Assuming Bairstow doesn't play, Cats should win

Beal could always have a blinder against his old team and could win them the game. But unlikely.

I don't think Bris will be able to handle Perth's defense in this one.

Def agree with the above. Although 2.5+ point home underdogs tend to perform pretty well, the only way I see Brisbane getting this done is on the back of a huge home crowd atmosphere and some dead eye shooting. And even IF that were to happen, I simply don't see Perth letting this one get too far away from them.

Sure, Beal (or any other guard for Bris) might get hot but if that happens they will be insta-shut down by Damo. Love him or hate him, the guy is still easily the best perimeter defender in the league.

I'm just glad that the bball is back and thank God Lk took over and what his done is a credit to him and everyone involved for giving us the game we love better than it has been for a very long time!

I'm just glad that the bball is back and thank God Lk took over and what his done is a credit to him and everyone involved for giving us the game we love better than it has been for a very long time!

First game of the season and the Cats don't feel to me like they're as prepared as usual, so anything could happen. (Hopefully we smash 'em of course)

FWIW: Bullets $2.25, Cats $1.66.

I expect the MIGHTY MIGHTY wildcats to streak the Brisbane bullcrap even though they're missing the great man Matty Knight.

McKay is WANK - get a better import!

Redhage and Wagstaff will be throwing bows all day and INTIMIDATE the brissy boys.

I think Perth's D can hold Brisbane down and brisbane's lack of bench will hurt them BIG TIME down the stretch.

Beal can't do everything in the back court and Martin will hassle Gibbo all day, all day and probably keep him under 6 points.

Brisbane Bullets v Perth Wildcats

LIVE on Foxtel channel FOX Sports 3 OR on NBL TV Available at nbl.com.au

Does anyone know why the Bullets have gone from 2.20 underdogs to being 1.70 favourites for this evenings game vs the Wildcats?....

WOW PABLO. That's a huge line move mate. I have been scouring for news but haven't been able to find anything except that Bairstow will have until tip off to prove fitness.

I don't usually advocate re-loading in the face of big line moves like this but until Perth give me a reason to fade them I simply won't. Pounded them at -2.5 and will pound them again.

GL

Sounds like you have some money $ on the ole bball PeroV? I like that as i do too (both NBL and NBA...good to see mate. I just dont get people having such faith in the Bullets when Perth are so accomplished both home and away and the Bullets are an unknown package at this point...I would much rather their chances are 5.5 'road dogs' when they play the Kings in Sydney this round....

Even with a key Wildcats player out I wouldnt jump on the Bullets.....mind you my they might just surprise as can be the case... :0

Agreed PABLO - there is currently no indication that either Prather or Damo are injured (those being the only 2 I would be remotely concerned about here).

Would appreciate it if anyone is able to provide more info before I pull the trigger again.

Here is my mini-breakdown: We know precisely what we will get from the Cats, regardless of who plays. We will get intensity, hard-nosed defence for 40 minutes, attacking the glass and an attempt to execute some form of a game plan.

The Bullets, on the other hand, are a total x-factor right now. They might turn up as a team, they might play defence, they might rebound, they might be able to execute sets that they can't have had too much practice with, Gibbo might not be a flop, Kickert and Beal might do something other than wait for open 3s.

Too many mights vs consistency. I know what I'm choosing over the long run.

gibbo under 12.5 points

Best line: +4 on Crownbet.

Best price: 2.44 on Sportsbet.

Considering a play on the under as well but I will probably hold off. I feel like at least one of these quarters will be one of those NBL specials like 13-12.

Don't know if anyone has cottoned on yet, but all over local news last night that Bairstow is playing.

Line just got smashed back to +2.5. Seems "the Bear" is the only reason for the initial 4 point swing.

I'm sure Bairstow is a fine enough kid but there is only room for one "Bear" in the NBL and this one is certainly not worth 4 points.

Bairstow makes a huge difference IMO

Big challenge for Perth newbies Brandt, McKay and Walker first up, defending the deep Brisbane frontcourt at full strength.

If Bairstow plays I could see the Bullets snatching this with Matty Knight out.

I agree that Bairstow makes a big difference, and that's probably the only thing that could explain a swing that big in the market.
Cats front court looks pretty dodgy without Knight, and Bairstow is someone who could definitely exploit it.

Anyone know how many tickets have been sold for this game?

Looking at Ticketek, should be close to a sellout. Most blocks either completely sold out or with very limited seating available.

Great stuff !!

There were at least some seats available in all blocks except for along one baseline.

Handful of blocks right up the back where you could get up to 10 tickets, which is the maximum Ticketek allows regardless of seating, so they're potentially empty, but everything in the lower bowl maxed out at three or four tickets and the same was true of a few upper level blocks as well.

Was half full as of a couple of days ago, according to someone on Facebook.

Depends what sort of a gameday push they get.

Some seats available in every block other than one baseline means that baseline is all that could possibly be curtained off.

It's possible it looks more heavily-sold on Ticketek than it actually is. Guess we'll find out in a couple of hours.

Game is also streaming live on Facebook.

Watch for Bairstow's shrewd movement off the ball and his textbook screen-setting.

One baseline is indeed curtained off.

‏@ShaneHeal · 4m minutes ago
Bairstow has not taken part in any pre game warm ups.

It's working fine for me, but seems to be delayed by a couple of minutes compared to Foxtel.

Pretty poor crowd!

Uniform watch:

- Not a fan of the Bullets having a maroon logo but blue stripes.

- Other than that white stripe on the back, Perth's uniform doesn't look AS BAD as I thought it would.

Scoreboard not working? This is poon stuff from the NBL a PROFESSIONAL league

I don't understand why on-screen scoreboards have been so difficult to maintain on screen over the history of the NBL.

Yup.

Shot clock and game clock update at the same time, too, even if there's a half second difference.

So much for Bairstow being a certainty to play.

You can tell from Beals body language that he YERNS to be back on the Perth wildcats

terrible second half from the Cats, messy offense, no one looks like putting the ball in the basket

Mckay nor Brandt bring the low post game and exceptional passing that Jawai did. I can see this team having major issues offensively

But at the other end they will be superb. So expect more games like tonight!

Well that was pretty weak
:/

Knight will make a big difference to Perth's team. Well done Bullets, great return.

Do Perth have to pay for Jarons plane ticket home?

Bullets to get smashed

Betting markets are crap and generally slow with the NBL, if you want to make money from betting agencies the NBL is how you do it.

I remember in late 2013 the 36ers being considered wooden spooners favourite for a lengthy period while having a lineup which was obviously going to make the playoffs - they ended up losing to Perth in the Grand Final 2-1.

Probably a good result for the league. An early win by Brisbane could help build momentum

I fear Redhage is done all he can do now is stand in the corner for a 3 ball.

oh and ONE FREAKING REBOUND from Brandt. I said he projected as a bad rebounder and everybody was up my asshole about it.

Looking forward to Wildcat's fans meltdowns following every loss this season.

That one stung a little bit. Felt like your archetypical Wildcats game. Six Brisbane 3's in a row later...boom game over.

That Shaun Bruce triple to start the fourth - I cannot believe he didn't get called for out of bounds with 2 refs in the direct vicinity. Speaking of which, I've seen this same reffing trio in the NBL for a couple of years now. Still terrible. Time for some new blood you'd think.

All things considered, I'm glad Brisbane and the NBL are back. Let's hope this season turns out better than those Chemist Warehouse ads.

"Up your asshole - how charming."

But - surprisingly roomy ! ;)

"That Shaun Bruce triple to start the fourth - I cannot believe he didn't get called for out of bounds"

At no time when Bruce was out of bounds was he in contact with the ball. Isn't that what makes a legit out-of-bounds call, that you touch the ball while on/over the line?

If that was out-of-bounds, every time someone goes out of bounds to swat an errant ball back in then surely that should be called.

If you step out of bounds and then touch the ball at any point before stepping in court again, then it's out of bounds.

He took about 5 steps with all the foot shuffles before releasing that three ball as well.

Seemed a majorly botched play phase for sure, but the Cats had way bigger problems than that anyway. I don't think we can be too mad - it's not like we deserved to win that one. Really shitty second half.

GordonG - he was definitely out of bounds mate. I understand where you're coming from, namely that he dribbled the ball forward, let go of it, then re-gathered when he was back in bounds. That's what he was *trying* to do but the replays showed he was pretty clearly out.

I don't want to be one of those "blame it on the refs" guys because Brisbane won that game last night on the back of some really tough defence and shot-making in the second half. But that blatant no-call to start the fourth was like a dagger to my heart lol.

I agree, Bruce's shot should have been called out out, but the Wildcats got away with some pretty blatant flopping too.

McKay looks a very solid 3rd import choice. Boti tagged him as the first import to be sacked this year... based on last night he won't even be the first import sacked from his team.

Kickert is interesting. He's not getting the open looks he did at United. That's kind of rendering him useless.

Gibson played the best game I've seen from him for a couple of years, while Petrie looks a bit off the pace. I have no faith that he's going to finish when he gets the ball under the basket. Obviously a great team guy though and I'm sure he can still be a solid contributor.

Great to have the Bullets back. The support was great last night, lets hope it keeps up.

Both feet must touch the inbounds floor before you can touch the ball again.

Needed McKay more in the 3rd..

For an organisation that is so successful and professionally run, I am puzzled by the Wildcat's choice to persist with near-invisible player names. It was painfully obvious in the pre-season competition. Surely they can just re-stitch names with white (or some other more conspicuous colour), right?

"Both feet must touch the inbounds floor before you can touch the ball again"

Ah, fairy nuff :)

I don't play, I just take photos ...

I agree with you, rjd. The numbers are awful (which we have known for a while now)
I expect another wave of criticism after tomorrow night's home opener. I'm guessing that a large portion of the crowd is going to struggle with the numbers, and have no hope with the names.

The league needs awareness of names and personalities. It is such a fundamental and obvious requirement, to not have that is a baffling stuff-up. Perhaps it is easier to read names and numbers in person, but on TV it totally sucks. The only uniform choice that is worse is choosing a colour similar to the opponent.

Even misspelling the name of the team is better than not being able to see player names/numbers. Wait, maybe they did misspell "Wildcats". I couldn't read it well enough to determine.

Anyone know why Lucas didn't play?

And why was Hire starting?

@GordonG,fair enough...you just like to watch and take photo's??

what does your therapist say about that??