NBL 2022-2023 Round one predictions

 Round one Match ups

The NBL season tips off this Saturday 1st of October and for the punters out there the early rounds are the best time to get in some good wins with the betting agencies, usually a few steps behind in the NBL. 

Game 1 

South East Melbourne Phoenix (home) vs Tasmania JackJumpers (Away) 1/10/22 at 6:00pm AEST

The betting agencies have S.E. Melbourne as the favorites here but this should be an easy early win for Tasmania. Phoenix will have to have some players back from injury if they are to get a win here but as far as I know; Mitch creek still injured/limited minutes, Ryan Broekhoff still out injured and Gary Brown out injured, Trey Kell out injured. Gary Brown was the one bright spot for Phoenix in the NBL blitz and even with him they were looking like the cellar dwellers of the season. Phoenix do have Mitch Creek and Zhou Qi returning which is a huge part of their offense, but after watching them in the Blitz Creek would have to carry them to get a win here.
Tasmania looked surprisingly solid in the Blitz. I was expecting a pretty big slump from them after their stellar run to the finals last season but they still look strong managing to maintain the core group and this should be a good win to start their season. Watch out for Milton Doyle to have a big game posting a good points total. Over all it will probably be a low scoring game but Tassie should walk away with the W and for the punters out there a good bet on the underdog here. 

 I predict Tasmania to win by 10. 

Game 2

Illawarra Hawks (Home) vs Sydney Kings (Away) Saturday Oct 1 8:00pm AEST

This should be a tight game. Sydney will be strong as usual and Illawarra were a standout team at the Blitz. The Kings are the favorites on the betting sites but again i think ill have to tip the underdog. 

The Hawks just look very well rounded in the Blitz and Sydney may have some teething issues to start the season with the all new import line ups. Xavier Cooks is coming off a huge NZNBL season but his shot was not looking great at the Blitz and looked a little passive. They need him aggressive and to set the tone for this new Sydney team.

The Hawks are lead by Tyler Harvey at the point and he will put up some good numbers all around If Sydney don't contain him he will dominate the points but if they do Hawks move the ball well and look like they can break most early defensive schemes.

I predict Hawks by 6

Game 3: 

Melbourne United (Home) vs New Zealand Breakers (Away) Sunday Oct 2 2:00pm AEST

 

Melbourne are the heavy favorites here as they should be, they destroyed Perth in the NBL Blitz and if they are firing on all cylinders New Zealand will struggle to keep up. If Chris Goulding takes it out of 1st gear which he ran in the Blitz they will have too many weapons for New Zealand to contain who looked to struggle a little at the Blitz without their point guard William McDowel White. 

I predict Melbourne to win at home by 16

 

 

 

Game 4

Perth Wildcats (Home) VS Brisbane Bullets (Away) Sunday Oct 2 4pm

Perth are the favorites here at home and they should get the home win but i think i have to tip this one to Brisbane. Perth really looked lack luster against Melbourne in the Blitz and showed the league how to slow them down. Contain Bryce Cotton and slow the Wildcats. Luke Travers looks to be a great option running the point but he is not a scoring point guard and more a traditional style point guard. From the Blitz it didn't look like Perth had enough to shooters to take focus away from Cotton.

Brisbane during the Blitz, moved the ball well and got open shots for so many players. If they manage to play with that style and maybe get Aron Baynes a few more post touches watch out the rest of the league. Tyler Johnson seemed to always be able to get a bucket or get to the free throw line when the offense stalled. Even with Nathan Sobey still on limited minutes from injury i think Brisbane are looking strong. This one will be tight, Should be a great game!

I predict Brisbane by 2

NBA Las Vegas summer league day 2 Australian player update

4 Aussies made appearances in day 2 of the Las Vegas Summer league.

Chris Goulding started the day off with another starting role with the Dallas Mavericks.  The Mavs managed to get the win over the Minnesota Timberwolves 93-85 after they had a loss in yesterdays game to the Knicks.Goulding played 15 minutes and finished with a total of 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist however his best stat was probably his +15 in the +/- column leading the team. He made some good defensive plays getting an offensive foul and on another play made a block only to be called for the foul. Goulding shot 2/3 from the floor for his 6 points but he will need to touch the ball a lot more for him to really get going like we are all so used to seeing in the NBL.
 

Cameron Bairstow had his first professional start for the Chicago bulls and he put in a solid effort in their 85-70 win over the LA Clippers. Bairstow had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist in 32 minutes of game time. He played some good defense, set some strong screens and made it to the hole on several occasions, however he didn't get as many touches as I'm sure he was hoping for. As a post player its hard to get into the offense when your not fed the ball. Tony Snell had a huge game for the Bulls racking up 27 points shooting 10/14 from the floor.


In what was a very anticipated game for the Utah Jazz fans, they finally got a chance to see what their number 5 pick in this years draft Dante Exum could do. In a close game that the Philedelphia 76ers managed to close out in the last minute 74-70 Dante showed how much of a facilitator he could be and got several of his players some open shots and plays around the basket. Exum had 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 27 minutes of game time. He wasn't shooting the ball great going 4/10 from the floor but his basketball IQ and speed was on display as fans got to see some nice finishes around the rim. Exum's opening basket of the night was a big alley-oop dunk off a pass from Trey Burke which got the fans into the game early. In what may be one of Exums best stat lines was his 1 turnover in a play which he quickly stole the ball back and dunked it in. The Summer league often has a large number of turnovers and often low shooting percentages. Although Exum looked a little out of shape getting tired early its a good start for the young kid from Australia showing some huge potential in the coming years.
Brock Motum who is also from Australia got some court time with the Utah Jazz and after a rocky start
finished the game strong with a big dunk off a missed Exum three pointer. Motum finished the game with 4 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Full highlights from the game can be seen below which include Exums alley-oop, his steal and dunk as well as Motums dunk off the Exum miss:

Also James Ennis who played last year with the Perth Wildcats in the Australian NBL has been putting on a show in his run of Summer league games and has recently made the top 5 rookie ladder. Ennis who narrowly missed out on the league MVP in Australia had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist in the Miami heats 92-81 win over the Houston Rockets.

2 Aussies with starting roles in day 1 of the NBA Las Vegas summer league

The NBA summer league is well and truly underway but it has finally begun for those of us who are following the young Australians hoping to make an NBA roster.
There are 4 Aussies hoping to play well enough to continue onto the final rosters of an NBA team at this years Las Vegas Summer league and today 2 of them had starting roles.
Mathew Dellavedova was the starting point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers who took on the Milwaukee Bucks in a highly anticipated bout between the number 1 (Andrew Wiggins) and number 2 (Jabari Parker) draft picks from the this years NBA draft. 
Wiggins dominated and lead all scoring for the game with 18 points but last years number one pick Anthony Bennett looks to be in good form and finished with 15. Hopefully Bennett can put his rough start in last season behind him and play the way a number draft pick should. Mathew Dellavedova although not getting much attention behind his star draft pick team mates had a stellar game finishing with 13 points, 6 assists and 9 rebounds. Hopefully he will continue his impressive performances from last season. Delly finished last season with the highest +/- score on the whole cavaliers roster. With the addition of Lebron James in the line up and the removal of Jarret Jack lets hope Delly gets the minutes to run the point as hopefully the back up point guard for Kyrie Irving.
Here's a clip of a Delly assist to a huge dunk from Anthony Bennett

Chris Goulding had a starting role for the Dallas Mavericks when they matched up against the New

York Knicks. Goulding however did not have the stellar start Delly did and didn't make the impact I'm sure he was hoping to make with only 6 points off 2 from 7 from the 3 point line. The Mavericks must see some potential in the young NBL star to give him a starting role. Hopefully in the coming matches he will hit his rhythm and show what a hot shooter he is.

Tomorrow we will again see a few Aussies hit the court with Dante Exum making his summer league debut with the Utah Jazz as they take on the Philadelphia 76ers, Cameron Bairstow should get some decent minutes when the Chicago bulls take on the LA Clippers and hopefully Goulding will hit some shots and show what a streaky scorer he can be when the Dallas Mavericks take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Its exciting times when Aussie basketball fans might get to see potentially 7 Australian suiting up for NBA rosters in the coming season. With established players like Andrew Bogut, Aron Baynes and Patty Mills already showing their skills lets hope more teams look down south for potential talent when scouting for bench roles.

NBL Round 9 weekend preview

This weekend has 5 games to watch on NBL.tv with the Adelaide 36ers and New Zealand Breakers having two games across the weekend.

Friday night's first game see's the Townsville Crocodiles hosting the Adelaide 36ers. The 36ers are on a winning streak and it will be tough for the Crocodiles to stop the number 2 team in the league. Townsville are coming off of their first away win of the season last week against the Melbourne Tigers and are looking to be playing some great basketball, lead by their two impressive imports Josh Pace and Brian Conklin. Pace has proved he can score and lead the fast break and Brian Conklin has dominated in the paint. Townsville's starting five players will certainly be a good match up to the Adelaide 36ers however its the 36ers depth that has shown how strong a team they really are. Head Coach Joey Wright has at times subbed all starters off the court and brought on nearly his whole bench and they haven't dropped a beat. But when you've got an up and coming point guard like Jason Cadee, a centre as big as Luke Schencher and the strength and athleticism of Mitch Creek and BJ Anthony its a bench that could soon be a starting five with new teams coming into the league. Then when you have a player like Gary Ervin who can close out the close games like no one else in the league the 36ers should be able get the W in a tough away game. Townsville will fight to the end but i think Adelaide's depth should carry them over the line to win by 8. Centrebet has the Crocodiles at $2.75 for the win and the 36ers at $1.45. Probably best to let this one go unless you put a decent amount on Adelaide as they should get the win.

3 hours after on friday night the Perth Wildcats take on the New Zealand Breakers in Perth. The Breakers are coming back into form with back to back wins. Mika Vukona last week was in full beast mode with a near triple double for the Breakers and he will be looking to have another big performance in front of the biggest crowd in the league. In last weeks win in New Zealand the game was fairly rough with the refs taking the league back to last years basketbrawl. This helped the Breakers get the win who have thus far struggled with the new rule altercations. This game may come down to how the umpires ref the game. If they let the teams play it should be a tough match up as both teams like to play hard and physical but if the refs call it close then expect to see the Breakers key players in foul trouble early and the Perth Wildcats to run away with the win on their home court. Im picking the Wildcats to continue their good form with another win, to take it by 5. It should be a great athletic match up between Tom Abercrombie and James Ennis. Last time the Breakers were in Perth they were cutting down the net and im sure the Wildcats are looking forward to the game. It should be a great match and will be a real measure as to how close or far behind the Breakers are from the league leaders. Centrebet has the Breakers to get the win at $4.75 and the Wildcats at $1.18 not really worth a bet due to it coming down to the reffing to decide the win for most games the Breakers play.

Saturday night's first game is in Cairns with the Cairns Taipans taking on the Adelaide 36ers. This will be a tough game for the 36ers after a game the night before in Townsville, therefore fatigue may be an issue for the 36ers. However with a team as deep as the 36ers have it wont be as big an issue as it would for other teams in the league. The Cairns Taipans have had a rough start to the season and have lost several close games not to mention last week loss to the Wildcats in over time. The Taipans have a tall team and their centre Alex Loughton has come into form hitting some big shots, but this will be a tough game where they will have to work hard to get the win. The Taipans don't tend to run the ball as much as other teams but i think this will be key to use the 36ers fatigue against them. If Jamar Wilson and Demetri McCamey can run the ball and dont have too many turnovers up against the tough defense of Adam Gibson they may be able to take down the number 2 team in the league. Im going to pick the Taipans to get this win in their home court by 2. It should be a great game. Centrebet has the 36ers to win at $1.55 and the Taipans at $2.45 this could be worth a few dollars with the 36ers coming off a game the night before.

The second game of Saturday night will be the Wollongong Hawks hosting the Sydney Kings. The Hawks have a big hole in the team with the loss of their centre Larry Davidson to an ankle injury. In the last few games rebounding has been where the Hawks have lost games and expect to see this one to be similar due to the Kings two big rebounders in AJ Ogilvy and NBA player Sam Young. The Hawks are a very well coached team and have some shooters that can get on fire at any time in rotnei Clark who has proved himself as one of the best offensive players in the league and Oscar Foreman who thus far hasn't had a huge start to the season. For the Hawks to get the win Foremen will have to be hitting some big 3's and Clark as always will be on fire, but Rhys Martin will also have to show his return to form to reduce the impact their lack of size will have. If the Hawks can attack the Kings in the back court it also may help their cause, as Sydney still look to be adjusting to not having a real point guard on the team. Expect to see Sam Young to have a big game with no players on the Hawks roster who can match his athleticism. I'm picking the Kings to get the win by 6. This game centrebet has the Kings to win at $1.55 and the Hawks at $2.45, could be worth a few on the Kings to get your total up a few $$.

The last game of the round is in Melbourne with the Melbourne Tigers taking on the New Zealand Breakers. The Tigers are coming off two losses last round against the Breakers and Kings. In last weeks physical battle between these two teams the Breakers managed to get the win with a big fourth quarter performance from the breakers at home. This time its in Melbourne and the Breakers are coming off a tough match in Perth, so fatigue may be an issue for the Breakers. The Tigers will be looking to get revenge from last week and watch out for Chris Goulding too come out fireing. But for the Tigers to get the win a few more players then Chris Goulding will have to an impact on offense. Mark Worthington still looks to be carrying his shoulder injury and has a quiet few games the last couple of rounds. If he starts fireing the Tigers should be able to get the win but if has a quiet one again and the Breakers are able to contain Adam Ballinger the breakers should be able to get a win on the road. This will definitly be a tough game for both teams and a tough one to pick but i'm going with the home team, for the Tigers to win by 4. This is a close game and is definitly a tough one to call and therefor centrebet has given both teams the win at $1.90.

Its a few tough games for betting and if your looking at making a few dollars in a multi bet a decent pick might be for Adelaide to beat Townsville, Perth to beat New Zealand, Sydney to beat Wollongong and Cairns to beat Adelaide and this pays out at $6.50. Without the Taipans to win in the multi its all favourites and only pays at $2.65. Good luck to anyone having a punt and any comments are most welcomed.

Sydney Kings take down the Melbourne Tigers behind some big plays from NBA swingman Sam Young

Melbourne defeated Sydney 63-67 in what was a physical battle in Melbourne. Sam Young summed up the game well “They beat me up out there today,” Young said. The Kings went on t huge 24 point run in the fist and second quarters but Melbourne kept bringing them back in to keep it competitive going into the final minutes. Sam Young had a big second game in the league with a double double, scoring 27 points and 10 rebounds.

First play of the game play and Sydney get it into AJ Ogilvy twice but he wasn’t able complete getting the first points of the game from the foul line. On the other end Chris Goulding made a nice little fade away jump shot to get the Tigers on the board. Sam Young hit a jumper for the Kings, and Scott Morrison got a jam for the Tigers and both teams were off and it already looked to be a good game.

Chris Goulding got on fire early and hit his first 3 shots getting the Tigers an early lead 9-6. with 7:30 left in the first quarter.

Scott Morrison got a nice alley-oop jam off a Lucas Walker fast break and for Sydney Sam Young is looking unstoppable.

Half way into the first quarter the score is 11 all. Sam Young has been playing great ball on both ends of the floor and the Tigers have been on fire with Chris Goulding knocking down some tough shots.

Lucas walker got a nice block on Sam Young as he tried to be a one man fast break and then Young got his first big dunk of the game at 4 minutes left in the first quarter for the Kings to take the lead after a dry patch 11-13.

Sydney went on a 16 point run closing out the quarter 11-22.

Charles Carmouche opened the scoring in the second quarter with a drive and 3 point play. And then followed it up with a 3 over Scott Morrison and it's a jumped out to a 24 point run. Goulding finally broke the drought with a nice drive for the Tigers and its 13-30 with 8 minutes left to go in the second quarter.

Melbourne are worked their way back with some more hot shooting by Chris Gouldingg and it was 20-30 with 5 minutes left in the 2^nd.

Sam Young flew above the crowd around him with a big tip in Jam. Then recieved his second hit in the face on the other end on defense. Young was matched up on Goulding to try to slow his offense as the defensive specialist in the Kings line up. Sam Young has a lot of talent and may be able to dominate this league.  He has a lot of ball control for a big man.

Nate Tomlinson hit a 3 and Melbourne had a 7-0 run to get the deficit to under 10 with only 2 minutes left in the half. Tom Garlepp got a shot off on the buzzer to keep the Kings up by 10 at the end of the first half 30-40.

At half time Sam young was on 12 points with 6 from 11 shooting and a couple of nice jams.

Opening the second half Nate Tomlinson hit a 15ft jumper and some good ball movement got Morrison an easy shot inside and the Tigers are on a come back.  

Sam Young gots the Kings fist points of the half with a fast break drive and a 3 point play.

With 4 minutes left in the 3^rd the Tigers are back 41-43 and Sam Young and Mark Worthington having some words and were getting frustrated by the 3 minute mark the scores are tied 43-43. Shane Heal looks also to be getting frustrated and wasn't getting many call his way. The game is getting physical with MacMillan hitting the floor and had to take a seat.

Closing out the quarter the Kings held onto the lead 44-47 and in the final play Goulding made a nice drive but AJ Ogilvy knocked it off the rim.

4^th quarter:

Mark Worthington opened scoring with a nice little shot under the basket for the Tigers and Charles Carmouch hits a 3 to start scoring for the Kings. Ogilvy is doing a good job blocking Goulding as he has been drove to the hole with another blocked shot.

Young hit a nice 3 which was nothing but net as the Kings get out to a 7 point lead with 6:30 to go, 50-57.

Goulding got a nice lay in going at the body of Sam Young bringing the deficit back to 3, 54-57.

Madgen hit a long 3 banked from the corner but Goulding hit a 3 and the Tigers will not go away as he tries to take the responsibilty of the offense on his shoulders.

With the Tigers only down by 2 Goulding got a steal and Farrakhan got Morrison the ball to flush it through the ring and the scores are tied again 62-62 with only 2 minutes to go.

In what was probably the play of the game to secure the Kings the win, Sam young got the Kings back the lead with a strong drive against Chris Goulding and did it again up against Mark Worthington taking the Kings lead to 4 points with only 19 seconds left in the game. Young then hit a couple of free throws and the Kings win the game 63-67.

The difference in the game came down to rebounds in a stat that has dominated most wins of the season with the Kings getting the majority, 38-32. The Tigers dominated on the assists 14-6 in a stat line that the will be difficult for the Kings to pick up without a strong point guard on the roster.

Shane Heal had a few great in game reffing quotes"

"He came out from the NBA to get bashed like that. This game has been reffed differently then the last 8 games. Both teams it's a wrestle."

Sam Young agreed with him in a post game interview saying,

“They beat me up out there today,”
“Every day is a learning process for me. It’s just something I have to get used to [the physicality] because it’s not like that in the NBA.”

 Sydney Kings 67 (Young 27, Carmouche 14, Ogilvy 10)
Melbourne Tigers 63 (Morrison 20, Goulding 20)

NBL Round 8 weekend preview

Sorry for the late post didn't realize it was a Thursday night game. After missing a couple of prediction last week with the Wollongong Hawks getting a win over Cairns even without Larry Davidson and the Perth Wildcats destroying the Sydney Kings hopefully ill get more right this week.

The first game of the round see's the Melbourne Tigers playing the New Zealand Breakers in New Zealand. This should be a good game and with the Breakers having the home court advantage its a lot tougher to pick the winner. The Melbourne Tigers came off a loss last week and the Breakers finally got a win on their home court, they will be hoping to keep that win streak going. The Tigers will be hoping their new import point guard will have a better game and lead the team to a win by getting Goulding some open shots. Mark Worthington has a had a few slow games and I'm sure he will be working hard to get his shot going. Apparently Kerron Johnson had to sit out the Breakers training session yesterday and may not be able to play tonight. If that is the case the Tigers should be able to get a win in the Breakers home court. If Johnson is out for the game, Corey Webster may have to step up as the starting point guard. He has played some big games for the Breakers in the last couple of rounds but i think he may be too much too keep the Breakers alive with more minutes. Mika Vukona may be carrying a small shoulder injury as well and if even some of these rumours are true, it will be a tough night for the Breakers in front of their fans. Im picking the Tigers to win by 8. Hopefully a couple of the Tigers will help out in scoring tonight and dont have to rely on Goulding for every offense. With the two injuries the Breakers may be carrying this is the bet of the week with the Tigers to win at $2.75 and the Breakers at $1.45.

Friday night we get to see the Adelaide 36ers host the Wollongong Hawks. Both teams are coming

off wins last week, but noticeable the 36ers are coming away as the first team to beat the Perth Wildcats and will be looking to keep that hot streak alive. The Wollongong Hawks are being lead by import guard Rotnei Clark who has been one of the best offensive players in the league so far this season. Unfortunatel for the Hawks he has been only consistent player on the roster. Gary Erving has had a very good start to the season and would certainly be in MVP contention. The Hawks will likely still be missing their starting centre Larry Davidson and will lack size in the paint. The 36ers two 7" players should be able to dominate inside the keyway. The Hawks 3 point shooting will have to be hot for them to be able to keep up to the 36ers. Im expecting the Hawks to go down by 10 due to their lack of rebounders. Adelaide should win this after their win last week and as favourites at $1.16 isnt really worth a bet also.

The Cairns Taipans are the unlucky team to take on the Perth Wildcats this round. A tough game for the Taipans after last rounds destruction of the Sydney Kings by the Wildcats. Last week after being defeated by the Adeliade 36ers in what is likely to be the grand final match up, the Wildcats followed it up with a 40 point difference in their win over the Sydney Kings on their home court. Cairns have struggled early in the season and last time these two teams met the Wildcats defense was too much for the Taipans on average a tall team. Im expecting the Perth Wildcats to continue their good form with the win over a team that hasn't yet seemed to get their form together. Watch out for James Ennis to dominate with his incredible athleticism over the Taipans weaker defense and the Wildcats to win by 9.The Wildcats should get the win and are obviouse favourties so probably not worth a bet.

The Final game of the round see's the Melbourne Tigers host the Sydney Kings on Sunday night.

Sydney will be looking to have a big game after their massive loss to the Wildcats last weak. Hopefully with a weak of training behind them the Kings will have learn't to work better within their team. Charles Carmouche looked to struggle at the point guard position not utilising AJ Ogilvy the way Jesse Sanders was able to earlier in the season. This should be a good game with both teams having a relatively new player in the roster. But for the Sydney Kings that player is 4 year NBA veteran Sam Young, who if they can get him the ball where he want it, should dominate. For the Kings to get the win carmouche will have to look for the pass first as a guard and to change his style away from how he was to play early in the season. Its a tough ask for several of the players on the Kings line up but they will have to learn quick to stay in the hunt for the championship. Fatigue could be an issue for the Melbourne tigers who played the the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday. This should be a close one and if Sydney still had Sanders I'd say the Kings by 10 but since its Carmouche at the point it will be a tough game and ill pick the the Tigers to win by 1. But if Sam Young picks up his performance from last week Sydney may be able to dominate on the inside. Tough one to call on for the last game.
Since the Kings are paying at $2.30 for the win it could be worth a punt but im going to miss this one.
A good pick for a three game bet this week and one im going to place is for the Melbourne tigers to beat the Breakers, the wildcats to beat the Taipans and 36ers to beat the Hawks. This is in my opinion the best multi bet you could place. Good luck to anyone having a bet this week and i hope my tips work out as my money is running on them.

Mathew Dellavadova working his way into good minutes for the Cavaliers

Mathew Dellavadova is dominating with the time he gets on the court. In the last two games against the Washington Wizards he has played 30min and 20min and both in the closing quarters and over time. Also in both games the Cavaliers have come back from a defecit to to take it to overtime and the win or get them back in the hunt from a huge deficit of 26 in game 2. In game two against the wizards in Cleveland Dellavadova dominated on D and made some huge 3 pointers. Kyrie Irving got hot on offense and from 26 points down Delly's hustle and Kyrie’s offence got them within 4 with 2:36 left in the game. Unfortunately a loose ball foul on a rebound contest with 1:46 to go sent Gortat to the line for the wizards in what could have been a play that brought them within 2 and they held the lead. Despite a long 3 on the buzzer by Kyrie Irving the Wizards got the win 98-91.The Cavaliers look like a much stronger team when Delly is on the floor as they can let Kyrie Irving go himself on offense or he can use Dellavedova to move the ball around the floor and get himself or someone else an open look through good ball movement. Irving and Delly really seem to gain energy off each other Delly on D and Kyrie on offense.

In his rookie year out of college Mathew Dellavadova has worked his way onto an NBA roster through a camp invite and good summer league performance and now he is working himself into minutes for the Cav's. The same way he worked his way on to the starting line up for the Boomers at the 2012 Olympics, he is creating a niche in the NBA. Mathew Dellavadova is a workhorse with a very high basketball IQ. I hope we get to continue seeing him on the floor.

With the introduction of players with NBA potential (James Ennis) and NBA players (Sam young) in the NBL as well as more Australian's in the NBA it seems like more respect is being given to Australian basketballer’s. Apparently Chris Goulding has been getting on the NBA scouts radar with his huge start to the season and its obvious Australian basketball is on the rise. I can only hope the Australian media finally catch onto it and give the the NBL some air time in the sports news. 

Check out the game report and highlights here:

http://www.nba.com/video/games/cavaliers/2013/11/20/0021300162-was-cle-recap.nba/ 

Unfortunately all it shows is offense but Delly had a huge impact on Defense probably more then his 9 points even had for the come back. 

Round 7 weekend preview

This is probably the most anticipated round of basketball so far this season as its the first game in the competition for two new players. The Melbourne Tigers have recruited Mustapha Farrakhan from the NBA D league and the Sydney Kings have welcomed their new import from 4 years in the NBA.

Friday night has a game that everyone in the league has been looking forward to since round 1, when the Perth Wildcats pulled off a close win over the Adelaide 36ers. The 36ers were probably the team to come the closest to defeating the Perth Wildcats but weren't able to pull it off on the Wildcats home court. Both teams probably have the deepest bench in league its going to fast paced and exciting game. With the Wildcats welcoming Matt Knight back into the line up and Tom Jervis playing better then expected they will be able to counter Adelaide's two big men Luke Schencher and Daniel Johnson who managed to play very well against the Wildcats in round 1. Jermaine Beal has also picked up his game from early in the season when he couldn't knock down a shot to the hot streak of shooting he has been on lately and has top scored for the Wildcats in the last few rounds. Gary Ervin has shown what a star player he is with some game winning plays for the 36ers. Damian Martin will also have his hands full coming up against the second best defender in the league in Adam Gibson. In all positions these two teams are the best to match up against each other. With both teams sitting at the no. 1 and 2 spot on the ladder it will be the game of the night and  hopefully we will see a sell out arena in Adelaide. Centrebet have pretty even odds with the Perth wildcats to win at $1.85 and the Adelaide 36ers to win at $1.95. This is tough game to predict especially with the 36ers playing at home but i'm going to give it to the Wildcats to win by 1 so really could go either way.

Although the 36ers vs wildcats game is the best to watch on Friday the first game up is the New Zealand Breakers hosting the Townsville Crocodiles. The Breakers have played Townsville twice already this season and were beaten both times in Townsville. However this time its on the Breakers home ground and after their last loss to the 36ers on their home ground on the buzzer they will be hoping desperately for a win. The only wins the Crocodiles have had this season has been against the New Zealand Breakers so they must know how to play them. The key match up looks to be at the centre position with Townsvilles Brian Conklin up against the Breakers Alex pledger. Last game time they played Conklin racked up 33 points and Pledger was kept to single figures. However with the home ground advantage and how hard i'm expecting the Breakers to play to get this win for their fans I'm picking them for the win by 6. Watch out for a tough fight from both teams though. Centrebet have the Breakers to win at $1.20 and the crocodiles at $4.60. This is a pretty good bet if your looking for a rough win to make some dough. The breakers have not yet been able to beat the Crocodiles and they must just know what it takes to get a win over them. At those odds its worth a few dollars.

Saturday night will see the Cairns Taipans hosting the cellar dwellers the Wollongong Hawks. This will be a good match up as both teams play off excellent execution on their offence. Rotnei Clark for the Hawks has been one of the best players of the competition and has shown he can do it all on offence however if the Hawks are still missing their centre Larry Davidson they will be missing a key piece in the team. The Hawks in the last few games have played some great basketball but have been severely lacking in height since the Davidson has been injured. The Cairns Taipans are on average a tall team and should dominate on the boards and this is where the game should be won. As in the game against Perth, Wollongong couldn't get enough rebounds and with all the seconds chances PErth got it was almost too easy to work out a win over the course of the game. Im picking Cairns to win by 8 if Davidson is still injured however if he isnt expect it to be a lot closer. No confirmation has yet been sent out from the hawks as to if Davidson will play or not and therefore is tough game to bet on. Centrebet have the Taipans to win at $1.37 and the Hawks at $3.10. Ill try to let you know if Davidson is healthy and it could be worth a bet on the Hawks if he is.

Sunday has two games to watch with the first being aired live on channel Ten in Melbourne with the Tigers taking on the Townsville Crocodiles. This is the second game of the round for the Crocodiles and fatigue may be an issue for a team that is not as deep as other in the league. Look for Chris Goulding to have a big game and Mark Worthington to come out looking for points after some quiet games in the last couple of rounds. The Melbourne Tigers have their new recruit Mustapha Farrakhan playing in their line up for the first time and if he can pick up his game over how Ayinde Ubaka was playing they should be an even more well rounded team. Watch for him to try to stamp his style on the team and get Goulding open for some jump shots. Iv got the Tigers to win by 12 over a fatigued Townsville squad.

The last game of the round is probably the most anticipated game of the season with the Sydney Kings new recruit NBA player Sam Young coming up against the Perth Wildcats NBA hopeful James Ennis.
With it being the second game of the round for the Wildcats and after playing a very strong team in the 36ers fatigue may be an issue but with a team as deep as the Wildcats it really shouldn't. Sam Young was a huge pick up not only for the Kings but for the NBL and look for him to dominate early both defensively and offensively looking to get the Kings shooters open. He is said to be a defensive specialist who can stop athletic wingmen like James Ennis. With the Kings releasing their point guard Jesse Sanders this is probably where the game will hang in the balance. Damian Martin has shown why he was the best defensive player in the league last year and has continued that form this season. Depending on how Charles Carmouche can adjust to the point guard position will decide the game. Martin may just be too much for him in the back court and the game may be won due to the Kings lack of depth in the point guard position. This should be the game of the week with two explosive athletes in Sam young for the Kings and James Ennis for the Wildcats going at each other. Centrebet have the Kings to win at $4.00 and the Wildcats at $1.25. Im picking the Kings to possibly get the first win of the season over the Wildcats with AJ Ogilvy to have a big game on the inside and Sam Young to contain James Ennis enough for them to get a hard fought win by 4. This is really going to be a tough game for the kings, as the PErth Arena is the hardest shooting stadium in the league and with the home court advantage it will tough to scrape out a win. But hopefully the fatigue from Fridays game against Adelaide will be enough for the Kings to scrape across the line. Enjoy the Exciting games on offer this weekend and hopefully my prediction will be as accurate as last week.

Round 6 weekend wrap up sort of

For a weekend wrap up of this round you might as well check out my weekend preview for the round. I managed to predict every game correctly and made some money with a 5 game bet.

The only comment ill give is on the Breakers vs Adelaide game where the Adelaide 36ers managed to pull off a win with 4 seconds left on the clock and down by 1 Gary Ervin got a steal on the inbound pass and break away drive making the lay up on the buzzer to win the game by 1. It was a great game and one that the Breakers were unlucky not to win. Their losing streak at home continues this season lets hope they can turn their form around soon before the season gets away from them. Check out the highlights from the game to see the play it should be on the NBL website. The Adelaide 36ers are looking like a whole new team with a new coach and a couple of new imports. Joey likes a team that goes 10 deep and this team easily does. At one point in the game no starters were on the floor and they still looked dangerous.

The top four teams at the end of the season look like it will be the Perth Wildcats, Adelaide 36ers, Melbourne Tigers and the Sydney Kings, with the new signings that the Kings and Tigers announced. It's looking like a great season ahead and plenty of time for the other teams to make a move and get their game together. But with NBA player and future NBA player like Sam Young and James Ennis in the line ups it will be a tough night for any team coming up agains the Kings or Wildcats. And thats without mentioning the 10 deep team Adelaide has and the exceptional form Tigers guard Chris Goulding has been displaying as the league high scorer at 26.6ppg. These are definitly the teams to watch and will be the most exciting for any team coming up against them they will be hungry for a win. Keep an eye out and i hope your enjoying this season of the Australian National Basketball league as much as I am.

Melbourne Tigers sign new import Mustapha Farrakhan

The Melbourne Tigers who are sitting at the number 4 spot on the NBL ladder just signed Mustapha Farrakhan into their line up to replace back up point guard Ayinde Ubaka. Farrakhan is a guard who after graduating from the University of Virginia largely played his professional career in the NBA D league and most recently in the LA clippers pre-season training camp. He arrived in the Australia on Sunday and given NBL approval should have his first game next round this weekend when the Melbourne Tigers take on the Townsville Crocodiles. Head Coach Chris Anstey had this to say,
“Mustapha has a skillset we think will complement the style of game we are trying to play and the skillsets of our players,”
“He gives us a different look and is more in the mould of (injured import Stephen Dennis). We are very confident he will help our group on both ends of the floor.”

Mustapha Farrakhan stands at 193cm and 82 kg and is expected to bring some athleticism and scoring to the point guard position increasing Melbourne's depth

With the Sydney Kings signing Sam Young and now the Melbourne Tigers signing an import with the hopes of being better then Ubaka the top four teams just seem to be getting stronger. Now that Melbourne have a strong point guard player who can score the tigers are starting to look very deep. If Chris Goulding continues his hot streak and if Farrakhan can take some of the pressure off of Goulding and Mark Worthington the Tigers have solidified their place in the top four. This season is really starting to look like one of the best the NBL has seen in several years. Star players are really starting to make statements on the league. The NBL finally looks to be back on the rise in Australia.
Heres a couple of highlights from his time in the D league and NBA preseasons.

NBL Round 6 Weekend Preview

This weekend we have 5 games of NBL to watch as some big players come back from injury with Matt Knight for the unbeaten Perth Wildcats and Cam Gliddon back in for the Cairns Taipans.

The first game of the round is on the Thursday the 14th with the Perth Wildcats coming off a bye week to take on the Cairns Taipans at the Perth arena. The unbeaten and looking unbeatable Perth Wildcats should get another win at home against Cairns. They are just looking to strong at the moment with no real weaknesses a team can exploit and with a starting player to come in off injury Matt Knight will be looking to have a big impact for his first game of the season. In any other arena i wouldn't mind picking the Cairns Taipan's to get a win over the Wildcats but in the toughest shooting stadium in Australia I don't see even Cam Gliddon's outside range standing against the Perth Wildcats. Having come off a bye last week Perth may have lost a little momentum however they will be geared up to get that momentum back with possibly two more wins this round. I'm picking the Perth Wildcats to win at home however Centrebet has the Cairns Taipans paying $6.25 for the win to Perth $1.25. I might have to have a punt on Cairns to win at odds like that, If the Taipans are hitting their shots their's no reason they cant win. Between Demetri McCamey and Jamar Wilson the Taipans might have the best back court in the league and if they do get open shots for their team they might get over the line or so i hope for a rough bet but I'm going to pick the Wildcats to win by 8.

Game two of the round will be on Friday night in New Zealand with the New Zealand Breakers
taking on the Adelaide 36ers. This is a great match up between two very strong teams. The Breakers have been having a rough start to the season and are on 2-5 wins to losses where as Adelaide look to have filled in some of their gaps from last season and are closing out some tight games with a 5-2 win, loss record and sitting at no. 2 on the ladder. The Breakers still look like they are adjusting to Dean Vickerman's coaching style and the new alterations on how the game is being called. They are a quality team but until they can get these two parts of their game in line I don't see them beating a strong and well rounded team like Adelaide. Having the home court advantage and coming off 3 championships the odds at the TAB are with them with centrebet giving the Breakers $1.65 for the win and the 36ers are at $2.25. I had picked the 36ers to get the win this round against the Breakers and with odds like that its definitely worth a bet. I'm surprised they are so far in New Zealand's favor when the Breakers are sitting second from the bottom on the ladder and coming up against the number 2 team in the league. New Zealand have some excellent offensive players on the team like CJ Bruton, Darryl Corletto, Alex Pledger, Gary Wilkinson and Kerron Johnson. On the defensive end they are a scrappy team that have not yet been able to alter their game to the new reffing this season so have sent their opposing team to the free throw line to many times. If they can play some good defense and not foul so much they should win it with the home court advantage, however I'm picking Gary Ervin and Adelaide 36ers to close out another close game in a hostile location to win by 4. The 36ers have so many options to go to for scoring everyone on the team can stack up the points on any given night and they will be tough to stop. New Zealand will be hoping for the 36ers to miss a few and to get a few more of those 50/50 calls from the refs. It will be a great game to watch with two excellent teams facing off.

The second game on Friday night is in Sydney with the Sydney Kings taking on the Townsville
Crocodiles. This will be a tough game for both teams. The Kings will be looking for AJ Ogilvy early and will hope he will have a big game like he did last week against Cairns where he dominated in the paint. The Townsville Crocodiles are definitely a dark horse of league this season picking up some good wins over the New Zealand Breakers, if they can replicate the game they played against the breakers they may get a win on the road. The Crocodiles play a scrappy, team oriented game and you know they are looking for another win. The Sydney Kings can be a very good team if their offensive sets run well utilizing AJ Ogilvy to spread the floor for their shooters in Ben Madgen and James Harvey. For the Kings AJ Ogilvy can dominate in this league if they can get him the ball down low and the Crocodiles will need to deny him the ball for them to get a win. I'm picking Sydney to get the win at home but the Crocs wont make it easy to go down only by 6. Centrebet have the Kings for the win at $1.45 and Crocs at $2.85.

The Cairns Taipans have a rough road weekend taking on the Melbourne Tigers on Saturday night. The Tigers have hit some good form behind some excellent games from Chris Goulding and Mark Worthington. Cairns will look to deny Worthington and Goulding from getting started and teams have done well to do this in the first half of games but they have both come back to dominate in the second. Cairns will have to try to slow both Wortho and Goulding for the whole game. Melbourne should look to run the ball as Cairns played only 2 nights ago against the very strong and quick Perth Wildcats, fatigue may become an issue for the Taipans and the Tigers may be able to exploit it. Look for the Tigers to run and to try to get Wortho and Goulding going early, as both can go on fire when they get open shots. I'm picking the Tigers to get the win by 8 with Chris Goulding and Mark Worthington to both have big nights with 15+ points each.

The last game of the week is in Wollongong with the Hawks taking on the Perth Wildcats. The Wildcats played on Thursday night and fatigue really shouldn't be to big of an issue by Sunday. The Wildcats should dominate as they did last time the Hawks played them in Perth winning by 40 points. This game should be a bit closer as its a home game for the Hawks but with Matt Knight coming back from injury and Larry Davidson still out injured for the Hawks the Wildcats should be able to dominate inside the key-way with no real centre. The Hawks will have to shoot the lights out to get a win on Sunday and Rotnei Clark who has had a great start to the season will really need to hit his shots and gets his players open for some big three pointers. The Kevin Tiggs and James Ennis match up should be a good one with two very athletic players going against each other. Hopefully Tigg's has gotten those horrible missed dunks he had last time against Perth out of his head and has a big game as that match up should be one to watch. Centrebet have the Wildcats to win at $1.22 and the Hawks at $4.30, I'm picking the Wildcats to get the win with some big plays from Jermain Beal, James Ennis and Matt Knight to dominate on the inside to win by 12.

Whatever team your going for, their is some great basketball to watch this weekend and several close games to call.

The Adelaide 36ers held onto the lead to beat the Melbourne Tigers 90-87

In what was looking like a demolition of the Tigers by the 36ers in the first half of the game the Melbourne Tigers came back from a 26 point deficit to make it competitive in the final quarter, behind some hot shooting from Chris Goulding and Mark Worthington.

Scott Morrison started the scoring in the game for the Melbourne Tigers and from the start it was obvious they wanted to go to him a lot. The 36ers were utilising their whole team on offence and were slowly racking up points. Adelaide did a really good job on containing Chris Goulding in the first half with Adam Gibson containing him well and got a steal followed by a big block by Jarrid Frye. With 2 minutes left in the first quarter the Tigers had a 22-11 lead and were playing some excellent defense. Adelaide were dominating on the boards with 15-6 rebounds and the quarter closed 22-13 after Adam Ballinger broke
the drought for the Tigers.

The second quarter was very similar to the first with all of Adelaide working well to notch up the points but the Melbourne Tigers  could not get the ball inside and kept settling with a contested 3 point shot. Adam Gibson showed why he has received the defensive player of the year award in the past as he continued to lock down Chris Goulding in the second quarter. Everyone from Adelaide was hitting their shots with Gary Erving, Daniel Johnson, and Adam Gibson all hitting the 3 ball and the lead ballooned out to 48-25 with two minutes left in the half. Goulding got his first points in the game with 2 minutes left in half but closed the half with 10 points largely behind a tech foul which was called on Joey Wright for a comment to the ref which quickly gave Goulding a 5 point possession.
At half time the score was 53-33 with the rebound count heavily in Adelaide's favour 28-13.
Adam Gibson at half time commented on Goulding's hot streaky shooting "you cant give him the split of a second"

Opening the second half Melbourne still looked to be trying for the long 3 bomb and not hitting but on the other end Anthony Petrie showed them how to do it. Mark Worthington passed up an alley oop to Lucas Walker for the big jam and this where Melbourne got going, but were down 57-39. With the ends switched Melbourne started heating up with Chris Goulding and Mark Worthinton looking like they couldnt miss while on the other end Adelaide couldn't get one to drop and Melbourne were finally getting some rebounds and running it up the floor. Chris Goulding showed off some of his skills off the dribble with a nice smooth drive to the hole. Followed immediately on the other end by Adam Gibson bulldozing his way for a lay up. Adelaide were holding on to their lead but Melbourne were catching up and on the Buzzer Jason Cadee drops a long banked 3 pointed for the 36ers to go into the final break up 75-66.

Mark Worthington kept the Tigers alive early in the final quarter with some nice shooting and the Tigers defence had picked up again. Goulding was heating up again hitting some contested 3 pointers and by 5:30 left in the game the Tigers were back 75-77. Adelaide held onto the narrow lead and with 2 minutes left Adam Ballinger again made a big shot to take the Tigers down by 1 point 84-85. In the final minute in the game JOey Wright had something to say to his former player Chris Goulding and then Goulding immediately followed it with a missed drive. On the other end Gary Ervin made the play of the game with 40 seconds to go he penetrated into the key way and with the whole Tigers team trying to deny him the basket he threads the needle and dished the ball Daniel Johnson for an easy 2 taking the 36ers up 89-84. With only seconds left in the game the Melbourne Tigers were forced to foul on every Adelaide possession and were lucky with some missed free throws to keep them alive 90-87 with the final shot but a huge half way hail mary from Mark Worthington missed the Adelaide 36ers managed to hold onto the win 87-90 after dominating the first half.
Gary Ervin post game said "Melbourne, thats a tough team. Goulding and Wortho are the leaders of that team and when they got hot if was lucky we were up 20 to weather the storm."
"thats the difference with this Adelaide team to last years team in every game this year that has been close we have gotten the win."
Gary Ervin hit the nail on the head with that one and it could be largely due to his influence and late game heroics that have secured Adelaide several of their wins so far in the season.
Mark Worthington top scored the game with 28 points followed by Chris Goulding with 23 and the always consistent Adam Ballinger with 16
For the Adelaide 36ers Gary Ervin finished with 21, Daniel Johnson 19 and Adam Gibson with 13

Whether its the Return of the NBL star players or excellent team basketball the 2013/14 NBL season has it all

This week was a spectacular one for individual performances with several players showing their incredible talent to get their team the win or to come close. Chris Goulding scored 34 points for the Tigers in a win over the Cairns Taipans, Rotnei Clark scored 36 in a loss against New Zealand Charles Carmouch led the Kings over the Crocs and between Jermaine Beal and James Ennis the Perth Wildcats look unbeatable.
I dont think it would be since the late 90's or early 2000's since the NBL has seen such consistent high scoring outputs from individuals. Although it is only the start of the season things are definitely looking up for the NBL and the alteration on foul calls for the league seems to be doing its job. Not 2 years ago the leagues high scorer was only at 16 points per game. Now in this season Chris Goulding is currently holding those honours averaging 27 points per game and is probably on most peoples dream team line up.

The Melbourne Tigers are fast becoming one of my favorites teams to watch. With Goulding's high offensive
output and Mark Worthington doing everything he has to on both sides of the floor they are looking like a strong team. It sucks to consider what they could have been if they hadn't been riddled with injuries so early into the season and losing another player who could have been as star in Stephen Dennis.

The Perth Wildcats are unbeaten and sit far ahead on the league ladder with a great deal to thank to James Ennis who's high flying dunks have been the highlight of the season. Such athleticism like his has not been seen in the NBL since Leonard Copeland back in the 90's. Jermaine Beal who had a slow start to the season  for the Widcats couldn't get his outside shot
working has come back in a big way and has high scored for the Wildcats in their last two outings.

The Wollongong Hawks import guard Rotnei Clarke has shown how good he is on multiple high scoring nights but his 36 points against New Zealand was his best and was very entertaining to watch. With his impressive outside shooting he looks very hard to guard as he has a very quick step and blew past Kerron Johnson and Alex Pledger on multiple occasions last round. The Hawks other import Kevin Tiggs looks to be a very good player who seems to be having a dry patch around the rim after a shocker of a night against Perth where he missed 2 dunks and an alley oop. He looks to be very athletic and likes to finish around the rim with contact and can definitely put up some good numbers but he needs to get his head right for next round. I think those missed dunks haunted him a little heading into their last game.

The Sydney Kings Saw Charles Carmouch explode against Townsville for 33 points and they still have several star players who could step up and have some huge games in AJ Ogilvy, Ben Madgen and James Harvey. Ogilvy has been doing quite well on the inside but the outside shooting of the Kings has not yet been what it could be with Madgen still coming back from injury and James Harvey out last round.

The other teams in the league look to be playing a good all round team style with points being put in from all players on the court. Adelaide's stacked team goes nearly 10 men deep and Joey wants them to push the ball, which looks to be working. This looks to be the game plan of several of these pass first teams like Cairns who also like to run. Cairns however  looked a lot shallower when Cam Gliddon was out last round due to injury. The New Zealand Breakers have a had a slow start to the season but are again stacked with many talented players. The Breakers can definitely distribute the points around the team and with a pass first import like Kerron Johnson if the Breakers are hitting their shots, {and with players like CJ Bruton and Darryl Corletto they will be}they will come back to finish in the top four of the season.
The Townsville Crocodiles who are trying to stay alive after nearly going under in the off-season and are playing some great unselfish basketball. They are working hard to show they are still a threat and their guard Steven Markovic has shown himself to be an excellent floor general.

This season looks to be an exciting one and whether your wanting to see some impressive single person scoring from a star player or some excellent team basketball their is something for everyone to watch this season. Lets hope the high quality can be sustained throughout the season.

Chris Goulding leads the Tigers to defeat the Cairns Taipans in a spectacular display of skill with 34 points

The Melbourne Tigers managed to defeat the Cairns Taipans at Cairns on Saturday night lead by Chris "Bubbles" Goulding who showed his array of offensive skills across the game with some excellent drives, post ups and shot from long range, he finished with 34 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds and 1 steal. The Tiger's walked away with the win 86-74.

Chris Goulding game out firing from the start with some strong offense, but Cairns had all the answers they needed with some nice inside passes from Demetri McCamey into Mitch Young and Cam Tragadh. The Tigers managed to hold the lead to close the quarter with a nice drive by Mark Worthington who passed it to Ayinde Ubaka who drained the 3 pointer closing the quarter 23-27.

The second quarter had some nice plays with a second decent dunk from Cairn's Mitch young and Lucas Walker nearly did a Tiggs attempting a big dunk but he at least managed to get it to roll in. But it was Gouldings play making that kept the Tigers in front with some nice spin movies around Jamar Wilson. 2/3 of Melbournes scoring was coming from either Chris Goulding or Mark Worthington who also had abig game with 13 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots
. Goulding was showing his potential with some great penetration into the key way and excellent passes to the open shooters. Again Ubaka closed the quarter with a nice drive to hole keeping the Tigers with a 4 point lead 41-45.

The third quarter was when Goulding stepped it up getting 14 of his 34 in this 10 minute stretch and the Tigers had a 10 point lead by the half way point of the quarter. Cairns on the other hand only managed to score 16 for the quarter. Jamar Wilson who finished with 17 for Cairns managed to keep them alive but the onslaught from Goulding continued with 2 back to back 3 point plays.

The final quarter was played out with Cairns trying to hold on but couldn't pull back the 10 point defecit to much less then 8. Mark Worthington made a huge block on a Sean Bruce fast break which it looked like he lined up from the half way line. The Taipans missing Cam Gliddon looked a lot shallower and lacked the outside shooting that they can be so deadly from. Lets hops he can come back as strong as ever and help the Taipans with some confidence they looked to be lacking on Saturday.

In a post game interview referring to his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers summer camp Goulding stated, "it let me know where my game needs to go"
It looks like it really has as he is developing into one of the great NBL players of this generation, if he can keep up the consistency. Maybe Andrew Gaze has been giving him some pointers in Melbourne.

Melbourne Tigers 86 (Goulding 34, Worthington 13)
Cairns Taipans 74 (Wilson 17, Tragardh Weigh 10)

Round 4 NBL weekend Preview

Round 4 of the NBL is a big one with 6 games being played across the weekend starting on Halloween.

On Thursday night we will get to see the New Zealand Breakers taking on the Adelaide 36ers in NZ. This should be tough game with both teams coming away from a loss. The Breakers at the moment are at the bottom of the ladder and have decided to recruit former import forward Gary Wilkinson to help on offense. Whether this will get them over the line against a stacked line up from the Adelaide 36ers we will see on Halloween. The Breakers will have the home court advantage on their side and it will be loud. This game has some excellent match ups on the floor, with both teams having a genuine 7 foot centre (NZ Alex pledger, ADL Daniel Johnson), a gun import guard (NZ Kerron Johnson, ADL: Gary Ervin) and some forwards who like to play tough in Mika Vukona and Anthony Petrie. New Zealand may have the edge on Adelaide in that Adelaide are bit lacking in outside shooting. They have several players that can make the 3 but not at the clip that players like Darryl Corletto and CJ Bruton can, combining this and the home court advantage im picking new Zealand to get the win by 5 in what will be an entertaining and highly physical match up of two good teams.

Friday has two games with the first being the Townsville Crocodiles playing host to the Sydney Kings.

Townsville are known to play hard and this year have been playing some good unselfish basketball and for them to get the win this is what they will have to keep up. They need to pass a lot and let every player get a good touch of the ball. Townsvilles point guard Steven Markovic has been doing an incredibly good job at getting his team into the game and is distributing very well but will need the imports Josh Pace and Brian Conklin to hit some shots and get them going offensively. Sydney on the other hand need to get AJ Ogilvy the ball on the post. When they do they look a lot better on offense and opens up their shooters. Last week Sydney did well to stick with the Wildcats but fell short in the final quarter and couldn't get anything to work. They will be looking to get over that harsh loss with a win in their first game of this round.
Im picking Townsville to get the win at their home court by 4.

The second game on Friday night will be the Perth Wildcats taking on the Wollongong Hawks in Perth. At home the Wildcats who have looked absolutely unstoppable should easily get the win over the Hawks, but if all the Hawks players are hitting their shots and play within head coach Geordie McCleod system stranger things have happened. I'm picking the Wildcats by 12 because its a home game otherwise it might be a bit closer.

Saturday only has the one game with the Cairns Taipans at home taking on the Melbourne Tigers. These two

teams are quickly becoming a couple of my favorite teams. Cairns have put together a great looking squad with two gun import guards surrounded by an excellent shooting line up. I think all of them can explode on any given night and with the pressure off Jamar Wilson to alone create the plays its opened them up to be very dangerous. The Tigers this year are looking good with Chris Goulding showing he hasn't lost any of his fire power scoring 29 points last week and will be keen to keep that momentum going. If Mark Worthington is also making his drives and shots he is also a big threat on offense and is smart defensive player. This will be an entertaining game with the edge going to the Taipans due to the home court advantage to win by 6.

On Sunday we again have two games to watch.
In Adelaide the 36ers are taking on the Sydney Kings. This is the second game for both teams this round but the Kings played on Friday which may mean they a little more fatigued. I think Adelaide match up better against the Kings having more players that like to play a little harder and more physical. Adelaide should have an easier run on the inside and if they can contain Sydney's outside shooting they should run away with the W. Im picking Adelaide to win by 8.

The second game on Sunday is in Wollongong with the Hawks taking on the New Zealand Breakers with a tough round for the Hawks taking on both of last years two finalists. Wollongong will be thirsty for a win if they were beaten on Friday in Perth and will have be looking to play hard against the Breakers. The

breakers may be a bit disoriented matching up against the Hawks after playing the 36ers with these two teams playing completely different styles. The Hawks are very structured while the 36ers like a run and gun style. This may play into the Hawks favor and with a home town advantage they may be able to pull out the win. The Breakers will also be adjusting to the addition of Gary Wilkinson into the line up and may slow them down against Wollongongs structure play making. Rotnei Clark will have to be hitting his shots and if Rhys Martin can continue the form we saw late in last weeks game against Townsville they should get the win but it will be a hard fought game. I'm picking Wollongong to win by 2 at home.

So it looks like i have picked every home team to win this round. lets hope the odds are little less inclined in this way.

NBL Round 2 Weekend Preview

This weekend we see Round 21 of the NBL season with 2 teams playing 2 games across the weekend
for 5 games to watch for the fans on NBL.tv.

Friday night we have 2 games to watch with the first being the New Zeland Breakers playing the Townsville Crocodiles. This should be a relatively easy win for the Breakers who were looking their the goods against Wollongong last week and i dont think the Crocodiles will have enought to take down the defending champs this early in the season. The Breakers are a team that has on majority not changed much over the last 3 years and their expereince playing with each other should be enough to get them win.

The Second game for Friday is the Perth Wildcats playing the Sydney Kings in Perth. This should be pretty close match up. With the Kings winning their game last round against the Melbourne Tigers i think they will have some confidence going into the Perth Arena but in the end i dont think they will have enough to get the win. It should be close game and AJ Ogilvy should run rampert in the post but unless James Harvey and Ben Madgen are both nailing their shots James Ennis and the Wildcats should have enough to get the win at home. Should be the pick of games to watch on Friday with it being played on ONE HD at 9.30pm.
Saturday night again has two games being played with the first being the Adelaide 36ers vs Wollongong Hawks in Adelaide for thier fisrst home game of the season. The 36ers being down two

starter last round showed off their depth of bench and the level they will playing in the close defeat Perth. It will be great to see a full strength 36ers play against a hopefully full strength Hawks. The Hawks have added their second import who might play if his immigration and FIBA paper work goes through in time. The Hawks have the potential to be a very strong team but this early in the season with a new import to adjust to, i dont think they will be able to keep up with the new run and gun Adelaide 36ers. Adelaide should easily get the win this time.
The second game on Friday is the Cairns taipans playing against the New Zealand Breakers in Cairns.

This should be a great game with the Taipans showing how strong an offensive threat they have become this season with 100+ point 40 minute game in their win against Townsville. If Jamar Wilson can perform how he did last week Cairns should get the win. The breakers will be tired after their game the night before against Townsville and if Cairns are hitting thier shots they should get the win but it will likely be a tight game. I doubt the Breakers will let them get their own way like they did against the Crocodiles.
The Final game of the weekend is on sunday with the Perth Wildcats taking on the Melbourne Tigers in Melbourne. The Tigers may play Chris Goulding for limited minutes floowing a fitness test which may give them a bit more on offense but unless they can contain James Ennis Perth might get their second win for the weekend. For Melbourne to get a win in this game Mark Worthington must stay out of foul trouble and make his mark on the game like he did last week against Sydney. I think this should be a close game and is probably the most difficult to call. Id like Melbourne to get a win but i think Perth may still be too much for them untill they have a full strength Chris Goulding. As it stands they dont have enough of an offensive presence to keep up with Perth but given this is the Wildcats second game of the weekend it may be a close one.