Ryan out for a month is the rumour.

NBL 1 Women Power Rankings

What a season this has become where the top 8 can change in the last round of the season. Giants gallant run has come to an end in the race for 8th.

1. Senators 17-2, claimed top seed holding H2H over Wolves. Home court in first 2 rounds. Redbacks this week. Can they be beat?

2. Wolves 17-2, lost Ryan for maybe a month with a grade 2 calf tear. really terrible news for the wolves and the league. An elite talent, may be available for 2nd round as best case. Lost by 23 to magic on the road. Ucich stepping up in scoring with 17. Need Williams to get back to early season form. Locked in 2nd spot.

3. Tigers 15-4, dropped a road game to lakeside by 5 without Gandini. Sharp with 15 and 14. Have Cockburn this week, a loss will drop them to 4th and a first round date with Warwick.

4. Magic 15-4, 7 game win streak and undefeated at home bouncing back from a poor game v Giants to dominant win over Wolves. Yes without Ryan but the leagues number 1 defence has been in form. Little exploded off the bench with 20p in a dominate 12 min run. Can jump to 3rd and get a rematch v wolves.

5. Cougars 12-7, a 4p road win over Giants was well needed especially with Tudor finding some much needed form. If they drop to tigers they still have H2H over Lightning to lock in 5th.

6. Lightning, some big wins over Tigers and Hawks, Hamblin in near unstoppable form and Jones back to her early season levels. Flames this week. Locked in 6th.

7th Flames, word is Ortlepp is gone headed to the AFL and Carlton, missing the finals run. If so a massive loss with no other impact PGs to run the show. A loss to Lightning could drop the team to 11 losses and 8th spot with a 1 point H2H advantage.

8th Hawks, locked in their finals run, have suns to close out the season, they win they could move to 7th with Flames losing. Would they want to play Cougars or lighting first round? Knocked out Giants with +12 on H2H.

Likely finals match ups

Senators v Magic
Tigers v Wolves
Cougars v Flames
hawks v Lightning

Head-to-heads are no longer used.
Ladder positions determined by points for/against percentage, ala the AFL.

I believe its head to head if teams play twice, and percentage if they play once.

Which is daft, if nothing else because it's a 20-minute exercise to figure out who played how many times because there's no way to just list out a team's entire season schedule.

Koberulz is correct.

Extending that out further, if there is a three way tie, they must have all played eachother twice.

This could play out this weekend in 4-5-6 on the men's, depending on results

You are correct.
Points for/against percentage only used DURING the season, to make it easier to display a ladder.

Wow, what a shitfest.

With the end of the regular season upon us and the awards night coming up this weekend what are everyones thoughts on likely winners for the awards?

My picks for the Mens competition

MVP - Devondrick Walker (Flames)
Coach of the Year - Dayle Joseph (Buccs)
Defensive player of the year - Paschal Chukwu (Cougars)
Youth Player of the Year - Caleb Van De Griend (Slammers)

All Star 5
PG Shaun Stewart (Buccs)
SG Marshall Nelson (Flames)
Wing Devondrick Walker (Flames)
F Buay Tauch (Slammers)
C Oliver Hayes Brown (Tigers)

Can't really consider Hayes Brown when he played 7 games and then walked away.

Jervis or Ferguson probably the centre for All Star.

Coleman will be in contention for the 4 spot in all star aswell, but hard to say Tauch doesn't deserve it.

Youre right Bored, Hayes Brown probably didnt play enough games. But he did dominate statistically in those games averaging 23ppg 15rb. Impressive. If he tried harder he would have got even more.

Id go with Ferguson as second choice.

I was torn on the PG spot too because Ghee has had a ripper season also. Hes missed a few games of late and the Giants sliding back out of the top 4 whereas Stewart has been pretty consistent and Buccs been top of the table all season.

Coleman has had a great year for sure. Tauch has been the standout for that slammers team and will likely be their team MVP. Not many games teammates would take votes off him. Id love to see how he would go in a team that has more weapons. Hes a very nice player!

All star 5 for the women

G - Williams
G - Barr
G/F - Ryan
F - Clarke
C - Morrell

Second team

G - Kraker
G - Milo
G/F - Tudor
F - Sharpe
C - Edwards

Can someone rank the top 10 imports in the league? Either in tiers or a straight 1-10?

Men or women or both?

I'm interested in the mens imports.

Today's results only to determine where the Giants finish. Based on my calculations, the Buccs would need to lose by 70 odd to drop below the Flames who they've only played once this year hence its based on %. Cougars have H2H over Giants so even if they win today they can't to higher but if they lost they would drop to sixth as Senators would go above them on H2H and %.

Giants @ Perth - The loss last night ended the Redbacks season. Pride and a final way of saying thanks to a club legend in Wagner will be their sole motivation to win today but they did knock off the Giants earlier in the year in Kalgoorlie. Redbacks to win by 3 and relegate the Giants to 6th, setting up an elimination final at home against the Magic next Saturday night

Buccs @ East Perth - Eagles nearly pulling off the upset last night on the road in Joondalup, but in doing so did they shoot themselves in the foot with a quick turnaround today against the league leaders. Gero to be more concerned with what time the bus leaves in the morning after a night in the big smoke at the BWA Awards night followed by some heavy punting at Crown rather than the meaningless result of this one. Buccs by 14

Week One Finals
Qualifying Finals
Cougars (4) @ Geraldton (1)
Wolves (3) @ Rockingham (2)
Elimination Finals
Hawks (8) @ Warwick (5)
Magic (7) @ Goldfields (6)

Discussions around the water cooler: Cockburn edition

A topic of discussion on Friday night once most ladder spots seemed locked away was the week two schedule, particularly if either the Buccs or Giants make it through to the Prelim Finals (Last games before the Grandy) Our esteemed office staff at the Den informed us that should either of the two country teams make their respective prelim on their side of the draw, it would I'm fact be a lunchtime Sunday game regardless of metro or country venue. How can BWA provide a legitimate case whereby, say for example the mighty Cougars knock off Gero up there next weekend, then AB expects Rockingham or Joondalup who have earnt the right to host a Preliminary final, to play that at lunchtime on a Sunday and remove most crowd support being a wabl day, and worst of all a huge advantage to the country teams who are very used to playing that Sunday timeslot. I hope my mail is incorrect but those in the offices at the Den are usually spot on with this kind of stuff. Lukosius could hopefully shed some more light on the matter of predicted finals schedules please mate

If that is true that is ridiculous^

Could abosloutely see the Hawks knocking the Senators off in an upset. And Cougars could get over the Buccs as one of the teams that have beaten them.

They're playing the semi/prelims over four days this year, Thursday-Sunday, which allows for:
a) Clubs with multiple surviving teams to avoid having their men's and women's teams in different venues on the same night
b) The winner of a semi final in Kalgoorlie to travel to Geraldton for a prelim (or vice versa) and have the game decided by something other than the travel schedule
c) Potentially a greater share of the playoff games to be broadcast on Kayo

If you can't beat a Gero/Kal team on the second game of a two-game weekend, which includes travel between games, you probably don't deserve to be in the grand final.

Woj bomb finals preview and power rankings?

Womens Finals Preview

Magic @ Wolves
Wolves would be hating on Tigers dropping their game to Cougars last round pushing Magic up to 3rd and a rematch from the 23 point win Magic had on them two weeks ago. Winner secures a home pre-lim final. Magic have no fears up there pushing them to a Phillips winner on the buzzer. Wolves have been wrecked with injuries to Ryan, Belcher and Amos. Ryan is the key and has been out 4 weeks with a calf. Do the Lynx shut her down or do they give her another week to play round 2. Either way the Magic would be confident in this one. Boag and Wittenger will battle Morell in the middle and with wing battle of Parker-Williams v Little will be exciting. It all comes down to the guard battle can Belcher and Ucich at least break even with Milo and Toeana. Prediction Magic by 15 with or without Ryan.

Tigers @ Senators
No one wants to play Senators ATM and the Tigers dropping to 4th now get the pleasure. The series is split at 1-1 both winning on each others home court. Great match ups all round, Gandini the DPOTY against new league MVP Stacey Barr cannot get any better and really holds the key to this game. Sharp v Feibich and Hepburn/ Lubke v Burton and Hoycard.
Tigers need Lubke to really step and score 20+ in this one. They need to find that consistent threat to go with Sharp. Prediction: Senators by 10, you can't go past the form they are in right now.

Hawks @ Cougars
This one could get spicy. They have only played once this year with Cougars getting a 2 point home win. Both teams match up pretty well but this comes down to the scoring battle between Emma Clarke and Kat Tudor. Both players are in exceptional scoring form recently, Clarke just missing out on league MVP and Tudor recently dropping 10 3’s. The Hawks need to find some one that can drop 20 to support Clarke, is that Loomis or can McCarthy get back to last years form and provide that bench spark. Prediction Cougars by 8. Cougars play way better at home and too many scoring weapons in Williams, Edwards, Tudor and Hartmann that can score 20.

Flames @ Lightning
Both teams played last round with Rocko crushing lightning at home by 19. Rocko missing Ortlepp for the rest of the playoffs rallied around their two imports Brossman and Kracker who scored a combined 57 points. The trend with Lightning seams to be that Hamblin will get her 20 and 10 and you shut down the rest. For Rocko, Chris Boag has to be big in this one, she is the point of difference in that forward position. The big question is when will Sarah Dickie return, her 3pt floor spacing makes the Lightning offense far more potent.
Prediction: Lightning by 10. It could go either way.

Ryan back this week. They'll be desperate to avoid Warwick in a prelim cross over if they lose - think Wolves by 4.

Cougars scraped over last time against Perry Lakes without Edwards. Loomis flying home last night, but out for PL. Tough ask at the den.

Rocko to get Lakeside by 8

Warwick to handle Willetton comfortably

Pasadena 72

My rankings of the imports for the Men this year

1. Devondrick Walker (Flames). Clear cut MVP of the League. Elite Shooter and high IQ player. By all accounts has been great around the club down there at Rocko. Belongs at a higher level league.
2. Cameron Coleman (Buccs). 20ppg 6rb and defensive player of the year. Has been excellent for the Buccs playing that 4 spot. Shows a good versatility defensively. Not really a 3 point shooter but one of the quickest first steps you will see. Nice out to about 15 feet.
3. CJ Turnage (Wolves). 19ppg. After a slower start to the year, Turnage really started to find his groove in the second half of the season. Tough slasher type of player and gives the Wolves some grit in the backcourt.
4. Stewart (Buccs). Lead the buccs all season from the PG season and was super consistent. 18ppg. 4.4as. Tough gritty and plays both ends of the floor.
5. Skaggs (Cougars). Another one who got better as the season went on. Nice shooter, bigger guard, decent athlete.
6. Dequan Abrom (Magic). 20ppg. Smooth combo guard type who can really get scores in bunches when hes on.
7. Landon Taliaferro (Lightning). 19ppg. Distrupted season with injury but showed he can really fill it up when healthy. Nice 3 point shooter but can score in other ways too.
8. Julius Bowie (Magic). 19ppg. Disrupted season with injury. Appears to be how his seasons have gone the last 3-4 years. when hes fit and healthy hes one of the best players in the league.
9. Justin King (Eagles). Was the best player in a basket case of an Eagles team. 20ppg. Showed he can score in a variety of ways. With more license than he had at Senators had the opportunity to be the focal point. unfortunately didnt have much else around him.
10. Albert Almanza (Suns). 16ppg. Had games where he caught fire from outside. Like King, didnt have the supporting cast to really make a run on the win loss column. Big guard who can shoot the 3 well.

Thank you for that - I'm from SA and got to see Coleman and Turnage previously. They were quality here so good to see they’re still among the best out there too. I noticed on the weekend both were all star 5. Caleb Davis was a surprise as he wasn’t at that standard when he was here.

Thanks Boomer.

Mens Finals Preview

Qualifying Finals

Buccs v Cougars @ Activewest
Last time these teams met the Cougars shocked the Buccs and beat them in a close one on a Sunday arvo at Wally Hagan. The Buccs at full strength on their home court will be a tough ask for the Cougars to repeat. The Cougars are in great form and fresh off their D League guys taking home the championship. Chukwu will be a big part of whether the Cougs can pull it off, as will Skaggs. Stewart and Coleman will be difficult matchups for the cougs. Expecting a big one from the Buccs with a packed house up there in Gero. Prediction: Buccs by 10.

Flames v Wolves @ Rocko
Another two teams that have had a close encounter in their last game with the Wolves pulling it off by 3 on their home floor. Both teams have serious firepower across the board. Flames missing Nelson will have to see guys like Hire and Jervis really step up. Godfrey is also capable of pulling more load in the scoring department whenever needed so there isnt a lack of options. Wolves have one of the most dangerous backcourts in the league with the trio of Wade, Pesava and Turnage and they will all need to be on their best form to take down the Flames. Ultimately I think the Flames have a little more depth, particularly in their front court and conversely the weakness off the Wolves. Durnin, Hire, Jervis and Beard are tough to contend with and have a great deal of experience which I think will get them over the line. Flames by 5.

Elimination Finals

Senators v Hawks @ Warwick
Hawks were very lucky to get through to the playoffs in the end with it coming down to the final round of regular season and other results to go their way to lock it up. The defending champs will have their work cut out for them against the loaded Senators. Michaels is back, Majok, Davis in sublime form, Zunic, Pearl, Litterick and a strong supporting cast in guys like Hodge and Shand who can come in and get quick points. Hawks desperately need isenbarger to turn back the clock and become that scoring machine he was when playing for Lakeside. Ferguson and Purser have their work cut out for them with the Senators front court. Leary and Smith will need to be firing for them to be any chance. My predicition is that the Senators will have too much depth and will get through by 12 points.

Giants v Magic @ Neils Hansen
The Giants have been woeful in their last few games. Their last win was actually against the Magic a few weeks ago where they got down big and had to dig themselves out of a big hole. Ghee was back in the lineup this weekend after sitting out for about a month with injury but it wasnt enough to get them across the line against an under manned Redbacks last weekend. They had a mediocre game against Cockburn the week before and also got blasted by Kalamunda the game before. Mandurah also lucky to scrape into the playoffs this year which was not expected with the recruiting they did in the offseason. On paper they have the talent to battle any team in the competition but havent been able to gel. Turner, Bowie, Abrom, Armour and Jurlina are all very talented players. Add Parker and Rickwood Pitt off the bench and theres a good roster there. I am picking the Giants in this one, purely as they are on their home floor and are back at full strength. The Magic dont match up all that well with them at the PG position with Armour charged with slowing down Ghee and in the bigs department with Turner having to contend with Smith, Malek and Ford. The Magic have the advantage in their wings with Abrom and Bowie. Prediction Giants by 7.

Hawks and Flames both have their men's and women's teams playing on Saturday night at different venues. As do Cockburn, although one of them being in Geraldton means most wouldn't go anyway. Only one game Friday night.

Home teams get to pick.

Cockburn and flames made that choice knowing this would occur

Hawks teams both have away games. So really just too bad for them.

There really ought to be oversight from BWA to minimise clashes like that.

And more Friday games in general. Silly having only one game on Friday, and then a bunch on Saturday, and there's been a lot of rounds throughout the year where it's been similarly lopsided.

Week One Finals
Qualifying Finals
Cougars (4) @ Geraldton (1)
Huge opportunity for the Cougars to secure a home semi final with an upset win in the Midwest. Over 1,000 expected but the Cougs have an experienced lineup and expect Geraldton junior product Josh Hunt to look to be the spark for the visitors. Buccs struggled to stop Skaggs in their four point loss to Cockburn earlier in the season and Field was held quiet. If they both get going, the minor champs could be bundled into the opposite side of the draw! Cougars in a huge upset by 2

Wolves (3) @ Rockingham (2)
Rockingham at full strength for the first time all season with Marshall back in the country this week. Wolves head south in form but having to stop the highest scoring team in the League on their own floor is a massive ask in front of what should be a standing room only crowd. No half court heroics for the Wolves this time, as the Flames with too much firepower win by 9

Elimination Finals
Hawks (8) @ Warwick (5)
Defending champions can consider themselves very lucky just to be in the finals, up against a Senators side who looks alot more settled now with Michaels back even in the absence of Ellis. Ferguson, Thomas & Leary will all need 20+ games for the Hawks to have a chance, but Warwick are the danger outside of the Top 4 and will show it here. Senators to end the Hawks title defense winning by 12

Magic (7) @ Goldfields (6)
When these two teams met in this same fixture earlier in the season, it was a comfortable double digit win to the home team and I don't expect that to change much in this one. Goldfields by 18

its been fun watching the m.hughes show on kayo tonight clearly using his total connections to get a finals game again

you know theres an issue when the leagues best commentator only names one of the refs on the court

lets hope TT doesnt get a say in which refs he wants next week when we play the cougars at home or we could be in trouble

Could be straight sets for the tigers no matter what happens.

Lost 3 in a row playing a cougars team charging into playoffs on a 4 game streak.

Cougar men in trouble against a good Warwick team next Thursday

lets hope the mighty tigers and the senators do the right thing for everyone and rid the nbl1west playoffs of TT and the cougs this weekend.

Why west whisper?

On the mens side the Magic and Hawks had their seasons end tonight.
Disappointing blowout for the Hawks and Stirling in ominous form. Ferguson had a big game but lacked support apart from Purser.
Close game in Kalgoorlie. Parker showed why he should be starting point guard and be getting a bigger role throughout the year.Big budget, sacked Trahair and finished no better.some questions need to be asked there I think.

questions to be asked about the play Mandurah drew up for the win. Bowie dribbling into a heavily challenged 3 point attempt? Needed a timeout for that? why not go for the 2 point?

You generally play for the win on the road, but if you watched that and think what Bowie ran was what they drew up I'm not sure you're qualified to be assessing coaching decisions.

So the play broke down which means it was obviously crap

The play didn't break down. Am I the only one who's actually watched it?

4x clubs left with two teams in finals

Flames
Wolves
Senators
Cougars

3x Clubs left with 1x

Willetton
Magic
Giants

5x clubs with none

Eagles
Redbacks
Slammers
Lightning
Suns

Hawks also have none

Looking at the playoff bracket and it has to be the funkiest one ever in world sport.

No I haven't seen it yet

Yep seen it now. The play was shit

How can you possibly know?

By observing the player movement. How else could u know?

You can't tell if the play was any good because Bowie rejected the screen for no reason and went off and did his own thing.

Yes he did. It was a pick and roll play with a single weakside screen action. Time was short.

How do you think scouts diagram opposition plays?

They don't say they don’t know because the ball handler made a read to reject the ball screen. They look at every possibility off that. Fact is there wasn’t too many apart from an angled down screen screen on the opposite side up high as the ref handed the player the ball.

Like are you seriously asking these things or just trolling?

Woj bomb?

Down to the Sweet 6 and by the end of the week we will know who the two grand finalists will be.


Flames @ Magic

Flames were impressive in their 3pt win over Lightning lead by Kracker 25p and Brossman 27p who collectively were 6/10 from downtown. Not much help outside of the two imports, the question really is will Ortlepp fly back for the Thursday game.

Magic competed hard to keep it close at a fired up wolfpack crowd. Wolves lead by 4 at the half and magic got to within 3 in the 4th, but significant foul trouble to the Mandurah bigs lead to Morrell going on a second half tear dropping 35 points. Going 6/32 from downtown didnt help the Magic cause.

So the Boag Bowl begins, Magic having won both games this season and their last at home by 30p would be the favourites. Kracker v Toeana, Ortlepp v Milo, Brossman v Wittenger... Magic have a deeper bench which will give them the opportunity to keep up their defensive pressure. Kracker has to go for 30 in this one. Magic by 15 at home.

Cougars @ Tigers

This one gets real spicy after Cougars got them by 10p two weeks back. Cougars closed out a valiant importless Hawks team lead by a monster Edwards 23p 24r double double.

Tigers went down the white hot Senators giving up 96 points in the battle. Tigers were in the game until the 4th and Fiebich 30p v Sharp 26p battle was impressive. Tigers missed Lubke with COVID and was a big difference. When does her 7 days start?

No love in this game for either team, a true rivalry going back many years. Gandini v Williams, Sharp v Tudor, Jessie v Lubke. Willo are the defending champs and im going with their experience in this one. Tigers by 8.

Semi-Finals

Magic @ Senators

Wow Senators are in unbeatable form but one team that matches them well are the Magic. Magic would be buoyed by a 50p second half last game up at Warwick. You just can't go past the home team but this will be close, Magic coming off a Thursday game. Senators by 6.

Tigers @ Wolves

Another epic battle, it comes down to 3 on 3. Morrell, Ryan, Parker-Williams v Gandini, Sharp and Lubke. Both teams with similar role players. Wolf pack home crowd are loud and vocal. Lubke has to play a big role in this one keeping Morrell to 20 or less. Ryan still working back from a calf. Im calling the upset and Tigers through by 5.

hopefully the refs appointed to the cougars/tigers match up will see through the same routine.

edwards forces on defenders, TT squeals, whistle goes. repeat, repeat, repeat.

Yes he did. It was a pick and roll play with a single weakside screen action. Time was short.

How do you think scouts diagram opposition plays?

They don't say they don't know because the ball handler made a read to reject the ball screen. They look at every possibility off that. Fact is there wasn’t too many apart from an angled down screen screen on the opposite side up high as the ref handed the player the ball.

TT squealing. Lol

KR with about 3 secs left on the clock (and the way u think) I suppose u are going to tell me the entire Auburn shuffle could have followed lol

Everyone is entitled to their opinion , even if they are wrong I guess

In all seriousness if u ever read Sun Tzu Art of War you would realise any misunderstanding is the fault of the commander. That's on the coach mate no 2 ways about it.
Besides how do u think they defend the ball screen- obviously switch. Then what? Still no advantage.

Yes, basketball teams famously don't run much pick-and-roll because it's notoriously difficult to get an advantage from.

In all seriousness if u ever read Sun Tzu Art of War you would realise any misunderstanding is the fault of the commander.

Finals Round 1 Recap and Finals Round 2/3 Preview

Round 1 Recap
Elimination Finals

Senators v Hawks
Hawks got smacked. No other way to put it. Ferguson battled but very little assistance. Senators just have so much fire power and the flexed it in this game. Senators are going to be tough to beat from here. Michaels back, Majok, Davis in great form. Zunic, Pearl in good form. Hopefully Ellis will be back soon to see them at full strength.

Giants v Magic
A complete arm wrestle this game was. Abrom and Bowie were grinding to get their team across the line. Parker with crucial plays to keep them in the game. He really needed more of the ball with the groove he was in. Turner got in foul trouble and ended up getting fouled out. Underperformed overall. For the Giants it was Daow that was the real gamechanger. Ghee and Smith were really solid but Daow was just scoring at will for the Giants. Much debated above about the end of the game play for Magic. Bowie got a clean look from 3 to win the game but missed. Abrom got the o board and got fouled. 2 shots to tie the game and he missed the first.

Qualifying Finals
Buccs v Cougars
What a statement the Buccs made. Wow. Belted the Cougars and made them look like they didnt belong. Coleman was sublime with 39 and Muo adding 20. The rest of the supporting cast all chipped in. Scoring coming from everywhere. Skaggs and Hunt went missing which the Cougars cannot afford. Skaggs 3-11 from the floor, Hunt 1-8. Field battled hard but needs help if they are to compete.

Flames v Wolves
This was a really interesting game. Wolves were up for a decent portion of the game but couldnt hold on. This is a scary thought considering the Flames were missing Nelson. The Flames only getting 6 points from their bench but with Walker, Godfrey and Jervis all scoring freely they got the job done. For the Wolves it was Pesava that was leading the way with support from Turnage. Wade was not his usual self. THey really rely on Wade, Turnage and Pesava to all score big to win games. If one of them is down its tough. Flames to me showed they are seriously tough to beat with the experience they have. Adding Nelson back into the lineup only makes them more potent.

Previews

Semi Finals

Cougars v Senators Thurs night
Sadly for the Cougars I predict this one will be a similar outcome to their last game. Tough ask to play the Buccs and Senators in respective weeks. This is a game i expect the talent level of the NBL and ex-NBL guys to really show. Majok, Zunic, Michaels and Davis. I dont think the Cougars match up that well. Skaggs, Hunt and Chan will need to be firing on all cylinders here to make it a competitive game. Chukwu will need to stay out of foul trouble. Prediction: Senators by 20.

Wolves v Giants Fri night
Last time these teams met the GIants took home the win by 3 points, in kal. The teams match up pretty well. Wade, Pesava, Turnage vs Ghee, Daow, Ballantyne. I think the Giants have a bit more depth in their bigs with Smith, Malek and Ford. Vaingina will have his work cut out for him. Colton and Parkinson will need to have big impact off the bench to slow the Giants frontcourt down. I expect this one to go down to the wire but Im going to back the giants here to get the win by 5.

Prelim Finals.
The Flames will play the winner of the Senators and Cougars on Saturday night. I anticipate this to be Senators. What a barn burner that game will be. Word is Nelson is back for this game. Both teams with tons of next level experience and guys in great form. Does Ellis make it back to this game? To me this could be the difference for the Senators. Just having that extra bit of firepower and experience will be highly valuable. Especially having already played on Thursday night while the Flames are fresh. Ultimately i think Walker and Nelson will be too much for the Senators back court and the trio of Beard, Jervis and Hire will make life difficult enough for Majok, Davis and Litterick to get them across the line. Im taking the Flames in a close one winning by 4.

The Buccs are in the drivers seat bigtime here. Will play the winner of the GIants v Wolves game IN GERALDTON on Sunday. Tough ask for any team based in Perth but should the Giants actually get the job done as i have predicted they will be back on the road travelling the kms again. The Activewest stadium is already sold out. Should my prediction play out with the GIants getting through it should be a really good match up. Ghee v Stewart, Daow v Muenier, Coleman v Malek, Wundenburg v Smith. Just some of the matchups that will be fun to watch. Last time they met was in Geraldton with the buccs taking home a 10 point win. It was Smiths first game for the Giants in that one and he has since found his niche in the team. Its hard to bet against the Buccs on their home floor in front of a packed house but there have been a few teams who have upset them during the season. Ultimately i think its a tough ask for the Giants to get two wins off the road trip from hell. Buccs by 7.

These predictions will put the Flames and Buccs in the GF. Exciting weekend ahead and will be very interesting to see how it actually plays out!

Hahahahhaaaaa @Boomer. Cougars v Senators with "all their NBL experience"???? Played a month ago and saw the mighty Hammy Hill boys win comfortably by 20+. Add Michael's, sure, but all he does it take others shots, hardly worth 20+. Senators beat up an inept Hawks team that were lucky to fall into 8th (and what of Parson's self proclaimed "offensive prowess" that saw him only generate 22 points from his team to the half? Let me guess, it was all his players doing, they werent tough enough or didn't want it enough, nothing to do with him, as usual). Boomer, sit back and pour yourself another JD and Coke, maybe one day you'll be as good as Pether as a commentator or Lako/Etto as a coach.

I think the majority of educated tipsters would take the Senators over the cougars. It doesn't mean Cougs can't win it, just that one team won their first final easily, and the other got belted with their weaknesses exposed.

haha ok Dire Frisbee
The 20 point loss to the Cougars in round 16 isnt lost on me. Its just I dont think it means much when looking at the matchup for this round of finals.

In their last meeting Cody Ellis didnt play, Brian Michaels didnt play and Majok had only been with the team for 2 weeks before this game.
I think their form at the time showed how much they were missing Michaels and Ellis and how they were still trying to figure things out with Majok coming in.
Their results definitely point to this. They only managed to beat Tigers by 1 point and lost to Lakeside in Majoks first weekend with them (a double header). They had Ellis but no Michaels.
They lost to Joondalup by 11 the week after without Michaels and Ellis.

They are a different team now with Michaels back and with Majok more integrated into their rotations. If Ellis does return for this next game then yes, they do have all that NBL experience over the Cougars, and in finals games experience counts for a lot.

Im happy to be proven wrong but for now Ill sit back with my JD and coke feeling very comfortable with my prediction. Senators by 20.

Pity Pether isnt calling that game actually. Hes the best commentator in the League

OH MY! Warwick Senators complete the most remarkable of comebacks finding Majok Majok under the bucket for the semi-final winner over @CougarFamilyCBA

Watch #NBL1Finals live and free on https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG and the #NBL1 App pic.twitter.com/Plu7UoDOgI

— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 25, 2022

Shoutout to Dire Frisbee this morning. I hope he's OK

A-Ok here @Bored, thanks for checking in though. Wasn't quite the blowout you predicted though, was it? Truly a game worthy of a semi final, Senators lucky, Cougars not so. Shame Pether wasn't commentating, maybe we'd have heard about Andrew Cooper rather than coach Andrew Philips for the majority of the broadcast?

I didn't predict a blowout, just thought Cockburn would lose. I was right
If they can get their imports right for next year they'll be top 2 IMO

@Bored - just making sure I dont' mis quote you here, but here's your two statements from yesterday:

"Majok, Zunic, Michaels and Davis. I dont think the Cougars match up that well. Skaggs, Hunt and Chan will need to be firing on all cylinders here to make it a competitive game. Chukwu will need to stay out of foul trouble. Prediction: Senators by 20."

"Im happy to be proven wrong but for now Ill sit back with my JD and coke feeling very comfortable with my prediction. Senators by 20."

20 point wins not blowouts in your world? Cougars don't match up well and need player firing on all cylinders? I stand by the fact it was a game worthy of a semi final, and also note I made no bold predictions of my own, at no stage even suggested a Cougars win, just the dismissive, uneducated (to quote yourself there Bored) was what I called you on (see what I did there, most educated basketball people would consider a 20 point margin a blowout.)

I think you are confusing me with the other commenter with the name Boomer who made those precictions..

It was a great close game but for me the better team won in the end. But the Cougs had it in the bag up 6 with 2 mins to go if not for a couple turnovers and missed free throws.

I can humbly say I was wrong about the blowout. Kudos to the Cougars for really making that a game. In all honesty they were in the drivers seat to win but just committed too many errors down the stretch.

I did at least get the tip right, just not the margin

Now to see how the Wolves v Giants game plays out tonight!

Boomer I guess that thing you called experience may have helped out in the end. Kept their nerve and didn't panic.

Now to see how the Wolves v Giants game plays out tonight!

Yes, I was contemplating whether I pointed out that it was perhaps experience that got the Senators across the line in the end. But given I was 18 points off my prediction I kept that to myself

That Giants v Wolves game was a barn burner! We have had 3 finals games decided by 1 possession at the end of the game so far. 2 of them the Giants. I feel for their fans with all these down to the wire games lol

Turnage went ballistic in the 4th quarter and wasnt missing. Pesava after being quiet for two and half quarters hit a big shot to give the Wolves the lead late in the 4th. Giants had more than their fair share of opportunities in the last few possessions. Daow missed a point blank layup off a beautifully executed sideline play. Smith followed with an attempted put back jam but was blocked at the rim by Vaiangina. Ford shot it into the bottom of the rim at point blank range. Ghee had a clean look at a game winner off a baseline inbounds then 3 consecutive offensive rebounds and put back attempts at the rim of which none dropped. Wolves coach looked like he was about to have an aneurysm on the sideline watching all that play out.

Senators would be disappointed with their last 7 mins of play. After Pearl hit a 3 to give them the lead by 3 they only managed to score 3 more points for the rest of the game. Zunic was erratic to say the least. Majok looked spent. Davis was fighting hard but couldnt get much happening. Having Ellis in this situation would have made a big difference.
Nonetheless the tip was still on point, Flames through to the GF.

Buccs v Wolves later today where I anticipate the Buccs to advance.

Its great to see the NBL1 West put out a great product. The standard of the games has been pretty exciting to watch. Lots of elite talent. High pressure. Great crowds. Great media coverage. Big congratulations to all involved that make this happen

Have the Wolves made a Grand Final since the Ettridge/Brennan combo were removed??

Have Ettridge / Brennan made a grand final since they left?

Haha.

Marcus Chan channelled his inner Ettridge on Friday with a Wolfpack choke-job for the ages. Good to see the tradition carries on.

You have to question how impressed the Buccs coaching staff would be with their commentators who clearly have not left the quaint little surroundings of Gero too much when suggesting the Flames are good but don't have the same amount of depth that the Buccs do. For sh!ts and giggles:

Starters
Mounier / Godfrey
Stewart / Nelson
Muo / J Beard
Coleman / Walker
Hunt / Jervis

Bench
Wundenberg / Hire
Klastzorny / C Beard
Narkle / Durnin

Barring a blowout, these will be the eight players for each team that matter. On paper the Flames more than match the depth against the minor premiers despite the Buccs commentators strongly claiming otherwise. The winning sound bite for mine "Shawn Stewart, there's absolutely none better in the league. The runner up MVP gets it done again" Someone want to remind me who the league MVP plays for, pretty sure he does it better haha

As a supporter with no affiliation with either club, I look forward to an absolute cracker of a game Saturday night!!

Women's Grandfinal Preview

Willetton v Warwick

The defending champs v the number 1 team will be a classic GF. Willetton just kept winning quietly all season to stay within striking distance of the top teams and pulled out a huge win on the road up at Wolves. Tigers have weapons in form with someone stepping up big each game. This time is was Des kelly and her 8 3's providing the damage. The big question is will Hayley Winter overcome her ankle injury in time, back up Doran played huge starter minutes as her replacement but they really need a backup guard coming off the bench to give them a 7 player rotation.

For the Senators, they overcome a desperate Magic team with their stiffling number 1 defence, But MVP scoring machine Stacey Barr took the game over with 31 points hitting contested shot after shot. Fiebich and Hoycard were kept quiet but Magic simply didn't have enough scoring weapons to make it a contest.

The Match ups

Gandini v Barr - DPOTY v league MVP is a huge key to the game. If Gandini can provide an additional 15p and hold Barr to 20s she gets the win.

Sharp v Fiebich - Wow what an epic match up, both such aggressive primary scorers, Sharp a better defender but both have the length to trouble each other.

Lubke v Burton - Burton can play a big role here if she can up her scoring, she has size on Lubke and should be able to take her in the paint.

Kelly v Hoycard - Both noted 3pt shooters, expect Kelly to again have a big shooting night. Hoycard has to take her defenders into the paint on mismatches.

Winter v Forster - even match up. I'm a big Forster fan and can see her playing a big secondary scoring role in this game. She can can the better of Winter/Doran.

The Verdict

Defense wins Championships and Willetton has that but the team with the Best player tends to win grand finals. Barr and Fiebich v Sharp.
Warwick has been supreme all year but the champs know how to win tight finals. I'm going Tigers by 6 in OT!!

Reply to: #898033

I was at Mike Barnett on Saturday, it's a very hard read, albeit makes me think Buccs are well and truly favourites.

For the first 3 quarters, the Flames were far from convincing. 2 bursts on offences were Justin Beard's 3x3 pointers by 1 minute into the second quarters, and Devondrik Walker's 3 x 3 pointers in 1 minutes, the 3rd sending Hire to then line on a flagrant with possession back. (Hire got 1 of them)

That's 19 points in very unexpected circumstances, and they went to 3/4 time 63-63.

Likewise, the week before, the Flames fell across the line against the Wolves, where as it looks like the Buccs thumped them.

I know the trip to Gero makes a differences, but I wouldn't say 20 points, which seems to be the difference Gero racks up in their margin of victory, compared to the Flames.

Might be heart breaking for the Flames, I can't see Nelson and Walker back next year. Hire and Jervis who knows, but if they are, they'll be 1 year older.

Lakesides Josh Davey signs with Cairns

The problem the Flames had in the 3rd quarter was Walker picked up his third foul early in the quarter and no one on the bench realised
It until he picked up his fourth foul very quickly thereafter. The commentators mentioned he wasn't happy with the bench for not informing him.

That happened about 7-8 mins left in the third.

So their best player and league MVP only played about 5-7 mins of the last 17-18 minutes of the game.

Pretty ordinary mistake by the assistant coaches.

Devondrick played all of the last quarter, in the third quarter he subbed out with 6:17 to play once he picked up his fourth foul. So definitely played more than 5-7 mins of the last 18 mins.

GF Preview Mens

Buccs v Flames @ Bendat

What Dayle Joseph has done to lead this buccs team to where they are is outstanding. The group is playing some high level basketball together. They have an incredible support base and great momentum heading into this weekend. They have a really good cross section of veterans, youth and guys in their prime and play as a unit exceptionally well.

On the other side, the Flames have on paper, arguably the strongest roster in the league (please dont shoot me buccs fans, I have some logic behind this statement). Devondrick Walker is the League MVP, the Leagues leading scorer and the Leagues leading 3 point shooter. He has lead these categories pretty much from start to finish this season and has shown he is far higher calibre than this level. Hes the best player in the competition.
Marshall Nelson has been the second leading scorer in the competition for nearly the entire season. He finished 3rd in ppg behind OHB from Willetton by 0.06. However, as rightfully pointed out in an earlier post, we probably shouldnt be counting OBH legitimately in the mix as he only played a handful of games. If so Nelson is the second best scorer in the league.
Add to that the experience of Tom Jervis who has shown he has plenty of life left in those old legs, Godfrey who really stepped up when Nelson was over in Belgium trying out for their national team, the Beards, Hire and Durnin who has had a very good year this year. Jervis and Hire are multiple time NBL champions and carry that experience into their group. Walker is an NBL level import. Nelson a fringe NBL aussie who can put points up quickly. I think they have a little more depth than the buccs overall. They do have some youngsters in their lineup but they dont really play mins. Whereas the Buccs need to rely on guys like Narkle, Meunier and Blanchett to really get their full potential going.

Key Match Ups
Stewart / Godfrey. Both physical, hard nosed guards. One is high scoring, the other scores when his team needs him to. Stewart in his prime, Godfrey a vet. This will be an interesting battle but i think Stewart wins this one.

Meunier / Nelson. I think Nelson will take this matchup. Meunier is talented and gives the buccs a great 4th scoring option but defensively will have his work cut out for him slowing down Nelson who has the absolute green light.

Muo / Walker. Given my commentary above you will know that i think Walker takes this matchup. Walker in his prime, Muo a vet. He will have to use all his savy tricks to try and counter Walker, will it be enough?

Coleman / Beard. Coleman is playing some of the best basketball of his life right now. He has been scoring from everywhere and is relishing the system and structure around him. Beard is a good matchup for him but im backing Coleman taking this one.

Wundenburg / Jervis. Two savy experienced vets. Will be a battle to watch for sure. Jervis scores a lot more and has a bit more versatility to his game. Im taking Jervis in this matchup.

Benches
Narkle, Hunt, Blanchett, Klazstorny v Durnin, Hire, Beard, Bowater

Whilst Hunt gives them a great toughness and experience off the bench, outside of this there is a real drop off in experience. In finals experience counts for a lot. Durnin, Hire and Beard all bring this. Bowater may not play many if any minutes in this one if its close.

Overall I expect this one will go down to the wire. It will be a close fought battle. Im going to predict the Flames take this one by 4 points.

Mike Malat new Lakeside Men's Head coach, former Norwood. See if CJ Turnage follows him down the freeway.

GF Predictions

Women's
Warwick by 19
MVP: Stacey Barr

Men's
Flames by 2 in Double OT
MVP: Devondrick Walker

Great effort by the mighty Senators last night winning by 26. Willetton looked like they were sluggish having made the GF the hard way. Sensational game from Fiebich, very deserving of the GF MVP.

Well done Rocko

Was looking forward to seeing how the flames went against the NBL1 South/North teams this weekend but apparently Walker is not available. Makes you wonder how reduced their team will be.

Spoke with two of their boys who were in Freo yesterday, Walker is the only omission. Be interesting to see how they go against a South Adelaide team with some very talented Americans