be

Sydney, probably. Perth, I'm not convinced yet.

Imagine if Cats picked up Marvelle Harris instead..

Has uncle jimmy been drinking again?
Love the Perth optimism. Not sure what its basis is but hopefully it's on the money.

Nope, really can't tell.
Last year we all assumed MU would be in the GF, with HCA. Instead they bombed in the semis, gifting Perth HCA.
I would go so far as to agree Sydney are favourites for the Minor Premiership, and that Perth will find a way to make it 31, but thats about it.

It should be Sydney over either of Melbourne or Perth.

But Cairns, Brisbane and even New Zealand are not without a chance.

I've written off Adelaide and Illawarra already.

It "should" be Kings-Melbourne if we're just looking at rosters, but I still think any team can win a 3 game series against any other team this season. It may not be likely, but it's more than possible.

Perth will find a way to get into the playoffs, barring any more serious injuries, although they DO seem like a shadow of their former teams... I like my longshot bets, but even I wouldn't bet on them missing the top 4... Hope yes, but not put anything on it...

I don't think that Prather getting an NBA call-up is beyond the realms of possibility, and if he does ... yikes - watch us tumble down the standings. Also not surprising would be Matty and or Damo missing more games through injury.
If we stay healthy then yeah we're a playoff shot, but in the mix with a number of other teams.

I agree that the Kings are a level above, and that the Hawks & 36ers could struggle, but I'm buggered if I can separate the other 5 at this point.

Everyone is buying into the Kings, big time. They have gelled well to start the season, and seemingly have the deepest pockets... there's still three quarters of a season to go. I wouldn't bet against them having a mid-season slump.

They have a famous nickname for a reason. :D

Wasn't convinced with the Cats since they got JJ and McKay.

Really needed a combo guard with sick handles and killer three point & drive to the hole game and a 7ft+ enforcer, too many bigs this year.

Been a bit of a mess so far, messed with a good formula.

Last year Melb went 9-0 and at this stage everyone was lauding them to win the GF with everyone else daylight behind. How did that end up. The league is so even as we have seen with Cairns form in last 2 games, that peaking too early can be a recipe for disaster.

@ sixtiesrockstar - I agree that we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, but every time someone brings up the Unitards great start to last season, they seem to forget that they had a HUGELY beneficial run at home to start the season to make them look good, and weren't playing the same sort of basketball that the Kings are now... They still relied very heavily on making their outside shots and their defence was, well, yeah...

The next two rounds will be very telling for the Kings, but when comparing them to Melbourne's start last season, you also have to compare the teams themselves and not just sit on "and look how that turned out"

Sydney look irresistible and the only questions are if JK can make them even more irresistible.

Maric isn't destroying the league but he is certainly playing a vital role and playing 15 minutes a game means he can play super aggressive on the defensive end and that makes him a very tough cover.

Perth NEED Rotnei Clarke as Prather can't do absolutely everything for this team and we need another option. DKD is improving and Brandt has much better back ends of the season than a start but I still think it's either get Rotnei or be swept by Cairns

Perth pfft

Won't make the 4