Brandt will need to play big minutes, and we desperately need McKay to find something. But he really struggles against big guys like Jawai and co.

But yes, we have plenty of depth at the 3/4.

Gleeson MUST start Brandt. If he starts McKay and Wagstaff, McKay will get clobbered, lose confidence, and that will be it.

^ not necessarily, but hell it wouldn't hurt.

This is a MUST win for Perth. I reckon they need 15 wins to be safe.
Win this they go to 14 wins, which gives them a shot next week (win 1 from 2 and they're in.)
More importantly though, it puts another nail in the snakes. If Cairns win this, they go to 13, and face the cruising 6's twice next week.

Hope Redhage enjoys his final send-off. The crowd up here always like to let him know how much he's loved and respected.

perth already has 13 wins and they have 3 games left so if you say they need 15 wins to be safe then this game is not must win dazz they just need 2 out of 3

This is a must win game!

Do you have nothing better to do than have a go at dazz? If they lose this one they are back in the pack and their goal is top 2 so it is a "must win game" frankly every game is for every team, including adelaide from here on out.

Nothing better to do of a Saturday night than have a go at someone for his word choice on a completely trivial matter.

Anonymously, no less.

And yes I mean trivial because f*** Perth and their playoff ambitions. Hate em. Hate? Nah I guess not. But the 'Cats... grrr the bloody 'Cats. Yeah I don't like em.

Hire needs to step up if Matty is not playing.

Bill, yeah, I wouldn't even mind seeing Hire start. He's a defensive beast, and a very strong young lad. Either way, he'll have to be playing his part to contain the Cairns frontcourt.

Cairns at home are very tough to beat so it's Cairns to get the money and i hope Trigger is sick and not commentating.I'm so happy Trigger and Robbins won't be doing this game together as they are the two worst commentators this season

C'mon Cairns!!

Looking forward to the final battle between wortho and floppage

I think it's fair to say everyone on the east coast will cheering for cairns.

So no different then

12:00 in WA

Reminder that this one is also on SBS

Trice, Mitchell & Jawai vs. Cotton, Prather & McKay. Whichever trio fires going to win this game. Lets hope all fire for a cracker of a game. Fingers crossed.

No, the key to this game is clearly the Mayor of Wanneroo.
Wildcats are undefeated when Greg Hire scores > 17 points!

Hire won't fire!

Go snakes!

Hire's shooting 42% from deep, Snakes will have someone nailed to him the whole time!

6 teams remain? I was under the impression only Brisbane were officially eliminated so far?

Wagstaff starting over Brandt, is this legit

McKay WTF??!!? Idiotic foul

What happened to Prather? Was that from the worth shot?

Biggest illegal screen this year on the weeks 3.

Is this court always that slippery?

Should you be allowed to take a charge on a player without the ball? I have never liked it

^^ yup he would have dunked that to ensure the 2 points and foul if he was healthy

"Should you be allowed to take a charge on a player without the ball? I have never liked it"

I hear what you're saying, but the alternative is players being allowed to run through defenders with no repercussions.

Hey I forget... have I said Trice is a punk b****?

Luuuc I disagree. If you run through someone it should always be a foul, eg if you run through another player while defending another of course, but actually stepping infront of someone running the floor without the ball they shouldn't expect that. As the offensive player how do you keep your eyes on the ball and look for the player trying to take a charge

USF?

What the actual fuck. Nothing about that foul was excessive

Can they get an out of bounds call correct in Cairns?

That USF seemed really, really soft. Same ref that anticipated McCarron fouling McKay earlier on the play where he got the ball instead.
Same ref that called Loughton for a foul on very similar contact that Perth got away with.

What is going on with Perths FT shooting? Extremely poor for a pro team.

Cairns done well with mini runs of very quick baskets to stay within touch.

Wildcats shooting themselves in the foot at the foul line.should be further ahead

"Luuuc I disagree. If you run through someone it should always be a foul, eg if you run through another player while defending another of course, but actually stepping infront of someone running the floor without the ball they shouldn't expect that. As the offensive player how do you keep your eyes on the ball and look for the player trying to take a charge"

The onus for any player - with or without the ball - is to know where they are going.
Again, I get what you are saying, but the only distinction a ref can really make between colliding with a guy illegally, and colliding with a guy legally, is whether that guy is in a legal guarding position. To introduce some extra criteria just for off-the-ball incidents is too much. It's impractical, and more to the point it would have to be based on some kind of judgement call by the refs, which is the last thing we need to burden these chumps with IMO.

It's funny, because Cairns are shooting 5/10 from the line, which is even worse than Perth's 10/18.

That USF seemed really, really soft. Same ref that anticipated McCarron fouling McKay earlier on the play where he got the ball instead.

USF is what it is now, soft. Agree the call on McCarron was wrong when he blocked Mckay, but he got all of DKD's arm so i guess it balances out, except for the fact DKD likely goes 2/2 at the line...

Luuuc I realise it requires compotent refs, practicalities aside I just dont see it as a "basketball" play

Perth all season have had big leads at some stage, 3rd will determine where we finish. Cotton is a Randle, take one of them off the team then you're up shit creek.

Gf, randle v cotton! 5 rounds?

But premature, need someone to go against Randle! Ware cotton and Randle are the one's that can take there team to the championship

Worthos 2nd flop

Refs doing a shit job...as per usual.

Mitchell is not a good shooter.

Worthos 3rd flop

Cotton got dat talent

Adelaide v Perth GF series should be good

Gee Prather really can't finish like he did earlier in the season

0/6 3pt, 3/3 2pt. Maybe not settle for the 3 every time?

What is wortho complaining about?

Another iffy USF, same ref? I couldn't tell as Toni was calling a regular foul. She must've been overruled.

Was he arguing that he didn't foul him? Or arguing that it was a kicked ball?

So many soft fouls

Refs here we come! Two disgraceful fouls on hire..

I thought he was just arguing that it wasn't an USF. If he thought it wasn't a foul at all then that's just plain silly, definitely a foul. He was a fraction late.

"as he arguing that he didn't foul him? Or arguing that it was a kicked ball?"
That is wasn't a foul, could see him screaming 'but I got the ball' or something like that

Jawai has taken over.

Wayyyy too many fouls called.

No foul on nate when prather drives, theno other end two players arms up straight nate gets the call. This is abysmal, the refs are purely brining cairns back into the game. Nbl has a serious problem!

Sure, I am happy to comment on all "fouls"

Big Nate just got a birthday present on that And 1, bugger all worth calling there.

Like anon above, I'd like to know why Prather got 3 FTs earlier. It was on a drive, not a 3, and no Tech or USF was called. Did they wave away the first FT attempt for some reason?

And that USF on Wortho was crap.

Refs you suck

Refs you suck

Refs you suck

There it is the fix is in! Foul on Cotton after he is man handled. This is a disgrace. Hate the cats or not this is just disgusting

refs swinging the game, absolutely ridiculous calls

Cotton with a foul after Weeks gets away with more contact 2 seconds earlier.

basically these refs are crap and the way Perth and Cairns play really highlights it. They are too physical for sub-standard refs to handle.

Jawai's keeping Cairns' season alive.

Cotton is on 4 fouls, while his defenders man handle him and never get called. I don't know how inept you can be at a job you are paid to do.

What is going on? What was that on prather?

She's a QLD local from memory and sure seems to have favourites and targets.

Prather seemed to have a legit complaint there.

Damo that was straight cold

Nats shoves wagstaff out of bounds for the offensive rebound... joke

ref misses jawai pushing out on the rebound right in front of her.

and people wonder why Trev doesn't play DKD... he's a waste of space

Shit decisions both ways. I don't think it's favoured any team.......yet.
No where near the level of home cooking we see every week at Perth Arena.

LOL

Nbl also doing the dodge, didn't show replays of both questionable out of bounds calls. Even the one Prather got a tech for complaining about.

Why no replay nbl?

Early on Perth were allowed to be aggressive with their trapping.

Now they are not letting Perth do that but are letting Cairns be more physical.

Surely it cannot be that difficult to stay consistent throughout an entire Game.

The youngest looking ref has seemed to be pretty consistent with what he calls or lets go, it's the other 2 "more experienced" refs that are all over the place.

Oh and how shit is Kenny.

You know the calls are bad when people here are saying the cats and cotton are getting hard done by! This is not entertaining at all, it is confusing and disgraceful. Taking a player like Cotton out of the game doesn't do the nbl any favours

Stop. Shooting. 3. Pointers. Tony. Mitchell.

Yep refs are crap as usual, and as usual both teams are getting crap calls.

But 58% from the free throw line is killing us, can only blame ourselves for it being close as it is, farking disgusting from a so called profesional sports team.

Perth look cooked :/

Does Jawai ever not shut up

Yeah this woman ref is biased as fuck

Agree with anon above, when you see a game like this completely turned on its head due to some historically bad calls you have to question the validity of the league. Would Cotton say come here to any other players of his calibre? Doubtful

Lol... And he hits that.

Even damo in the refs face complaining... must be bad

Mitchell!!!!

Why are Cotton and Prather both sitting?

Hire with the dog act!!!

Do we get a replay of the alleged usf? It really looks like a fix when you don't show the replay of a usf!

Cotton and Prather are both sitting because they are both on 4 fouls and I think we all know that if they come back on they'll be off the court within 20 seconds given the way things are going.

Damo the scoring machine

Was it an elbow or inadvertent shoulder? Hard to tell live and with the zero replays shown, who knows.

And whilke Mitchell's shooting thr FTs after Hire's USF, the whole Perth bench are up on their feet flapping their arms about - is that allowed?

Ok I'm done with this. What a horrid shit show. This league is going to lose a lot of imports when they decide the league and reffimg is not worth it.

Thanks K didn't know they were both on 4

Damo's scored 10 points in a row for Perth. Doubt that's ever happened before.

No replay of the Incidents leading to a cats USF and no replay to the tech foul.

Cotton is destroying from three this weekend

What a game

Jawai is da real MVP!!!!!

Jawai talking a heap for a dude that apparently doesn't like to talk haha

Cotton gets nailed no foul?

Jawai didn't move tbh. Cotton just landed on him.

Sure looked like Cotton got smashed.

This is as bad as that historic match between LA Lakers and the Sacremento kings back in the 2000s

Cairns playing attractive basketball this 1/2

Prediction: Dazz will lose his shit if Cairns salute

Cats have blown this with their poor free throw shooting

I've never seen DKD drive before

That was nie

And this is what happens when refs don't call the contact on a targeted player, you get injuries


which will lead to players leaving the league

Wow the refs really fucked this game

Why aren't Cairns just running the clock out?

didn't see Prather step out, wouldn't be able to check because no replays

Nate Jamwai

Jawai would be so annoying to defend. He always looks like he's just stepped out of a swimming pool.

Just rewound with fox, Prather was not out

Cotton flattened nothing and another magical moving line! No way prather was out.

This is by far the most blatant display of one sided refereeing. If the nbl want it to be tight then they need to let them play not decide games. Anyone that appreciates basketball can see this for want it was, keeping the playoff hunt close by ensuring cairns win the game, there is no other answer for the one sided nature of the calls in the second half. I don't think even perth haters want to see a player of cottons calibre get man handled like that then sent to the bench with 4 fouls himself. That is a sure fire way to kill the quality of import in this league

Haha, suck shit wildcats.

Cairns still alive, Perth with a much harder job to do.

The refs from today should be told to take an extended break, maybe 4-5 months.

2 games against Cairns next week. Let's see how much the refs want them to make it.

I told y'all

Cotton is Prather's kryptonite

Been horrible ever since Cotton arrived

Jawai so big , so strong , too good..

Now we wait for all those who didn't watch the game to check the score and come post in the thread about how fair the reffimg was lol

That was a disappointing finish to what was initially an entertaining game to watch.

The Wildcats' capitulation can't be entirely attributed to the umpiring. The FT shooting is a real cause for concern. Unfortunately, in what was a good opportunity for Brandt to shine (with Knight back in Perth) he had a pretty ordinary match.

But seriously, the quality of (or lack thereof) of refereeing has been the leading point of discussion for many games this season. The impact of repeated poor decisions, or single crucial decisions in the dying seconds of matches, has been significant. Until this gets sorted out I don't see how the league can progress.

I'm sick of jumping out of my seat like Gleeson on meth because of ridiculous calls!

Well the only good news is Perth won the split.
Perth now need to win both games next week.

3 out of bounds calls that were complained about by the player who "was out", one was a techfoul for complaining. Name me another league that wouldn't provide a replay.

Nbl refuse to show how bad their refs are after admitting the incorrect call last time Perth was in cairns wi the off the foot no call.

I love Perth fans complaining about the refereeing. It's always 5 v 8 when you play in the jungle. Now you know how it feels so stop whinging!

Agree cats free throws were horrible, they can control that. You can't control the foul trouble they were in, the lack of calls when they were physically neat down and the collection of comically bad all in Cairns favour out of bounds calls. Games don't naturally swing like that, to that extent. All that game achieved was make Cotton think he missed an opportunity to be yogi Farrel, not a great thought for our league

If Perth had've hit 4-5 more FT's in the first half then they'd be up 9-10 and able to put on scoreboard pressure. That was a missed opportunity for them.

It also didn't help that Jaw was allowed to be very liberal with the rules, he got away with a bunch.

Cotton and Prather did seem to be targeted for bumps, hold and pushes. They got zero protection from the refs. Without derailing things, that's usually what Perth do to the other Team.

I'm far from a Perth fan but they did get the raw end of it today.

As many have said already, it's a Season long thing, the standard of reffing is woefully below the standard of players. This needs to be addressed and fast.

PFS "Like anon above, I'd like to know why Prather got 3 FTs earlier. It was on a drive, not a 3, and no Tech or USF was called. Did they wave away the first FT attempt for some reason?"

I believe it was a violation by one of the Cairns player.

Btown "Ok I'm done with this. What a horrid shit show. This league is going to lose a lot of imports when they decide the league and reffimg is not worth it."

No it's not. Reffing has been shit for many years and will continue to be shit. Quality imports will still come here.

Baller so you're saying it's ok for refs to completely change a game incorrectly as long as it is against perth? This league was rated as top 10 in the world by espn, on the cusp of big things, but games and decisions like this will see that plummet and high calibre players avoid the league like the plague.

You can't say don't be upset at home cooking because I get upset at home cookimg when it happens for you. Home cooking is bad period on any court, that's the thing, even as a perth fan I hate seeing crap calls made on either team, it ruins the game

"I love Perth fans complaining about the refereeing. It's always 5 v 8 when you play in the jungle. Now you know how it feels so stop whinging!"

I love non Perth fans who complain about refereeing thaen all of a sudden think it's the best thing since sliced bread when it's against the cats. Bad reffimg in general is bad for the league.

"The Perth 'home cooking' is honestly so overrated imo. They are on the end of way too many bad calls at home to be classified as having the great home cooking people think they get."

I agree with this. Do we get the rub of the green with the genuinely 50:50 situations at home? Probably. I don't think we get a bunch of blatant, baffling miscalls such as those seen today (or that other non-Perth teams have copped at various stadiums around the league). If there's a howler at Perth it's typically followed by a sheepish howler of a makeup call going the other way within the next minute or two.

Like when Cairns lost to a clear no foul on Cotton. Take your ball and go home. You lost! hopefully you don't get home court advantage in the finals and the referees can't throw their whistles into the crowd like they always do!

Alright everyone? Ready? 1.. 2... 3...

SO... MUCH... SALT!

Baller you sound like a bitter and jealous opposition fan, must of been tough seeing the wildcats playing in all those finals series and winning 7 championships, making 12 grand final series on the way too.

Back to the Perth home game with the hip check ? Not quite the same as calls that weren't even close to existing.

The cats were up by 10 in the third quarter and have no one but themselves to blame for losing. Yes the reffing was utter shite but they could have still won it from the line with a better than 70% . Sloppy turnovers in the second half and gleesons questionable rotations are the reasons for the lose

Prathers T vs this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz8qHJAeMrM

comical NBL, when you suck you should be questioned.

BOL, when the guy who got you 10 points up to begin with is reffed out of the game with 4 fouls then losing the lead wasnt that surprising,

Cairns got robbed last time we played, maybe that made the refs a little hard on the Cats.
But at the end of the day, the Cats didn't play well, and were poorly coached. We started McKay and Wagstaff against Jawai and WOrthington, and it went downhill from there. Guys who are stone cold just keep bricking up the 3's. Wagstaff hit 1 from 5.

And free-throws, FMD. No point worrying about the foul count when our guys can't hit the side of a barn. There's no excuse for that. Do these guys think they are "too good" to practice?

How do you control made up out of bounds calls? Sloppy turnover that were actually of Cairns or maybe just maybe a foul?

Yes the free throws were bad, but are we suggesting Cairns was flawless and played better?

Also no complaints about Trigger and his bias commentary? We always love a bitch about Robbins. His of it was inadvertent or unintentional doesn't change the fact he was second to the ball and crushed Prather. The commentators complete lack of description of what was actually being called and the lack of replays is not a good look. An USF and a T on Perth with no replay.

Sorry but whomever the refs decide will win will win the comp this year. I suspect it will not be NZ or Perth, it is clear the league wants to snap that streak. I think Hawks Taipans make the Final and one of them wins, the league wants to show the great parity, nothing says parity like a small market team taking it out.

Yeah I couldn't understand that Prather out of bounds watching it live

Was like 15 metres inside the court

Love the cats fans bagging Wortho. I'm not a Wortho fan but bagging him for being dirty is rich. Names such as Robbins, Hire, Redhage and even Vlahov going back further. Cry me a river.

once again home town reffing is ok as long as it is not in Perth, i'm i doing it right.

As i've said numerous times the refs are terrible and don't favour anyone, sometimes i wonder what they are actually seeing out there, i've done a lot of reffing and know it is difficult job, but it is staggering some of the calls they make.

Bad reffing is only one part of the game, make your shots and free throws and bad calls won't make a difference.

In all honesty if any Wildcatfan thinks we are a chance this year, they are living in a fantasy, all year long our shooting has been atrocious, and either Prather is injured or sulking, because his intensity is not there. I'll give him t,he benefit of the doubt and say his carrying something given his form last year and parts of this year. Outside of Cotton we really have no offensive force now, and teams are starting to work that out. Would be nice to keep the streak going, but we are not a challenger this year unless something really changes.

Dazz stop trying to sit on the fence, the cats didn't play well, newsflash neither did Cairns, they were lucky only to be 10pts down due to our free throws.

The cats were playing great (Ft aside) until Cotton and prather got reffed out of the game. Then in the fourth Cotton got crunched multiple times no call, Prather got another comical out of bounds call then a T to boot for who knows what, then Wortho tried to end Cotton for good agin with no foul.

And then my favourite, Prather out of bounds!!! OMG he was in by a mile, how can you possible mess that up?

So when you say played bad are you counting Cotton getting dropped and Prather's moving sideline as turnovers? They weren't you can't control that.

Watched the whole game. Reffs were poor but nothing really effected either side as they both play ugly at best of times.

Perth lost because

a) They missed a bunch of FT's and layups/chippys around the hoop, many that would have led to and ones. McKay and Prather were both guilty of multiple offences there.

b) Prather of late (maybe since Cotton arrived)has gone from a genuine MVP candidate to a bottom tier import. Whether that is due to injury or form or just pouting because Cotton is now the man I do not know.

c)Perth have no one bar Cotton who can create anything and lack (as they have for a while) perimeter shooters. Their best shot at a win is with effort in a wrestle match and Cairns are in that vein as well hence the closeness of games between the two teams. Cairns maybe got more of the luck this game but were surely had some bad luck in the previous games.

This thread appears to have been invaded by a couple of Perth fans with only one eye open. Cats played and Gleeson coached at a level that didn't deserve the win.

Yes, Cairns played better, and played to their strengths.

I'll be honest, I don't really understand what it is that Prather does to give up so many soft fouls. It might be that he's sticking his hands out when he should be keeping them vertical. But its a consistent problem. After two years in the league, you'd think the Cats would have sussed it out and done some work on it.
And why does his shooting go to shit on the road? Does he not like flying?

Blame the refs all you want, but Perth could have won that. Guys that excelled when there was no pressure against Brissy, too often choke in close games.

Perth 16/27 FTs' 59% - Thats where Perth lost the game right there.

Yep Perth were completely out payed, thats why they were up double digits. Then Cotton and prather got cheap fouls and were allowed to be man handled.

sprinkle in with the salt some impossibly bad out of bounds calls that all went Cairns way and yeah sure, Perth played horrible.

We all have our bias, however anyone that understands basketball will see that 3rd quarter and parts of the fourth as changing the momentum of the game.

anyone have a video or screenshot of the prather out of bounds, i'd like to see it again, because there was of course no replay.

Funny one was cotton pushed and elbowed, then tries to be equally physical to even up the matchup seeing as there was no call and picks up a foul in 2 seconds.

J,
I'll let you in on a little secret: Shit Happens.

I am extremely worried that Perth can't make it from here, and I for one will be gutted if the streak ends.
But if it does, I won't be blaming the refs.

I blame whomever is responsible for assembling this squad. Keeping an ageing core of Veterans, letting Jawai and Jervis leave, and sourcing a couple of bargain basement imports.
And I blame Gleeson for not using what he had correctly.

Re: Cotton 'not getting the rub of the green on foul calls': ever thought that he exhausted his ref goodwill on that crap which forced OT in the home game against Cairns?

I'll add an example of one of the dumber coaching moments I have seen.

Perth are down one big with Knight out. McKay picks up an early foul. Gleeson continues with the full court pressure with McKay expected to help trap on the Cairns ball handlers full court.

He picks up his second foul straight away. No shit Sherlock. I think most junior rep coaches would have reassessed that situation after his first foul.

": Cotton 'not getting the rub of the green on foul calls': ever thought that he exhausted his ref goodwill on that crap which forced OT in the home game against Cairns?"

He shot the ball when he was hip checked, the nerve. Yup that's enough of an excuse to have him physically handled and bumped for no calls...are you for real?

Way to much seasoning in this thread.

An official takes into account a player's reputation when making calls.

Cotton has a bad reputation.

Hey Podge, I got a bite ^

Jawai destroyed the Cats and Cairns deserved the win. I still question the scheduling. How do you expect Perth to play on Friday night, then fly to Cairns and be anywhere near 100%? The Cats were always going to tire in the fourth quarter.

The reffing has been shithouse all season, in all venues. It's embarrassing yet I have seen no signs of the league trying to rectify it.

At least in the AFL they view tapes of the games and talk to the umpires if they have made a series of incorrect calls. These refs can make them all year and just keep getting games and collecting their pay cheques. No accountability!

Fair point Manu, Cotton must have used up lots of reffing karma when he got bailed out by Mills in Perth!

"At least in the AFL they view tapes of the games and talk to the umpires if they have made a series of incorrect calls."

They do that for every game for every ref in the NBL.

On Prather shooting 3 free throws they called a line violation on wortho for the first one ...

6 teams remain? I was under the impression only Brisbane were officially eliminated so far?

Should you be allowed to take a charge on a player without the ball? I have never liked it

Was he arguing that he didn't foul him? Or arguing that it was a kicked ball?

He made no play at the ball and dropped his shoulder head high at Prather.

That is wasn't a foul, could see him screaming 'but I got the ball' or something like that

Was it an elbow or inadvertent shoulder?

didn't see Prather step out, wouldn't be able to check because no replays

Cotton flattened nothing and another magical moving line! No way prather was out.

Just rewound with fox, Prather was not out

"Just rewound with fox, Prather was not out"

Not even close.

And then my favourite, Prather out of bounds!!! OMG he was in by a mile, how can you possible mess that up?

Yeah I couldn't understand that Prather out of bounds watching it live

So when you say played bad are you counting Cotton getting dropped and Prather's moving sideline as turnovers?

Letting Jervis leave turned out to be a good move Dazz. Brandt is younger and will be the better player.
Jervis got a better offer, water under the bridge now.
But losing Jawai AND Jervis, then going for a smaller more athletic centre was a strange move, especially since Gleeson has failed to use him effectively.
NB: if in the future we go back to a big centre, I think Brandt's versatility will be better for us.

On the Worthington/MacKay charge it depends very much where the ball is and are they in position to receive. To me the ball was behind MacKay in back court bing advanced towards half, and he was making a cut towards the corner. He was not about to receive a pass. I thought he was blindsided by Worthington and he should have been called for a block.
That game was so ugly. Pleased Cairns got up. I think we are looking at 14-14 for 3rd and 4th involving at least 3 teams. Don't know who yet!

Koberulz, was Prather in or out?

There was no replay, that is fact! Show us a screen shot if he was out?

Cotton was regularly man handled, when you compare some of the contact he received with he foul called against him on Trice it seems that he may have been a bit stiff.

Maybe instead of accusing people of making things up you should provide evidence to show they are in fact incorrect. I have asked if someone has the Prather out of bounds call on video. If he was out then I will have to swallow my pride and admit I am wrong. Until then I stand by it being a horrible call and your accusation that I am making it up is about equal.

Maybe if there was a replay of a contentious call this would be a moot point.

Why should he have been called for a block? He had legal position, it's not his fault McKay ran over him.

There was no replay, that is fact! Show us a screen shot if he was out?

My God, Prather and MacKay are both going backwards as the season goes forward.

What is affecting theirs play? Prather is plagued with fouls and useless jump shots. MacKay can't seem to do a layup without turning it over.

Have they overworked during training and can't bring it on? Seriously the coaches need to speak to them.

I like to think that referees think of themselves as a team. Like there are three teams playing on any given night. And look, every team wants to win and hog the headlines, right?

The men in grey are by far top of the (real) ladder this year.

Kobe's photo destroyed any credibility that the two serial whiners had in this thread. The call might have been incorrect but it was very close. Nice work.

Ok koberulz, I'm OK with them calling that in real time. I was wrong. I am not wrong that a replay showing all the viewers that would be nice.

J Do you think its possible that you may have been wrong in some of the other calls as well then.

Kobe's photo destroyed any credibility that the two serial whiners had in this thread. The call might have been incorrect but it was very close. Nice work.

Ok koberulz, I'm OK with them calling that in real time. I was wrong. I am not wrong that a replay showing all the viewers that would be nice.

Not sure why there is such a furore over that call?

I can't really see whether his heal comes down, but I can't see that a replay would have changed anything. If its not clear on the replay, the original call stands.

Fstos, honestly not really. In real time I stick to my guns, I have called, played and coached enough to be confident in my interpretations. We are all a bit bias, some for some against. If we are all honest there are a lot of inconsistencies in the referees interpretations and it is undoubtedly frustrating for all. I was evidently particularly frustrated today.

Hey Kobe, what's your favourite team?

Every 9.3 years on average, actually. You forgot about leap years.

"This is why the league can't afford to take fan complaints seriously."

Exactly. The complaining about AFL umps is the same as it is about NBL refs. Boring, predictable and usually biased, detracting from any serious points that should be made.

Of course it was OOB.

This is such a great salty thread.
TBH, I can't Dazz hasn't lost his shit. Maybe tomorrow.

Refs make mistakes, although on the whole probably less than people blame them for.
Shit happens, get over it.
Cats didn't play well enough.

If you put yourself in the situation of needing perfect refereeing to win a game, well you're going to be out of luck.

I think the refs are under direction to shape the game in a certain way, but that's not biased.

Jawai I still reckon is one of the most hard done by guys. Today, maybe things went a bit his way for once.

Worthington has been a thug for a while. He knows what he can get away with (and he still gets called for a lot of fouls.) Again, there's nothing biased in that, if anything I'd suggest the refs are probably a bit tighter this season.

Perth were undermanned without Knight, and didn't use what we had effectively.

Hire didn't fire!
Who'd have predicted that?

Knight, Wagstaff, Kenny and Hire need to be cut.

Good job Koberulz. Can't believe I just typed that.

I think if Cats miss finals, the whole team maybe cut.

Consider this: will they see Prather in the same light as before? Jameel is not strong material all the time.

The local boys are getting on. Only Brandt is good enough.

I think Loughton will return home. Stephen Weigh too.

Redhage, Knight, McKay gone.

Having watched the game from close quarters, I know the section of the crowd I'm in thought the referees were very biased toward Perth in the first half. I didn't think they swayed the other way in the second. Prather was warned about bitching about calls before he took the tech, and there have been plenty of soft techs called on players and coaches this year.

I don't think any of the USFs called in the game were warranted.

I've walked away from watching (live and streamed) many games this year, upset about the refereeing. There have really only been a small number of games where a poor decision late in the game has, or could have, influenced the result. Poor play from the losing side is usually the culprit.

For as many people as there are suggesting the NBL gets the referees to help small market teams, there are an equal number who think they are paid to ensure the large market teams win. After all, large market teams will make LK more money, right?

Refs rarely win or lose matches. Three people make calls on every play of the game. They sometimes get it wrong. Ten players are involved in every play of the game. At least one of them gets it wrong on every play. The players get to rest. The refs don't.

I think the standard of refereeing in the NBL should be much higher.

So should the playing. I mean, really? How badly should pro ballers be able to shoot free throws (just as an example.) There are some god awful shooting techniques out there, and that's something it's not hard to fix, if you're serious about being a professional basketballer.

Fix your team, and fix your players. I don't think referees are fixing games!

Hang on, I've got to check I understand what you've just said there NBLcomm. Are you saying that Loughton and Weigh are going to be playing for the wildcats next year?

Mate that's hilarious, you deserve your own show.

Mate, if we could cut the remaining year from Loughzy's contract and ship him off to the homeland, we'd do it. Lately he's been not-so-Lousy but still, I'd say we're paying overs for what he gives us.

Manu, are we actually paying Loughton? I thought he just got food and board. BTW, you could stop being mean to the little children with your cheeky bait lines about Cotton's rep.

CT, Koberulz is right at least as often as not. Credit where it's due!

If Louzy and Weigh both go back to Perth (sorry, I can't help but laugh,) we'd be left with:
Weeks
Gliddon
McCarron
Jawai.

Trice won't be back. I'd like to think we could keep Mitchell (with a few lessons on the charge rule in the NBL, he could be dynamite.) Nnana won't get another go around.

There's a lot of room to manoeuvre. I do think we'll have Louzy for another year, though. Weigh is off contract, isn't he?

You do realise Weigh is from QUEENSLAND and his family is in Rockhampton

Haha food and board. Mrs Loughzy would not approve of such a deal.

Absolutely. Kobe's a one-of-a-kind stickler, but you've gotta admire his passion. I like him. (Kobes, I wasn't yanking your chain before... genuinely interested in where your allegiances lie.)

Said it many times, but Trice is a punk. Don't like him whatsoever. He's an enigma, which isn't a great trait for your lead guard. But he's just as likely to go for a 20+ and win us the game on Thursday. Travis Trice? Nup. Wilbekin? Yup.

Oh while I'm having a whinge... Glidzo had his mind elsewhere YET AGAIN this arvy. One bucket. Hell of a time to do it though. But seriously, you don't disappear like that in games. Not captain behaviour.

Back page of the Cairns Post pretty much sums up the night -- lots of Perth grabbing and cheap shots. That's what got Nate so fired up. He played angry because he was being manhandled. Funny how it backfired... had Nate not got angry, our season would probably be done.

@Manu Fieldel said "Back page of the Cairns Post pretty much sums up the night -- lots of Perth grabbing and cheap shots. That's what got Nate so fired up. He played angry because he was being manhandled. Funny how it backfired... had Nate not got angry, our season would probably be done."

----------------------

I thought exactly the same thing Manu - the Wildcats manhandling and baiting of Jawai backfired on them. I haven't seen Jawai play with that intensity all season. He was certainly steamed up - even when he injured his shoulder he wanted to get straight back out there and give it to them.

On another note, I think some of you are being a bit harsh on Trice and Loughton. I realise Trice can be a bit suspect under pressure at times but he has also been very good under pressure in quite a few games as well and I thought he played well yesterday. No, he's not a Wilbekin but he's still a very good player (albeit a bit inconsistent).

Although Loughton had a very poor season last season he has been very good this season in my opinion and has more than done his job.

I've been the first take the pics out of Loughton but I agree, on balance he's probably done more than expected this year. If he can get close to double digits off of very restricted minutes and just keep everyone calm he's doing well. In insight that stint in the qbl probably did him the world of good, or at least helped keep him injury free.

Who knows though, maybe if Perth gave him a monthly drone allowance he could be tempted?

Jawai playing angry instead of frustrated is the key. You don't anger the Behemoth of Bamaga.

For what Al's taking from the salary cap i'd say the Taipans are 100% getting a return for their investment.

except Brandt was posting up on him constantly.....

Oh, you Perth fans getting salty over the "treatment" you think Cotton got. If he got as much physical stuff as Nate gets, without getting calls, you'd see it much more clearly, because he's relatively little. Nate had Perth forwards hanging off him through most of the game, without getting calls, and without crying his eyes out. Yes, he lets the refs know about it, but then he gets on and plays.

As far as protecting the little guys, why do they need more protection than the bigs? It's not just Nate; there are plenty of big guys in leagues around the world who will cop a charge from an opponent, without hitting the deck, and not receiving a call. If Cotton got hit with as much force as a lot of those guys, he'd fly across the court. Not because he's a flopper (that's Redhage, Wagstaff and Hire territory), but because that's how the physics of the situation works.

Son't get salty about "little" guys copping nudges from elbows or knees. It happens to everyone, it's just more obvious on smaller guys.

On a separate note, I don't wish to be seen as someone who is disrespectful of Loughton's contribution to the Taipans this (or any other) season. Compare him and Redhage, this season, for example. I would bet they're on similar money, and there's no doubt who I'd rather have on my team.

Can he produce another season as good as this one next year? Who knows. I wouldn't get rid of him, at this stage. I do hope the Taipans keep Heuir and Dvin Jackson next year. Those guys both have the potential to be stars.

I love how high-pitched his voice is, especially considering how big the man is.

"...but Nate got gifted some freebies, and spent the entire game sooking."

Yes, he sooked his way to 20 points and 9 rebounds with only 5 FT's.........

But, facts.

So Perf play their same physical style that they like and get away with it in the first half mostly and when they get pinged a bit for it in the second half they lose their bundle. I notice there has been much less bleating about the Prather Out of Bounds since Kobe put the screenshot up. Maybe you guys should be directing your whinging in the general direction of the Fat Head that coaches your team.

except.... for a start... he didn't get a tech warning.

I'm not convinced you watch the game Anon, in fact i'm not convinced you actually know what a basketball looks like..

"So Perf play their same physical style that they like and get away with it in the first half mostly and when they get pinged a bit for it in the second half they lose their bundle."

This was pretty much my observation. Yes, CNS got the calls in the second half but it only made up for the fact they weren't getting the calls in the first half.

Cairns had 4 fouls called against them in the first 75 seconds of the 2nd quarter. Now there's some home cooking!

As I read hoops , this season , Perth appear to have lost 13 games due to refs....

Until they sack another import and need some cash flow in a hurry I expect.

Last season perth fans felt nate got hard done by, we were just whinging. Now he is hard done by..

If Randle took the same hit for wortho, stayed down and left the court I am sure all you self proclaimed unbiased people would have no problem with it?

Had the game shown a replay of the prather call nobody would have suggested it was in, cause live it looked in.

Had the game shown a replay of the prather call nobody would have suggested it was in, cause live it looked in.