* these.

Could see this one going either way..

Last time they played in the Gong, quad-druple over-time

Could see this one going either way..

Melbourne by 20.

I literally forgot all about this game. Wow!

This is the natural cycle...we're in what, round 4 now?

First couple of rounds, watch heaps of bball, eagerly anticipate every game...

Market has Hawks firming and Utd drifting in price. Interesting.

sorry mate..... work day and a crazy week at work so far, so I haven't been able to deliver....

+1 Anon 553.

Vote #1 Jack Toft.

If waiting on Jack to deliver a thread is the highlight of your day I feel sorry for you.

"Last time they played in the Gong, quad-druple over-time"

Jack Toft

You could have said ....last time they played in the Gong there was more overtime than you would find on a Macedonian steelworker's pay docket.

Backcourt????

Hawks best play is giving it to the big fulla near the hoop

League-wide conspiracy to get Illawarra into the playoffs

Shocking calls, and a few obvious make-up calls, but that doesn't excuse United’s poor play.

United are proving to me that they’re a confidence team - they have really tightened up and look scared to shoot from outside. Not filling me with confidence for the finals right now.

And wtf was Vickerman thinking when he had only one decent (read confident) shooter on in the 3rd quarter?

Home Cooking League sponsored by Hungry Jack's. Wait, what?

Surely its home cooking because Bevo used to coach Perth.

Maybe if united keep running up high foul counts it's because they are consistently fouling....

Do those guys in green get paid? I sure hope not!

I genuinely enjoy watching any team in the league play, but damn that final quarter was the toughest thing I've ensured so far in to the season.

Offense was turrible.

my god the refereeing was terible - making the games hard to watch - I was at the Breakers v Adelaise game last week and that pasty bald ref blows his whistle on every play almost - if the basketball is G leage standard the refs are primary school standard - something needs to be done about the way they ref. There is little post play and loads of threes and free throws as you cannot touch anybody.
Just watched the Lakers VS Minnesota and couldn't tell you what the refs looked like but you did in this NBL game

my god the refereeing was terible - making the games hard to watch - I was at the Breakers v Adelaise game last week and that pasty bald ref blows his whistle on every play almost - if the basketball is G leage standard the refs are primary school standard - something needs to be done about the way they ref. There is little post play and loads of threes and free throws as you cannot touch anybody.
Just watched the Lakers VS Minnesota and couldn't tell you what the refs looked like but you did in this NBL game

There are some very insulting comments about the referees being made but I was taught the bloke with the whistle is always right.

I rate Louise.

Noice Hawks.

"Maybe if united keep running up high foul counts it's because they are consistently fouling...."

This. Dean Vickerman's teams have finished 1st in fouls every year he has coached in the league. I personally think Melbourne are lucky not to be whistled more, they certainly push the envelope with the way they go about it, just like many championship teams before them.

God I just love Brian Conklin and his 'fuck you' game style

I don't mind him either. Uh oh Perth fans coming at us in 3, 2, 1...

You could have said ....last time they played in the Gong there was more overtime than you would find on a Macedonian steelworker's pay docket..

I missed this one.

Any mention of how CG's knee is going?

i lovethat the guy with the whistle comment is right - trouble is there will be nobody watching the games and imports not wanting to come. DJ Kennedy last night and Shawn long tonight were just sat because of trrible Amateur calls. When your watching non professional etc you can't complain, but in prof basketball the standard of the refs needs to be up similar to the standard of the players.

"Nope everything has to go over the half way line, including the ball. The ball never crossed the line"

Just watching this game now, ball is over the halfway line once McCarron touches it with both his feet over the half. Unbelievable missed call, not surprisingly Chris Reid again! Whenever there's a howler good chance it's Reid or Chapman, they just seem to make a habit of it.

You have to have control of the ball in the front court. McCarron never had control.

By my reading the definition of control in this instance includes attempting to catch it (the standard definition of control is holding or dribbling but that now includes catching for crosscourt violations), which was the case here.

The three points of contact was introduced for the situation of a player dribbling the ball across half-court, to combat the trend of defenders trying to pump them back whilst they were straddling the line.

If 'catching' actually means a complete catch then it wouldn't need to be added to the definition, because someone who completes a catch is 'holding' the ball. It's an interesting one because the new definition certainly could have been worded better.

"If this was a inbound pass in the front court the shot clock would not start ruining until United took control."

United take control of the ball when the referee hands it to the inbounder in that situation.

OK, managed to dig out FIBA's examples of the new rule, which contains this statement:

"A live ball has been illegally returned to the backcourt when a team A player who is completely in the frontcourt, causes the ball to touch the backcourt, after which a team A player is the first to touch the ball either in the frontcourt or backcourt."

This suggests the play last night was a violation. But then further along it gives a really explicit example, which says it is in fact legal, so I got this one wrong:

"A1 in his backcourt passes the ball to A2 who is in his frontcourt. A2 touches the ball
which returns to A1 who is still in the backcourt.
Interpretation: Legal play. A2 has not yet established control of the ball in his frontcourt."

The stupid thing is McCarron could have avoided the entire situation by putting one foot in the back court before catching the ball, instead of trying the balancing act.