Nice one Al. Now that Anstey's back.
Johnson take a seat!!!!

Is McKee out for this one?

No McKee, Saville 3 fouls, Gruber shooting 3's what chance Hawks?

Brave, brave effort form Hawks.
Few too many TO's, dismal FT shooting and Anstey blitz in 3rd costly.

no24 gave them a bit of chance with poor shooting and turnovers, but Hawks missed FTs lost it in the end.

No joke anon, Ray Hunt'll do that.

Ty McKee would've switched that result.

That acting performance by Anstey was just embarrassing! He was the difference though, just kept hitting incredibly low-percentage attempts. What can you do? He had a (rare) good night.

Judas was a joke as usual. Does anyone else suspect that 'broken wrist' is just chafing?

Anon, I meant a rare good shooting night. Generally (and not just this year) he just jacks up a bunch of low-percentage threes in the hope that one night he'll get on a streak. Tonight was that night.

Just watched the last quarter of the game (partly because I just go in from work, partly because Gaze commentating on Tigers games is intolerable) - did the Hawkies get ANY calls at all during the game?! Every call (and there were quite a few) in the last five minutes was ALL Melbourne. Ugh.

The biggie was the Hodge foul on Martin during a fastbreak. Refs shoulda let it play, or given Hodge an unsportsmanlike.

Oh, and Trigger shoulda been given hsi first free throw again at the end, with Anstey waving his hands in the air and all. Not very sportsmanlike.

Tigers finally win, however I reckon they are set to lose Daniel Johnson all due to Westover and how he plays Anstey and the rest of thevteam. In fact the Tigers could lose a lot of their younger talent as they just don't see enoug court time IMO. All is not well at Tigerland despite the win yesterday. Lot's of Tiger talk of a lot of dissatisfaction with Westover as coach...off-season changes are brewing...

On Johnson yesterday, he played just 12 minutes for the entire game, going a perfect 5/5 from the field for 10 points and 2 rebounds with no turnovers.

He would be a great pickup for any other NBL team next season. As would Bathie and Lang as well...

how can it be "let it play" or "unsportsmanlike"??

i didnt see the play - but the above quote seems wierd - can you explain for me?

Daniel Johnson needs to go. Yes he can shoot but he cant play Defence at all. He was on the floor for too long at the beginning of the forth and almost cost them the lead.

His game is really frustrating and he has a long way to go to become the Chris Anstey of the NBL..

@tipo - Fair query.

Inside the last 2-3 minutes, the Hawks had a 3 on 1 fastbreak. Rhys Martin had the ball with Hodge in close proximity to him, and the two other Hawks were in clear space to the basket.

Hodge fouled Martin at halfway just before he got a pass off to his wide open team mates. It was clear what Hodges intention was (ie: ot a legit foul). It would have made sense to let the play go and allow the Hawks an open basket they deserved, or penalise Hodge and give the Hawks two freebies plus possession. Campbell was giving it to the monopoly man afterwards, who retorted to whatever Campbell was saying by calling him a liar.

Why oh why did Saville not get the ball down the stretch.
I'm sure he would have got them home.
I think in the end though the difference was the bleeding in the 3rd quarter.
Although they got back into it, they had to be perfect not just good.
If McKee is out for weeks rather than days this could spell the end of their run for the playoffs.

I read that the homestyle reffing impressed Melbourne's Home-Style cook programme enough to invite them on the show.
While here Luke Schenscher impressed our camping programme.
The NBL has taken another backward step, being sued by th 3 blind mice for breach of copyright.
The alleged infrigement involves the likeless of The Three Blind Mice.

"Campbell was giving it to the monopoly man afterwards, who retorted to whatever Campbell was saying by calling him a liar."

The Monopoly Prick said "I can only call unsporstmanlike if it happens as soon as the offensive player initiates the run, not once they're already off". Matty said "It was 4 on none, I would've had a dunk", Monopoly: "No you're lying there Matty".

Well actually Monopoly man, he would've had a dunk. In fact, he DID have a dunk. A split second after the whistle blew he slammed it down uncontested.

Also, excuse the double-post but I agree with AO on Daniel Johnson. Not necessarily that he needs to go, but he's a terrible rebounder for a guy his size and is pretty much just a statue on D. I don't see any real problem with the distribution of minutes between Anstey and him at the moment.

As far as the USF goes, there was no doubt that Hodge fouled him to stop the break but he disguised it very well as a play at the ball. Perhaps its time the NBL institutes an automatic two shots if a person is fouled on a fast break.

Glad i missed the game, my TV may not have survived.

Not very often supporters from other team (here and on ozhoops) say one team was completely screwed.

Hawks did well considering Ty's re-aggravating the back injury he got against Cairns last week.

Shot 62%... wow

Free Throws costly again.

Oh, and you'd think the post game recap on NBL.com.au would mention the little fact that one of the few MVP candidates DIDNT PLAY!!!!!!!

BUSH LEAGUE!!!

Still angry they've used my images uncredited after cutting off watermark.

"DJ averages most offensive boards per game in the league.... Can't be that terrible"

I'd hate to see his D rebs then.

Definate home town calls- and the behavior of some of the players leaves a lot to be desired - what does this teach junior players - who were at the game.
JH should have been USF- any time a player is grabbed in a fast break it is USF -
It is a joke for people to pay to watch that sort of spectacle
Games need to be officiated consistantly for the whole match not in parts.