2 things for me 1st if the refs call it tight as they have i don't think there will be enough player's left and 2nd defend the 3 point line colleto has naild perth a few times. Still a 50/50 this 1. New player's and coaches.

Perth by 2

I'm going with NZ by 4. Its a 50/50 game so I would give the edge to the home team. I hope I'm wrong and Perth win!

@1456

That's a *grotesque* oversimplification.

Those same NZ defenders conceded 180 pts last weekend, compared to 140 by Perth's D.

Don't get me wrong, I'm tipping NZ, but I think you're making a real stretch with your conclusion from the first three games there.

Head says Perth (after the turnover fest that was the Crocs game especially) but Heart says the Breakers.

A packed out NSEC will be great for the team morale but need to get the W

A conclusion is only as good as how it was reached. Just because we both have the same time at a given point doesn't mean your clock isn't broken.

I'm finding it hard to pick this one. I don't really have a good handle on either team yet.
One thing I will say is that $2.65 seems like a pretty generous price for a team that has started 3-0

TeRangi's block on Ennis looked pretty clean to me?

NZ up by 9 at the end of the 1st quarter.

What dismal display of reffing. I may as well and go watch under 8s! Thank god these teams can play!

It's consistently inconsistent

It's like reffing little kids. The fouls on Te Rangi and Jervis' blocks were complete phantoms, ruining the highlights of the game.

Quality game though, should be a cracking second half.

Boti said on Twitter he's seeing dumb fouls rather than dumb calls.

Every time someone gets called for a take-off travel with minimal advantage or (worse) stepping out of bounds near the three point line, I really notice that jarring break in play. Or after Bruton and Martin contested a rebound, Bruton got the call and they all walked down the other end. Maybe it's all this talk of a more entertaining NBL, but I'm really noticing how much those calls break the play when I really want to watch the flow continue or for there to be more chances at fast breaks.

This is where the refs need to take into account the context of the foul. We want to see more free-scoring basketball, so the refs need to tighten up on calls on defenders when a player is shooting or attacking off the dribble. I'm ok with the calling of "ticky-tack" fouls in that situation.
But in a contested ball situation I would much rather the ref let them play so that the players decide possession without needing the game to stop. A whistle and a foul on a play where the ball has ended up with the right person anyway is definitely a momentum killer. Unreasonable contact still needs to be whistled of course, but if it is a couple of bodies making contact in a scramble for a ball or a jump for a rebound, and nothing obviously illegal is going on, then just let it go.

some rubbish calls going both ways.

Redhage fouls out on exactly the type of call I was talking about :/

Some more nice work by Ennis though :D

5 players fouled out from memory.
the little basketball I saw in between all the fouls was pretty good.

From what I'm reading, they weren't even the calls they were supposed to make, god alone knows what they were doing.

But wow, Wildcats win another after 1Q travails. Team mental fortitude and fitness is absolutely first rate!

There gun team, im more confident know if we meet in the finals than past yrs. Ennis is what perth needed!

Starting to put some question marks next to Bevo's policy of one import only.

Dont forget, Perth won this game last year by 21.

Happy Perth won, I loathe both teams with a passion, both full of easy to hate players. BUT Ennis is as good as I have ever seen in this league and will get better and better. IF he stays the entire season, lock in the MVP after just 3 rounds!

I locked him in for MVP at quarter time of Game 1.

Why did the Breakers play this game at NSEC and not Vector?

He's paying $4, so load up if you're confident.

I'm confident of him being the league's best player. Not so confident that he will spend the entire season down under though.

Lachy Reid was showing his ignorance of the finer points of the game with that DJ for MVP call.

He lets his heart run away from his brain sometimes.

In fairness, at the point in time when he made the call, DJ was by far the best player for the season.

As a Breakers fan should I be worried by the start we have made? In reality we haven't been blown out of the water and have been in a position to win all the games but 1-3 isn't a great start??

And DJ is still a reasonable pick, at that point, beforehand or now. There'd be uncertainty over Ennis staying the duration and if Adelaide win their share, DJ should be up there unless teammates consistently excel.

@Tyrell,

NZB are still a very good team, they just seem to be experiencing difficulties coming up with a replacement system. Although Kerron Johnson is a very good player, is a different style to Cedric Jackson, who was instrumental in running the team last year. So a different style of operation is required, and Vickerman and co are still working that out.

Fixing the Breaker's defence is crucial though, that's what, 276 points in 3 games that the NZB D has let in, which would never have happened last year. Hard to concede an average of 90+ in a 40min game and produce many wins.

the whole league has stepped up a notch this year, now it's time for the Breakers.
If they don't they will have a good shot at the wooden spoon.

Adelaide is a MUST win.

That's the thing, last year, Ced could put the team on his back and win a game himself. Thing is, Johnson is doing well and leading the scoring and running the show, so not sure where to blame? I know it's early, but Lazare hasn't been a good pick-up, would have been better to keep Hudson.

^
I don't think the Breakers are in any danger of the wooden spoon, you guys can still put points up in bulk. Fix the D and you're back into top 4 contention over night.

If you can get 1 or 2 wins out of the next two weekends' 3 games, you'll be pretty well set to recover the season. You're almost impossible at Vector and you have a set of three home games between rounds 6-8 that you should go 3-0 on. This would put you at either 6-4 or 5-5. Suspect we'll know more about your odds hosting Adelaide after tonight's game though.

I did expect NZ to win last night, though, so I guess we still don't really have a handle on where the Breakers are at yet.

@Tyrell,
Johnson is very good, a serious talent, but Cedric Jackson's value came from more than just being a good player, he had the playmaking talent that brought out the best in the rest of the side. He was also much sharper on D than Johnson is.

It may just be that Kerron needs some time to learn his teammates before he can fully step into that role, it might be that Lazare is a big step down on Hudson, there could be a few other issues. Hell, it may simply be that after three Championships the Breakers team is a bit satisfied and short on the hunger that adds the edge to a side's performance.

(To be a little inflammatory, it is my bitter, sullen, ineffably butt-hurt opinion that if Jackson suffered the achilles instead of Martin, there'd be a sixth pennant flying in Perth Arena right now, but that's useless navel gazing).

It took Jackson a few games to settle in and he wasn't a good in his first season as his second which is how everyone remembers him.