Any reason for such close odds? Is one of Perth's studs back or what, because I would say United should a big favourite

United have more in-form players, but the odds even up because this one is at Perth Arena so it'll be 8 vs 5 ;)

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of this game.

Whoever loses will be 6-8 with 9 away games and only 5 at home in the back half of the season. Given how tight the league is, that will make top 4 a huge ask, especially for Perth with no Martin for a while yet.

Why the hell is Hire starting? He brings nothing to the team atm.

Not true, he brings airballs and David Andersen injuries.

Not true, he brings airballs and David Andersen injuries.

"Why the hell is Hire starting? He brings nothing to the team atm."

He's their best +- guy this season would you believe? Jarrod Kenny is second.

Is it just me or does Devin Williams look like the African American version of Matt Stone circa Baseketball?

Is it just me or is the stream buffering more than usual tonight?

But... but... Wesley leaned forward on that pick, why isn't it an unsportsmanlike?!

Goddamit Charlie I'm missing DKD hit threes

Not just you Mike. I've only been able to watch about 3 minutes so far. Just about to give up.

Yeah my stream is buffering A LOT. Much more than usual

Man I'm loving United now. It will be frustrating at times... But it won't ever be boring.

Just no more wide open mid range stuff for Knight from your zone tho, ok?

I was having buffering issues early so just refreshed it and it's worked perfectly since.

Casper Ware is a super impressive scorer, but kinda feels like Melbourne have a lineup a lot like last year's again, where they are going to have games where they are going to pin all their hopes on firing away from behind the arc.

Not a bad game for the two worst teams in the league ;)

I've even reset the PC and no dice

'Not a bad game for the two worst teams in the league ;)'

It's just a lump of teams this year so far

What's the record for three point attempts in the 40 min format?

Mel has attempted 21 and its not even half time

Buffering and desync issue for me as well with NBL TV. Kept jumping back to Q1 when Goulding drives with scores 8-10 in United's favour. Guess I'll wait till it goes to replay, not my night to watch NBL. :(

What's the record for terrible streaming infrastructure

NBL have it on lock

He's back,yes that's right FAKER KNIGHT is back.Give it two rounds he will fake another injury so he can make out he is a tough bastard by coming back early from injury.

Speaking of Faker, I heard Hurricane on JJJ this morning

FUUUUU Kestleman

Perth getting the help they usually get. Hence CG 43, with 13 points, now sitting.

Wagstaff diving right into his legs... that should be a foul.

Shane Heal stating the obvious:

"They get away with more in this gym"

Wagstaff takes out Odigie's legs and then invent a foul on Ware.

And they have full time refs now. SMH.

Missing an awesome win right now

This blows goats

How the hell is that a foul on Barlow? He's in position. Didn't move. Wagstaff forced contact and Barlow kept his ground. It's a no call.

This is beyond a joke. How do they miss a foul on Wesleys shot attempt there, after all the soft shit they've been calling at the other end?

Spurs played the Bulls today. Think I might go watch that on league pass. NBL is a Bush league.

Yeah Perth is the better team and Prather is MVP, or second behind Randle

But I have a precious hour or two on my Friday night to watch basketball amidst all the business of life. We deserve better than amateur refs

Prather v Ware was amazing and I've missed it all

:@@@@@@@@@@@@

Wares your head at?

Wares your head at!

FUCKS SAKE

That was a cracking game.

I think we've seen enough from Ware now to be confident that there's plenty of life in United's season, despite the WL columns and away games to come.

Andersen's injury a worry tho

Hell of a game, but those two threes by Ware... shoulda taken it to the basket. Didn't need the three there.

Anyway, good game of basketball.

We know how to take a 9 point lead with 1 min to go and make it look hard. FFS, not sure if bad coaching or poor decisions but why are hire, JJ and Prather shooting the ball 5 seconds into the shot clock?
I loved 75% of that game, desperation was great, D was great, Prather was amazing (him vs Ware is highlight of the year so far). The 25% shitness was refs soft calls both ways and the dinopolis vs Gleeson whinge fest.

Prather or Randle for MVP, whoever finishes higher out of Perth and Adelaide. That's my tip.

Speaking of Randle, we have a new Randle with a better 3 point shot. But he won't play enough games to figure in MVP calculations.

Why NBL.TV doesn't show the full interviews?

Tonight the showed United, but stopped before the Wildcats.

Greg hire proving his worth tonight. Takes out anderson in the first quarter and suckers goulding into retaliation fouls.

Ware is unstoppable! Imagine if the cats had a SG that can score like him.

Ware is impressive. Imagine if the Cats had a guy who could score 38 points in just 27 FGA :O

That game had everything ....
A Cats win ... that is all.
:-)

Prather and Ware.... wow .... thoroughly enjoyed that contest. Perth at home were. Always going to be tough but United sure took it to them. Another great game

Wow, almost managed to throw it away towards the end.
Ware is extraordinary. When do they play the 6's, I want to see him and Randle score 50 apiece.

MU unlucky to lose Andersen early. McKay struggles to matchup on the really big guys, so he could have made the difference.

And WTF happened to Goulding? He was electric early, then went MIA.

But we still have too many passengers.
Cats need to either play JJ or replace him. Hiding him on the bench isn't helping anyone.

And can somebody please remind Trev that Hire isn't a guard. He's way to slow defensively to guard guys like Goulding.

Hire hustled his arse off tonight and played a significant role in that win, just in case you didn't see the game.

Oh and btw Goulding went scoreless for an entire half, so yeah clearly we fucked up big time with guarding him.

Hire has been great this season . Definite improvement on last year. WTF is with redhafevvetting more minutes. He was pretty big last game

*Redhage

Hire hustled his arse off tonight and played a significant role in that win, just in case you didn't see the game.
Oh and btw Goulding went scoreless for an entire half, so yeah clearly we fucked up big time with guarding him.

I'm liking JJ off the bench and also knight tonight. Helps the team retain some offensive spark when we go to our bench.

Goulding had 13 in the first quarter - the same total as the first quarter of his 50-point game. Ware and Prather were in the high 30s with a couple of minutes to go.

How nobody scored 40 - and how Goulding went scoreless for 30 straight minutes - I don't know.

Dazz nearly all of Gouldings shots were contested with a hand in his face, hire did well. Guys like Ware, Goulding, Randle, Beal will hit shots no matter how good the D is. The reason why Goulding got in foul trouble was a lot to do with Hire milking them out of him. Hire also ripped down 4 or 5 key contested rebounds, think you're being a bit harsh on him.

"ROFL
Wow, new contender for dumbest posts of the year. Did you actually watch the game???
Maybe you need to get yourself some binoculars."


For all the many, MANY, words you write here on the subject, sometimes I really question whether you understand the game of basketball, Dazz. You've clearly never played it. There's a lot more happening on the court than just the pretty highlight plays.
No, in an ideal world Hire is not a starter on an NBL team, but the important role he played last night earned him the 3rd highest minutes on the team. Maybe binoculars are exactly your problem. Put them down occasionally so you can see what's happening away from the ball as well. You and Jaron Johnson might both learn something.

"He got in foul trouble "

Goulding played 32:39 of a 40 minute game. Ware is the only United player who spent more time on court than Goulding and Prather the only Perth player. Goulding's time on court was a little more than his season average minutes per game. So he seems not to have spent a lot of time on the bench due to foul trouble. That suggests foul trouble wasn't a factor in Goulding only taking 3 shots after quarter time.

As well as Ware taking a lot of shots (8 more than usual on average, and at a better FG% than usual), Moore was pretty hot this game. Moore shot 64% from the field and took (4) more shots than he usually takes but in only slightly more than his usual game time.

Goulding got a phantom foul - his 3rd- early in the 3rd and sat for a while. During which time United struggled to score. Perth can thank the refs for that one (like a few others too. Par for the course out West).

Goulding takes a lot of attention defensively - the opponents best wing defender- and spreads the floor, allowing more room for others to move. Not surprising at all that Moore got going with his crafty moves to the hoop in the last, when Goulding was playing alongside him.

cry me a river LV, do you want a tissue to wipe all that dribble that comes out.

Hire nearly threw the game away in the last minute when he overthrew a pass to Matty and wildcats were only 3 pts in front.

Lucky we held on to the three points. But overall Hire had a good game else I think Trev. would not have played him that much.

Was there any word on Andersen? That didn't look great

All I've seen is that he won't be heading to Sydney for tomorrow's game.