I've got Taipans by 3 with no confidence at all. Should be an absolute cracker of a game.

For anyone who can't be near a TV i'll be live on theroar.com.au again with up to the minute updates. No I am nor promoting, just giving an alternative option for coverage.

I think Oscar would still be the best 3 point shooter on that team with his feet set.

Looking forward to this game, which might be an early indicator of form for two of the teams that are hard to pick.

'I'm expecting the Illawarra style this year to be less Nescafe blend 43, and more sophisticated, like a double decaf chai latte made with organically grown coconut water and almond milk, with a twist of lemon.'

LMFAO, but I still don't know why.......?

#JackToftisfunnyasallshit

No Rhys Martin for Illawarra so it's an easy tip- Cairns to win by 7 or 8.

Looking forward to seeing Markel Starks in action. Cairns have a great system but Wilbekin was that one classy, elite level player for them last season. Most NBL championship teams have one. Problem for Taipans is, I don't see who that guy is on their roster. They have solid systems, strong team defense and they play disciplined basketball. But who can carry the team in the playoffs? Can Gliddon step up his game another level? Can Wortho wind the clock back? Or is Starks the man? Tonight, we get a good look at Starks- so that's what I'm excited about.

Cairns in a close one without Martin. Cairns can cover Tragardh easier than Illawarra can Martin. Lisch will have to handle the ball a lot tonight.

Looking forward to this. Computer says Cairns by 1pt.

Martin out - if only the Hawks had a MVP calibre guy to handle the point.

Hawks by 5.

Jack - loved the write up

The Hawks look a little unbalanced to me, and I think, more so than anyone else in the comp, a lot of their games are going to come down to how well they shoot the 3. I could see them winning big tonight, or losing by 8-10. Neither would surprise me.

Typical Bevo teams that will shoot alt of 3's and are agile especially on defence..They will play a lot of trap and press defence. They are fun to watch.

Wish we had Bevo back.

Not disagreeing, but what do you see as imbalanced with their roster?
Martin, Lisch, Penney, Forman and Ogilvy is a fairly balanced starting 5 I thought. Pretty solid bench with Davidson, Coenraad, Demos, Ellis and White too.
Too guard heavy? That's probably a fair call.

Taipans by 6.

Not enough ball handling and playmaking for the Hawks with Martin out.

Forman, Penney, Coenradd and even Lisch are primarily jump shooters. An extra slasher or driver would've been good on their roster.

Although they'll still be a spectacularly good offensive team when Martin is back and they're firing on all cylinders. Penney is one of the best 3 point shooters to even step foot on an NBL court, and when you consider that he's surrounded by Coenradd, Forman, Lisch and Martin- wow. Exciting stuff.

Lisch can't handle the rock?

FFS he is the Gina Rhinehart of the NBL.

Keeping in mind I missed all of the Hawks' blitz games and so I'm judging Penny and Lisch on how I remember them, when I say unbalanced I mean they have a lot of guys in their starting 5 who are primarily shooters - Martin is the exception to that, when healthy. From what I saw of Ogilvy in Sydney, he's a solid big but not a reliable 'back to the basket' option on offense unless he's taken a step forward.

I think the team is plenty talented and should be a top 2 or 3 team this year, but I also think they are going to have games where they miss a lot of long 2s and 3s and struggle to get generate good scoring opportunities when they don't get anything from their sets.

How did you get Illawarra at $13? 7 of the 8 teams are under $10 on Sportsbet. Townsville at $51.

I got on the Hawks @$15 on Feb 11 - Sportsbet

I got on the Hawks at $15 and then again at $9 with Sportsbet.

But I don't think they'll win tonight without Martin. I expect an 0-2 start for them.

Awkward commentary.

When's the last time there was a televised NBL game where there WEREN'T issues displaying the scores on screen? Sheesh.

I could watch Penney play all day. He is one of the most perfect offensive players i have ever seen..just with things like footwork, ball fake, general smoothness.

Just so wrong seeing him in something other than a Breakers uniform!

About what I expected so far... A lot of threes from the Hawks and 4-out offense, and a bit underwhelming defensively, especially inside.

I'm glad to see Weeks get another shot in the NBL - he looked great vs LSU with the Kings. The time in Europe did him well. Actually fills a need for the Hawks too with his ability to attack the basket.

Ellis' play this year is going to annoy the hell out of Hawks fans.

The softness issue will continue to be at the fore of his weakness.

Ellis hasn't shown the ability to do much offensively outside of streaky shooting from deep. He really struggles around the basket. He was a good defender last year though.

Someone needs to check on him, I hope he's ok.

CJ is cringeworthy, can't hear him properly and is having difficulty with interviews.

Anon re: Penney, don't think so. Not enough points and probably not enough coin to play with.

Doesn't change the fact that it breaks my heart seeing him wear a Hawks jersey ;)

We sure could use him now!

Is Weeks really wearing number 97? That's pretty random.

Probably the only white on white spare jersey they had....

You'd think, considering they are using a number 9 anyway, and they don't have one, that they'd just do 9. 9 and 7 are both reasonably uncommon numbers for basketball. Just really weird to have a premade jersey that number ready to go.

One of those baskets Foreman gets because people ignore him once he steps inside the arc...

97 might be because there'd never be another player they'd sign who'd likely pick that number, making it a safe spare.

Bruton is OK when talking purely basketball, just fails miserably at filling empty space.

When it comes to coverage, the picture is clear in he, but that's the only change. They can promote it all they Luke but production is second rate

Refs calling too much.

^^ motto of the NBL. ;)

I've got $10 on Illawarra @$2.95. So here's hoping.

Strong 3rd Quarter from CJ Bruton.

Starks looked fine in the Blitz, just hasn't had a lot of opportunities to shine tonight so far.

Nice from 'Jordan' Weeks.

Is anyone else just enjoying having basketball back and the positive changes to the league like me? All I'm reading is "the court has too much advertising" "the commentator used the wrong terminology" "the scoreboard was down for 3 minutes"
Half the nbl fans don't deserve this improvement.

Weeks is legit!

Can we take Weeks back please?

Two 3pt fouls on consecutive possessions. Weigh and Weeks, both made 2/3.

I want the league to succeed. Half naked production won't cut it

Tied up with 2:10. Come on Illawarra!

Not much going on offensively for the Hawks the last couple of possessions...

Aaaandddd... 4 turnovers in 5 possessions. Game over. Cairns win.

5 in 6. :/

I've lost my last 12 bets... ouch!

At least they tried to run a play that possession. The last 2 minutes of Hawks possessions seemed completely unstructured.

CJ Bruton, you the real 2nd half MVP.

Cairns should've one by more without Martin and Lisch in the second half. Starks looked really nervous out there was passive. Worthington and Gliddon outstanding.

I don't think you can be too hard on Cairns. Even without Lisch, Hawks shooting 12-19 from 3pt land is going to keep them in games. Demos was solid, and Weeks had a strong 2nd half (but probably on the court too long in the 4th).

"Cairns should have smashed the Hawks and if they had lost it, they should have had drug tests.
7 point spread after leading by as many as 9? an then trailing without Lisch and Martin.
Far from convincing."

ummm no. Cairns were without Tragardh

The Cairns import situation is a bit of a worry

Ran into a solid screen and left with maybe a knee injury, it was never made clear during the broadcast.

Illawarra losing games whilst shooting 60% from 3 point land should be a real worry to them. What happens when they only shoot a very competent 45%?

Lisch's ice pack was on his Calf.

23 turnovers, nearly half of those from Penney and Ogilvy, doesn't help...

1. Starks is just like a school boy,just overawed & useless.
2. Wortho vs Young hopefully makes up for Starks vs Wilbekin points wise.
3. Penney couldn't beat Gliddon & Weigh.

Some soft calls towards the end by the refs certainly didn't help.

Cody Ellis looks out of shape and probably won't be in the league for very long.
FFS,He is young,should be jumping out of his skin,diving on balls and in peoples faces instead....he looks like a dud.

Cody Ellis looks like he's in the kinda shape he was in when he joined the Kings midseason his rookie year... Last year he was slimmer and it made a real difference to his defense, although his shot dropped off the face of the earth.

CJ was terrible, sounded like he was half asleep. Great player doesnt mean automatic great commentator. That hurt it for me from a telecast point of view. Solid game, both teams good shots at each other and had chances to win, a playoff series between these 2 is likely and would be great to see over 3 games. Starks didn't do much, Penney looked out of sorts, and Wortho as much as i loathe him, had a pretty decent game... Was always going to be tighter than the odds had it. Cant ask for much more than a tied game with 2min to play...

Wouldn't you think, after listening to the mumble of Cal Bruton trying to announce, someone would have coached the younger Bruton on how to talk? Cringe, cringe!!

Again he could have all the knowledge int he world on the game and experienced everything there is too in the sport, but if he can't put 2 words together, its not good news for a league who is trying to kick start itself in to popularity in the Aus sports market. This isn't an NBL level, its a Fox mistake i guess.... but it is really got to be rectified.

Good game in the end. Was pretty ugly early on.
CJ looked very uncomfortable doing the commentary particularly with a camera on him. Don't be too hard on him though, I'm sure he will be a lot better once he had a few more games under his belt.

I was more annoyed at Jarrod continually being referred to as "Jordan" lol

League has to have a attitude of how would the AFL do it.... and there are plenty if AFL legends NOT doing commentary because they aren't up to it. You need people who are ready to go NOW, not as time goes on. This league needs to make great strides immediately. Id love to see someone like CJ be fantastic at a commentary gig, he has the look he has the experience but he doesnt have the media side of it clearly.

It was interesting to see this game and how much the style of play differed from the opener in Adelaide.

Seemed to be more open and each team happier to shoot the three ball, they also seemed to move the rock a little quicker that the Breakers v 6'ers.

No blowout and a tight scoring contest kept it quite watch worthy last night, but the final minute was disappointing, shame really as it was heading for a cliff hanger at one stage.

The injury to Lisch really hurt the Hawks and I feel Ogilvy needs to try and change something to stay out of early foul trouble if he is going to help his team, they need him to stay on court longer.

Starks was fine, he wasn't looking to score as much as we probably would like to see but played a role and passed it well, he will be okay as his confidence grows. Both teams can improve, but both showed some good stuff early in the season.

One comment on those bigs, when they get an open look at the ring, guys dunk that freakin' rock will ya!??

Yes, we can improve the overall standard of the production but I for one am loving the live games, think I will see much more NBL this year than I have ever before...

What's with all this... Lisch went down and the Hawks suffered talk. Hawks trailed when Lisch was on court and lead with 2 mins to go after he had been off the court for much of the second half. Does anyone watch the games anymore?
I agree on Ellis, waste of fat space. Penney looks slow and who does he think he is trying to take the game on himself to get the Hawks back in it, Foreman or Coneraad should have been looking to make a late play not old man Penney.

Jokes aside, I thought CJ was better as the game went on and he settled down a bit and started talking more naturally.

Why did Illawarra changed their name from Wollongong anyway?

I thought Wollongong was a better name as it represents a region.

Did they go back to Illawarra in order to be original again with their name?

Wollongong is a town. Illawarra is a region.

So now do you think it is a good idea?

The reason Penney was turning it over was partially because he was doing something he doesn't normally have to do- drive around people and take them one on one.

If Martin and/or Lisch had been there, they could've more easily ran plays to give Penney a catch and shoot option.

So even Penney's turnovers are partly an indirect result of missing their best two playmakers.

Not everyone sees everything, but someone always sees something!

And yes, that is an original quote...

Really enjoyed this game, very high quality for this early in the season. Hawks did very well to hang in there without a PG, and Cairns are like a slick machine rolling into a new season. I haven't seen a box score but it seemed like the Hawks pulled in a heAp of o-boards or at least a few at important moments, and that's prob the RFI for the Taipans. For Illawarra it's playing fast but having composure.

Enjoyed the performances of Demos and Bruce. If they continue that form for the season their teams will be very happy.

It wasn't one for the fanboys, Ill give you that, but in terms of actual basketball it was a good clash, as games between these two usually are. Coming out of international season that Adelaide v NZ game was a pretty average standard, so nice to see teams playing some good ball early on.

Paul I don't see it.

That turn over by Loughton on the fast break was an embarrassment to the league. Hawks had a fair few ugly ones as well.

Illawarra's offense was not good. Some very impressive 3 point shots kept them in the game. On a number of occasions a tough 3 bailed them out after they couldn't get a good shot. In terms of actual movement and quality offense - there wasn't a lot. (Fair enough too when they're missing Martin and Lisch).

I hope Lisch plays tomorrow because it'll be a much better game if he does.

That gives me great comfort then LV ;-)

When I see a Round 1 game played at high intensity, where the teams shot 53% and 48% from the floor, 60% and 36% from 3p, and where Cairns had 20 assists to 13 turnovers, that's a quality first up game, especially compared to the poor showing the previous night. The only real blight was Illawarra's ball security.

Apart from the stats, both teams were spreading the floor, moving the ball and hitting tough contested shots, particularly Cairns. Defensively both mixed up their defences well, often on the same possession. On one trip down the floor I think Cairns changed their D twice on the one possession.

As far as Round 1 games go, there aren't too many that have the same combo of high intensity and high percentage shooting.