I can't really see anything other than a Sydney win, refs under a lot pressure are not going to do Cairns any favours. I believe Cooks will play and get headlines for how tough and great he is, got keep the PR machine going. DJ is due as well, and kings bench is strong.

Snakes will certainly have a go, will Forde try any surprises, maybe throw in Deng early to protect foul trouble on Waardenburg. They are low on troops but if Hogg keeps throwing threes in, it could be closer than I think.

Kings by 10 to 15.

Agree @Dunkman. Wondering how long before Buford blows up today? As for Cooks. Yep he's good in this league but.... Well you know he’s good in this league. Forget him going to the NBA. It ain’t happening. Let’s go Sydney

I think Buford will be fine today, no explosions, re that most call will go his way. Hopefully we get a fair shake for both teams and best team wins.

Not on kayo freeby yet ??

Ridiculous reffing

Kuol's 2nd wasn't there

As expected, refs calling the soft stuff and helping Sydney

Fast becoming a repeat of Game 3 2020 semi finals

2 fouls each on 3 key Taipans players in the 1st. Yep as usual. I hope every team and every coach acts like Chase to send a message to the nbl. It would kill the game but frankly the league deserves it at this point.

Kayo Freebies stream unwatchable with the constant buffering.

Snakes by six at quarter time. Three Cairns starters on two fouls, it's going to hurt down the stretch. Fernandez dropped from reffing the game. Good start by Cooks. Home cooking, now two fouls on Waardenburg, McCall, Hogg and Quol at start second.

NBL are not going to let the Taipans win

They need the Kings to get through. Much larger market, they need there revenue.

The crowds are already low for the finals series.

A Taipans JJs final would be a disaster for LKs bank account.

It's hard to believe it’s rigged, it’s just as I said above, they don’t want upset Buford, all close decisions going to Sydney, snakes can’t win this.

It was rigged the moment there were no suspensions.

Can't see Cairns lasting t(e distance.

But I hope they can keep a similar team and approach next year. Really push the underachieving underdogs message to gain sponsorship dollars and bring in a bit more depth for next year.

You do have to wonder about a small market team ever making the gf series again though.

Yeah, a small market team hasn't made the grand final in almost a year.

Another horrible call on Kuol, even commentary now saying it's crap.

This one's over, anyone wanting to watch a genuine and authentic sporting contest would be better off watching the dunk contest.

Cairns exploding a bit, got stay in control.

Now we see why abusing the referees pays dividends. Is it no wonder coaches and players at grass roots think it is an okay tactic

I really hope Forde goes nuclear in the presser. It's warranted and the NBL needs to hear the message loud and clear.

@ Knowall, you have hit that nail on the head. I'm big basketball fan, it’s days like today that I think what the f..k. It’s like the time Bogut got that call against Spain that I think give it away but just keep watching.

Last play of first half, cairns defender bumped (illegally screened) as he tried to get a hand on the shooter

Cooks got away with a blatant push off on a box out earlier

They're calling every foul they can find on Cairns, but not calling as much the other way

Repeat of 2020.

I'm a lifer 50 plus years in the game, bitch at the refs get a soft fine worth it when you get the game officiated to suit. Next week I got to explain to my kids and parents that’s not how we roll.

Yikes, had to check if Jacket was posting because it looks like a lot of hate watching going on considering the foul count is so close

Ain't no rule says the foul count has to be even.

Snakes are doing us, the people, proud.

Pathetic.

Attendance: 7,123

Also pathetic.

Seriously, push before the "HOOK" basket counts? How can there be a continuation after an offensive foul, acknowledged and not called...
A fair result would have been side-ball. It was an impressive hook though

Refs need to step up, throwing an elbow after a call? That would be in the realms of a Tech..

Cairns get a USF that should have been a no-call, Sydney get a no-call that should have been a USF.

This is getting seriously embarrassing for the officials. Cook a protected species allowed to push off, push in the back and now check players after the whistle. Wouldn't be moaning if Cairns were allowed to the same thing

When Ayre got whacked by Cooks, he should've roll around on the ground in agony, Forde should have charged on throwing his arms around and swearing and then they might got the call.

kr yeah JJs made final last year.

BUT cairns are community owned, not a part of the NBL clique at all and not really in the grand plans for the NBL's future. I like that, because I love the underdog narrative.

Cut me some slack, don’t feed me facts.

LOL at all the conspiracy theories and ref bitching as always. Are there any friggen adults left on this board? Cairns have nobody to blame other than themselves with terrible shot selection, missing open shots and poor turnovers. But yeah, let's blame the refs.

It's not entirely the refs' fault, the GRP is culpable as well.

Refs didn't fuck Cairns nearly as hard as they fucked Melbourne a few years back, but they quite clearly fucked them.

League gets its wish, and I get some free time in my evenings. Fuck watching this garbage.

Cairns only had 1 FG the WHOLE last qtr

And that came in the first 20 seconds of the QTR

LOLOL

Neither is my team. I expected Sydney to just be too strong. Credit to Cairns for staying in it for so long.

I support open and honest basketball, refereed and played with integrity. I was left shaking my head too often in that one to be convinced that it was an even playing field in terms of how the rules were applied.

Such a hollow victory, with Sydney given a bit of assistance which they really didn't need anyway.

Sydney in the end we're always going to be to good, it just be good if the refs were more even handed.
Yes McCall was horrendous in the last that cost snakes any chance of victory.
United getting screwed a couple seasons back was worse but everyone got soft spot for Cairns where as united didn’t matter as much.

Perhaps another forum required but here I go.
Yes the refs cop it. Soft call, bad call, no call but you can't have Buford blowing up deluxe in Game 2 & the NBL do zero about it. On the court abusing refs & then down the barrel of the camera. Not acceptable. As for the NBL, a small fine to Buford. A joke. Set an example. 3 game ban. Yep. Final series. Tough luck. Hell keep his mouth shut or next time it’s 5 games. And... I’m a Kings supporter.

Agree with both @ hoopie and @ Jatz.

And lets not forget, Cairns did that without Pinder (17ppg, 9 rbds) and Shannon Scott (10ppg, 5 a)

Not only did you not punish Chase enough, you removed the referee he abused. So you sent the message it is okay to abuse officials and if you do so we will remove them for you... what a mess the nbl has created.

Perthworld 546 - Fans only had 24 hours to buy tickets (tickets released at 2pm Saturday for the general public, and game at 2pm the next day). Much too fast for a casual fan to find out about the game. Grand final not until March 3rd so I suspect much higher attendance there! (aside from the fact that it's a GF)

So true. The NBL seemed to have totally made a mess of this. It is now in the coaches interest to blow up at a ref , get off and also have the ref removed. Now the coach can do what ever he likes !

Sometimes I think that the refs talk too much to the players. One explanation is enough. Not go on and on. They need to show that they are in charge

How does Cooks get away with raising his forearm into Ayre, well after the whistle? Had potential to start a brawl. Surely worth a tech/usf?

And how does Noi get away with pushing McCall, right in front of the ref?

What a joke

Well done Taipans- the most deserving team for this year's title. Pushing the series that far without two key pieces is super impressive (and they could've won game 1, too).

Bring on next season, love the way they play, I'm on the bandwagon (except when they play United)

The message this gives to coaches
- if you be quiet and never say anything bad against the NBL: refs will probably ignore you but at least they won't penalise you
- however, if you kick up a fuss in support of your player: expect a tech and probably be made an example of by the NBL hierarchy
- unless you can use the Buford Clause (also known as the 'too big to fail’ clause): if you’re the coach of the top team in a market we MUST NOT LOSE then anything goes, and we’ll even bend over to keep you happy (forwards, backwards, sideways, your choice)

If anything shows me how much the market rules the product, this is it. FMD!!

Sydney have certainly had luck on their side in recent years

2020, made the GF courtesy of some helpful reffing in game 3 of the semi final. In 30 years of watching sport, there's been very few comparable games I've seen where you can categorically say the reffing helped one team get the victory

They then bailed from the GF over covid concerns. The NBL rightfully handed the title to Perth (arguably with a small asterisk but it was still the right call) and Sydney spent ensuing years botching and moaning.

Fast forward to 2022. Chris Goulding misses game 3 and Tassie defeats United who'd been the top team all year. Instead of having to beat Vickerman and United in Melbourne, this hands Sydney home court advantage against the rookie JJ's.

2023,the Taipans are missing the MVP of the early part of the season, Pinder, plus one of McCall/Scott in each game. Sydney has quite helpful refereeing, and still doesn't seal the result until the final 2.5 minutes of game 3.

And not only did they have helpful reffing in Game 3, but their coach abused the refs looking into the TV cameras and despite having a suspended sentence over ref abuse is allowed to coach game 3- where the refs protect his best player Cooks as if he were the Queen Mother in wartime

I'm not generally a conspiracy theorist but this all fails the smell test

He already missed a game for the suspended sentence but don't let me get in the way of your ridiculous conspiracy theory.

All the more reason his penalty should have been harsher this time.

He literally looked into the camera and said "Chris Reid sucks" 3 minutes left in 3rd

Later, stormed onto court and threw about 8 F bombs

It's pretty astounding when you think about it.

If this was a professional league like the AFL, more would be done. No one abuses umps in the AFL, not players or coaches.

If the call was deemed correct he would have deserved more punishment. As Noi received a cut head & a flop warning i think the NBL overlooked the tantrum.

Buford & Soares should have got 1 game each to level the playing field.

Imagine this series with a fit Pinder, Scott & McCall (yes he played but was struggling) - unfortunately we'll never know.

Well done to Cairns & let's do it again next season!!