This game should be a lot closer than the last game but I expect the result to go the same way. Breakers by 8.

Breakers easy, just! As good as they are and on top, i just got that feeling this season only jackson can make them win a championship. Last year they had wilkinson and i think that he and cj got them that title! But, yea crocs beat adelaide 4 times in that 5 n 0 run, if they beat breakers then there back! If not then just a gd boost for the club not havin a donut and being a respectable unit!

The Ben Allen stat you give is because the Croc's bought in Neville.

Breakers haven't been playing great offensively all season, their D is getting them over the line.
That's not to say thay can't get some rhythm going at the business end of the season and get their shots to drop.

Triton, also because he has done nothing in the eyes of the coaches to earn court time. Down Holmes, if he wasn't so out of favour, he'd get time.

Ben Ellen is useless. He may train good but that's it. He shoots the ball up too quick instead of passing, turns the ball over or fouls. We have won the games where he has had little or no input. Crocs in an upset tonight by 1 .

Is this the game on free to air?
Should be good!

Since the Crocs have only beaten 2 teams on their winning streak and 4 of the wins were against Adelaide and the other against Melbourne, I'm pretty sure the Breakers will win this one easy!

We lost a couple of games in overtime this season and close in others . I think we are looking good for an upset.

Bet they wish Holmes was ok. Crocs trailing the rebound count 14-38 atm. Not a typo. Pretty amazing that they're ahead given that discrepency.

LOL at the TSV Croc dressed as a sheep acting comely.

Perhaps put a spoiler alert on this!!


Whay a second half, first Leon Henry and the two late 3 balls, then Cedric takes over with steals and Abercrombie comes up big!! No lead is safe against the Breakers! YEAH WHITE!!

PC you muppet. How is it possible that a guard can have a handle / eye for passing THAT bad?

Ervin and Nevill are absolute pros. They shouldnt have to put up with that sort of nonsense.

A completely unloseable game.

Breakers are a class act; but you can't give them too much credit tonight. They played terribly and just applied slight pressure in the final minutes and watched the non-nevill/Ervin portion of the crocs piss their pants.

Pretty embarrassing to end a winning streak. I give Norton a pass for choking down the stretch because he's a rookie, but PC should feel ashamed of himself.

Should be 6-10 and making an outside push for the playoffs.

Fair points Mick- totally on the money about Ervin and Nevill, they are standouts, it seems that the Crocs are just missing one player (not Holmes) explosive mid size (a 3/4 type) player to compliment Gary and Luke!

Good point Mick, Ben Allen is useless. Inexcusable sloppy play from the crocs down the stretch. Hard to watch. Didn't even look like the same team after the half.

On a side note.

Thanks, to the wanker cop giving out parking tickets at the game. Have parked there for nearly 20 years with no tickets. blatant revenue raising. How about catching real criminals. hope everyone who got stung shows up in court.

Rebound count was 18-44! High boards for the home team was Nevill with just four!

Edit: @nblfacts says it's the lowest rebound total for a team in 22-23 years.

Breakers showing their composure to get the W on the road. Thats 4 road wins in a row. Jackson agonizingly close on another Triple Double with 10 points 10 rebounds 8 assists 3 steals and both Breaker Bigs almost getting Double Doubles (Hudson 10points 8rebounds, Pledger 10points 9rebounds).

Crocs got 16 defensive rebounds, prob was that the Breakers got 17 offensive boards. Final rebound count was 44-18 to NZ, never gonna win games if you can't compete for rebounds but for your opposition to almost get more O boards than all your boards combined is shocking.

Absolutely. Big Nevill needs to put his hand up, three defensive rebounds in 34mins while Pledger and Hudson grabbed eight offensive rebounds in 40mins. Ouch!

Bet Woolpert wishes he got Ervin and Neville in the offseason, would prob be in the top 4.

lol at the commentator calling Leon Henry Corin Henry the entire game

Im sure Woolpert does wish that, but Nevill was at Indiana and Ervin with Zadar. That makes it tough!

If the NBL recorded rebounding statistics like the NBA does, Townsville would have registered a few more (ie. tap outs to a specific player - rebound goes to the tapper, tap out to no one in particular - rebound goes to the guy who secures the ball after the tap out).

Rebounding wasn't the problem though -- we have won five in a row while being significantly outrebounded -- it was weak turnovers in the halfcourt in crunchtime by PC and Norton that cost us the game.

Townsville will never get blowout wins with this roster, because the bench can't score or play defense, that's why it is so important to finish off games.

Mick, NZ took 13 more shots than you meaning you lost shooting 54%. Of course rebounding was the issue!

I disagree Paul.

Townsville was in control and NZ turned up the pressure and forced turnovers from PC and Norton that they then turned into big buckets on the other end.

Obviously rebounding better would have helped build a bigger lead in the first place, but it wasn't what ultimately costed us the game.

We would have won, even with the bad rebounding, if Norton and PC didn't turn the ball over so readily in crunch time.

I hear what you were saying, but had Townsville been rebounding the ball New Zealand wouldnt have been close enough to make that run.

Absolutely.

Rebounding is their biggest problem this season, along with poor shot selection. Take care of the boards early and you put this game out of reach in the second quarter. Unfortunately the Crocs are so shallow that the starters get worn out, which affects effort areas like rebounding. On top of that: our best rebounder when Holmes is out is a 5'8" point guard named Gary Ervin. Not an ideal situation.

Shot selection was fine in this game (having no Holmes helps the poor shot selection but obviously is terrible for the rebounding count), and Nevill isn't a great rebounder for his size.

This was a big game to drop though, would have put the Crocs in fifth spot.

Can't wait for next year with no dregs and no Ben Allen...

Agree Mick, big loss from such a great position, would have been within 2.5 games of Wollongong.

Nevill can rebound, he needs to put his mind to it more, he got his hat handed to him on the boards last night. And that was a good learning experience for Norton, NZ have world class experience and he;ll be better for last night.

Blanchfield looked good early but then what happened?
I went to bed in the 3rd as it was pretty ugly to watch and I figured if I stayed up we'd lose and if I missed it we'd win.

Blanchfield doesn't have a killer instinct, Mystro.

I've still never seen him ATTACK the rim at full speed / with his full jumping potential in the NBL.

As good as he gets (and he is playing insanely efficiently this year), he will never be a guy who takes over games.

Lucky lucky lucky nz!!! There luck will run out soon!! They drop the close ones and thats the difference with them and adelaide, swith the results and could be the breakers be near the bottom. Ervin is in MVP form!!!

The pathetic finish aside, that was probably the most "watchable" game I've seen this season.

Some strange officiating, but lots of dunks and fastbreaks all game long.

Mick. Blanchfield has come on in leaps and bounds. So what is the killer instinct and who in your "expert" opinion has it? Your willingness to sit in judgenment
on all things Crocs is a little infuriating.
"Blanchfield is a much improved player with huge upside, just needs to find that little extra and he could be a star" maybe that kind of comment might make your posts a little more bearable.

Lucky? You make your own luck on a basketball court unless the ref is your Mum and that def wasn't the case in Townsville last night. NZ know how to close out tight games and have guys who perform under pressure.

if we all close our eyes and live in a dream world we can switch the results around and Perth could be back 2 back champions sitting on top of the table @ what? 13-3?
if we keep switching them round I wonder if we can find a scenario where Adelaide haven't lined up another wooden spoon despite securing a decent squad on paper.

I believe Ben Madgen has the instinct that Mick is referring to Anon. didn't see him (Blanchfield) putting his hand up when the game was on the line (just watched a replay)?

I agree Blanchfield is a guy who takes what he gets rather than imposing himself on the game. But he is the third youngest player in the league, give him some time, he is progressing exceptionally well.

It goes both ways: Blanchfield is super efficient right now by taking what he gets and not forcing the issue. Shoots the ball at a great clip and is really consistent. He doesn't have bad games and gets his numbers every night, and his defensive game is getting better with every round. If he was going to be more of a go-to guy, his efficiency would dip with the higher useage rate. I almost want him to take a few more risks, as strange as it sounds, and sacrifice a tiny bit of that efficiency short-term for rhythm and growth, especially this year when the Crocs are not really in contention.

As mentioned above, he is the third youngest player in the league, has physical tools only a few Australian basketball players possess, and is already producing some fantastic basketball for a 21 year old.

Would be good to see him put in a bit more work in the weight room and relish contact and the attacking game a little more. Open up your stride further when you run. When you beat your man, sprint at the basket, don't lull towards it. And when you launch, leave nothing in your knees, jump through the roof. And when you throw it down, throw it down hard young fella. Make the help defense think twice about even contesting it the next time around.

If something is working, go back to it again and again son until someone stops you. And if they stop you? Go even harder and higher the next time, because there are few guys in this league that can stop a 6'7" wing with a deadly outside shot and outstanding athleticism.

He will get there soon -- a bit more work on his ballhandling and strength should allow him to move faster with the ball and the rest will be history.

Actualy mystro yea, if we had redhage or an import like dunigan instead that dud in brown i think perth wouldve gone back 2 back! This yr if they meet again, there aint no three peat! Perth play with 1 import u got half tall black team + 2 imports! :)

There wasn't going to be a repeat last season either! lol stop trolling mate!

omg the Breakers are cheating, they have players who play for their national team playing for them plus 2 American Imports!!! Call the league office and schedule a sit down with Oprah. Make all the excuses you like, the banners hang in the NSEC.

Perth are a great side and if they both make the finals it will be a great series again. Home court will be important and hopefully injuries won't play a part in deciding who comes out on top.
NZ are in a great position to 3peat but it certainly won't be easy. They will certainly need to shoot better than they have been and look after the ball better than they have been but I think they'll continue to improve leading up to the Playoffs.

@ ...

Discrediting the Breakers on that note is like me as a Crocs fan saying "if Townsville didn't recruit horribly in the offseason and only have one import we would be a much better team and therefore every time a team beats them they should have an asterisk next to the 'W'".

Get a clue mate.