Makes the game a farce, really.
Poor Kings fans ... their games are painful enough to attend as it is.

Let the anonymous conspiracy theories begin!

They know what they need to do to manage themselves for a title run, id be pissed if my main guy got injured in a dead rubber. Seems the smartest thing Gleason has done all season actually!

Perth,s B-side did a good job on Sydney last week so probably not risking too much anyway. Actually looking forward to Jervis getting a good run again.

Even if he passes after the buzzer?

Well ... look, not to sound too credulous here, but both me and the missus noticed Jawai looking very awkward as he stepped off the court for the last time, Damo also copped a knock during the game and ... look, who knows what the hell was happening with Beal, that was just bizarre.

Let the anonymous Dazz conspiracy theories begin!

As I said, Beal being injured was one possible explanation, but to only take one shot? Must be serious, so why was he playing at all.

Jawai barely got above a fast waddle in those opening two minutes. Did he START the game injured???

The Cats cannot lose 2nd spot, and would need MU to drop BOTH games to NZ to take first.
I have no problem resting injured players in what is probably a dead rubber, and could still turn into another great run for the bench.

My only concern is how serious these injuries are. It wouldn't be the first time the Cats have staggered into the finals dragging their injured players behind.

Sunday's available for resting players, after all the other games have been completed and they know whether they're still a chance at first.

Even if you sit the four of them on the bench most of the night, it'd be smart to have them there in case Sydney somehow remember how to basketball.

Perth have clearly telegraphed that they don't give a shit about this game. Sydney, at home, will think they're a chance, and should start the game with some degree of confidence.

I thought Sydney started their last game against Perth with some degree of confidence and how did that work out for them?

(No need to answer, it was a rhetorical question).

Gleeson will be gone after this season (irrespective of the result).

Matt Nielson will be coach & some more sensible decisions will be made.

Perth should still handle Sydney. No real repercussion if they don't anyway.

I expect to see Gleeson there for many seasons to come.

Gleeson wont be gone UNLESS Perth gets bounced out in a pretty bad fashion in the 1st round.He has a pretty damn good record in his 2 and half seasons interms of wins/losses.

Who are you going to replace him with?

Matt Nielson.

There is a succession plan already in place.

I will revive this thread when it all goes down.

Yeah, cos promoting their assistants has always worked so well for the Cats.

Gleeson needs to win this season, or go down fighting with injuries.

I've heard a few rumours about Nielsen too. Trev isn't s very popular bloke annoys the hell out of a lot of people. So I wouldn't be surprised.

If you watch our games of late, you can see the players are coming out to start with no spark or intent. It reminds me of the last year with Worsfold at Eagles, players don't seem to be fired up to go. Maybe a change is needed.

Why would Neilsen be no good ?

Maybe a change is needed.

LOL. Would be great to see the Kings have a win.

Hopefully those four injuries are not too serious........

I'm yet to see a wildcats team 'not care' about any game they show up to.. Wouldn't be surprised at all if their second stringers get it done against this insipid Sydney rabble. Particularly now that the Kings are favourites.

Perth playing on the road, minus Martin, Beal, Prather & Jawai, and are still paying just $2.05 for a win.
That's about as big a slap in the face to the Kings as you can get.

Going to be some interesting combinations out there for the Cats. Good thing Hire has been hitting some outside shots lately because some time at the SG spot is probably on the cards for him tonight.

We're playing to win: Gleeson

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/30777060/were-playing-to-win-says-gleeson/


"We’re playing to win. We’re not playing just to take the DPs for experience," he said.
...
He said all three development players would be given between 15 and 20 minutes of game time, which may prove beneficial in the play-offs.


Guaranteeing major minutes for DPs doesn't really seem compatible with trying your best to win IMO.

Kings surely win this with ease. Im suprised by those odds. Almost a way to try trick some folks into betting on the Cats in a quick multi etc who dont know about the outs. Imagine putting a heap on the Cats thinking your going to double your money tonight and then you see, and think jesus who is going to score!!!!

If the Wildcats win tonight, does it say more about their Bench Depth or the Sydney Kings?

We're playing to win: Gleeson
"We're playing to win. We’re not playing just to take the DPs for experience," he said.
...
He said all three development players would be given between 15 and 20 minutes of game time, which may prove beneficial in the play-offs.
Guaranteeing major minutes for DPs doesn't really seem compatible with trying your best to win IMO.

Kings surely win this with ease. Im suprised by those odds

Well that injury is not what we needed :-/

Who got injured... the App isnt showing the game. Hire Id bet.

Hire got crunched by Brandt. Lot of blood - eye or nose

Hire got Smashed hard by Brandt and was bleeding all over the floor.
Hopefully he'll be ok to return once he's patched up

Vague seeing first quarter minutes :O

Why the hell is Jervis not starting.

How do they count Kennys but not Garlepp! That kind of inconsistency kills me.

Knight barely touched Brandt, just a big guy going for the glory block and Hire getting smashed. Saw it on twitter, Knight didnt cause it.

Commentator logic: because Perth only have 8 players they should be calling the game less tight. What?

Hire should not be allowed to return. Do these support staff do concussion checks?

App not working here either :(
Gleeson out for Neilsen may be a great move. But Trev knows he can't coach so I will be surprised if he ever gave the position up. He does have a big budget to buy talent and that goes a long way to hide their bum coach

FFS they're calling some super-soft ones tonight

Sydney on pace for about 120

Hahahhahahahahahahahhahahahaha @ KENNY.

What a bum.

Someone started a thread on here saying he needed to put up more shots.

Hahahhahahahahahahahhahahahaha

Are you watching Kennys game?
This is his opportunity to lead this bench team.
#awful

Nonsense.
For fringe players this is far from a dead rubber.

Lol @ kenny

LOL @ Kenny!!
shooting just 50% from the field atm
P.S. LOL!!!

Yes...LOL

Don't bite on ROFLcopter people. He's worse than the blowout troll.

Ahhhh, the butthurt is strong with these ones.

I always thought he was the blowout troll? Same posting style

As if.
I'm complimentary of the league.

I reserve my lols for some of the clowns who post here.

Don't know that an easier $1.78 will ever come my way.

Cadee's chance to shine against no quality opposition and he goes MIA.

Fingers crossed that the rest of the round is better than that display.

Well the Kings must feel like that are champions.ha ha
Playing against a very undermanned Wildcats.
They are losers and the management can say thanks we did it.
Minny me(the glasses man) can say my boy Indy is a superstar.ha ha.
Craig Moller,softy.
Go the Hawks.

I think Harvey only has wee bit of bias for Cadee

Luuuc im with you had the house on the Kings, easiest possible money. And yeah think the blowout troll, but who knows these days.

Not exactly a game for the ages tonight, but it was good to get a look at some of the young guys for both teams, and for the Kings Faithful and Vandenberg in particular. Faithful got a bit excited with some of the shots he put up, but solid defensively. Vandenberg at least looks like he has the potential to be a rotation guy down the line.

Cadee and Carter, for two guys who are supposed to be shooters, make me cringe every time they pull up for a 3 in the halfcourt. Keep one (Cadee) off the bench, let the other go, sign an experienced import PG (I don't care if he was ever drafted in the NBA), and bring back Childress and Brandt. Garlepp has stepped up his scoring but is still a liability on the defensive end, but having another guard or two who can defend the perimeter helps there.

To be fair, hard to expect much more than bodies for practice as far as development players go, given the salaries. If you're a young basketball talent you are nuts if you don't try and get a college gig in the US.

When was the last time a Perth development player actually got a proper NBL contract? Other than Wagner's very brief run with Sydney in 2011...Garlepp? Goulding? And they had to go elsewhere.

Meanwhile, I was watching a couple of 2009/10 Breakers games a few weeks ago and seeing developmental players Alex Pledger, Tom Abercrombie, Corey Webster, Tai Webster, and Jeremiah Trueman.

In the last five years, I've watched every single minute of every single televised game, including NBL TV games and pre-season games. I turned this one off early in the fourth.

I can't imagine Sunday will be much better.

I hope Sunday wont be much better! Are those Cats players going to definitely out again... if so a fit Randle means Adelaide should get the W.

Hire was a Development Player before

Well, Gleeson was true to his word, DP's totalled 50 minutes.
I'm a little disappointed that some of the guys didn't step up with more points, but at the end of the day, the game was a joke.

Doesn't have me looking forward to Sunday...

The big concern obviously is just how serious those injuries are. It would not surprise if they were minor, and the resting mostly precautionary, but if not this season is going to end badly, again. Plus, we didn't need the injury to Hire.

Why did Martin travel? Visiting family?

From the article posted earlier in the thread

"Martin will sit on the bench, with Gleeson declaring the captain needed to be around the team at this stage of the season."

So he was visting family then... c'mon needs to be around the team, oh Trev.

Got to get some perks being the captain, don't ya?

Actually, both arguments make sense.
Martin is the Heart & Soul of that team. Good to have him around the young guys, and good idea to keep him happy.

"When was the last time a Perth development player actually got a proper NBL contract?"

Hire, as someone else said, and I believe Jervis was a training player with them too.

Forgot about Hire. Still, that's one in the past five or six years. Probably similar to most Australian clubs, but the Breakers are having no trouble turning their DPs into stars. Doesn't seem to be a problem with the DP system, just the way they're using it.

I hope Sunday wont be much better! Are those Cats players going to definitely out again... if so a fit Randle means Adelaide should get the W.

Maybe they're happy playing Illawarra. Losing to Sydney means the Cats get second, beating Adelaide ensures the Hawks are third (if that's even required).

Worth giving up home court in the grand final, though?

Unless they're planning on NZ knocking United off, and getting past Illawarra...but that's not a great plan.

"Why we rested everyone tonight instead of Sunday"

Because last night was an away game, and they didn't want to take three of the players on the flight due to nature of their injuries.

What's a bigger risk? Giving up HCA in the GF, or trying to win the GF without one of your starters?

Re Martin being on the bench. He wasn't listed in live stats so assume he wasn't on the team sheet. Also, Hire was denoted as captain for the game.

As paul said, Perth would feel pretty comfortable with home court advantage against Illawarra. This season they beat them by 7 and 3 in Wollongong and by 23 and 29 in Perth. They'd be less comfortable facing NZ in the semi finals.

Anyway, how likely is it that Melbourne will drop both games against NZ, this round? If I was Perth, I'd feel it's more likely we would beat Melbourne at least once in Melbourne in a GF series. But for some odd calls towards the end of the game, they would have done that already this season - when Melbourne were red hot.

Interestingly, last night's result means Melbourne will be the only team in the NBL this season NOT to have a losing record on the road. They're 7W-6L at the moment and, at worst will be 7-7 on the road after this round. Perth and Illawarra are both 6W-8L, with Adelaide next best with 4W-8L and their last two road games this round.

Atleast Perth have avoided a semi final matchup with NZ. Breakers seem to switch to another mode come finals time. Interesting to note that if Breakers do make the finals we could potentially see 5 games straight between United and Breakers.

Yes, that's so much worse than following someone around on the internet to speculate about their love life.

I get it when people throw out that response after I've gone off on some lengthy detailed ramble over some obscure bit of trivia. People are insecure. But to just throw it out at random like that? That takes some serious lack of a life, dude.