a game before both teams went on a turnover parade to see the time down enough for Adelaide to begin fouling to draw the game out. Sydney held out for a 7 point victory.
Khazzouh can thank the 36ers for their clumsiness, their turnovers costing them a shot at winning. The Khazz-man scored 27 points and grabbed 8 boards whilst Kevin Ratzch scored 24, Ben Magden 20 and Aaron Bruce 18.
Sometimes you feel if it weren’t for Daniel Johnson the 36ers wouldn’t be able to put runs on the board. Johnson scored 25 points with his 8 boards whilst Chris Warren fired 21 points and dropped 7 dimes.
Blaze Bury Wildcats, 107 – 92
Things change when you are hitting your shots. The smile were back on their face, the fists were pumping in the air, a swagger in their step and basically thinking they are the best in the world. Yes, things are great at the Blaze camp as they put on an inhumane performance to outdo the Wildcats by 15 points. It’s easy to forget that the Blaze were searching for their first home win and their second win for the season and as a group they need to make sure they don’t get ahead of themselves, after all, it’s only one game.
Adris Deleon waltzed into the team and took no time in adjusting to the Blaze’s unstructured offence. Deleon dazzled with his speed and uncanny ability to change direction on a dime and hit a multitude of huge shots on various Wildcat heads. Deleon impressed with 21 points and 8 assists whilst Mark ‘handle-bar electric’ Worthington went 4/5 from deep on his way to 22 and Anthony Petrie was effective around the ring for 19.
Though the Wildcats were frustrated at times they didn’t play bad, they just had no answer for the hot hands of the Blaze. Luke Nevill was too tall for the Blaze on his way to 22 points, Kevin Lisch worked hard for his 19 and Matthew Knight pounded away for 18.
Both teams like to gamble from behind the arc, it paid off for the Blaze shooting 13/25 for 52% compared to 5/21 (24%) for the Cats. The Blaze were desperate and they found a little something extra. The Blaze are looking great with their Movember efforts and it’s good to see a team dig together to fundraise but a loss here and the Blaze could have been fundraising for themselves (the depression, not the prostate cancer).
Wildcats hold on against the Taipans, 70 – 64
To play 2 games in a week in the NBL is a tough gig, to play back to back without a day’s rest is the worst possible draw any club could get, that’s what faced the Wildcats this round.
After the butt kicking dished out by the Blaze on Saturday night, the Wildcats had the 2nd game of the toughest round of their 2011 season still to go against the Taipans, a place where the Cats haven’t won in almost 3 years.
Expectations on the Wildcats are high with the personnel on their roster, they are regularly touted as finals favourites and expected to go deep into the playoffs, but even the greatest of teams would find a back to back weekend a struggle.
The Wildcats came out and got off to an early start in much the same fashion they did against the Blaze, Matt Knight taking the reins and getting off to good starts sets up the rest of the team to get into a good offensive flow.
In what could prove to be fatigue and readjustment to the competitive game, Shawn Redhage had 2 less than productive outings by his standards scoring only 16pts for both weekend games, 16pts is what you expect to get from Redhage on any given night.
Kevin Lisch was again the teams top scorer and was also the teams leading rebounder, Lisch had a 14pt 7reb outing, less than what he also has been producing lately which saw him win the NBL player of the month award. Brad Robbins again produced well in the absence of Martin and replacement Everard Bartlett showed he’s not just there to make up numbers, Robbins having another decent outing and Bartlett showing he has legit skills to be in this league joining Lisch on dropping 3 from behind the arc and ending up with 11pts.
The Taipans threw the Blazes tactics at the Wildcats and let their import point guard take it at the Cats backcourt. Jamar Wilson did his thing against the tired guards of Perth, being only 2 rebounds off a triple double having 18pts 10ast and 8reb. The Taipans kept the game close for most of the first half, went down by 11 and then almost rallied back to take it from the Cats in the final period.
Ian Crosswhite took advantage of the defensive switches and ended p with easy baskets when the smaller players ended up defending him down low, Crossy had 15pts and a game high 11reb, after him and Wilson, no other Taipans player warranted much of a mention, so we won’t mention them at all.
The Cats should consider themselves lucky to have scraped out of Queensland with a win, something any road team would consider a good outing, and the best thing about it, the Wildcats are lucky enough to get to do it all over again next round.
Can’t Buy a Damn Thing Award
On a weekly basis this award could be given to OneHD for their absolutely disgraceful coverage of the NBL, but that would be too easy.
A nomination for anything other than our old mate Wortho’s moustache would be a crime to humanity.
Looking like construction worker from the Village People in a Blaze uniform, Wortho strutted his stuff on the court all night against the Wildcats and deserves the kudos he gets for the game he had and for supporting the great cause of Mo-vember, but those handlebars with that hair do on national television is a fashion faux par of epic proportions.
So everybody, let’s hear it for “Moustache moustache man, Mark Worthington is the moustache man”.
On a serious note, it is great to see Wortho and his men support a good cause. Although it is a good excuse to grow a funny looking mo and have fun with the boys in the process the money raised goes towards a good cause. A lot of men don’t take their health and well being seriously, so to the men in the NBL taking part in Mo-vember, much respect from us at CBAB; and much jealously from Haggard who can’t grow a moustache.
Gimme my Change Award
If this were a statistical award, Eddie Gill from the Townsville Crocs would have this award on lockdown for the game he had against the Breakers, but sometimes, stats just aren’t enough to beat out an amazing performance.
Adris Deleon, also known as @2hard2guard10 on twitter gets this week’s award for carving through the feared Wildcats backcourt defence like a hot knife through butter.
Not only does Deleon have a seriously awesome name to match his New York City streetball cred, the new Blaze point guard has the game to make his twitter handle seem like more than just a catchphrase.
Deleon crossed up Kevin Lisch, shot turn around fade away jumpers over Brad Robbins and ran around Matty Knight and Luke Nevill like they were planted to the ground on his way to 21pts 8reb and 5ast.
It’s hard to remember the last time a player has had that wow factor from his hoop skills, everything from silky smooth handles to blistering speed, this guy has it all and should be an excitement machine that all fans in the league should love to watch.
