For me, Perth by 7

Perth on the rebound, literally. Hawks have a pretty good record against the Cats in the Gong the past few years though so should be interesting.

Perth by 4, I don't say that with alot of confidence though with any team able to win on their homecourt.

^ ^ agree with you steven

Matt Knight has been ruled out of tonight's game.

Danger game for the cats this one. Were still in holiday mode up in cairns and now without knight its going to be even tougher. If they lose this then top spot is under threat.
Im tipping the cats to bounce back though it will be very close. Wildcats by 3

Hawks could cause us some problems inside with Jervis our only genuine big now. Could be an interesting tussle. Cats looked average against the Taipans. After a well deserved break it might take them a while to recapture the pre-Xmas groove.

Alternatively Cairns might have got 'em angry and they smash the Hawks. Who the hell really knows.

Looking forward to seeing how it pans out.

Great game of basketball, but in the end the Christmas hangover continues for the Cats.

As usual, Wildcats coaching was atrocious. The real gem was Burdon coming into the game with 12 sec to go and the game on the line. Another masterstroke by Gleason!!!

As usual, Wildcats coaching was atrocious. The real gem was Burdon coming into the game with 12 sec to go and the game on the line. Another masterstroke by Gleason!!!

Have the rules changed? Ennis is a target! In the nba it's a bit differnt? Half way 11 and 3 i would be happy.

How did you like Rhys Martin's flop in the last quarter? He was in real agony for quite a while but then miraculously recovered after Beal got called for an offensive foul.

Welp.

That round was a calamity.

I've held the view throughout the season that every home team is a chance against any opponent, and we're clearly not clicking yet after the bye (like the previous bye), and Cairns has long been a serious problem for any team in Cairns and Gordie will have any team in trouble with his trickery...

But that was a calamity. Title ambition denting calamity.

@peter ward, yah to be top of the table takes some atrocious coaching. Lol.

Wollongong looked sharp and played great team ball. Nice win for them after playing well lately.

Good win for the Hawks. They've been playing well recently, despite not winning. This time they managed to finish it off for what seemed like a well deserved win (i didn't see the game and refuse to get nbl.tv)

What I would like to know however, is where have all the Hawks supporters gone?? I get that they are a "battler club" that bravely overachieves each season, and the community loves them, but they need to get bums on seats, or there won't be a Wollongong Hawks in the future. All their home games except for their season opener have had less than 2,700. Thats a shambles!

Awesome game! Could watch that every night of the week. Well reffed too, kept it clean. Clarke is unbelievable, Tiggs unconvetional but effective and Davidson so clever. Wagstaff really playing some good ball this year, has added poise to his game.

Last night was 2,000 but I suspected it was less than 2,000

2134 officially but like all NBL games that includes a lot of tickets "sold" but empty seats.

If you're a betting person, drop some money on Clark for MVP. Certainly a wildcard

The Cats are singlehandedly making this one of the closest seasons.

Were 3 games clear.

Where is their defence the last 2 games?

If it wasn't for Wagstaff rediscovering his touch it would have been quite embarassing.

Some credit to Gordie though for the last Tiggs play.

Clarke was still paying $17 for MVP last I checked. Little competition, top 2-3 in scoring, and they in touch with the four. Would've secured fourth if they'd hold on in the Melbourne games.

Isaac, like to look at the DT points per player and team. For Wollongong the average DT points per game are: Clarke 33.0; Tiggs 27.8, Forman 24.4, Gruber 23.4, Davidson 21.6, Martin 16.6, Coenraad 15.9, Demos 14. Team 171.

Goulding is right up there, averaging 38.8 DT and has had 3 games over 60 DT points. Not sure who is leading the pack.

Not 100% sure on the voting system, but sometimes having too many talented teammates can steal MVP points away and that may work in Clarke's favour

The defence going is a good sign of a team unfocused. The team has not come back from the break in anything like an appropriate mind-set and if they don't snap out of it soon it will cost dearly. This year more than ever, HCA will decide the title.

Perth slow start after the break might be easy to explain - heard that imports went home to the US to see family over xmas and others might've taken a holiday in Bali?

The imports definitely went home. I believe the others more or less relaxed over Christmas. Which may be a long-term good but hard not to point at these two losses and say that it has caused a lot of short-term pain.