General comments on the game:

- It's going to be tough for Holmes and Forman to find shots in that roster. Holmes 23 minutes, and Forman 15, both below 2004/05 times. Holmes had a decent statline given the time on court (6, 7 and 4 assists), but I didn't think either player got a chance to do all that much.

- Hill did well, but 2/12 FG in 14 minutes.

- Nash was good I thought. Nothing electrifying, but serviceable, hit 1/2 threes and played fourth most minutes in the team, coming off the bench.

- Rychart was quiet in the first half, but racked up stats. Seemed to have more of an impact in the second half where he had a few drives.

- Cooper, only 3 boards, but 11 points. Seemed to be the main contributor outside of the primary three. Was a 57% FT shooter last year, but 5/5 tonight -- good work Coops!

Overally, mostly a very plain game, but a win is a win. Willie had a "technical" dunk (love that term!) late in the game. Nothing too flamboyant besides that from either team, though Willie did get the crowd into it a bit in a few places.

Good to have the NBL season up and running again.

My mini-report card is as follows :

Dusty : I don't think anyone from either team played great, but Dusty was the best on the floor, especially in the second half. 17 rebounds against players like Burston & Rogers is very good.

Maher : Did what he always does, ran the offense, played unselfish and smart basketball. He did miss some open looks that he wouldn't miss often.

Farley : Far from his best game but man, he was fun to watch as always. Had some great moves, strutted around in the 2nd half, played frantic D on Bailey. That final shot he made was a stunner!

Cooper : I thought he did a good job. Didn't make much impact on the boards but was vastly improved in his confidence at the offensive end and did his usual good work on defense.

Holmes : Ineffective and seemed lost.

Forman : See Holmes.

Hill : Got better as the game went on. Stunk it up in the first quarter, was more under control in the 2nd quarter and made an impact in the second half.

Nash : He played really good. Solid defense, great hussle. Seemed like he had more than 5 rebounds too.

Rees : Well, while he did make an impact of sorts he really looks done. I didn't think he could get less athletic than he already was, but he has. I love the big fella but he looked old and slow, even for Rees.

I think the 36ers did well to pull off the win given we didn't shoot fantastic (36% on 17-47 shooting in the first half and still led by 1).

The thing that I was impressed with, and what I hope continues throughout the season, is that our defence was much improved from what I remember last season.

Apart from Rychart who was consistently outstanding, most of the 36ers had average games but stepped up when the game was to be won. Rychart was huge, scoring 22 at 63%, 17 rebounds, took a few crucial charges and played great d all game often against Burston and Rogers.

Credit to Farley who really upped the intensity on the defensive end in the final quarter.

His defensive effort in the last quarter gave the rest of the team a boost and but for about 8 or so junk points in the final couple of minutes when the game was already won we would have held Perth to the low 80s.

The only way we were ever going to properly contend for the championship was if we improved our defence this season so the first game had some promising signs. On the defensive end is where you really appreciate what Nash brings to the table.

Perth impressed me and will win some games this year but certainly looked better when Burston and Rogers were on the bench when they went with their quick line-up.

44 seemed to be a temporary uniform. There was a name covered in black tape on the 44 top.

thought that baily looked good, if he cuts down some of the flashy passes and get under control i think he will do well. A pass firt import is nice to see.

Posted this elsewhere but Dustys uniform was stolen before the game and so he had to wear Todd Gower's

Smythe is going to have a tough time balancing the rotation this year.

In a year in which Forman and Holmes could expect to get serious minutes, we now have the injection of Nash back into the mix.

But hard for the young guys to make the step up that they should if they only get 15 minutes.

Obviously Rees will get fewer minutes this year, but he is still our biggest body, and with Cooper and Forman a different build, the only one who seriously blocks up the key. Rees frustrated Rodgers out of the game when he was on.

Having seven players who easily could be starters is a good problem to have, but need to be able to bring them all into the game.

Of the guys that got on Court last night, Hill is really the only player who would expect to be coming off the bench at this stage in his career. But he is likely to get lots of minutes anyway as he rotates with Maher/Farley.

With Dusty/Farley/Maher continuing as our main scoring options, Holmes/Nash/Forman are going to have to fight hard to get good minutes.

Glad to see they got a win first up...and also that nash is back....glad he did ok too, lets hope he can stay injury free!!!
go the 36ers

Bit hard for them to improve on past year's stats when their courttime drops and they both have more competition at their position. Maher/Rychart/Farley are always going to score their 60-65. Cooper will get 10 just by virtue of being the only big man getting more than 15 MPG. That leaves 25-30 points spread between Nash, Hill, Holmes, Forman, Rees, so 5-6 PPG each.

they will get there
nash looked strong
holmes shot looked alittle off but the rest of his game was good,
and oscar didnt really get enough time but his confidence looked high
hill improved as night went on but looked a little lost in the 1st qtr