I don't think they will contain Goulding, but I think they have enough to go over the line. Breakers by 5

This is the perfect game for Tigers to win.

It will separate them from NZ and catch up to SYD and ADL who lost.

I would expect more output from Farrakhan from here. This is his 4th game and there should be some familiarity with the system now.

Unsure of whether Greer is coming back or not.

This game depends on what type of Wortho and Goulding show up.

If its the Whingy type, Vukona and TA are going to have a good game and NZ victory.

If its the focused team oriented Wortho and Goulding, Tigers should win.

Although I believe NZ are playing much better, a big part of me thinks Tigers will reverse the bad form to date.

Tigers by 2...either way looking forward toa good competitve game.

I'm leaning towards the Tigers for some reason. I like the way the Breakers are picking up, but Goulding won't be quiet on his home court. NZ with a few more gaps than the Tiggers.

Harder to pick than a broken nose.

Tigers by 3

decent game so far.

worthington with a couple of fouls already.

Melbourne up by 6 at the end of the 1st.

Abercrombie being aggressive going to the rim early.
The Tigers shooting the ball well. Farakhan starting to find his feet with 6 points and a couple of rebounds and a steal.

Breakers with some soft turnovers.

Breakers up 51-47 at half time.

Abercrombie shooting the lights out (5/6 from the floor and 2/2 from outside for 16 points) and Vukona cleaning everything else up.
Farakhan shooting well from just inside the arc and may heat up and show us what he is actually capable of.

Let's be honest..Abercrombie needs to work on his defence.

Its hurting us.

Terrible call on the USF.

2mins to go in the 3rd, Melb up 67-63. Worthington with the last 5 points.

Breakers settling for the 3 way to much.

71-68 to NZ at halftime.
Yeah Abercrombies D has been very average at best. At least he isn't on 4 fouls and not stopped anything, hopefully he can start contesting shots as well as scoring.

Mika done for the season?
Hopefully he hasnt done a D-Rose :(

The Breakers are on Aussie TV twice in one weekend.

Is that some sort of record for them?

Breakers very average down the stretch.

What has CJ done all game?

NZ do not deserve to win this one unfortunately

Vukona back out on the floor after CJ flopped onto his leg

11/20 FT for Tigers, bloody oath Melbourne, get that together...

And again, Tigers FT shooting is a joke, this should just about be buried.

Bad time to leave your foot on the line, Wilko...

Why would you inbound to the 1/6 FT shooter..........

Very very bad final play from NZ, simply did not work in the slightest.

Couldnt make plays down the stretch.

Still don't understand the 'play CJ to close out the game' business.

He missed shots and couldnt stay in front of Farrakhan.

Also when he is on late the offense just stalls

At least Webster dribbles and creates.

congrats to the Tigers, very frustrating as a Breakers fan but we didn't deserve to walk away from that with a win.

Morrison again had his way inside. Morrison>Pledger in that one.

Abercrombie's lack of defense hurt.

Webster didn't contribute much offensively and even less defensively.

CJ Bruton again played a lot of minutes down the stretch despite the fact that it has paid off 0 times this season.

Vukona, TeRangi & Wilkinson can hold their heads up as they put in the required effort at both ends.

Just a few observations

BREAKERS

Carfino continually said he couldn't work out how the breakers were 4-7, now 4-8. Steve, its simple, last year they won all the close ones, this year they have lost all the close ones. Last years close wins for breakers

Beat cros by 2 and 4
Beat kings by 2 in OT and 3
bEAT Sixers by 5
Beat Hawks by 2 and 1
beat Snakes by 3
Beat tigers by 5

That's 9 wins by 5 of less.

TIGERS

They don't excite me at all. Wortho, Goulding, Tomlinson, Walker, constantly complaining to refs when things don't go there way, they are very selfish, for example, 3 mins to go, Morrison, clear mismatch down low with Johnson defending him, Goulding take a fade away 3 from the 45, if he received the pass, then passed it down low to Morrison, something more productive would of happened.

Every time the Tigers play, we hear from Carfino, Tommy greer will be back he will be back, big inclusion, but I don't see whats so good about the guy.

I would think the Crocs will get the win over the Tigers next week over the swamp, should be a good game.

The big stand out about the Breakers this year for me is that with Bruton another year older and seemingly reaching the end, there is no one able to stand up and make the crucial, clutch plays. Particularly now Vukona is almost always gone by the end.

Hard to make a case for unlucky against Perth when they didn't hold a lead for the entire game. They came close, but got held out each time.

Hey! Nathan, you're a New Zelander now cuz. Should be sticking up for your team. Fraser Niell, the refs and even the basketball gods are against you. It's a conspiracy

Oh dear; clearly this could be a long week for me!

Nathan, better get into it, bro.

Goulding has bailed out Melbourne so many times this season, making their offense appear like a well-oiled machine. Luckily for the Tigers, Farrakhan was able to create space for himself 1v1 and found his shooting stroke.

Goulding, Tomlinson and especially Worthington need to learn to STFU! These dipshits really piss me off when they complain about every single call, even when it's blatantly obvious the refs were correct.

Pledger is severely underperforming given the hype surrounding his bigger role this season. Tom Jervis shut him down completely on Friday, and Morrison today.

It's no secret that all Bruton is looking to do on offense is shoot threes and draw fouls when they are in the bonus. Corletto was playing his role well today, TeRangi gave some great production in limited minutes... Why persist with CJ?

Also, what happened to Webster? He was a beast vs. the Boomers in the offseason, but can't find his feet with the Breakers so far this season.

16-11 final quarter, rather on the uninspiring side...

Over this f....n losing close games! With 4 seconds left why the f..k wouldn't you get another shooter on the floor (Corletto? Te Rangi?) and then have a big man inbound the f......n ball- basics vickerman.

Not the first time they've run a final play that seemed to have absolutely no plan or purpose. Vickerman's fault or Johnson's?

CJ is the guy running the team when he's out there and doing a good job of it. Some of his passes today were incredible. The Breakers need him to get his jumper going though.

Anyone else see Wortho try claim that that airball jumper he shot off the spin dribble was touched.

I watched the replay -- it was not even close.

He just complains for no reason. Its quite disgusting. Sometimes i wish NBL refs would call Techs as strict as they call normal personal fouls. Tell him to stop arguing..if he doesnt T him up

One of the only plus factors atm is G Wilkinson stepping up over this weekend. I'm with ^anon about Johnson, if he's not wanted/required for next season, why persist with him, bring in someone else who can handle pressure because come
Playoff time, it's all about handling pressure

Agreed. He needs to stop whinging to the refs too.

I thought Farrakhan was going to be a bust but based on todays game I could be wrong if he gets even close Beal's level they're a contender

Farrakhan was great today but mainly because his shot was going in. Would like to see him back that game up. What was with Abercrombie turning up to play the first half only? Te Rangi was great, would like to see some more minutes from him. NZ should be working on him, not flogging CJ, who is obviously well past it.

Agree with all posts about players whingeing, in particular Melb and in particular Wortho. The refereeing is quite ordinary at the moment (re. contact calls) but take a page out of Damien Martin's book and take any call like a man.

And what's the deal with Carfino constantly bringing up the fact that Farrakahn hasn't made a 3 pointer yet? The guys shoots 9/10 in 2 range. Who cares about the 3!

Watching Abercrombie walk past me at half-time he was pretty spent. He was working really hard offensively to get shots and then blanketing Goulding defensively.

In the second half the Tigers where switching out all his curl cuts and runs off staggers and his teammates didnt do a good enough job of hitting the front of the rim and either getting a lay-up or hitting the weakside guy for the open three.

That was where they really missed guys like Boucher and Hudson, with Pledger reportedly still suffering from his big fall a few weeks ago, the same as how Schenscher took a long time to recover from his fall last year. I guess it aint easy being 7'1!

Decision to foul was interesting.

Paul Henare's statement in the paper today was concerning (regarding fouling late)

"We got the desired result [he made one of two foul-shots]"

How is giving up a lead the desired result? The desired result would have happened where he went 0-2.

That comment from Henare just screams of overconfidence.

It's one thing to trust your offense. Its another thing to have this "she"ll be right, we"ll make the last play to win it" mentality.

Fair call Paul Re: Abercrombie.

I asked Dean Vickerman about the decision to foul, given they are 0-2 with that tactic now after fouling Adelaide being three points up and losing in regulation.

He said they decided not to foul in Perth and Ennis makes a banked three, so it could go either way. But they were behind in Perth, Im thinking if you are going to foul that's the time to do it, more so than when youre in front or level.

There are different theories on it and different stats backing each theory up, but I'd prefer to make a team win it with a contested shot than from the free throw line.

I think they made a good decision in fouling Faracantshootfreethrowstosavehimself but then didn't actually run anything that looked remotely like working which was a shame as they had run some great sets to perfection earlier in the game.

Lemanis used to run 3 different plays in a situation like that depending on what the defense gave his team.

The decision to foul is a high risk, high reward strategy. If you don't foul, you rely on running the clock down, them missing a shot and it going to OT. With that game being the second for the weekend for the Breakers, they may have run out of legs.

The logic is quite valid and strong. Breakers with the timeout advance the ball and then get a shot at glory. If Tigers get 2/2, need a 3 for the game, or a FG to go to OT, or go for a FG for a 3 point play. If Tigers go 1/2, then just need a FG to win. If Tigers go 0/2, then just need a score on the final play.

The Tigers went 1/2 and Abercrombie took a jump shot for the 2. If that had gone in, then the Breakers would have got the result they want.

Perhaps the question should be was the jump shot the best shot selection?

When your team has hardly scored in the halfcourt for the entire fourth quarter, I dont think gifting the other team the lead and then relying on your offence is a good idea. I'd prefer to get a crack at overtime and see if your D can create some scores, or someone can get going over 5 minutes.

As I said, lots of opinions, anecdotes and stats to back up both sides, but Im not a fan of letting the other team take the lead on charity shots.

Similarly, not making Adelaide tie the game from the three-point line, where they were 4/16, was also a poor decision for mine.

If Vickerman has a similar set of possible plays for that late game situation, then I suggest Johnson really needs to work on his ability to assess the situation, choose and implement. He's a good player who does a lot of things well, but that final play was sublimely bad. Boxed Vukona in and brought a second defender in for a free double-team. Assess, call the play, implement, he needs to know that sort of late-game play in his sleep.

Unless Vickerman doesn't have a fall-back set-up like that, which is a little hard to belive.

A big man should have taken that inbound pass yesterday, NOT johnson, and corletto and webster should have been on the court to spread the floor

NZ couldn't just let Melbourne completely control the result of the game, there was only 18 seconds left, the only two possibilities were loss or, at best, draw. Overtime on the road in the second game of a road trip after getting pantsed in the 4th quarter is not a promising proposition, when you have a chance to foul a guy shooting 1/6FT.

As a Breakers fan, I'm not fussed with the foul scenario they chose to play out BUT it is inexcuseable that they do not have a last second out of bounds play to go.

I don't think too much is being made of the foul situation.

At the end of the day, they fouled and gave up a lead with 18 or so seconds in the game.


It doesn't take a basketball expert to realise that is not rational.

Make the other team beat you with a good shot, don't just hand them the lead.