Defense is the key for Perth

No Norton, Hawks should win.

Norton and actually can move reasonably well, another 50/50 game, low scoring and close.

The odds of Hawks winning back to back games in Perth must be damn low, but who knows. I really hope Norton is playing and we play an absolutely flawless game, because that's the only way we can be guaranteed a win.

Can't see Perf dropping this one, with or without Norton. They’re a better team, better prepared, better coached.

Can some explain why I have seen here and certain FB groups the term "Perf"

I get it's meant to be some sort of insult but I don't get the reference?

Other than the person misspelling Perth because they are simple?

I can't speak for Facebook groups but a poster on here uses Perf frequently.
Comes across like a dad joke tbh.

Back on topic think Norton is last minute fitness test. Perth by 4.

I know Perth people as a bit of a nickname but there are others here and on Twitter that think its a hilarious insult.

I have a lisp. What else has offended you today? Water too wet?

Too wet. Got it.

I figured Perf to be a quasi-short form / pronounciation.

But can also be a play on words like Radelaide and BrisVegas.

Unless there is another meaning which I cannot fathom, erf? nerf? serf? It is not really an insult.

It is an insult albeit a relatively harmless one implying Perth is full of bogans so pronounce it Perf a bit like Straya is implied to be how bogans pronounce Australia or even here in Adelaide why the notoriously bogan suburb of Elizabeth is often referred to as Lizbeff.

On the balance of probabilities, I would say Norton is either out or significantly hampered by the injury. He is not a knockdown shooter and now he has lost his downhill drive.

This leaves a back court of White and Travers, credit where credit is due, White played decent and Travers excellent in the last game. If we are going to use the Hawk's horrible history against Perth and in Perth, shouldn't history also say that it is unlikely that White and Travers have such a big impact in 2 consecutive games?

Game 2 needed several rare feats for Perth to win :
- White Threes.
- Magnay Threes.
- Steindl 12 point quarter.
- Travers heroics.
- AJ fouling out due to a soft call.

I don't see that happening 2 games in a row. I think the Hawks are damn good value at $2.45.

I wish both teams well and for a good game to watch.

I think people say Norf in AFL because they're doing shit - like a very very mild insult people make. Sort of like "herp derp" vibes.

Brisvegas and Radelaide are local references where they take the piss. You’re more likely to hear someone from Adelaide say Radelaide than an interstater id guess.

Perf.

I must admit I love the word Perf and I have heard many a Sand groper call their city Perf. Perhaps it's the English influence from the 70s. In the 80's I dated a chick from Dianella for a while who had come to Adelaide Uni. Everywhere we went she would say stuff like "I'm from Perf", "Oh, I wish we had this in Perf" and the like. All her friends said Perf, and when I travelled over there it felt like everyone called Perth - Perf. I later worked with a guy from Purf, and another from Pearth.

It seems others say Perf, short for Perf-ect.

If you don't like it, we can keep saying it.

Lovebroker, some of those "rare" Perth feats weren't really that big of a deal.
Steindl has closed out the season pretty well. Him shooting 3/10 was not extraordinary. Neither was White knocking down a couple of threes from several attempts. He has been asked to do that this season and it hitting at 31%. With feet set he is passable.
The triples from Magnay - those were certainly a huge bonus.

Anyhow, Kevin White is where I suspect the Hawks will look to exploit us the most. They should be looking to pressure him hard, and at the other end attacking his defence (but not attacking him too hard - because he is arguably more valuable to the Hawks on the court than sitting with foul trouble)

Fingers crossed that Norton is somehow able to make a proper contribution tonight. I'll never question the fight in these Cats but I rate Goorjian too highly to give us much of a chance without Norton.

P.S. I'm good with Perf. Say it myself on occasion.
(mostly when taking the piss)
Are there bogans here? My word there are.

Perth will stamp itself into yet another GF today.

Death, taxes, Perth in GF.

Sorry, Perf in GF.

Perf in Grand Thinal

" Gee it must be a slow day"

What do you expect from Queens Birthday public holiday?

Oh wait...

Unfortunate we have to wait til 9.30pm - past some of our bed times!

Get on the consistent public holiday bandwagon Perth!

Perf must be used outside the 'golden triangle', because this is the first I've ever heard of it...

Perth Golden triangle, known for: expensive houses, the beach, the river... young girls getting murdered.

Still beats Armadale though I guess.

I generally see the term "Perf" as designed to reflect poorly on those who would speak like that. As in the many posters here who have a "Perf Suks" mentality.

Nobody that's actually from Perth speaks like that, as our accent tends to go the other way. When travelling to say the USA, many people think we're British, not Australian, because we don't have the nasal accent of QLD and parts of NSW.
If I had to guess, I'd say that it stems from a few things:
Massive British migration over the latter half of last century;
our News Readers on TV and Radio all being coached to talk the Queens English; and
our Primary school teachers being taught to "enunciate."

I have never noticed a difference in accents between the different Australian states.

" I have never noticed a difference in accents between the different Australian states."

South Australia's is clearly different to eastern states, often gets confused for English accent.

Not to be confused by pronouncing words differently (dance etc) or different terminology for particular things.

Regional accents are distinctive as well - yeah Queenslanders can be picked

Well, I have. I can pick a Sydney sider - schoool
ADl - deli
etc

Anyways kinda wanted game 3

Adelaide definitely has its own vernacular. I live in Queensland and there are no bogans here. It's bullshit and I’m offended that anyone would even suggest it. Next you’ll be questioning our diversity!!!

I have met / worked with people across all states and territories and never knew there was a marked accent difference.

I know some people pronounce the word air either as 'air' (one syllable) and other 'air-ah' (somehow two syllables).

New - Some as Ni-oo, others Nu.

Are these state influences or just random people being taught different pronounciations?

I have met / worked with people across all states and territories and never knew there was a marked accent difference.

I know some people pronounce the word air either as 'air' (one syllable) and other 'air-ah' (somehow two syllables).

New - Some as Ni-oo, others Nu.

Are these state influences or just random people being taught different pronounciations?

" SA for example call Lego Lay-go

Pretty much says it all really."

It's technically closer to the way the Danish say it ....

This thread has taken a strange turn.

Weird thread but I do know someone who studied here for three years and returned home - she can pinpoint accents by state. Pretty freaky.

The company (trademark) themselves advertise the movie as LEG-O. It's not fucking hard to know SA are stupid

" The company (trademark) themselves advertise the movie as LEG-O. It's not fucking hard to know SA are stupid"

It's Danish, neither American (east coast Australian) nor Cornish (South Australian) is correct.

You’re likely as wrong in the way you’re pronouncing it as everyone else is.

And if you’re part of a small group who can speak Danish (like me), nobody cares because it’s fucking Denmark.

Also love the strange turn.

Perf must be used outside the 'golden triangle', because this is the first I've ever heard of it...
Humble brag much?

How do you pronounce Nike and Adidas

All will be forgiven when Perf romp home tonight.

I agree it's not an insult but some people try and use it as one.

I think at half time people may start talking about the game.

Q1 has to cover the issue of Lego followed by getting closure on Perf in Q2.

Haha you all must be so bored today!!

My two cents ive noticed a difference in pronunciation of vowels when Melbournians say 'a' instead of 'e'. Like in the italian language the sound of 'e' is more like 'a'.

So when i hear a word such as health i think the correct pronunciation should sound like helth but when i hear melbournians its sounds more like halth.

It could possibly be the european influence its a very multicultural city. Or the Victorians ive encountered just never learned to say it properly. Or maybe its me thats been pronouncing my vowels wrong all these years but ive definitely noticed a difference.

Norto is playing according to Gleeson!

If he plays fewer than 10 minutes he's a pissweak worthless bum!

Lmao

9:30pm EST tip is past my bed time (hah) and despite knowing this game is going to be grind-it-out-ugly, I'm really looking forward to it.

Battle of the minds for sure: Trev vs Goorj. Can't wait to see the chess moves.

Why is the crowd so shit for a game 3?? Looks like a Melb United crowd

There's about 10,000 here.

lol Perf and their 10k Monday night crowds.

Doesn't it hold 14500? There ain’t 10k there. Kings pulled 10,000 against bullets in a nothing game last round.

That Kevin White bloke is pretty handy, reckon he'd be handy at the 36ers.

Doesn't it hold 14500?

There ain't 10k there.

Double digit lead with no Cotton.

How do we do it?

Wildcats exploiting Harvey and Jessup inability to play defense. Just killing them.

Harvey four fouls.

Coach of the year right there

Ooof, Harvey 4 fls. Goorj the coaching mastermind.

Harvey is costing the Hawks this series.

Goorj not smart for leaving Harvey out there. Harvey should've known better though to not put himself in a position to collect his 4th.

Game is Perth's to lose from here in.

4 fouls in a half. Wow.

Only in Perf.

Don't blame Goorjian for Harvey being an idiot. Goorj had to leave him out there for his offence it's on Harvey not to keep picking up stupid fouls.

Get those timestamps ready LV

This one's over. Gonna look really awkward if Goorj gets COTY on Wednesday.

I have to admit I didn't think Blanchfield had this SF form left in him, he looks great like his Townsville days.

Cotton might have to take a pay reduction, Gleeson gets a rise.

LV has always been known for his harmless but extremely one-eyed takes.

Those fouls Harvey was committing were absolutely unacceptable for a pro baller in a playoff elimination game let alone an import. If I were Goorj I wouldn't put him back in the rest of the game, essentially pin the loss on him.

He knows how important he is to this Hawks team offensively, just an overrated dumb player.

A shame the officials decided that they had to carry the Wild Cheats again.

A franchise that without blatantly biased officiating has never and will never win a game of basketball

[Which of his four fouls weren't legit?]

[According to LV it's not Harvey or Goorijans fault, it's Perth’s somehow]

You both obviously didnt realise I was referring to the total number of fouls on Perf's entire team in the half, compared to 12 for Hawks

Fitting into the long term data coming out of RAC Arena- Perf don't get called for many fouls when playing in the venue

Could pump Harvey up?
I'd be playing him real close from here - he is going to come out angry and put up some shots.
If he hits a few in a row they'll be rolling again..

A couple of misses and the frustration could see him get his fifth early.

All of Harveys fouls were dumb fouls you cant blame the refs for that

Thought Gleeson decided to stay.

Wild Cheats

Blanchfeild has gone cold now

Already back to single figures cats have come out half asleep

wtf is bairstow doing!!!

Won't matter. Gleeson and crowd will intimidate refs. Perth will bounce back.

Gleeson vs. Goorjian, what a battle.

Hawks playing a lot better without Harvey

Got to respect Norton for hustling like that while injured.

Starting to look like Perf has won the prize of becoming losing Grand Finalist

They will play a tram from Melben.

team*

LV sounds like you're starting to get a little bit nervous, understandably as a United fan, the Wildcats train appears to be coming.

Hopefully it's not like the bullet train that detailed a few seasons back.

Get Harvey off FFS

Wow Norton in injury-riddled beast mode.

Mitch Norton. Respect. Diving on loose balls, great D on Harvey, big plays on offence. Huge

I've never been this impressed with Norton.

Travers O board - that was huge!

Great comment by Goorj to the ref "really hard to win here, bro" lol

Come on, he just won on Friday! Greedy Goorjian.

Uh oh, that looks like a Hawks ball.

Man, this game has never felt safe despite separate 16 and 10 point leads.

Love Simon's defensive tenacity haven't seen player that good defensively since Damo.

Travers coast to coast.

OH MY TRAVERS

Take your fairytale and go home

Take your fairytale and go home

Take your fairytale and go home

Imagine this roster in 2 years

Cotton(Aussie)
Travers
Norton
3 imports
A few other role players.

Love this team

Well done Perth for shutting down a team with one offensive weapon

Now prepare for an opponent with genuine fire-power

Goorj deserves COTY but Gleeson did a magnificent job getting this Perth team without Cotton into yet another GF.

Now prepare for an opponent with genuine fire-power

Gleeson for COTY, no Cotton no problem.

COTY is decided over the course of the regular season, what happened in this series is irrelevant.

"Well done Perth for shutting down a team with one offensive weapon"

According to everyone here in preseason, that's one more than Perf have without Cotton.

Go Phoenix...... make Jock "we will go undefeated/I'm better than them" suffer in his jocks!

Gleeson also the new GOAT NBL coach, superseding Goorjian. It has been written.

Norton is Damo 2.0. Travers has no fear

GF Game 1 is in Perth on Friday night.

Grand final game 1 in Perth, did I hear that right?

...things almost lining up for some kind of fairytale..

Attendance: 8,986.

Not bad for a cold and windy Monday night in the middle of winter with everyone saving for the Grand Final series.

Perth were favourites in this series

They did very well- the D was outstanding. My favourite players were Norton and Simon, 2 elite defenders on display

Yes, SEM have some weapons. They will beat Perth comfortably if they get the chance, as well United

[ if fully fit they would trounce the United]

That would explain why they've had such a great record over United over the past 18 months....

Lol

I bet he already has a tattoo... of a timestamp.

This game was done once Norton was able to play. Him being missing, was the only chance the Hawks might have had. Otherwise they were done once they lost game 2.

Credit to Goorjian though, he kept the finals interesting, and did well to get this far with the players he had.

Harvey should never attempt to thread another bounce pass through traffic in his professional career.

Hawks had their chances and couldn't take advantage of Cotton's absence. Harvey's weak passes with Froling in the pick and roll were not great. That coupled with their wariness approaching the paint seemed to go a fair way to deciding the game.

Cotton was obviously out all series and Harvey might as well have been in the games in Perth. Norton vs Simon was great - both very level-headed and driven players. Mooney and Froling both excellent as well.

Each team got a lot out of younger players - Travers, Grida, etc. A full strength Perth with Cotton and home-court advantage I wouldn't have been thrilled to see beat the Hawks, but they got the best out of team play and a variety of guys stepping up.

Whatever happens in the GF for Perth I'm just glad we got there especially without Cotton.
Ninth grand final in 12 years, that's class.

If Melb or SEM win the title it will be cute for LV who hasn't tasted much success as a fan.

Ha, I was at Melbourne Park for Game 3 of 97

I was in Sydney in 2008 when Lampley hit the Game 3 match winner

I was at Game 5 of 2018

1997, 2006, 2008, 2018, I've seen plenty of championships

93 a bit before my time, but it's sweet watching footage of Gaze crushing Perth dreams in front of their fans- too bad COVID will prevent that this time, it'll be done in Melbourne

(hopefully in Melbourne....or Sydney. Ugh)

I was.

One of the most disappointing losses in Tigers/United history to be perfectly honest. I expected that to at least get to game 5.

That's a matter of perspective.

Given the Tigers/United were the only NBL franchise in Melbourne for 5 years either side of the re-brand, that's a pretty solid link.

When a team re-brands because they don't want to be associated with the toxic Tigers name, they dont get to keep the history, or pluck some bits of history and not others.

That is, again, literally the point of a re-brand.

Businesses do this frequently - could be to change their market, could be as a result of bad PR, could be as a result of a restructure, could be as a result of a merger, could be to change the narrative of what they are.

Re-branding is changing their brand - often it adopts a little of old, a little of new.

So yes, literally the point.

Could be a new administration like the NBL when it went through a re-brand LK style....

Adopts the history that's good and attempts to differentiate through re-brand from the crapola Admin past.

4 championships since 1997 is not a lot of championships.

When a team re-brands because they don't want to be associated with the toxic Tigers name, they dont get to keep the history, or pluck some bits of history and not others.

I've had this argument with Cram over the years who was a diehard Tigers supporter but the facts are the Tigers changed their name/colours to United. Therefore as they are the same club they get to keep the Tigers championships, they are not a new team like SEM Phoenix or the JackJumpers.

The issue I had with United was in one heritage round they decided to wear SEM Magic jerseys now that is complete BS. At no point were the Tigers and Magic ever the same club in fact they were bitter rivals.

4 championships since 1997 is not a lot of championships.

Perth overachieved just getting to the grand final.
Congrats to the Hawks for making it a great series.

Norton's hussle and defence was just special in that game, how does he do that and bring the ball down with Simon hassling him the whole game?

Justin Simon is a very good defensive player. His lack of shooting can hurt offences as it can stagnate when the ball gets to him, but under the right system he would be very valuable. If there are 3 imports I'd like to see him at Adelaide next season.

Harvey is a good player but was well contained by the defence, Norton's D is as good as I have seen against Harvey. Harvey still scored 'OK' despite having to make his own shots outside of the system.

Jessop was disappointing last night.

Sam Froling is a legit player, is he still contracted for next season? I get a feeling he is about to break out like Nick Kay did.

It was good to see Grida get time and contribute, he seems to have the smarts and a decent stroke too, hope his recovery continues andhe is back to his old self.

Blanchfield (or is it Blancheat) is also just superb, his shooting and the fact that ILL kept fouling his threes were a big part of the win.

Even Kevin White is playing his role nicely of being a threat if left wide open, so his man cannot completely sag off him.

Travers had an OK game, not the heroics from the other day but a couple of nice plays like the coast to coast. Has promise.

Mooney with another great game, and efficient too, wonder where he will go after this season.

Magnay, I cannot help but think his stocks have dropped since coming back. He looks unsure of his place and his back to the basket moves are not very inspiring at all.

" Four was the record for most titles by a team 30 years after the league was founded, four in 24 years is plenty."

The inflammatory pisstake wasn't obvious?

I've been fine with Magnay previously. He was solid defensively, gave us a good presence in the paint, blocked a few shots and changed/dissuaded a lot. Offensively his touch around the basket clearly suffered for having to spend two weeks in quarantine, and he looked lost in a few of the sets with teammates having to tell him where to go at various times.

But I figured the week off to actually spend some time practicing with the team would lead to a bigger improvement at that end of the floor than what we've seen so far.

The inflammatory pisstake wasn't obvious?

The vast majority of us go for clubs that hasn't tasted much championship success in a while.

I’d be looking at particular fan bases, say three obvious clubs, that may have the lovely benefit of expecting to win the championship every year.

For the rest of us, it’s an obvious piss take.