For my NZ fans, the TAB are offering a special - Jackson to score 16 or more and Breakers to win @ $4.00.

I wacked a hundred on. We shall see.

United have one major problem.

They have players who think they are better shooters than what they really are.

Nate shooting the 3 @ 20%
Lucas shooting the 3 @ 28%

Those two are 14/60 odd between them on the season.

Tomlinson in particular continues to bomb away.

They need to put it away and be smart.

Other, better shooters in the United team could get 14 made 3s over 30/35 attempts (at worst)..so that's essentially 25-30 wasted 3 point attempts.

Breakers up by 10 with 7:03 left in the 4th.

United will not make the 4, i tip syd.

Games down the wire, 1:07 left and breakers up by 1.

Who one? Just on the way to the game

Breakers by 5.

Just what the Sixers ordered. A win to the Breakeres, to keep the hope for finals alive.

Thank you TAB. Nice little $400. Mystro, surprised you didn't jump on that?

Wow down the stretch what was D Mac thinking. Game in balance and Dennis goes to the line to keep then in the hunt with 1 min or so to go and misses both free throws. Fail. Then Auryn McMillan's on the court at games end. Game winners DMac.
Simple.
When will the Tigers announce about the Head Coach appointment after 'scouring the world'?
Bout time they moved Dmac on. Every chance DMac will be there at seasons end. A very winnable game that they came back from being overwhelmed by the Breakers and to their credit the Tigers fought tooth and nail only to be let down by poor coaching. Plus an import who can't make a foul shot to save his life.

Good work Macdub, nice way to finish off a weekend

kicking myself now Macdub. Nice work.

To many hot heads! 36ers or the kings for 4th.

Well done Macdub & the Breakers.

Top 3 pretty much locked in so Melb, Syd, Town & the 36ers all fighting for the 4th and final playoff spot so helps the 36ers.

D-Mac still confirming he can't coach to save himself some of those timeouts are cringe worthy listening to. Utd certainly need to find a better coach next season.

Won' be able to get too many drinks guys...not after i fill up my car #nzgasprices :(

It's strange, if we beat Sydney next week then we'll have kept pace precisely with the Breakers (11-4), so we're still right with them, but at the same time I'm damned if I can think of how anyone is going to pull ahead of them.

errgh
Melbourne, Kik, MacRae, Melbo...it's a nightmare I can't wake from.

There is no way the 36ers are gonna make fourth. The players will tell you its all ok but it aint. Townsville are teetering on the brink of no finals also and Melbourne are jittery. They got lucky the hawks rolled Sydney. it will be Sydney in fourth and if they end up playing top and its perth, it might be closer than most think

United has 4 games left against Sydney and those 4 will go a long way towards deciding 4th spot.

I actually like United against Sydney. Here's the main reasons:

- Sydney doesn't have dominant Centre players who will foul Kickert out or dominate him down low. Kickert is a sitting duck when he clumsily commits fouls and got fouled out twice this weekend. Yes granted, a lot of the calls were 50/50 in both games, so you could say he was unlucky, but he shouldnt be putting himself in those positions where the ref has to make the 50/50 call. Sydney's Brandt and Duinker aren't the most proficient low post ballers going around so I'm less worried there. Kickert's biggest defensive concern will be helping against Childress and not committing too many fouls when coming across from the weak side.

- Childress has been dominating this league, but between Walker, Barlow and Wortho there's a lot of smarts and defensive prowess to curtail his influence, not to mention some muscle and athleticism. I can imagine him getting frustrated with the Wortho attention just like Sam Young did last year. Slow Childress down or at least ensure that he doesn't completely dominate, and you're half way towards beating Sydney. United are well equipped with one on one defenders for Childress.

- Perry has shown that he can get flustered against high level full court pressure. United's major defensive weakness is around the basket, but they can pressure the ball - eg Friday night when the 36ers had 20 something TO's. Dennis's length and quick hands will worry Perry, then Wortho etc will be waiting to intercept the rushed passes. At the other end, Dennis can back down smaller guards in the low post- so again that could be a worry for Perry.

- United just looks the more talented team to me. And the results bear this out. United is 7-7 and Sydney is 6-6 but look closer and you'll find United has had the much tougher run. They've played Cairns 3 times, NZ 3 times and Perth twice. 8 of their 4 games have been against the 3 top teams who have a combined record of 31 and 12. And United has beaten all 3 of them. Sydney on the other hand have had an easier run, having been given the gift of playing the Hawks a couple of times early in the season as they struggled to get their stuff together.

I dunno, colour me crazy but I look at United's roster and game style and then I look at Sydney and I expect United to beat them. All of the above gives me confidence- United are the better team. We will find out soon enough, I suppose.

Having said all of that, it's possible that things could change a lot between now and the end of the season. I haven't counted anyone out.

But to me, United is well and truly in the box seat for 4th spot, despite having virtually the same record as Sydney. This is why: They've had a tough run so far, and I'm sure they'd boast a far superior record against the top 3 than any other team in the comp outside those 3.

That timeout late in the game by United was really terrible- Dmac kept changing who was were and seemed to have no idea! Glad the Breakers got up, winning the close ones, which didn't happen last season but did the year before!! GO BREAKERS

That was me^ damn autocorrect on the name!