As much as we've had discussion about how close and competitive the league is, in the past seven years there have been five different teams in the grand final in four different matchups (five if you count Cairns and NZ switching HCA) resulting in two different champions.

And the grand final matchup that has occurred in three of those seven years occurred in the semi finals in a fourth.

And Perth has played Illawarra/Wollongong once in the grand final, and three times in the semis.

Breakers would have had almost 11 days off between games.

Will rust be a concern?

Rust could be a concern but they have had lots of opportunities to train together and rehab any niggles and injuries and head into this series fresh.
They also will have lots of confidence in how they have not only turned their season around but also in their finals record against the Wildcats.

NZ have cut the nets down in Perth Arena just as many times as the Wildcats and did it first.

This time we have a full team and hca, see how we go against the tall blacks. Perth is the best team in the nbl and Nz is the best team in the ibl international basketball league.

"NZ have cut the nets down in Perth Arena just as many times as the Wildcats and did it first."

Well - I suppose one more time won't bother perth too much as long as they win gane one and get to sell ticket to 2 games, that will make it a win for next season where they will have 3 naturalised players, one Oceana (local) and 3 imports.

Unless united sign one of the two naturalised and the oceania prospects.

Anon0657 - An where is the team that finished top of the ladder now ;)

Yes, NZ won the championship in 2013 (with HCA). Obviously that is the most important factor here.

The scheduling is weird, but I think both teams should be fit for game 1. My concern is games 2 & 3. That's a lot of travel in a short space of time, especially for somebody carrying an injury like Jawai.

I am reasonably confident predicting games 1 & 2 will go to the home teams. Game 3 will be a war of attrition, and the result is anyone's guess.

Meh, if Damo hadn't done his achilles in the semi-finals that year we'd have defended home court in Gm 2 at least.

1st Grand Final series the Wildcats have a full squad & hca.Makes all the difference.

Perth had HCA in 2014. I think a full squad as well?

I assume he meant against the Breakers.

Vector is booked out for the Madonna concert.

Yeah I was surprised about the Vector situation also. Its a shame.

Not a huge factor; we're all unemployed over here these days.

Yeah, Wildcats have played in 4 GF's in the past 7 years, we have won those with HCA, and lost those without.

And you haven't defeated NZ in a final yet

Yes, all our series against NZ have gone with HCA...

Battle of the Boards is going to be critical. These must be close to the top 2 rebounding teams. Perth were very quiet on the boards in game 1 & 2, but improved in 3. A "healthy" Jawai and an aggressive Jervis are crucial.

Such a shame the NBL haven't altered the dates for the GF. What they've come up with isn't well suited for TV times and isn't well suited for quality basketball.

Isn't well suited for quality fans either now that the Wildcats are in there.

Who knows, maybe Fox said they wanted to be done by March 6? But if that was the case, they should have squeezed the SFs closer.

Why couldn't NZ get their venue sorted out before the playoffs, like the other teams have. Did they not have the foresight to at least pencil book Vector Arena for the entire playoff duration? Knowing full well that they are a contender and had a very good chance of getting to the GF.

I dont know how venue booking works, and it may be more complicated, but I would have thought that a regular tenant like the Breakers would be able to reserve the arena for the playoff duration, so all dates are available.

The thought of not only having to watch a showpiece game at the worst stadium in the league, but also as well as it being on at 2:30pm on a work day for Western Australians just adds to my overall dislike for the NZ Breakers.

Unless Vector becomes a full time venue, I hope this is the last time NZ make a grand final for a long time. Two years in a row a GF game is played at NSEC is an abolute disgrace to a league that is rebuilding its credibility.

I don't think Madonna booked it in a fortnight ago, I imagine that date has been taken for quite some time.

It's good for TV in the sense that game three will be live on FTA.

Semis were on the weekend to help with crowds, the grand final has more drawing power so they can get away with weekday games.

I don't know how venue booking works either, but it seems like common sense to me that you can't just reserve a city's premier venue for a block of time on the off chance that you might be using it for one night within that block, considering acts like Madonna would be booking many months in advance for a show that is guaranteed to sell.

My question was going to be whether Trust Stadium (which certainly looks nicer on TV) would be a better option, but I see now that it only holds an extra 500 people than NSEC. I had it in my head that the difference was greater.

It's an unfortunate fact of life that the NBL is always going to struggle with this type of issue. That's the uncertainty of sport.
I hope that in the background they did look at rescheduling the games to timing that was more appropriate for Perth-NZ travel. Even if Vector was a no-go either way, it looks like there's nothing at Perth Arena until 10/3. Pretty sure that a GF game 3 in Perth would pull a decent crowd regardless of what day it was on. An extra day or 2 would give people more time to get organised to be able to attend.

^ ahh yes, fair point about game 3 and the FTA TV situation

Perth are already selling tickets to game 3...

GF dates were clearly designed to suit Foxtel requirements. Just a shame its going to backfire on them when not too many people in Perth will be able to watch Game 2.

Wednesday, Saturday (at Vector), then following Friday night in Perth would have been far more sensible for players, fans and TV audience.

Oh yeah that's right, the football starts to get in the way...

lololol

@Chalmers: where are Perth selling tickets to G3 of the grand final. I can't see that on ticketek at all?

Chalmers is confused...

It's next year's Grand Final that the Cats are selling tickets to! ;-)

[quote]They have zero chance of winning game 1 in Perth.[/quote]

I am still haunted by them winning game 2 of the 2013 GF in Perth.

They definitely have a chance - maybe not the most likely outcome but definitely a chance.

Bench will need to play a big part in this series with games so close together. Who has the best bench ? My initial thoughts were Perth with Kenney, Wagstaff, Redhage, Hire and Jervis but it's hard to discount the Breakers bench when you have players like Jackson and Wesley coming in.

Before anyone says NZ have no chance, might want to think about what people were saying about them before the Melbourne series and how that ended up.

Writing off the Breakers is just setting yourself up for disappointing. Especially when their opponents are the team that got pants by the Crocs three times this season including once at home.

And it could be like just about every other game between Wildcats and Breakers that really matters.
i.e.. Breakers win easily.

Yes, some ridiculous claims by anonytrolls on both sides.
Really don't understand the mentally of some people? Jumping up and down like a spoiled brat doesn't make the universe bend to your whims. Repeating the same inane claims ad nauseum doesn't make them any more true.

It would be nice if we could actually discuss the GAME, instead of just randoms claiming "Perf is gonna looz cos thay suk."

Really stupid part is that these would be the exact same anonytrolls claiming that the Hawks were going to wipe the floor with the Cats in game 3.

As I have said, right from the start, this the NBL and finals to boot, anything can happen.
IMHO odds are in favour of the home team in the first two games, and game 3 is wide open. I have put my money on game 3, I'll be there come what may.

Bench will need to play a big part in this series with games so close together. Who has the best bench ? My initial thoughts were Perth with Kenney, Wagstaff, Redhage, Hire and Jervis but it's hard to discount the Breakers bench when you have players like Jackson and Wesley coming in.

Brakers is gonna looz cos thay suk

"Repeating the same inane claims ad nauseum doesn't make them any more true."

Says the guy who didn't know of Rhys Martin would be okay with moving to the bench next season.

Ah yes, another completely off-topic personal attack from kober.
You really need to see a therapist about this obsession.

Ticket sales for Game one are not looking very special. According to ticketek, you can buy up to 10 tickets in most blocks. I would of been expecting Level 4 to be opened up by now.

....and right on queue, the 4th level is opened.

I feel the reason NZ smashed United is in no small part because Pledger played smart and had lots of fouls to play with and because Melbourne are soft as marshmallow.

I can't see Perth being as soft but if Pledger can stay out of foul trouble then he will remain a big target on offense and be able to stay with Kawai on D.

I like the Wildcats but Corey Webster hasn't been scintillating in 2016 and that scares me.