The Hungry Jack's NBL has announced the first two games of the best of five Hungry Jack’s NBL Grand Final series will be played in Perth. The schedule for games one and two is as follows:


PERTH WILDCATS v MELBOURNE UNITED OR SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX

Game 1: Friday 18 June
Perth Wildcats v Melbourne United or South East Melbourne Phoenix, RAC Arena, 8:30pm AEST
ESPN, SBS VICELAND, SBS On Demand, Sky Sport, Twitch

Game 2: Sunday 20 June
Perth Wildcats v Melbourne United or South East Melbourne Phoenix, RAC Arena, 5:00pm AEST
ESPN, SBS VICELAND, SBS On Demand, Sky Sport, Twitch

Ridiculous- United and SEM have been out of Victoria for 3+ weeks?

Gives the Wildcats a better chance of avoiding the sweep.

LV, piss off.

LV, piss off.

If United are half as good as Landale and LV think they are then it shouldn't matter where they play. Or maybe they’re starting to shit their pants after seeing the Cats take care of business!

Active cases yeah

I think it's been 3 cases in the last 3 days

2 of them were children in quarantine, not sure about the other

Huge risk to the WA community.

Yeah, shit be getting real dudes.

NBL has managed to inject some interest into the GF afterall.

Perth have shown what they can do, even without cotton, so those first two games should be crackers.

Assuming United get through, wildcats winning those first two games will still be a huge ask. But imagine if they did, that would set up an absolute corker, for game 3. Even if Perth could win only one of those first two games, it still pushes the series to at least 4 games.

And watching lv's head explode, piece-by-piece, will be worth the price of admission

So many people have been complaining all year that the NBL is rigging the schedule to advantage United. Hopefully that shows the NBL only does what's best for the NBL...
This scheduling certainly won’t help United or SEM!

If Melbourne wins it's less awkward than SEM winning.

A-A-H-H-H is what Melbourne could have, and they’d just have to accept that because of how things are at the moment.

With SEM, A-A-A-H-H gets a bit ridiculous.

The virus situation at the moment in Vic, further restrictions are expected to eased on Thursday if things track how they are. Albeit no sport in Vic this coming weekend.

The following Thursday things could open up further - that’s where we would hopefully see the backend home games if it’s United. Whilst states like SA/Qld etc would hopefully open up again, WA probably won’t given they’re stricter meaning SEM would have to play theirs in Sydney if guessing.

Wildcats sent out an email confirming that game 1 and 2 will be at home and game 3 and 4 will both be played away. Depending on who the Wildcats play in the finals will depend on where game 5 is held.

well that's because normally the team that hosts Game 1 is the higher ranked (better) team and the better team normally wins.

The press release suggests Perth gets 2 Home games.

What if SEM win tonight?

If they play Games 3 and 4 in Melbourne, they cannot come back to Perth for Game 5.

How does that work?

I understand the league is doing its best under very trying circumstances, but shouldn't the higher finishing team have 3 games at their home court?

If SEM win, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 3rd game added in Perth directly after the 1st 2 games, or probably more likely they will go to neutral ground for the 5th game? Either way isn't fair, but it's the best that prob can be done.

LB, the press release suggests the first two games will be in Perth, not that Perth will only get two games total for the series.

They will have the benefit of time to make a decision further, and complicated by which team wins tonight.

Thanks KET for adding the context I had missed.

If they play Games 3 and 4 in Melbourne, they cannot come back to Perth for Game 5.

I'm not worried in the slightest- United has beaten Perth 3 times in a row at RAC Arena.

My concern is tonight- that's United's biggest remaining test. SEM is easily a better team than Perth sans Cotton.

Win tonight and I'll be feeling supremely confident of a championship, unless injuries hit us.

But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't feeling increasingly nervous as the clock ticks towards 7:30pm.

I think United are simply too strong to let this one slip, and coming to Perth hasn't been a problem for them lately, with Norton playing hurt and Cotton out United should get the championship in 4 games

I don't understand people still talking Perth down... they’ll probably be saying "they’ll be bad next year", while Perth lifts yet another trophy…

" I don't understand people still talking Perth down"

Mostly Perth fans being cynical, I think.

Every year you know Perth will be in contention at the end - no matter how many people post “we look terrible this year”.

I don't understand people still talking Perth down..

Cotton drew so much defensive attention that it changed the whole game.

1 player can exert massive influence.

Just look at LA Lakers without Davis or look how the Brooklyn series changed after Kyrie went down (they were already without Harden but losing both clearly a bridge too far).

I get what you are trying to say in your nonsensical, one eyed way LV.

Yes, SEM and Utd have more offensive weapons compared to a cotton-less Wildcats. But that's what they have...offence. the cats game centres around defence and disruption.

The cats have an ability to dragging high scoring teams into a grind where they aren't comfortable.

Also the Perth have started working things out without cotton and aren't scared of the road. Utd and SEM have both won at RAC, SEM on the Jesse miss and Utd twice, one of which without Cotton or Norton.

I believe the Melbourne sides will start favourites, but it's closer than you make it out.

SEM put Gliddon and Broekhoff in the corners but never run plays to get them a shot. Complete waste running a 2 and 3 man offense continually. Will not stand up for a whole game.

Covid infection in Sydney FYI

There are reports a new locally acquired Covid-19 case has been detected in Bondi, with authorities scrambling to find the source of the infection.

7000 people allowed at gmhba stadium this Friday

The simplest solution as to where to play each game (with reference to Covid) would be games 1 + 2 in Perth, 3, 4 + AND 5 in Melb.

Unfair advantage to MU? Yes, but Perth get the 1st x 2 games which they haven't "earned". With their own admissions of how helpful their home crowds are, they go in with an unfair advantage.

Melb U HAVE earned their 3 games. They and their fans deserve it. So does the NBL GF series.

Tough, but at least both sides are giving up something.

Further-more, a neutral venue would decimate attendances and this series needs full houses, not only for the direct revenue. Also for the sake of media audiences. The games are (apparently) going out on every media outlet involved. Can you imagine international viewers watching our GF, in a neutral venue, devoid of screaming fans, full of empty seats?

The further successful promotion of this series would be a real shot-in-the-arm after the last couple of s

[SORRY]
... The further successful promotion of this series would be a real shot-in-the-arm after the last couple of disrupted seasons.

" Unfair advantage to MU? Yes"

I don't think so. It’s the opposite. Perth get the “unfair”advantage by starting the first two games at home and could get momentum at the start.

Nobody could complain though, it’s the obvious logistical thing to do given the circumstances.

I agree that playing the first 2 in Perth then the following 3 (if required) is the right move, but playing in Melbourne may mean there is still no crowds.

7000 allowed in to GMHBA this weekend doesn't count for much considering Geelong is out of Melbourne and is an outdoor stadium.

If Victoria's capacity rules are like other states indoor venues are probably still a few weeks away from being near meaningful capacity. It may cost the league way more then they'll get back with no crowds.

That 7,000 is this weekend though.

As in, another week and who knows.