who got the techs in the end?

Seemed like a douche bag move by Robbins.

Tech on Robbins, two shots for Gruber. Typical Robbins stuff. Batman, he isn't.

Although I am more of a fan of the game in general nowadays rather than any one team, my passion for the game was nurtured as an impressionable young lad supporting the Wildcats teams of the late eighties onwards. Perhaps this knowledge will lend my next comments a little more weight.

Robbins is a blight and a travesty to the NBL, and whatever the referees drank before the game, they should bottle and take to every Wildcats game hereafter as it actually gave them the stones to call him out on his punkass routine in this game.

If they continue to call the fouls Robbins always commits, on a regular basis, that is the end of his career, as he has no other redeeming qualities other than his questionable 'hustle'. I, for one, think that would be a big win for the NBL.

I prefer to watch basketball rather than Greco-Roman Wrestling.

I have been discussing this all day on twitter with wildcats fans and nbl fans in general and it hard with only 140 words...

It was a grubby move by Robbins. You could tell he was frustrated for some reason and even mentioned that in the interview. Not sure why because they had it pretty easy all night.

Some people called Gruber's foul a hard one, i dont buy that at all, awkward at best.

I dont like the Wildcats; i'm open in that and have been told on twitter that my act is getting old. But some things the players do on the court are pretty bad... the flop of Redhage's and many plays of Robbins' are indicative.

They have a brilliant CEO in Nick Marvin and i respect Bevo tremendously, but i think they would be disappointed with that one spur of the moment act by Robbins.

I actually rate them as players without all of their shit. I rate Redhage as one of the best 3 players in the comp atm (http://www.nbl.com.au/crocodiles-home/news/article/2011/january/dj-rods-top-15-nbl-players/) and one of the 15 best in the NBL over the past decade (http://www.nbl.com.au/crocodiles-home/news/article/2011/january/dj-rods-top-10-nbl-players-of-all-time/). He can flat out hoop!

Robbins goes hard on both ends of the floor and is a lock down defender, no question. He's the heart and soul of the team, but SOME of his actions let him down.

What do you think? Perth fans where are you?

It wasn't even called a foul i dont think, didn't the lead ref call travel?

140 letters, yes - my apols

Robbins is a great defender & can carry the ball well but I believe if he didn't have the players around him he wouldn't get a gig as he dosnt score himself. Very hard worker, very respected around the club, prob regreting his actions now.

What a player & guy Damian Martin is, never complains, plays fair & hard and never stops, Should be Wildcats MVP at the moment.

I can't see them going back to back but I can see them winning it again in 2011/12 if they just get those bits of the puzzel back.

Tovey seems to be getting better & better under Bevo, good replacmebt for Catalini, Knight perfect replacement for Rogers, Truemam will get better but I think the 2nd big which was Young last year is what is missing.

Poor act by Robbins. Hardly a hard foul by Gruber and if that's all it takes for Robbins to have a brain fart then he'll get the same treatment all season.

Gruber should of snapped him....

Total lack of respect from a 'fringe' player @ best. Maybe still a swollen head from winning a flag but he needs to be reminded he is lucky to have a spot & the Wildcats could easily repeat without him! Not indispensable!!

Gruber fouled him as there should be no such thing as an easy layup and it was no harder than any foul in any game under the same circumstances.
Throwing the ball at his face was just school yard behaviour

Gruber's foul was awkward but there was no malicious intent. Robbins fouled someone (at that same end) harder than that a few weeks ago, perhaps against Cairns?

However, when the shoe is on the other foot, little man syndrome emerges and the Wildcats captain purposefully throws a ball hard at Gruber's face. As I said on Twitter, recuperating statesman of the league Glen Saville called him on it. Demos called it a 'dog act'

He got called for a foul but should've been ejected IMO. A bit of shoving is pretty common in the league and isn't dangerous. Fists rarely come into play. Here you have a ball thrown straight at someone's face. Might not be dissimilar to a mistimed punch in its effect, and a punch to the face would mean ejection, suspension, etc.

In the NBA, where you now get a tech for barely questioning an umpiring call, that would probably have brought a suspension and/or fine. Probably the same in AFL.

There was an article online recently (The Punch, maybe?) about Muscat in the A-League, saying that he's a thug, has always been a thug out to hurt his opponents and that the league will be better for his retirement.

The Wildcats have a great team and respectable players. You only need to look at their 'real' hero guard in Damian Martin to find someone who can play relentless and fair defense with great success. Robbins would be lucky to have the talent Martin has in a single toenail.

Will the NBL do anything? Anstey got off free. Was Burston even whistled for throwing the ball down at Bruce in Tigers vs 36ers? Davidson hasn't been pulled up enough by refs for his grouchy behaviour. There's hardly precedent for the league doing much about this sort of thing. C'mon NBL, surprise us.

There is a distinct line between tough and dirty.

Robbins is neither, he is simply a cheap shot artist who has a tendency to be conveniently clumsy when fouling.

Have a look at the Winder ally oop dunk again and see what he did on that play. Tried to take a player out whilst he was in the air and made no play at the ball whatsoever

Time that Chuck and Larry grew a pair between them and tidied this shit up.

I have never been a Robbins fan, I must say i can see why Homocide hates Robbins and the Wildcats, probably mostly due to Robbins.

I heard him say once that Robbins doesnt defend he fouls, he just gets away with cheap shots all game, and i have always agreed, guys like Redhage can fall into this trap to but Redhage is a star and plays better when he concentrates on the ball and not the man.

I wish the NBL refs would call the game tight clean the game up, sure the first few games they would call an excessive amount of fouls but it would eventually force teams/players to adjust and would clean it up and allow the game to flow.

Bevo/Goorj teams have got away with what they call 'tenacious defence' or heaps of small fouls the refs dont call for ages, if the refs blew the game tight Robbins would be fouled out in 5 mins, the defence would clean up as others would be forced to clean up there defence and it would allow the game to flow more and offences would flow better and guys like Howard who are athletic slashers would have room to move and flourish, which improves the spectacle of the game, i hate seeing 60-65 scrappy games which is what the Wildcats seem to aim for, the sad thing is guys like Redhage, Weigh, Wagstaff, Martin, Knight are great players so the Wildcats could probably still win most games buy playing a cleaner/more attractive style. Its basketball not wrestling, thats why guys like Darnell Mee were so good, the could play lock down defence without getting away with cheap shots all game like Robbins does.

Another thing that annoys me is the apparent hypocrisy from Beveridge with regard to Robbins. Bevo has made much vaunted and public comments that he will pull any player that does not pull the trigger on an open shot.

What a joke! Every time Robbins has the ball in a half court set, he has no defender within a two metre radius because every team in the league knows he has no shot. This makes it much more difficult for his teammates to score as they are always being double teamed. But what does Bevo do? He doesn't bench Robbins, he elevates him to the starting five ahead of Lisch. Lisch!

Don't let the facts get in the way of a good sook, Jonno. Perth is the highest scoring team in the league.

Good point about Bevo, ab4eva. Clearly can't coach for shit. His wanting Williamson to shoot it when open should clearly extend to noted brick layers like Robbo. That'd win more games for sure.

Well, despite your comment of support, I have to disagree in that I think Bevo is an excellent coach. I believe he understands the problems Robbins creates for him on the offensive end, but must feel that is more than made up for on the defensive end.

The only reason that happens though is that the referrees have refused to call Robbins for his obvious and repeated infringements. If they continue to call like they did in this game, Robbins effectiveness will be dramatically reduced and it won't be long before Bevo recognises this and reduces Robbins minutes.

You have to admit that Robbins is the 'cheap shot king' of the NBL. Boucher isn't as bad as Robbins.

I think the Demos response is the most appropriate, 'dog act' covers it well.

Bevo understands the problems Robbo creates in offence - gee, ya think? :p Lisch was very sick one night and so Robbo got the start, and Bevo obviously liked what he saw. It meant we could lock down even harder on the opposition at the start of the game, and meanwhile Lisch gave us scoring off the bench, which had been lacking for a few games prior.
There are advantages both ways around.
Lisch seems to be working himself back into some form now so we'll see what happens.

As for Robbo's fouls, firstly I think people are being OTT about how "dirty" he is. He's certainly not subtle, I'll say that much, but he is still a very good defender. If the refs call him closer then I assume he will adjust accordingly. If they don't then I imagine he will continue to use whatever leeway he is given. Wouldn't you expect any other player to do the same?
If you feel that things are unfair then the refs are who you should be aiming your criticism at.

I reckon we are more or less agreed on most points Dan. In praising the way the refs called this game, it is implied that I am less approving of the refs previous games. In terms of Bevo making switches in the lineup and liking what he sees, that is a sign of a good coach, is it not?

I am less optimistic than you with regard to Robbins' ability to adjust his game should the refs continue to call it tight. and yes, any coach or player has one responsibility, to do all they can to win. If they are given leeway, they should use it for all it's worth. That is being a professional sportsman.

I argue that they have been given far too much leeway to this point, to the detriment of the game.

Yea exactly due to having a very talented roster, i reckon they would score even more and be far more attractive team to watch if they toned down some of their cheap shots from guys like Robbins.

Dan, your call on Robbins' chuck? Leave as is? Deserves more?

Isaac, I thought that the unsportsmanlike was fair enough. I have seen similar things not even get a whistle, so taking precedent into account, to eject him would have been a tad harsh IMO. It was a stupid thing to do, but not exactly violent or dangerous IMO.

It was provocative though. As you alluded to earlier, if the overall behaviour bar was set a bit higher in the league - which I'd have no problem with - then that type of thing should probably get a player tossed. He was justified in being pissed at not getting a call for being fouled, but his response was obviously quite inappropriate, amusing as it was.
I just don't think that one random incident in the middle of a season is the time for a ref to take it upon himself to set a new standard, and therefore I think it was well handled.

The reverse angle tells the story for mine. Forman forces Robbins baseline behind the backboard. Gruber's helpside defence completely closes out Robbins. There was no path to the basket for Robbins except for through Gruber. You can almost see Robbins thoughts in slow motion. Gruber's arms are straight up, completely exposing his solar plexus to Robbins' shoulder. He decides to go in heavy and Gruber's arm comes over Robbins' head in large part as inertia from being hit so hard. The travel violation was a direct result of Robbins deciding at the last minute to hit Gruber as hard as possible. Robbins created the contact and if anyone was hurt on the play, it would have been Gruber, not Robbins.

I really respect the cool headed nature of Grubes. I think he knows that if he were to punch someone in the heat of the moment, or even shove hard in the chest, he would do some damage with those guns.

Remember Dunkin' Dan - Robbins was called for a travel first. If he had not off, then ye, of course it would have been a foul because of the clumsy contact on him.

Even if the situation went like this, the foul was fine, nothing malicious, just a good foul to stop the shot. Robbins does that multiple times a game, has taken people's legs out and no one throws balls at his head.

As I said in another thread, he can dish out the physicality, but I have seen on multiple times that he can't take it when it's given back to him. No one likes that. Yep, "Dog Act" sums it up perfectly.

What are you talking about, cavolo? The travel was caused by the contact - i.e. by the foul.
I agree that the foul wasn't malicious in the slightest, but it was still a foul the should have been whistled.
As for Brad giving it but not being able to take it, I would strongly disagree with that. When he gets fouled it tends to be hard, and this is the first time I have ever seen a reaction like this from him.

pwned - I always respect Gruber for his reaction there. Could've snapped Robbins in half, but kept his head.

Dan - fair point about a ref maintaining a standard set by the league but looks like we agree that the league could push the bar up a little.

Going back the other way, Worthington got called for an USF tonight that almost looked like a clean block from my side of the court. What did it look like with the benefit of a replay?

And what contact was that? Running straight into a player who was straight up and forcing the contact. Obviously the best refs in the nation there in Perth didn't think so!?! ;P Look, we're not going to agree on the contact/travel/should have/not been a foul etc etc because you're a passionate Perth fan which is great.

Irrespective though Dan Man, to me it appeared as though Robbins did not have time to see/know that it was a travel and then get "pissed" as from memory it was the baseline ref who called the travel and Robbins immediately through the ball at Gruber as soon as he had finished his contact with Robbins.

Essentially, no excuse - little man syndrome took over and the little ferret couldn't take a dose of his own medicine. End of story.

Think every 1nz against robo & perth!! Eat shit, Just ure teams havnt got the hear or the balls to do anything!!! Fefs there calls the fouls he calls it? How did gaze get more than half his points??? Our co captians r the heart ove our team!!!! If u wana support a winning team support perth!!!! Back 2 back

Onya GKcats. I feel a lot better now knowing that you've got my back here!

cavolo, Gruber's defence was clearly not legal. The foul was twofold - firstly Robbo ran into him when he was still moving laterally, and secondly he brought his arm down all over Robbo's head. Either of them could (should) have been whistled as a foul.
It's obvious from the slo-mo.

Dunkin Dan - the second part of the contact came AFTER the travel was called, therefore, the play became dead. THEREFORE the contact in question was from the BODY contact when Robbo ran into Gruber. As already stated, we won't agree on that, so no big deal. I wouldn't agree with it either if it were a sixers player in the same situation! =)

Again, the point is, Robbo holds, pushes, hacks and can give but can't take. That is the point in question here. =)

Before signing off I will just point out to you that the second part of the contact (arm on head) still came before the ref blew the whistle or made any signal. This is quite clear on the youtube video.

Other than that, ok, I'm willing to meet you in the middle and agree that Robbo has been known on rare occasions to gently nudge, tap or guide an opponent for the purposes of keeping them from running out of bounds or into another player/obstacle ;)

I applaud your acknowledgement Dunkin' Dan! :)

Isaac, Wortho's foul (block) yesterday was not an USF. No line up because it was quarter time. For what it is worth, the replay I watched when I got home showed Wortho got a bit of Creek's arm (and a lot of the ball).

I can't believe that we have this whole thread on how bad Robbins is at holding/scrapping/cheap shotting, and only one mention of Boucher/NZ. In my view, NZ are far worse as a team at pushing the boundaries of the rules than Perth, with both those teams way out in front of the rest of the competition. No surprises where they sit on the premiership table.

I would love it if the NBL cleaned up its act, but this has been going on for 15 years now and seems unlikely to change (thanks Goorg). Other teams just need to get better at playing outside the rules themselves.

Thanks XY - got the signal by the ref confused and Wortho was absolutely incensed by the call so I did wonder.

My beef with Robbins in this case is not so much with the holding (which isn't great and is done by a lot of players) but with him throwing the ball at Gruber's head. You can see by the look on his face that he's just trying to hurt the guy.

Wortho's was an easy call by Tim Mills and I couldn't believe he complained about it. Southern Stand last night looked like a bump, a lot of arm and on the release ball. Well he wouldn't have got the ball if he didn't take out the arm because the wolf would have thrown it down. Mitch was impressive last night. Can't wait till he spends the off season with Ballinger in the gym.

XY on NZ is spot on although the difference between the two is Perth is worse in Defence compared to NZ who are illegal both ends of the floor.

If you notice with one of NZ offences, they penetrate, dish off and then make heavy contact on the help defender. Puts the help defence rotation out as this player is normally put to the floor. Quick pass from the receiver and open 3. The person who is suppose to be closing out on that player is late because they had to get up off the floor.

This is where Penny got free shots on Ng. I would love to see this pulled up in a game.

I love how these incidents bring out the internet tough guys, who start predicting which players could beat which other players heads in. Makes them sound pretty tough and scary.

Tyson boxes with Shannon Taylor - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4cQ3oFGoUs - So i'm pretty sure he'd be ok.

Three things Dan:

Gruber moving laterally and/or backwards isnt illegal!

Robbins caused the contact by clearly dipping his head/shoulder into Gruber's torso.

The resulting contact is because Gruber copped one in the guts.

There were only two calls that could/should have been made - charge or travel.

Dillon Boucher does foul a lot but he is also still one of the better defensive players in the league and can't recall the last time he threw a ball at someones head after he fouled them.
NZ (Breakers and Tall Blacks)have always played a really physical game and it is up to the refs to call it.

I remember a few years back, when Hinder was playing for the Kings, he fouled Robbins on a fast break layup, somehow ended up with the ball in his hands, so then threw it at Robbins. Now thats a bitch move. I am sure his team mate at the time, Glen Saville, would have tweeted about that too.