Team's to beat are NZ and Perth.

Team to beat is Perth, IMO. Vulnerable if Knight gets injured but will be tough otherwise.

Perth

I am optimistically going with Adelaide too.
Perth will be vulnerable if Knight goes down which you could almost bet on.
NZ will be around the mark but questions about Hudson replacing Wilkinson and Abercrombie being hurt will see them off to a slow start IMO

Adelaide Blaze Boomers should be the favourites towin it if they can gel quickly. Such a star studded team that they have a good back-up for every position.

An injury free Perth will be difficult to beat, but I think Sixers can be a threat if Marty gets his rotations right and doesn't leave "Stevie" on when he is playing terrible.

depends on who drops the games they shouldnt.

Last year it was the wildcats that lost a couple of games they should have won, effectively costing them game 3 home court and the season.

Wildcats are prone to doing this, adelaide may find similar problems gelling with a new lineup. I think NZ strength is consistency.

Absolutely love the squad the 36ers have put together. We have all the tools to win it and will be exciting to watch. Perth and NZ will be up there too.Tipping 36ers vs NZ GF.

It's looking very even, but for mine Perth and NZ are the teams to beat until someone proves otherwise.

Perth and NZ will be there. pressure on the 36ers, if they fail to be there with NZ and Perth with their lineup. I dont see the crocs or taipans doing much, neither hawks or kings. tigers look better but still not in the league of NZ, Perth and hopefully 36ers.

NZ still ahead of Perth. Cairns and Adelaide both had the wood on Perth last season, and both are better teams this year (not sure how much relevance there is in that, but it's worth noting at least).

Perth always look better at the start of the season, they are a pretty young team with a defensive identity and continuity so they come out firing.

NZ has more veterans, they will pace themselves.

Needless to say, they are both the teams to beat, as you will likely have to beat one or the other to get to the GF if they finish 1-2 as expected.

Abercrombie and Vukona both came through a full physical contact training session fine yesterday so Abercrombie may make the Breakers Vs Wildcats game.

Taipans anyone?

Sure they will have to prove themselves, but if they are winning, how long will it take people to call them a championship team?

I'll call them a Championship team when they win the Championship.

What Skip said...

Woolongong and Perth! No one thinks that Woolongong will win but I think they have a good chance.

...the only way they will beat teams is to outscore them.

NZ might be vulnerable with WIlkinson gone, but might as difficult to beat as it is removing a senator facing criminal charges.

Corletto: Handy on any roster
Jackson: Say no more
Abercrombie: The player we hope Creek will be
Vukono: Imports of cement dropped when he left Fiji, mum gave him spoons of the stuff each day. No harder player in the league.
Bruton: Probably the oldest dude playing, but his experience counts
Hudson: Wilkinson's replacement. Has broad shoulders.

Pledger: 215 cm, but I am told he can lift heavy things

@anon still cant defend anyone? they are 7-1 in the preseason, that 1 loss being in double OT with a shot to win on the buzzer.
i dont care if they give up 140 a game as long as they score 141

Petrie is a decent defender ands two-way player but I expect Clarke to keep his court time to an absolute minimum and make every game as hard as possible for the Sixers to win this year, as is his custom when dealing with effective, efficient players...

Weigh and Johnson will both play way more than they should all season long.

On the bench , some good players watching Weigh play the most minutes.
You find out now , you're gonna have to get used to it

Abercrombie will have a mental barrier to overcome no doubt but he is surrounded by a great core of experienced players who have all, been there, done that.
Cory Webster>BJ Anthony
Gary Wilkinson>Will Hudson

except Hudson is coming off the bench for Pledger who I believe deserves the opportunity where Wilkinson started and was expected to put up points. Hudson is expected to inject energy, run the court, drag down rebounds and defend. Breakers have Bruton, Corletto, Webster, Abercrombie and to a lesser degree Leon Henry capable of knocking down the outside shot, happy for Hudson to crash the boards.
Cedric Jackson is still one of the best players in the league and won't have the ankle niggle (hopefully)

I feel confident in the personal with their chances of a 3peat, won't be a walk in the park by any stretch! Perth will still be tough as hell, Adelaide have assembled their best team in years, Hawks will be better, Cairns and Townsville won't lay down for anyone and I'm sure Melbourne and Sydney will steal a few wins if not shown respect. Chemistry, consistency and depth (although some of that depth could be negated by injuries to older players) will hopefully get them over the line.

Either way I think this season will be exciting and we will see some great games played out, really looking forward to seeing how the Sixers are going to go.

Breakers and Wildcats still lead the pack but both have question marks:

- Can Pledger and Abercrombie do enough to cover the big loss of Wilkinson?
- Can Matt Knight stay healthy and does Redhage still have another dominant season in him?

On paper the Sixers are right there with the top two, but I think the jury is still out on the coach (Weigh's big pre-season minutes not a good signal) so I'll leave them a notch below.

The Hawks are looking solid again and could also sneak into the top four, primarily due to Cairns and Townsville taking a step backwards in the off-season.

Sydney an outside chance to make the top 4 if their imports are good, but could struggle with a lack of frontcourt size.

Melbourne: stone cold last unless a couple of their young Aussies like Walker, Rush or Goulding suddenly find it within themselves to become star players!

What is Marty's deal with Weigh? He continues to reward him with huge minutes without the relative or proportionate return.

He likes to play 5 'because it ia a good spot . There are so few good 5 players around these days .'

I get that it isn't the be all, but the ranking in the Dream Team is indicative as a minimum. Interesting to note that Weigh is only worth $104k and when you consider the minutes he gets, something about efficiency doesn't add up!

Creek the better 3 , now ..take minutes off Schensch and DJ to keep him at the most minutes , that's the main thing.

lol @ the dudes that thought Adelaide were the team to beat

haha