If Penney is out, that evens it up a lot more. Perth just, unless Lisch gets going again and Oscar can take over some of the offensive slack. If its a shootout, Perth would be toast, but should be able to grind it out with Hawks down a star.

The danger for the Hawks if they do rely on a shoot-out, is that Perth DO have the guns to potentially match them if given enough space. Besides we can almost guarantee a predictably dour Perth defence. Prather has really come into his own, at both ends of the court, and combined with Martin is providing exceptional D.

I don't put much emphasis on the 3-0, because we last played the Hawks 2 months ago, and they are a different team.

We will have Knight back, that's important. Ogilvy on his own can't carry his team against Knight, Jawai, and Jervis. The boards will be so important. In all 3 victories we have dominated, and if we can do that again I think it will setup another win.

Shame Penney is out for this game, it would of been great to see both these teams at full strength go at it.

This is the grand final rehearsal in my opinion.I think without Penny Perth should win but it'll be very close.

Cats were far from convincing vs Sydney, but there's always that tendency to play down to your opponent's level I guess.
I'd probably tip a full strength Hawks team, but Cats should have the edge with Penney out.
With Knight back in, Oscar & AJ are really going to have their hands full.

Current odds:
Cats $1.48
Hawks $2.67

You would think that Perth should get this easily but Illawarra are the kind of team that just keeps a lid on everything. I'm expecting a tight game defensively, this is Perth's game to lose.

Perth line at -3.5 was a bit hard to resist.

Perth should win this.

They've had Illawarra's measure this season. Once in a dominant full game performance, and the other two they got in the clutch. But they've still won all 3. And Penney's absence significantly reduces the Hawks offensive firepower.

LISCH!!

de-LISCH!!

LOL... players climbing on each others backs and knocking people to the ground, no call, tiny little bump as the ball is being brought up court, whistle blows.

Gleesons terrible coaching leaving Knight on Oscar. Oscar was just killing the not so mobile knight was amazing. That little stretch might kill Perth's chances.

Yep. Gleeson couldn't arrange a root in a brothel.

Very good bounce back by Perth after Oscar went beserk.

Did you not watch the game last night and see the rubbish umpiring both ways. Every quarter was running under different rules.

Yes it is. There seems to be a formula they are using for entertainment value. Someone should review games and make nots of what is missed each quarter and what is called and cross reference it against other games. The team that works that out wins. I think some have already got it and learning how to play to that formula. NZ haven't learnt to readjust to it that's for sure and Sydney seem to have a grip on it but they are not playing a team game as it's all about the superstar. THat can work against you sometimes.

I cant believe this is the same Prather with no jumpshot and out of control player who started the season. Granted he is not carrying any injuries anymore.

Surely Hire is going to be cut.

KENNY!!!!!!!

DID THAT JUST HAPPEN??????????????

Kenny that was huge

Perth is loaded with depth

If Gleeson cant win a title with this team he never will

Wow Perth has been really good tonight. Even with Penny not sure the Hawks could have pulled this out.

dolla beal got the better of his matchup with lisch again

I don't know where Blowout Troll is those other 80% of the games this year that have been incredibly close, competitive, and entertaining...

No Penney, sure, but the Hawks just can't seem to get it done on the road... A bit of a concern considering they probably won't finish #1.

Anyone facing perth better hope they have home court advantage because I cant see perth losing twice in three games at home

Why out shit on the league you muppet?

This product is far better than it was a few years ago and it's obvious a lot of effort has been put into improving the entertainment and product.

Get on board.

Basically. FIFO - Fit In or F### Off

Hawks just don't matchup well with Perth. They have no matchups for Jawai, Prather and Perth's depth and even with Penny tonight I doubt they would have won as Oscar and Timmy Coneraad steppedup their outputs.

Last time they lost by 30 in Perth with Penny and tonight by 23 eventhough at one stage the Hawks had a 11 point lead. That is a 34 point turnaround.

"Surely Hire is going to be cut."

Hire is a polarising figure.

On offence, when he is on, its basically 4 players against the D. A so-so defender as well.

However, tonight is a good example of what he brings.

5:55 mins playing time, 6 rebounds (3+3), thats equal highest rebounder with players with 25+ mins.

The guy brings effort and a hard nose for the ball, that has value. Whether that value exceeds his other offensive deficiencies, I don't know.

The off court aspect of what he brings is also important.

The Wildcats pride themselves as a Community oriented club.

Hire is a recognised outstanding member of the community with his work to mentor young Australians.

Could the team find a better back up small forward (offensively) than Hire, likely, but there are other values that Hire has than just PPG and 3P%.

Wow, that was an absolute Cracker for 3 quarters. The best I have seen in a while. Two tough defensive teams going at it, and still having the firepower to score. Despite the Hawks' meltdown in the final term, I think that was a pre-view of the Grand-Final.

The difference tonight was that Perth were switched-on from the tip-off, and too many firing. Beal was on song, Wagstaff pulled out one of those games he's occasionally capable off, and Jawai after a slow-start was dominant.
Although the Cats have now taken a clean-sweep against the Hawks, I think the Hawks showed how competitive they could be, especially if they get Penney back, and a couple of the Cats have an off night.

Beal may have out scored Lisch but Lisch was matched up on Martin, and that was worth the price of admission alone. Two great guards, both lightning quick, going at each other. Lisch had the upper hand early but Damo evened the ledger with some great D in the second half.

As for Prather, again WOW. In terms of filling the role required to perfection, he is turning out to be an awesome addition.
I really hope the Cats try and keep him.
The good thing is that he's a little too small to get an NBA or even Europian gig as even a swingman.

Cats playing front-running basketball + Lachy Reid back on the mic = good times

Is Lachie back for the rest of the season or one game?

Enjoyed that game thoroughly. Enjoyed the Lisch/Martin matchup. Damo was all over Lisch like a bad rash. Lisch hit some huge shots early and we even saw Damo bomb a 3 in Lisch's face. Hawks really missed Penney tonight and Ogilvy with out a couple of shooters out a majority of the game.

Massive credit needs to be give to Lachy Reid also for getting the crowd right into that game when Cats were down by 10. Not sure if you could see it here much of it on fox but he really had a part in that turnaround . Awesome atmosphere.

Blow out troll - ???

What I find really interesting (in a sad way)is that even if it is a blow out, this poor bugg3r has so little to do in his/her life that they can only continue watching that same game that they so clearly dislike and then , once it finished, their next best choice in how to spend thier time is to come on this forum to whinge about it

- I mean, with all due concern - have you thought about coming out from under the anonymity blanket and starting a crowdfunding campaign so we can help you buy a life ? XOXO

Thought Martin's defence on Lisch locked in that win for them. Completely disrupted Lisch and the delivery to Ogilvy which threw out the team when their other big offensive threat was out.

I didn't notice an over-abundance of fouls last night. What was noticeable was the obvious misses. It would have gone both ways across the entire game but Lisch taking a speccy over Martin while grabbing a rebound and crashing down on top of him was let go, and I think it was Ogilivy who bumped Martin while he was trying to chase down a lose ball which caused him to not reach it in time before it went out of court.

There is just no consistency in those calls, week to week or even quarter to quarter.

What I noticed is how early Foreman got all his fouls. He was part of the double team on Jawai and it wasnt helping his cause.

We'll done Gleeson great job,

Gleeson besides the leaving Knight on Oscar for that 10 point burst did a very good job. Closed down the Hawks post entery feeds and forced Lisch to beat Damien Martin 1 on 1. He took out Ogilvy and made the Hawks try to win by Lisch's hand and Damo took Lisch out of the game in the second half hence erth's 33 point turnaround after being don by 10.Just took the Hawks offence to pieces.

Martin showed why he is a nba level defender.

Damo, the NBL's version of The Glove

Ogilvy was a complete non-factor last night.

He hasn't had much impact against Perth this season, especially on the boards.

Perth have dominated the boards in every game against the Hawks this year, unfortunately the HAWKs are too reliant on Ogilvy in that regard. Last night was actually a closer count than the others.
One thing I noticed particularly in the 2nd half, was that Perth were able to isolate Jawai 1-on-1 against Ogilvy on offence, and Ogivly just doesn't have the size and strength to hold Jawai out.

Forman has always been difficult to match-up on. He's a PF and also one of the best 3-point shooters going around. It's hard call, Knight gives Perth a massive advantage inside but he's not a great perimeter defender.