Will be interesting to see the Hawks mentality. Will they go out and play with wreckless abandon or concede and roll over. Being a Cats fan I hope for the latter and looking at the players after game 2 they look done.

I think, much to all other fans annoyance, it will be party time in the jungle.

Cats by 20

If its a grindfest, Cats will win this. Most likely chance for a Hawks win would need them to attack aggressively and crash the boards for all 4 qtrs. Harris and Clarke have to fire. Tough but possible.

I just hope it's more enjoyable to watch. Hopefully Illawarra can make an effort.

I can see this following a familiar theme. Hawks will come out aggressively and get the jump, Wildcats will plug away in the hopes of reeling them in and rolling over them in the last quarter.
Hawks only hope is to burst out of the blocks and get a big enough lead to maintain their confidence

@Timberball "I think, much to all other fans annoyance, it will be party time in the jungle."

Won't annoy me if Perth win, they've come good at the correct end of the season with the right mix of players to take out a championship. Good luck to them.

It helps to have money, sure, but Taipans, Hawks and Adelaide all over-achieved without it.

Regardless of what happens in this GF battle, looking forward to 2017/18 season :)

#GoTaipans

I think that if Ellis plays more than 20mins, and Forman less than 12 , cats will win easily.

Any nooz on Knight?

Wonder how the hawks had Harris respond on the death of his dad? Feel for him and shows what he is made of coming back to play again in this series.

Sad situation for him.

@GordonG

"It helps to have money, sure, but Taipans, Hawks and Adelaide all over-achieved without it."

Can you clarify your statement? The league's Salary floor is $900k, how are the Hawks, Sixers and Pans 'without it'?

I look forward to seeing how those three teams fared against the League's average, if the figures ever gets released.

Sure I can clarify my statement (this is hijacking the thread, and I won't be commenting on it in here again).

The salary cap is what is paid to the players. Anyone who thinks it is the ONLY expenditure involved in running a Club is operating on a different planet. Almost every other team than the three mentioned has much bigger backup and expenditure behind the scenes, and THAT is where the bigger clubs have the advantage.

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

Getting back to my original point, well done to the 'Cats, they'll probably win again and give Shawn a send-off at home (and maybe Matt as well?)

@GordonG

I take your point that teams like the United have more resources to spend outside of basketball operations. Having said that I would have thought the money you spend on players is a more heavily weighted determinant of on court success. Considering this and the 900k floor, Cairns and Illawarra, aren't 'that' far behind.

"Considering this and the 900k floor, Cairns and Illawarra, aren't 'that' far behind"

Not begrudging what teams have spent this season as the regular season was the best I have ever seen and I have been around to see them all.

BUT what you say just trivialises things if you factor in that those few hundred grand less that the not that far behind teams have available to spend is the difference between say a Harris and a Prather. Swap those two around and things might be different.

All I would like is for the league to make available the figures and the appropriate compensation as they have said on many occasions they are going to do.

"Can you clarify your statement? The league's Salary floor is $900k, how are the Hawks, Sixers and Pans 'without it'?"

There were teams spending almost double that this season. Then you factor in all the non-player spending such as support staff that impacts a club's program which well-resourced clubs can afford.

Those three clubs are substantially behind the eight-ball and credit to them for making the playoffs.

The other non-salary cap factor that is huge is the ability to replace players. There are often significant costs with hiring and firing imports and the lower budget teams often can't afford it.

Sweep.

Pity it likely won't stretch out to at least a 4 game series, just glad we get an extra game to watch with the 5 game format.

Nothing new with knight, at least we have depth in that position.

Couldn't see Knight playing again so soon and perhaps not again.
Hope the Wildcats can get it done for him today

Great to see the wildcats did a one min silence before the the national anthem for Marvin Harris. RESPECT

Oscar hits two in a row from 3pt land and Bevo takes him out, i like it.

Yep, seems the way it's going.

Yeah the cats lose momentum in the last three minutes of each quarter after building a sizable lead. It coincides with gleeson bringing on kenny and hire. Not sure why you would bring off cotton when he has the hot hand and hes not in foul trouble.

At work and only listening on the radio. Hoping for an against the odds W. Hawks close at present.

Rotnie v Cotton

Jesus christ, are we really going to start fat-shaming the female presentaters? Just fuck off and find something else to do with your time you coward.

Cotton superstar.

Has there been a better import combo?

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hopefully next season has a better finals series.

Agree with the above comments. No place for that crap here.

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

Congratulations to the Wildcats, you deserved that.

(Don't feel so bad about the Taipans getting swept in the SF now :) )

Great career and well played, Shawn...

The lack of responses to this thread speaks volumes for the general attitude towards this GF series featuring the Cats.

Was a great season with a lot of interesting ups and downs, players coming and going, and each week we never really knew who would move in and out of the top 4, and the team to beat changed often enough to keep it interesting.

Hopefully next season we see the some similar tough competition throughout the league and a couple of consistent contenders.

Keen to start picking who will return and who will land with which team within the NBL.

Back to back and No 8, simply awesome. I'll admit i didn't see this coming half way through the year, we looked un interested and going through the motions. Just shows i should never doubt this club.

Enjoyed watching the Rotnei and Cotton show.

Admirable effort by the hawks the cats could not shake them.

Hawks had too many passengers and they didnt get the ball into Clarkes hands enough in the last quarter.

Also, not a single story on the landing page of any e-news site. Says a lot of the value of NBL in Australian sport culture.

Illawarra. Ugh.

Everyone east of WA is just bored with the same result every year. If Adelaide had won I think media would be all over it a lot more.

Well done to the Wildcats but this series feels like a good season ended with a little pop rather than a bang.

Abbey Gelmi seems to be a very sweet girl and she's pretty. Hows about fuckheads leave her alone?

As for the Wildcats, there's no escaping that they're the best and most consistent franchise in the league. We can all be sick of seeing them win, but the fact is our clubs have not caught up with them yet. They're the model NBL franchise and we have a lot to learn from them. The entire league could learn from the Perth Wildcats. You don't go to the playoffs for 31 straight seasons and then win back-to-back in the most competitive season in history without doing a lot right.

So for today, I put aside my hate for the Wildcats to congratulate them. They absolutely deserved this championship and unless the rest of the league steps to the plate, they'll threepeat.

Who knows how much the tragic death of Marvel's dad affected him and the team, also Ogilvie never looked like he was in it, perhaps the ankle still wasn't right.

That said, Perth are amazing, congratulations to the Wildcats and everyone involved in one heck of a season, again!

I dont understand the negativity towards Abi Gelmi.

She has a wonderful personality and i think she's done a great job this season and continues to grow into the role. I hope she gets re-signed for next season.

As soon as footy starts, NBL goes out the window. Pretty unfortunate.

50 odd comments on a GF Game thread is pretty shite

Kind of a pity that such an amazingly close season ended with a GF sweep.
But I won't complain too hard. Bryce put on a pretty good show.

Well, it's not a matter of fortune. Sad though.

Great to see a classy post by an opposition supporter ME. Well done mate.

Amazing game from Cotton to go back to back and clinch our 8th title in the most competitive season ever.

Congrats to Redhage on a fantastic career, Went on a season to long but is a great of this club and the NBL and will surely be one of the select few who's jersey will be retired and hanging from the Perth Arena rafters.

Would love to see Cotton back but he will definitely be trying to get a NBA gig... if that fails I hope he will return.

Also got a feeling Knight will retire, just too risky to keep playing with those head knocks. He needs to think of life after basketball.

I agree Bear. The hawks were no pushovers and they had so much adversity to deal with too.

Feel sorry for Bevo. The last two GFs as wildcats coach Damo went down injured. And this year he loses Harris for the first game and Ogilvy gets injured.

He is certainly a great coach but he needs to reconsider his all inclusive offense style. So many times in the last quarter they needed to get the ball through Rotnei more but instead it was norton and ellis jacking up shots.

The one thing that could give Perth hope of bringing Cotton back is he is an undersized SG in the NBA, but he certainly could work his way into a third PG spot if he is shooting well and not making bad decisions.

Congratulations Perth, well done Trev 3 championships in 4 years.

Giving his competition a flogging!

Best Aussie coach in the NBL ever!!!!!! :D

Well done to the Hawks for sticking with it and giving us a good game.
And congrats to them on what was a very good consistent season.

Hard to believe the Wildcats have now won 8 championships, literally double the next best.
And I feel we should give credit where its due. Part-way through the year many were righting them off and saying the playoffs streak would end. Clearly Cotton made a difference but the rest of them fought damn hard to come back and win.

So great to hear the Arena erupt when Redhage was named in the starting five

if cotton doesnt look like coming back then lets get Clarke in red!!

Very disappointed with Hawks, what happen Bevo wasn't one of your best coaching games.

Give credit where it's due, Gleeson did a great job from bottom of the ladder to a championship.

I thought they did well to claw their way back, after being blown away early.

Scoring 86 against the Perth D is a good effort.

Yeah I thought they were pretty good too. Clawing back to keep it a contest in that environment is no mean feat.
It took something pretty bloody special to get us home today.

"I dont understand the negativity towards Abi Gelmi. "

I think jealousy is the word. I'd like to see some photos of them and their girlfriends. I bet she outclasses both without breaking a sweat.

Gleesons a flog? Yea, with 3 rings! What a season and what a finish for the cats!

No on the clarke to cats. If the whole east coast is bored with perth winning then do something about it! Every team had their chances this year, Perth made hard decisions and took their chances when it mattered most.

If you are bored with one of the best playoff game performances in nbl history the you're not really a fan of the game at all are you?

I don't know what some people want? This was the most even season I can ever remember. Brisbane made some mistake sand were hit by injury but we still had 7 teams in contention.
4 teams made it and one of those had to win the championship. The Wildcats hit their straps at the right moment, and in the 3 GF games they all stepped up. But run the playoffs again in a weeks time and we could have a completely different result.

Great thing is that there are 7 other teams who can make realistic plans to challenge next year.
2 of the Hawks imports were a bit middle of the road, although Harris started well. Change them up and suddenly they could be in front.

The idea of Adelaide keeping their core together, and potentially improving their other imports, is scary good. They could be incredible.

The Kings? Wow. Get the right imports and it really could be "daylight."

One thing I hate about the Australian basketball community is the incessant complaining. No matter what the NBL, the Boomers, or anyone else in Aussie basketball does, you'll hear a bunch of nitwits bag them out add infinitum. It used to be justified in some areas but it is not anymore. You've got a rapidly improving league and you've got a Boomers team with literally no limit in the future. Shut the fuck up.

Volume posters on this forum are a VERY unrepresentative sample of the "Australian basketball community".

Don't mistake the loudest vessels as also being the most numerous.

That said Gleeson is clearly lined up to overtake Boy Gorj as the most succesfull NBL coach evr, and sould be a front runer for the Boomers head coach role next time it comes up....... ^Discuss^ ;)

Salt, I love the taste of salty gypsy tears :P

Congratulations to the Wildcats. As a long time fan, obviously im very happy they won. On court, they played their best ball at the right time, and off court made tough decisions in order to give themselves a chance to win. 8 championships - 4 in last 8 years, this is a great time to be a fan.

Is it now time for another club to step up and have their turn? Going by a gut feeling and a sense that interest wasnt as high in Perth compared to last season, and around the nation, for the good of the league, I hope so.

As amazing as it was to win again, and you can never take a championship for granted, the feeling just isnt the same as it would be for breaking a drought. Although titles tend to be won in blocks during dominant eras, so you have to enjoy them when you can.

What happen to super coach Bevo, and we won without Matt. Go the wildcats

^ without knight was impressive, the shot chart on the nbl app has cats only hitting 1 shot that wasn't right under the basket or a 3pt shot. Makes the cats penetration without knight stretching the defense more impressive.

My pet peeve are the Hawks substitutions. The starting group doesn't have a confident shooter in the line-up, so they do a whole lot of second-guessing at the arc before moving it on. 1/10 3P from that group. The obvious change to me was Coenraad for Harris.

The starters +/-s were -19, -12, -6, -17 and -22.

The bench went 10/19 from 3P. Their +/-s were -1, -3, +10, +13, +5 and +7.

They were in touch through all three games, but that bad start in G3 was so costly. Would've been interesting to see what might've happened had they snuck that game. Pull back to 1-2 before a game at home. 2-2 then not out of the question before going to Perth for G5 with momentum.

Also would've loved to have seen Perth-Adelaide in five games.

"
That said Gleeson is clearly lined up to overtake Boy Gorj as the most succesfull NBL coach evr, and sould be a front runer for the Boomers head coach role next time it comes up....... ^Discuss^ ;)"

Gleeson seems to get results. But the Boomers coaching job remains for Lemanis. Apparently Lemanis has accepted the job until 2020, according to Boti, and he will be announced shortly.

I think the Wildcats knew they had to get it done this way.
If the Hawks had one this, then won again, in the Gong, I would not have been confident about game 5.

So happy to be a part of the 13k plus red army.

Heaps of people are saying the league is boring coz the cats and breakers are always winning. What do you suggest? This isn't the NBA, there are no massive CBA agreements to help small markets and unfortunately 50% of the NBL are 'small markets'.
Money wins championships because money buys talent and development. Cairns, Illawarra, Townsville (previously) can't compete as they can't get the attendance and support to bring in the dollars.
The league is trying to even it up by making teams that go over the cap pay to the smaller clubs but I don't think it'll help. Another team in NZ in a few years and possibly a return of the cannons will only further harm the small teams.

I don't think anyone is suggesting something should be done about stopping Perth or NZ making a GF, just stating the obvious that it's boring seeing Perth and/or NZ in a GF for 8 straight years.

It was certainly a great afternoon.

Whether by accident or design I think this was a great season.
Hawks needed to win game 2. Push it to 4 games and possibly they win again at home - then its down to the line, against an aging and tiring Wildcats and who knows what happens.

Its not like the Wildcats walked away with it, all 3 games were tough until the final minutes.

Timberball, Illawarra didn't have a problem competing, and saying that money wins championships is too simplistic given how Melbourne and Sydney went this past season.

Perth are well resourced but also have a number of players and a coach who know how to win championships. They also did it from 3rd. I don't think there's any reason so be concerned about the health of the league from a competitive point of view at the moment.

Those that believe the GFs have been boring should probably re-assess why they are watching NBL basketball.

First of all, it has 8 teams, the chance of repetition is high. Secondly, most normal people enjoy basketball for the quality of the basketball, not for seeing different singlets.

If you enjoy watching defence, watching the Wildcats play Cairns and Illawarra has been a great spectacle.

Forget I'm an Adelaide fan, this is what I TRULY believe.

Adelaide v Perth would have been a much more exciting series. Both sides genuinely don't like each other and there's a fierce rivalry between the two teams. Perth v Illawarra... meh. Watching Adelaide's offense match up against Perth's defence would have made an exciting, and possible 5 game series.

In saying that; we choked and that's our own fault. Congrats to Perth on another championship.

"Adelaide v Perth would have been a much more exciting series."

Yes, but that doesn't mean this series is boring.

"Both sides genuinely don't like each other and there's a fierce rivalry between the two teams."

There is a rivalry between the Cats and the Hawks already. They've met each other in the playoffs 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2017, 2 semis and two grand finals. The Cats and Sixers have met each other once in that time.

As for genuine dislike, thats hardly a prerequisite for a thrilling series. Yes, of course your star player and then the Captain (read:the representative of the whole organisation) could publicly announce how dirty the Hawks are to spice things up. But that just made the team look stupid at the end when it backfired. Exciting yes, stupid? Doubly so.

Alternatively you could have a series where both teams have a healthy respect for each other. Even when one of the opposition were struck by personal tragedy, the other team were classy enough to pay their respect. More boring? Maybe for some. Classy? Yes.

You make it sound like Perth had their own way the whole series. Games 1 the Hawks had their measure for 2.5 quarters. Game 2 was also only broken open a little after half time. Game 3 the Hawks let themselves down in the first 12-0 run then composed themselves to be competitive in the rest of the game (coming within one bucket at times).

This series could have gone into 5 games with 5 overtimes to make it more exciting, but it sure wasn't boring.

Gleeson 3 championships Bevo 3 losses.