Agreed, Melbourne didnt really seem to use up too much energy in the 4th quarter against the Crocs. Expect Goulding to score much more than 7, he wont die wondering!

This one is also live on GO!

Looks like GO! are adding their own flavour to the telecast, starting it off with their own in-studio intro.

Keeping on tack with the issue of uniforms this round, not digging how the Hawks' white uniforms have white numbering. The poor contrast doesn't convey well on telecasts.

No Lisch or Martin in this one.

Coenraad is underrated big time.

Man there is some serious talent out there on the court right now among the 10.

Enjoying the Goulding v Penney match-up.

This is fun

18 threes attempted in that first quarter

Solid start for Warrick.

WEEKS! Did not expect that.

Rosen was better in the Sydney v Cairns game too. May have worked on his game.

Me neither. Nice. Almost Andrew Gaze-like but Holt got himself out of the poster

Weeks through down on of them last year too, surprising hops on him!

Just stupid play there by Ellis.
Melbourne should not have had the final play.

Penney's mistake, should have pulled it out. What a half though, as entertaining half of basketball as I can remember at any level.

Take ya sunnies off Homicide, geez.

Big pre game Buzz around hisense.

Lk doing a lot right.

Love majok majok. Brings exactly what Melbourne missed last yr. And it's gonna be so fun watching Warrick and Goulding every game

Ellis' last shot was absolutely stupid. Can't blame Penney for passing it up court. Any player with 1/100th of a brain would pull that out. The result of not doing that = a Goulding three.

90% Penney's fault. A guard who has the ball with15 seconds left should never kick it to a shooter in the corner. Keep the ball and run a play. Guards should never assume bigs have clock awareness.

Ellis is a spud.

Coenraad was very good last year but it looks like he's added some nice new tricks.

Greenwood would have got a big shock this year if he thought he would waltz into the Boomers team.

Coenraad has improved every year. With Penney and Lisch now taking some of the attention, he can flourish this year. Always had this sort of potential.

paul, every player should have clock/game awareness. It shouldn't be reserved for guards only.

Ellis needs to be taken off.

Bit of a boring game. Yesterday Adelaide game was the best of the round

For real?

This games being very exciting IMO. Best of round.

Perth Adelaide game was a grind.

Guards should take care of running the rights play at the right time. Ellis should never have touched that ball.

I think there was a bit of sarcasm there.

Good coaches go back to the source. The source of that bad mistake by Ellis was Penney pointlessly passing him the ball when he should have been running the final play.

Those United Cheerleaders....yikes.

Hawks running out of gas now.

Blame that loss on Penney. Every pass he made lead to a bad play..got to go back to the source ;)

Melbourne have so many weapons this year.

Love Holt's game. He knows his environment. Doesn't try to do too much.

Very efficient player which is perfect given the talent on that team.

Was just thinking the same thing. Real class for a guy that young. Knows when to pass to big guys and when to run a play ;-)

Argggh! What is Ellis doing on in the last 3 mins.

Just go home Ellis... He's been Melbourne's best player today.

Ellis *facepalm*

Why would you take Oscar off? He must have asked for a blow surely?

2 really big defensive plays by Goulding late here. He's not just all offense anymore.

I know Bevo loves him, but not like that

That's prob because Martin and Lisch are out. They've done pretty well in their two games given their backcourt.

Agreed. No avoiding bench time in a game of this tempo. Great effort by the Hawks, and could have been much closer had a couple more of those very good looks dropped

I see Melbourne only used 8 players today, but can't think of anyone they are missing?

Oh, Barlow. Of course.

Nice game, can't believe we have to wait three days for the next one.

I have been quite impressed by Weeks for the hawks surely he will be in the league next season with Brisbane coming in.

Well, United did what they had to to get over the line, Hawks are good but just not able to lead during games and chasing their opponents.

0-2 is going to be hard for the Hawks now, but they are not far off the mark, A.J. is a key for them he has to dominate.

Anyone know the crowd today, seemed to be a good one on the TV?

Hawks did well without Lisch and Martin. They will be better by the end of the season especially under Bevo who is the best coach in the league imo.

I think people were talking up the big three for hawks too soon. Yeah, they have Lisch, Ogilvy and Penney, but they also have Ellis and that dickbrain Demos to help nullify their effectiveness.

The Hawks bench is largely full of guys who wouldn't get looks elsewhere. A lot for this team rests on the big three, and there is a question mark next to Kirk Penneys ability to produce what they need at his age.

Interesting, for Melbourne, they persist with Majok Majok over Hakim Warrick. You can't argue with results, and I don't think anyone expected to Majok to start like this, but it must confuse the hell out of Warrick, who probably expected to be the teams go-to guy.

I really hate the ISC uniforms on both of these clubs. I am also not a fan of Hisense on TV. I feel like uniforms and arenas need some aesthetic overhauls. But, promisingly, Melbourne United has almost 10,000 fans at their opening game after a poor season - a good sign for the team, and league.

Hawks minus Lisch and Martin is big losses for them and the way they play or intend too. Unlike some teams who have already shown their weakness, the Hawks have plenty to build, and a import spot up their sleeve. Agreed Hisense is awesome for viewing on tv!!!

Crowd would have been around 7500 judging from the configuration with the tops at each end being shut off. Really good start for them, deserved as their promotion was very good.

Wouldnt mind seeing a Warrick and Majok front court.. especially when you already have three, 3 point bombers on the field ( goulding, holt, tblanch

Both teams impressed me.

Having seen both Hawks games this weekend, if they can get their team on court I expect top 4. Add Lisch and Martin and today's a different result.

Goulding's ball handling has improved so much compared to 3 years ago.

Like the balance in United's line-up this year.

Ogilvy is real good. Such a great having so many quality 5's in the league

Treat *

I saw Jon Patton at the game.

That could suggest he thought Chris might play?

Definite Buzz. Saw a lot of the North Melbourne Kang players there today. Big crowd in.

What's with 6 home games in a row in 3 weeks though? The real test of crowds will be the Wednesday night game straight after a couple of home games in quick succession.

Perth and Melbourne need to play home games now because of the tennis, and Sydney lose their venue in December so the more home games they've played by then the better.

And since all these teams have to play against someone, other teams are going to have road-heavy schedules.