Isaac
Years ago

Grand Final Game 1: Breakers vs Perth, Apr 7

Anyone expecting anything less than a cracking grand final series this year?

Odds are out today for Game 1 with the Breakers strong favourites at home and picked to win by 5-6:

New Zealand Breakers 1.35 (-5.5) 1.90 (-7.5) 2.10
(1-10) 2.85
(11+) 2.45
(+10.5) 1.05

Perth Wildcats 3.20 (+5.5) 1.90 (+3.5) 2.10
(1-10) 4.55
(11+) 9.00
(+10.5) 1.53

Over (+156.5) 1.90
Under (+156.5) 1.90

So strange to see Perth above $3, even on the road.

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Triton 95  
Years ago

GO BREAKERS!

Reply #412373 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Not sure what time it will be on here in SA on One HD on Sunday. I've read 2pm but EPG says 3pm. The game supposedly starts at 1:30pm so either 30 min delay or 90 min delay.

Reply #412384 | Report this post


The Situation  
Years ago

The EPG may not be factoring in that DLS ends on Sunday in NZ, so that would mean only a 30 minute delay.

Right?

#confused

Reply #412385 | Report this post


Dunkin' Dan  
Years ago

$3.20 seems high to me, though for my own irrational superstitious reasons I'm not planning to put my money where my mouth is.
On the other hand I think that NZ at -7.5 to pay $2.10 seems decent value. When the Cats lose they often lose big.

Reply #412386 | Report this post


Pay back  
Years ago

Who are the refs? Hope they call the game the same both ways thats all, if they do then perth will get it. Cj can just bump into some and get a call only thing he is good at is hitting the 3 ball from the car park when he want and when he needs 2. Just send jackson to the fouline for fresh air shots and the cats will be fine

Reply #412398 | Report this post


Triton 95  
Years ago

Breakers fans should BOO Lisch from the tip off. Although he doesn't have a good shooting % anyway so it probably doesn't matter.

Reply #412412 | Report this post


The Situation  
Years ago

Be careful not to BAA or you'll distract some of the locals.

Reply #412414 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

Dunkin' Dan, I wondered if the line was worth a look too. If Perth are down 3-4 towards the end and are fouling to claw back, they're just as likely to lose by 7-9?

Might go with a small bet on Perth head-to-head. They can generally cover defensively when any individual piece is missing.

Reply #412417 | Report this post


KingJames  
Years ago

Isaac, I like the line for NZ. I think they will win this first game by 6+

Reply #412429 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Breakers in two! Simple.

Reply #412454 | Report this post


jim  
Years ago

Love to see Breakers do this easy then clean it up in Perth.

But expecting a cracking GF series. Both fantastic sides.

Reply #412455 | Report this post


Pikachu  
Years ago

The questions is , who's game is it to lose?

#BREAKERNATION

Reply #412459 | Report this post


Nike Al  
Years ago

Wildcats by 10 points

Reply #412467 | Report this post


jim  
Years ago

^ wow

Reply #412469 | Report this post


Statman  
Years ago

So what happened to the exciting new contract the NBL signed with Channel 10 that was to show a game live every Sunday at 2pm? We get the the most important game of the season and find the telecast buried on One

Last season when the league bowed to pressure to renegotiate the TV deal rather than hold the network to their original 5 year deal most lauded the decision as being the right thing to do and helping build the relationship with 10 - well that's worked out great hasn't it - 2 weeks ago we even had no arvo coverage of a game at all so channel 10 could show the same thing on 2 channels, and again nothing the NBL even says about it let alone actually taking action to hold the network to their contractual obligations!

It's high time the league grew some balls and stood up for itself when it's so called partners just do as they please to the detriment of the league!

Reply #412599 | Report this post


Mystro  
Years ago

Hammercrombie over Matty Knight WOW!

Reply #412607 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

First NBL game I've watched all year. How did Perth get in the Grand Final. They CANNOT shoot! Painful to watch.

Reply #412608 | Report this post


Kev  
Years ago

Dear perth,
Please stop shooting the three when you are hitting less than 30%

Reply #412611 | Report this post


Bevo  
Years ago

Dear Kev,
You should know me better by now. I don't have a Plan B.

Reply #412612 | Report this post


Pikachu  
Years ago

Tough game, crowd was livid
Refs were abit touchy
Go the NZ BREAKERS!

Reply #412614 | Report this post


PeterJohn  
Years ago

Anon - They are the second worst shooting team in the league, ahead only of Townsville.

Their offensive rebounding has saved them all season but I've always felt that their offensive rebound numbers are very much inflated by the extra rebounding opportunities their poor shooting generates. However, NZ are better than every team in the league at making it hard to get the offensive rebounds, putting the pressure back on Perth's shooting.

Based on some estimates I did a few weeks ago, I reckon Perth's YTD field goal percentage at that stage was between 25% and 30% for their first shot in each offence. However, their shooting improved considerably in the last 3-4 weeks of the regular season, so they may have gotten above 30% by the end of the season.

Reply #412615 | Report this post


Mick  
Years ago

The plan to give everard bartlett a green light from several feet beyond the three point line under full defensive coverage didnt really pay off...

Reply #412616 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

Love Matt Knight's game but pretty scrappy otherwise from Perth. Why did they persist with Bartlett jacking threes at the end rather than playing Carter? Bartlett was rarely close.

In contrast, most of the Breakers played well or at least had their share of moments. They definitely get a lot of dunks. Webster seems a more mature player this season.

Jackson was very sour when fouled out at the end despite his team having a comfortable lead. Thought Noos was going to give him a dummy and his milk.

Good games from Abercrombie, Pledger and Vukona.

Breakers can sag off Robbins completely. Looks shaky coming back into the team and has even less of an interest than usual in putting up a shot.

Reply #412617 | Report this post


PlaymakerMo  
Years ago

Brad Robbins = the difference maker

Reply #412618 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

The cats were deplorable! They did well to keep the margin within a getable deficit for most of the night but could not hit an open shot all night. Martins absence makes a huge difference on the offensive end because they lacked their usual ball movement and penetration and dish. Carter should have played more minutes.. lisch was given too much responsibility of handling the ball. And bevos decision to sub off knight and redhage in the last quarter when they reduced the margin to 6-7 points is bewildering. Almost immediately the momentum swung back to NZ when truemans clumsiness turned the ball over. I dont understand his policy of rotating players. Its only a 40 minute game and if the team is with striking distance in the last quarter it doesn't makes sense taking off two of your three best players of the night. Full credit to NZ for playing the perfect game. They took the wildcats out of how they want to play. I wouldn't be so disappointed with the loss if the wildcats at least played to their potential and we would have then seen a great GF.

Reply #412620 | Report this post


Disgrace  
Years ago

The refs are fuckn disgrace!!! Hire offensive foul? Perth v NBL U perth cant beat nz when ayllen is in charge!!

Reply #412623 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Forget blaming the refs... the Wildcats were terrible enough all on their own. The refs didn't cause them to shoot at 28℅.

Reply #412626 | Report this post


Tyrell  
Years ago

Bartlett seemed like he wanted to make a point to his hometown and was trying too hard. I think Martin's halftime comments, about the team taking shots they haven't taken all season, would have been directed at Bartlett.

I liked Butler's comments about the replay- "i don't tell you to look at the replay when i'm right".

Reply #412627 | Report this post


Dunkin' Dan  
Years ago

We were shooting like crap from outside, but all Bevo could come up with in the timeout was to instruct everyone to keep shooting, so that's what we did. And *shock* we kept on missing.

I thought NZ's defence was superb. That's what won them the game.
They knew exactly what they would let us have and what they wouldn't. They made life very hard for Knight & Lisch, and challenged the rest of the team to beat them. They weren't up to it. Cats don't face that level of intensity very often from an opponent, and frankly we do not deal with it very well (not helped of course by Martin being out).

Great cameo from Corletto too.

Reply #412629 | Report this post


HoldenV8  
Years ago

Based on the attendance of 9,330 at the Vector Arena, I reckon the NBL would be privately hoping that the Wildcats win Game 2 in Perth and force a 3rd game. I'll be surprised if the game at the Perth Arena isn't a sellout, and a 3rd game in Auckland would probably see another capacity crowd.

Reply #412630 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Really needed Dunigan today.

Should have got rid of Tovey and Bartlett to keep him

Reply #412633 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Damian Martin's underrated value was on show for all to see today. Perth just didnt look like the same team.

Reply #412635 | Report this post


Pikachu  
Years ago

Perth perth perth, stfu!
The breakers outplayed y'all tonight
Stop blaming your teams lack of performance
Acknowledge the team that won and left it all on the floor
Tired of these excuses
The refs aren't perfect

Reply #412638 | Report this post


The Situation  
Years ago

Agreed with HoldenV8. I'd be very surprised if the Cats lose game 2.

Aylen didn't call the offensive foul on Hire so its for nothing to do with him. There were some bad calls but nothing too outrageous. Perth need to address their scoring problem before next season, they can't rely on just the two guys all the time.

Reply #412639 | Report this post


wildcat  
Years ago

Any Wildact fan blaming the ref's is way off. We lost the game on our own by continually jacking up 3 pointers, when it was quite clear we couldn't hit the water if we fell out of the boat. Terrible shooting effort cosy us.

Reply #412640 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Agreed! Bevo has been saying for the past three seasons that they need to improve their shooting. But not much change in the roster? You cant just turn on better shooting with a flick of the switch. If you dont have the cattle you cant expect them to become clutch shooters in a high pressure finals game. Its easy for the opposition to sag off two or three players who cant make a jumper.

Reply #412641 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I didnt think the game was as good as it could have been. good intensity but wasnt exactly a showcase of great skill..

Reply #412649 | Report this post


Mick  
Years ago

Well outside of Lisch and Knight, there isn't really anyone on Perth's side who I would say plays with "great skill". They get by on their hustle and system.

New Zealand was just a class act. Their defense and passing were a level above Perth. The whole team played unselfishly and played aggressive.

Reply #412660 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Redhage has amazing skill when firing, touch on his floaters and bank shots is very impressive and hes a very good passer for a 3-4.

Reply #412664 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

Funny how a team at their best is viewed one way, and after a loss another way. During the season, how many were talking down the Perth players?

Reply #412667 | Report this post


Mystro  
Years ago

I would have gotten Matty Knight a touch on every possesion and tried to get Pledger and Hudson more fouls before resorting to bombing away from deep. Especially as Pledger has historically struggled to guard him due to his physical strength and skill set.

IMO Pledger did a fantastic job at both ends against the best Big in the league currently and it should give him some confidence heading into game 2.
I also like Corletto's D on Lisch, not that Websters was bad it just that Darryls was better.

Reply #412668 | Report this post


PeterJohn  
Years ago

FWIW Isaac, after the Townsville-Perth game in Perth I put the view that it was surprising to see a team with Perth's poor shooting in the top 2 on the NBL and that it's something that I'd not expect to see in other leagues around the world. Mind you, that game was diabolical and one of the worst displays of shooting the NBL had seen from 2 teams in the same game.

For those expecting Perth to shoot a lot better in the next game, don't hold your breath. While they had a lot of missed 3 pointers deflating their overall shooting percentage, they only hit 38% of their 2 point shots as well. That's normal for them. They rely on offensive rebounding - it provided 1 out of every 6 points for them yesterday, compared to NZ's 1 of 16. I don't expect that to change greatly in Game 2 as it hasn't all year.

They have to work on bringing NZ's shooting down a level - probably by forcing them to shoot from further out. In saying this, I note that NZ had more turnovers than Perth and will probably fix that in game 2.

Reply #412678 | Report this post


Dunkin' Dan  
Years ago

I don't think that conceding 79 points is too bad. Scoring only 67 is where the big issue is.
I don't magically expect our shooting percentage to skyrocket next game, but yesterday was unusually poor even by our low standards.

Bevo & the guys need to come up with more effective ways of running the offence in the face of NZ's pressure. Whichever way you look at it, hitting some outside shots is a necessary part of that equation. We also need to not be so fussy from mid range. Guys like Knight, Redhage & Hire can hit those, and need to be less fussy. I think we've been too predictable in passing up those looks but too often it ends with a drive and a kick-out to someone on the perimeter who is not a good shooter.
It definitely hurt us not having Damo to get the offence started in a timely manner as well. We were rushed by shot clock pressure a lot more yesterday than we are used to, and that obviously doesn't help with creating good looks. NZ pressed very effectively and we were poor at getting through it. Normally we would attack it and generate some easy scores as a result. Yesterday we were too willing to give up the initiative to the Breakers.

Reply #412699 | Report this post


Pikachu  
Years ago

Why do wildcats fans have no respect for the breakers?
They are the champs, they played like champs and won like champs. This GF series is the breakers to lose , Lemanis has done a great job the last 5 years. Especially the last 2seasons taking home the championship. Perth have dominated this league for so long , anchoring themselves as team alpha but can't shoot. NZ couldn't rebound a few years back, let alone play defence. Is the league better because they have won championships?
Maybe this is a rebuilding phase , talent wise for the rest of the league. But the 2 best teams are in the final, well deserving of them. The real winners are the fans, wether the stadiums big or small, teams winning or not. But showing up is only half the game, getting buckets gets the W. Expect nz to go for it on Friday night. #3peat

Reply #412701 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

Relying on rebounds works against a team like Wollongong, but not so much NZ?

Perth have capable shooters in Lisch, Redhage, Knight, Hire, Wagstaff, etc. But some of them looked pretty flat yesterday. If it were Adelaide denying Lisch and Knight, we'd get burnt badly by Redhage and co. For NZ, the strategy was a masterstroke.

Reply #412702 | Report this post


Pay back  
Years ago

Piss poor effort for a grand final! Only keep knight lisch and redhage at this stage from that team.

Reply #412703 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Rebounding works against NZ too, just not if you shoot 28%!!

Perth go very close to winning that game even if they shoot 38%, which is well below their road average this season. That's the positive theyll take out of that game if they make it to a G3.

Reply #412704 | Report this post


Howto  
Years ago

Is Casey Frank the most biased 'commentator' on TV ? Surprised he didn't pull out the pom poms. I would say Eddie McGuire is a distant second.

Reply #412705 | Report this post


The Situation  
Years ago

Pikachu, we are discussing facets of the game. I know its foreign to kiwis but there is more to following sport than yelling "go breakers woo!!" as loud and often as possible.

I think its quite obvious to all viewers of the game that the Cats shot themselves out of it. What else needs to be said?

Reply #412707 | Report this post


Dunkin' Dan  
Years ago

"Why do wildcats fans have no respect for the breakers?"

Why are breakers fans all illiterate dicks?
Oh wait, they're not. Guess I shouldn't paint an entire group of tens of thousands of people with one brush based on one or two posts huh. That'd be kinda stupid and pointless wouldn't it.

Reply #412717 | Report this post


The Situation  
Years ago

You'd be close though.

Reply #412719 | Report this post


Mystro  
Years ago

"You'd be close though."


unlike the Cats?



Reply #412722 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I think its quite obvious to all viewers of the game that the Cats shot themselves out of it. What else needs to be said?


Quite obvious the Breakers defence forced the Wildcats into jacking up a thousand three pointers.

Try and give the better team a bit of credit.



Reply #412730 | Report this post


eli1  
Years ago

Nice to see the form team of the comp win Game 1. Hopefully can close it out and win again.
Nothing like seeing the wildcats gain the status of 'bridesmaids again'

Reply #412733 | Report this post


Cats82  
Years ago

Shot 28% in a grand final away from home and only lost by 12. Why credit the other team when u lost the game ureself. Sick of every time nz get a foul called they just coplain! How cj still gets bullshit calls is just embbarasing

Reply #412734 | Report this post


The Situation  
Years ago

"Quite obvious the Breakers defence forced the Wildcats into jacking up a thousand three pointers."

The Wildcats don't need to be forced to shoot a shitload of threes. Its been their gameplan for the past 4 seasons.

Reply #412735 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

To shoot nearly 50% of their field goal attempts from downtown? Yeah right.

Reply #412743 | Report this post


The Situation  
Years ago

Almost every player in the team has got the green light to shoot if they're open. Try watching games instead of reading boxscores.

Reply #412745 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I did and it was excellent defence from the Breakers to force the Wildcats into jacking up a thousand three pointers.

And around we go again.

Reply #412759 | Report this post


Mick  
Years ago

I find it hilarious when Wildcats fans complain about refs being biased towards the OTHER team...

Reply #412765 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Or commentators!

Casey Frank is too biased? Lachie Reid says Hi

Reply #412769 | Report this post


Howto  
Years ago

Yeah nice one Casey aka annon769

Reply #412797 | Report this post


Pikachu  
Years ago

Paint the town blue, perth did great considering they shot 100+ shots not including free throws!
Shoot another 50 next time? At your own goal to make sure it goes in!
Now if game 2 is a different game and perth win, nobody will be baggin them shooting nearly 40 3pointers in game 1
The story will be all perfect and smiles all around , fairytale game 3 blah blah blah

Getting buckets isn't a "facest" of the game?

Reply #412803 | Report this post


The Situation  
Years ago

They shot 74 shots.

Reply #412808 | Report this post


Pikachu  
Years ago

Missed 53 of them

Reply #412833 | Report this post


The Situation  
Years ago

Cool, but they didn't shoot 100+

Reply #412835 | Report this post


Pikachu  
Years ago

Does it matter now? I still got my moneys worth from Tom Waterhouse

Reply #412836 | Report this post


Tyrell  
Years ago

What was the go with Vukona's 'grab' off the ring from a wildcat free throw?

Reply #412880 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

On the second free throw its a live ball once it hits the ring so it was a pretty good heads up play by vukona

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Dunkin' Dan  
Years ago

I thought it was fine, and I thought that was legal, although I could swear that I saw a very similar incident in a recent NBL game whistled as a goal tend so I was no longer sure if it was still kosher to do it.

Reply #412888 | Report this post


Tyrell  
Years ago

Yer, commentators didn't say anything, none of the players remonstrated so I thought it was all okay. But, and I'm not sure if it was before or after this play, that Pledger was called for a goal tend on Knight. I thought of the ball was in the 'cylinder' then it wa a goal tend?

Reply #412892 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Dunkin' Dan i think i know which one you are referring to.. on that occasion the player put his hand through the ring to tap the ball away which of course is illegal

Reply #412893 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Tyrell was that off a free throw? Because i remember pledger rejecting knight in general play but the ball had already hit the backboard before pledger made contact with the ball. So that of course is goal tend even if the ball is still in upward motion. Not sure about the rule of being within the "cylinder".. can someone clarify this one?

Reply #412894 | Report this post


Tyrell  
Years ago

^anon you are correct, it was the pledger block where the ball had hit the backboard. Interesting to find out more about the cylinder ruling.... On the topic of free throws, the breakers have been off for the last few games, namely game 2 v Sydney and this last game just gone!

Reply #412904 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

lachie Reid is the number one ticket holder for the wildcats and was the court side announcer for years.. i think there's reason why he comes across as bias..

the commentators calling the game just gone said that whilst New Zealand are an excellent team and the powerhouse of the competition, the wildcats have a roster lacking talent but good on them for making finals 27 years in a row.

lacking talent? i don't think so..

Reply #413071 | Report this post


Mystro  
Years ago

"lachie Reid is the number one ticket holder for the wildcats and was the court side announcer for years.. i think there's reason why he comes across as bias.."



Casey Frank was a Breaker and played with most of the Breakers for the Tall Blacks, thats the reason he comes across as bias..

Reply #413081 | Report this post


Pikachu  
Years ago

breakers by 6 come Friday night?

Reply #413101 | Report this post




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