Isaac
Years ago

Have pre-season results changed your predictions?

Which teams have risen or fallen in your ladder predictions after the Blitz and other pre-season games?

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Mystro
Years ago

No, it just proved how good all the Imports are this year.

I still believe NZ & Perth are the teams to beat.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Hawks will be better than expected.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Hawks up, Tigers down (Goulding injury) for me.

1. Wildcats
2. 36ers
3. Breakers (4th initially)
4. Tigers (3rd initially)

5. Hawks (6th initially)
6. Taipans (5th initially)
7. Kings
8. Crocs

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Mick
Years ago

Pretty much everyone was better than expected imo..

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Mick
Years ago

I still dont see what anyone sees in the tigers though...will be around the bottom for my money

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Steven
Years ago

My new ladder

Perth
Adelaide
NZ
Cairns (replace tigers)

Melbourne
Wollongong
Sydney
Townsville

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Anonymous
Years ago

Anonymous '150
I would like to know why you think Taipans have dropped lower since your initial expectation of 5th after watching preseason games?
I am interested as they went 7-1 over this time, with the only loss coming against 36ers which was by 4 points.

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Isaac
Years ago

Have to admit I'm a little less confident in Adelaide's FT shooting than I was. More confident in the Hawks' imports, but not so much in their rebounding.

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Trav
Years ago

Many of the imports look really good, but on the other hand they've all only played a few pre season games.

For mine, this will be an incredibly even season. I wouldn’t be surprised if Perth win over 20 games and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Townsville only win 8 or 10. But I expect the majority of teams to be in the 12-16 win range. Most importantly, for the fans it means most of the teams at least are a chance at winning the championship.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Agreed with the best thing about pre-season proving that all the new imports look to be quality, i personally was glad to see Fry do well and another guy that often was mentioned by 36ers fans Josh Pace seems to have been a pleasant surprise, coming from the NZ NBL, with many thinking he may struggle, i always thought he would do well and wouldnt have minded if the 36ers grabbed him at any time over the past few years.

I think the top 4 will be Adelaide, NZ, Perth, Melbourne (assuming Goulding doesnt miss too much).

Mick, re Melbourne, i personally think they will do ok, as i predict Dennis will be a MVP candidate and one of/the best import in the league with a good all round game, great length and athleticism, Goulding (my prediction is/was pre-injury) is among the best guards in the league and one of the best scorers if he doesnt have to handle the ball as much like he did at times last year he will be more efficient, yes he can take some dumb shots at times, but i think the good usually outweighs the bad,
Wortho, should be one of the best forwards in the league.
Morrison should cover Burston ok, if he can just not get injured and do ok, he will be an upgrade, doesnt need to star and i dont think he will either.
The rest seem as per last year and solid enough, Tomilnson on pre-season form could even have a break out year, i think they are a swingman short, or one too many big men, which ever way you want to look at it, but over, but if Tomlinson can play decent minutes at a high level then Goulding and Dennis can play sg/sf for larg chunks which helps fix this issue.
Last year once they got Flynn in they didnt do too bad and were not far off the playoffs in the end, Dennis being possibly better for the team and there all season should help make them improve, hence i have them in the top 4, but probably just in, not hugely better than the rest of the teams.

Overall i think it will be a close league, not much in it on paper with most teams, only Townsville seem a slight step behind with no real legit C, but if Vandy can be solid and Conklin, Holmes can cover some minutes there they may be ok aswell. To me no real stand out roster from the rest, Perth have an awesome starting 5 once fully fit, but not as deep as some rosters overall, and the rest seem farily even to me.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Anon '154,

I still think the Taipans will be a genuine playoff contender but replacing Edwards/Grabau/Hill with McCamey/Weigh/Young will see them drop off defensively, their bread & butter and they're not getting anywhere near as much from Wilson now off the bench.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Mick, I too think Dennis will practically dominate with his length at 6'6", Goulding an MVP candidate to come back and a lift in form expected from Wortho & Balls too.

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PlaymakerMo
Years ago

1. Perth
2. New Zealand
3. Adelaide
4. Wollongong

5. Cairns
6. Melbourne
7. Sydney
8. Townsville

Goulding's injury and Madgen's early return have made me very uncertain of their team's potential.

New Zealand should make the playoffs, but Perth (with Ennis) are the team to beat.

Impossible to predict the middle spots per usual.

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paul
Years ago

I'm pretty similar Mo, but like most I also realise it's mostly guesswork at this stage because every team has plenty to like and a few question marks too.

1 Perth
2 Adelaide
3 New Zealand
4 Cairns

5 Wollongong
6 Melbourne
7 Sydney
8 Townsville

I cant see anyone being terrible unless stung by injury, because the lesser talented teams have coaches who seem to get more out of their players.

Hopefully the playoff race is like last year, going down to the final round with 7th place still a chance, but without the massive gap from 2nd to 3rd.

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Trav
Years ago

My actual ladder is:

1. Perth
2. Adelaide
3. NZ
4. Melb

5. Cairns
6. Wollongong
7. Sydney
8. Townsville

Although paul is right- this is mostly guesswork, and each team has things to like but also question marks.

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Camel 31
Years ago

Of the rise and fall in my expectations -
Townsville beat Adelaide!
and, I said : 'Aw, come on now Frye, lift.'
Although in ADL most new J.Pace was our first pick and J.Hodge second choice.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Why is Jamar Wilson coming off the bench... injured surely.

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NBL Fan
Years ago

I really hope NZ dont win again!

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KingJames
Years ago

Anonymous I can assure you Dennis will not be MVP this season as he is injured and out for the season. Horrible news for the tigers

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Nathan of Perth
Years ago

Grimly, I think we can now scratch Melbourne from the list of contenders this year.

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PlaymakerMo
Years ago

Shit news for Melbourne and the NBL, not to mention Greer and Dennis.

Pre-season certainly has changed my prediction.

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Anonymous
Years ago

1. Adelaide
2. Perth
3. Cairns
4. New Zealand

5. Wollongong
6. Sydney
7. Townsville
8. Melbourne

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Proud
Years ago

I think I went
1.Perth (if the defence picks up then will remain on top)
2. Cairns (they are scary talented and if everyone stays happy then top 2 for sure)
3. Melbourne (I think Wollongong will be here due to injuries and will finish 4th)
4. Wollongong (rebounding still sucks but if Rhys Martin gets back to last years form then nobody will want to face them)
5. Adelaide (will compete for last playoff spot and Frye is better too)
6. New Zealand (Johnson is a star but I think they will struggle this season)
7. Sydney (Imports could be hard to stop and hopefully Hill meets his potential, I reckon they will finish ahead of Breakers)
8. Townsville (Dennis impresses and I think Crocs will go down as the best wooden spoon team ever)

So 1 stays, 2 stays, 3 to 4, 4 to 3, 5 stays, 6 to 7, 7 to 6 and 8 stays!

Hopefully we don't get any further injuries before the season starts

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Mick
Years ago

Heal and dennis will have their guys playing way too hard to be in contention for the spoon. The crocs' roster is budget and sydney's looks even cheaper at this point but this is a coach's league from what I have seen. And the two best nbl coaches from the last half decade are gone.

They aren't going to nab a championship, heck both will struggle just to stay out of the cellar, but neither team will grab the spoon.

Mark my words.

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paul
Years ago

I pretty much agree with you Mick but it's hard to find someone else for those two spots! If Melbourne's injury report is true then it might be them.

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Aaron
Years ago

The Kings will be in the top four this year if the players can stay injury free.

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Mystro
Years ago

Harvey is on their team so that will be very difficult

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Aaron
Years ago

True