i will be at the game today and hoping it goes to game 3.........hoping!!

on paper nz is far too deep for cairns.
they are have long defenders with sticky hands and great shooters.

cairns has heart and determination.

maybe it will be the old - team full of champions(nz) vs champion team(cairns)

cairns by 6

Cairns will ride the emotion for a heart stopping 2 point win! I'm praying this will happen!!

There is no way Loughton is going to be scoreless in this game, like last game! 9 more turnovers by Cairns last game cost them but you would think this game they would be more careful with the ball.

Wilkinson had one of those games where he is unstopabble with 15 points in 15 minutes. He could be a huge factor in this game if he continues his ways and plays 30 minutes. CJ had a poor game so expect him to step up this game.

NZ went to Perth and won. If they are the strong championship side that they are they will finish it today otherwise cairns will have a near perfect game and win to take it back to NZ. Cairns are yet to beat NZ this season I wonder if that will be a factor.

Cairns by 5

Cairns will struggle.
Ubaka must decide to get involved offensively, erratic though he is.
Laughton has to get 20 points, and 10 of those have to be in the paint.
Dorsey can't settle for the jump shot, and must attack the rim.
Then and only if those 3 things happen will they have half a chance, but I expect the Breakers to close it out.

Really looking forward to this one.
Don't forget to watch it live on ONE HD.

Taipans will win. Go the Snakes!!

Load of crap anon.

'Can New Zealand bounce back'.....that'll do Steve, surely a new lead commentator for next year! Carfino has lost whatever he had.

Go Taipans, make it a series.

this is awful

Braswell is soooo bad. He is a joke of a player. That pass was so poor, but nothing compares to his shot selection through out!

o/t

OT it is!!

CJ so insanely clutch!

Worst NBL grand final game ever.

Stand corrected, little fatty just won the ugliest game of all time.

I was gonna say fizz, time for some humble pie

Wow Ron Dorsey! Huge three to keep the game alive. Game might have been shit, but you can't argue with the end and OT!!

Andrew Gaze..... Would you forward the ball, or keep it in the backcourt? Idiot!! Learn the rule! You have to advance, you don't get a choice!

Dorsey!!!!!! Holy shit! Huge three! Double OT. Worst grand final ever???? You have got to be kidding me!! First ever double OT in a grand final series!

Think I'm going to have to take back that earlier call. LOL.
Worst 4 quarters of grand final basketball ever.
Pretty damn amazing stuff since then though.

WOW

HOLY FRICKEN WOW!!!

I love this game.

good for the game - home team getting a w in front of a sell out

Hey Anon dont try & tell me NZ wanted this to go to 3 games. The only conspiracy is in your head mate!

just got home from the game......wow,the atmosphere was electric,the place went crazy & everyone left there exhausted.
really good for basketball in general,live on national tv.
i think the cairns fans raised the bar this season with their passion.
ron dorsey looks purpose built for our nbl and tonight showed what a great defender he is also.
he gave penny zero free looks from three point range.

post game the boys celebrated like they had won the title.....in their fans eye's they did!!

Here is everything you need to know about this game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rWkxF5fv2I

That last 3 to force O/T was such a Brett Maher thing.

Great game and big props to the Taipans, especially Dorsey on making some huge shots to take the win and force game 3.
Some amazing clutch 3's from both teams.
I was off my seat screaming at the t.v lol

It had it all! CJ for a clutch 3, Dorsey was amazing, Dillon hit a big one, Braswell thought he was in Perth again with 2 daggers. The only guy who didn't come up big was Penney. That won't happen twice!! Skull, Dorsey looks NBA material to me - the guy is a superstar! Is the game 3 @ 5.30 on Friday (aussie time)?

Sorry, but at the risk of losing any credibility I may or may not ever had I agree with anonymous.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any means but if you watch that game carefully there is plenty to suggest NZ (or just some key players, coach?) were doing everything they possibly could to throw that game in my opinion.

Did you see Kirk Penney's reaction when CJ hit that off balance three? He didn't blink. Didn't raise his arms, didn't smile. Nothing. I could point out a few more but then I sound like Wikileaks.

But to finish, in game 1 NZ were up by 31 points with both teams playing hard, by that I mean it wasn't junk time that blew that margin out.

Then at the start of Game 2 Sportsbet have Cairns favourite to win the game! Come on! A 31 point turn around?

In my opinion NZ were stuck with winning that game so it wouldn't look obvious. And were only saved by incredible Cairns shots.

I don't think they were going to slit their wrists because they won the grand final in two games, but it wasn't their preferred option - in my opinion.

Absolutely stupid thought Ineedmore, it would be a MASSIVE screw up for NZ if they lost the next game, and there is NEVER a guarentee they can win it. DO you think any player would stay after losing a Grand Final because the club wanted more money.....

I think they tried to lose the game.

If they tried to lose that game CJ would have missed the "3" to put it in the 1st OT you knob!

ineedmore- i'm here to tell you nz left it all on the court yesterday,re-penney reaction -he is a professional,i have never seen him over react to anything.his body language is a little odd at times as is all the shooters for nz,you are never sure who is putting their hand up for the next crazy shots.
cj- does not look fit and is no longer able to play long stints as an impact player.
loughton is the concern for cairns,if he can play to his ability next friday this game is no certainty for nz.(imo alex is really suffering with that groin injury)
i am impressed with vikona,when he fouled out the momentum shifted.
there was no conspiracy to lose that game !!

Who would have blamed CJ for missing that three? Off balance and rushed...

I'm sure you are all probably right, I'm just crazy.

I just feel I could make such a case for it!

The guy that throws the spanner in the works for my theory is probably Braswell. He throws the ball out of bounds then hits big shots....

Wilkinson made the all star five I beieve, but plays just over half of the most important game (at the time) of the year? He doesn't match up well with Crosswhite or Loughton...please

Oh, geez, I've become a conspiracy theorist.

Penny doesn't hit a three.... his leg is wrapped up..

Somebody stop me!

Nz wanted to win but Cairns wanted to win that one more.

I was suss on the whole win it at home thing, but the Breakers went for it. I really hope they lose at home, would make a disastrous NBL season from a 36er fans point of view a touch nicer. Dorsey is not NBA material but has to be on the 6ers radar something chronic! Gibson is everyones number one option, but i say get Dorsey at all costs, especially if Ballinger is going to play as he did this season gone...as the 6ers 'franchise player'.

I don't think there is anyway Cairns will get within 15 points of NZ, with the exception of a lot of garbage time.

Anon & Ineedmore get off the bongs!!

People said the same thing about Lisch last season only because he had a good final series and everyone then got excited because of that. This season if he played as he did for Perth for the Sixers then he would have gotten sacked. No way would I make Doresy a franchise player instead of Ballinger! He isn't even the best import on his team.

Penney and Wilkinson both look Injured

I hope Cairns win it now as NZ should have won that but stuffed up.

If CJ falls during that shot by Dorsey to send it into 2nd OT do the refs call a foul? It looked like a massive push off to get open. The refs would never call it as they would get murdered.

ineedmore- let me guess,i suppose a 14 to 12 scoreline in the first qtr is what you would call 'garbage time'
to me mate,that was intense defence and absolutely how basketball should be played,teams need adjust quicker and find other ways to score.

there is a big chance nz will win the final.

there is a small chance cairns will win the final.

'bring on garbage time'

let's roll the dice !!

orbit- i don't think dorsey is nba material,but i do think he is purpose built for the NBL game.
i love his defence as much as his offence,he is panther like in d, long and quick to recover.
we see a lot of dorsey types come into the league then head off for greener $$ pastures.
with the aussie dollar so high we might get them to stay a little longer because a bad day in australia is still better than a good day in beirut.

Thats a good point kingjames. Lisch had the 2nd year blues but would never get cut due to his mvp finals campaign the year prior. He also produced his game of the season in game 1 in NZ to reward his club of their faith.

Skull this worries me of Dorsey & Ubaka if they get retained next season. Will they rest on their laurels? A full 2nd year in the NBL will see how good Dorsey really is! I hope Cairns have the $$$ to keep them!

Id take Dorsey over Ubaka....he would give the 6ers more in every category than Ballinger.

King James, NZ stuffed up? Dorsey hit some unbelievable shots with the D draped all over him.
Cairns stepped up at home at got the deserved win but to say Nz stuffed up diminishes the effort of the Taipans.

Skull, with "garbage time' i'm referring to when "bench players' get on the court and play more minutes than they normally would, which really only happens in blow outs and at the end of fourth quarters.

you've lost me ineedmore,what part of the game are you referring to ?
the longer the game went, the more players got in foul trouble,both teams played out the game with their best teams on the court!!

refer to - orbit-reply-315990

because Cairns won that game does that mean they cheated the salary cap???

"NZ stuffed up? Dorsey hit some unbelievable shots with the D draped all over him."

Mystro were we watching the same game? The first 3 he was completely open at the top of the key. The second 3 he was open as well (after pushing CJ out of the way), it was a long way away though.

On the first occasion I'm pretty sure Penney was guarding him. Why was he guarding him instead of Abercrombie or Boucher? Also why wasn't there a switch on any screen? Instead they gave him an Open 3.

On the second occasion why was CJ guarding him anyway?

They had it in the bag and then stuffed up. I don't think it diminishes the effort of the Taipans. The Taipans should have won it in regulation but let NZ stay in the game. In the end their effort was better then NZ.

skull- vukona was fouled out and thus both teams did not play out the game with their best players on the floor.

nz needed to get into their half court motion more- and run penney through some off balls.

ron dorsey is an excitement machine, and whilst i am a nz fan- i am glad he did hit that shot to tie the game away, because had he missed it, everyone would have gone on to pinpoint his slip (which could have "cost them seconds" and then how he is selfish!!!)- great player, great bloke!!

in nz it will be a different story and us fans will get them over the line.

tyrell- yep,vikona and loughton fouled out, that comment i made was referring to ineedmore's suggestion that they played 'junk time' at the end with out their best players on the court.

Ineedmore - wouldn't put it past the NBL hoping for a certain scenario, but this was out of their control. NZ had that game wrapped up short of the Dorsey three. You don't try to win a game by accidentally getting to a second OT!

Everyone knows I would like to see Dorsey at the 36ers. Doesn't play Ballinger's position and there's nothing stopping us having both in the team - I think people are reading Fizzle wrong there. His price might go up, but so be it. Dorsey wouldn't/shouldn't be a franchise player, but covers the 'D and three' aspects the 36ers lacked last season.

Great finale to a pretty average game on Sunday. Cairns' body language in the second half was awful, as though they didn't rate themselves at all. Only once they regained a slight lead did they pick up a bit. Concern would now be whether they've "played their GF" - NZ are $1.17 favourites to take it now.

Loughton is due (or will cop a goes-missing-in-big-games tag) but then so are a couple of Breakers.

Would like to see Cairns win Game 3, but I think NZ will run away with a comfortable championship from here.

I also think the Taipans will run out of legs in game 3, but credit to them for giving it everything on Sunday. Was one of the most gripping games I have seen for a while.

Loved the almost prophetic comment by, I think, Gaze, early in the fourth quarter who said that the game would need to go to several overtimes to beat the lowest ever winning score in a GF match of 75. It did and it did!

Hey Skull, my comments about garbage time etc are referring to the upcoming third game of the grand final series.

Breakers have released their development players (BJ Anthony and Josh Bloxham) this week to play in NZNBL for their respected teams.