Based on how the Hawks have been playing, and my belief United has been cruising a little in recent months I'm tipping a big United win

But the 18 day break is interesting. AFL teams outside the top 4 have fared better in the finals since they brought in the pre-finals bye in 2016 (with the Doggies winning the flag from 7th in that first year), and that isn't a coincidence.

So the Hawks have a certain advantage here. But I'm still confident United gets it done. This team is tough, experienced, versatile and deep - all things that will help in the grind of a playoff series.

Yeah, Hawks are in game rhythm and battle-hardened, while United have been sitting around waiting for a long time. Better to be fresh than completely exhausted, but this break has been excessive.
But I think MU will be way too much for the Hawks. I hope we get a great series, but an easy sweep seems likely to me.

Other than the long break affecting United, I just don't see them losing. Two very good bigs, Goulding has been coasting but not tonight. Clarke been great for hawks but his hands will be full marking Travers, plus quality guards. Hawks will have a go, just don’t see anywhere they are superior to United. Even if United come out rusty, I see Melbourne getting on top by 12 plus.

Good on the Hawks for making it this far.

That said, I think they're too rough around the edges still to compete with the likes of United in the playoffs. Expecting a 10-15 point margin tonight to Melbourne.

If Illawarra are going to win the series they're going to have to get game 1 while Melbourne may be rusty.

Hawks taking it to them so far but you've got to think the depth of MU will show through in the later quarters

Gazza Clark with a great first quarter. Last time United doubled him every time he looked to post but he has done his work mostly from the perimeter so far.

United getting a few rockets from Vickerman about their D.

Very nice start to hawks, jla had better lift, been average so far, Froling clear on top.

MU look completely disconnected at both ends. I've liked what I've seen from bowen this season but he's lost out there on D

Hopefully Goorj is watching how good delly is going, still our best point guard at both ends.

I cannot understand why Blanchfield is on the court

Robbo out of control just hoping he gets bailed out by the refs and gets to the line. Needs to change things up because they aren't buying it.

Yep, Blanchfield, lol.

MU disappointing defense

I was going to post the same re Blanchfield. He is being abused by whoever he is attempting to defend.

But then again so is JLA...

Gary Clark will be able to name his own price in nbl. He'll be the highest paid import in the league.

Gary Clark can earn a higher salary in China, Japan, Korea, etc.

History says the Kings poach him. The only thing that will stop that is that Cooks will likely return (with a leg into the Boomers securing his signature just like the old days)

JLA looks like he is 40 years old.

JLA looks like he is 40 years old.

Tatum might have been talking to Forde during the week - "How do we beat MU?"

MU defense today can't be said to be playoff-ready.

As they say, I see it but I don't believe it. Jla been average most of season and yes Cooks will sign for kings and go to Paris. Lee been good again, Tatum clearly should’ve been coach of year.

Hawks REB 38

MU 28

Great time out Tatum.

Comedy Gold!

...if I had to put money on it I'd bet Melbourne...

...I'm tipping a big United win...

...But I think MU will be way too much for the Hawks...

...I see Melbourne getting on top by 12 plus...

...Expecting a 10-15 point margin tonight to Melbourne...


And the all time favourite... Melbourne then daylight!

Refs making a run.

Disgusting call.

Refs handing this to Melbourne

Flopper Goulding. on the charge, and then on the turnover.

Another disgusting call.

Someone tell Tatum that Adnam has a history of throwing inbounds passes to the other team in crunch time.

And no foul on the inbound on JLA. Should be unsportsmanlike, grabbing hold like that.

The USF rule Gaze is talking about was changed a year ago.

How could they miss the foul on Clarke, it lasted for about 5 seconds

Told ya

Given Melbourne weren't yet in the penalty, there was no need to have a FT lineup in. Not to mention they could have had Froling inbound it, removing the possibility of him being fouled and giving them someone who could actually see over Travers.

Disgusting home cooking

There's no way that's what Tatum drew up.

Spot on KR.

The refs played a big role, but the Hawks did a lot of choking themselves in those last 6 minutes.

What a shameful display of refereeing. Illawarra should lodge a complaint to the league regardless of the result tonight

That's the series.

Feel bad for Hawks, they were hanging on for dear life to only get rogered. They should be pissed.

Melbourne commits a shot clock violation, refs overrule it and give them the ball back with more time. They're not even being subtle.

Hawks threw it, Tatum got the Adnam call so wrong and Robinson. Reffing didn't help. Travers been big when needed. Two disgusting calls though.

You cant be a so called top class ref and all three miss that hold by JLA.

Two disgusting calls though.

Had Tatum used his review? Can't understand why he didn’t review the unsportsmanlike with only 1 min to go.

Unfortunately the lack of depth in referee ranks means those clowns will continue to get games. They should all be done for the season

Which unsportsmanlike? If you are talking about the JLA hold I don't think you can review a no call.

Dear oh dear.

I wonder if specsavers have some more sponsorship money available?

Where is LV on the no call?

That was a ridiculous choke. I still can't believe Hawks managed to lose that. The refs did their best to get Melbourne over the line but Hawks still should have been able to see it out. That Adnam inbound pass with 17 seconds to go was the stuff of nightmares. What a massive disappointment. I really thought we had it :(

Hawks shot themselves in the foot, but the referee crew delivered the coup de grâce. Embarassing look for the league and spoiled an otherwise really entertaining game

Comedy Gold!

...if I had to put money on it I'd bet Melbourne...

...I'm tipping a big United win...

...But I think MU will be way too much for the Hawks...

...I see Melbourne getting on top by 12 plus...

...Expecting a 10-15 point margin tonight to Melbourne...


And the all time favourite... Melbourne then daylight!

LOL. Self ownage gold.

Great comeback

NBL can't let this happen again.

Start the season a fortnight earlier and have the FIBA window before the GF, or something

AFL should remove the pre-finals bye too. Both my favourite sporting leagues are engaging in self-sabotage

As for refs, agreed United got the better of it

That's why you earn top spot over 28 games. United was denied a likely title by the refs in 2020. It's NBL for you.

Most interesting thing for me was Krebs and Cameron not getting on court much

I expected after an 18 day break, he'd wanna play everyone

Won't be helpful if we get into a Grand final and he needs these guys and they've barely played in a month.

Many (including me) were whinging this time last year that the NBL schedule needs adjustment so that the season is completed before the FIBA window and the NRL/AFL beginning.

Same things being said again this season.

Wouldn't think it would be too difficult to chop a few games, start earlier or whatever to accomodate this.

The opportunity to have the Finals series played out away from the footy shadows (and anything else) is too big an opportunity to continually overlook.

Which week exactly is the football not all over the media?

Tatum not the brightest when he puts Adnam in for 1.42 at the end of the game.

Why play him at all when you have main players sitting on the bench.

Dumb move.He can be the blame for the loss.

I agree - with the AFL moving earlier to cater their extra rounds and the annoying FIBA window, I'd like to see the NBL finish up completely prior if possible.

Obviously stadium availability is a logistical issue - but putting that to a side, there’s a couple of options.

The first is to increase games during the rounds - NBL should double down on the festive season and have games each day and expand that a little - this is your 12th Dec to 5th Jan period.

Then there’s having 2-3 games per week rather than 1-2 games per week. I think players would prefer more games less training, 2-3 games would help ensure there’s at least a home game each week which is good for families because they want something they can take the kids to and get them tired! If you have 2 home games in a week chances are that’s a late week night game for the corporates and night out people, the weekend game more for the families.

If that’s not sufficient in itself, then you start a little bit earlier. I do think, and I changed my mind on this, they got it right starting GF week this year.

Ending earlier means more likely FIBA window availability plus players can have more time elsewhere to get that extra $$$

Worst part about the Adnam decision is that he nearly coughed it up the first inbound pass as well, although to be fair it was at least in part due to a blatant foul that was missed that would have led to two shots+possession plus a probable Hawks win.

Not only to avoid AFL and NRL but for competitive integrity

The 18 day break must go. Unfair to be the best team all year, then get handed such a disadvantage. Same happens in AFL to the qualifying final winners walking into a prelim having played 1 game in several weeks

I don't love the break for the #1 and #2 teams. I also think it might be fun to experiment with the play-in game format and fly all the teams to a venue to play it out over a few days instead. Robs the homecourt advantage for top seeds, but would make for a more interesting event than a Gathering round where no one will attend games not involving Perth anyway.

Start the season two weeks earlier, play a few more compacted games and have it done by fiba break. I'd also go to 27 games two home, one away to all teams to even it up and swap it the following season. United played SEM four times, unfair to rest comp. Kings get hawks four times, make it even to all teams through their ups and downs.

Ewww the handegg leagues must have started up again.

I understood what you meant but still had to Google that

Yes PW, and they are crap imo to the global game of basketball. I've still got few months of euro to keep up with and a few in Asia, then nbl1 plus nz to keep an eye after that.

AFL is an absolutely epic sport to watch, so many overseas immigrants to the Southern States love it immediately.

There are obvious impediments to it's overseas growth. Historical reasons why it's remained only in Australia

If AFL had been born in England instead of our small island nation which historically was very much isolated in the pre-globalised world, then it would be a huge sport by now, enjoyed in many countries. The size of the playing surface also contributes and possibly the number of players required for a game

I enjoy watching it and played it a little as well, but there's more to Aussie Rules not being a bigger sport internationally than just where it originated from.

I've long thought basketball and soccer are the only truly global sports for two main reasons- where they originated from, and their simplicity across all elements of the game

Both factors work strongly against AFL footy

The afl have always been anti football (soccer) and basketball, they make things as difficult as possible for both.

Last night's game showed why Vickerman deserved coach of the year over Tatum - that decision to insert Adnam into the lineup to inball the ball was stupid!

As for the referees, the Robinson/Goulding call looked wrong to me but I can't quite understand the furore over the Clark/JLA one. I watched it back and you could see Clark was also holding JLA's singlet at the front. They were both holding.

Illawarra were to blame for that loss, not the referees. Show me a game where there is not an incorrect decision but it seems when United are involved the calls re ownership and bias come into play. Isn't LK also a part owner of Tasmania and Brisbane. It's interesting that when those teams win, there's no question of his involvement.

It's NBL. And sport in general.

Watch last night - Tassie had 4 or 5 questionable fouls in the last 2 or 3 minutes. Roth challenged one and lost, it was probably a 50/50. Refs were calling it tight both ways all night, then late in the game, all the calls started going Perth's way. Crowd has an influence for sure.

And contact the other way wasn't called- a couple of fouls on Perth went uncalled in the last quarter.

That's the real benefit of finishing on top over 28 games- if it comes down to a one or two possession game in the playoffs, as it so often does, a 50/50 call here or there helps immensely.

The refs were even handed overall, called so much soft stuff, a few on Sarr were ridiculous. Cotton goes to the free throw line heaps of times in all games, the reason being all sides try and body him, even bash him. Perth just played better, Webster and Usher so good down the stretch, not certain those two can do it again. Pinder who i think is always over hyped was outstanding.

I'm talking about...

- Magnays clean block of Pinder that sent Pinder to The line

- Foul on Crawford sending Cotton to the line

- Foul on Drmic shortly after a rebound (not the one Roth challenged which I wouldn't have called either, another one later on)

- Drmic hit in the chops by Usher who missed, before Pinder got the putback

Etc etc

All last few minutes

Called tight all night, reasonably fair both ways. Later in game crowd got involved, calls started going Perths way. Standard fare for NBL.

The decision went both ways, Magnay clearly fouled Pinder on the first dunk and while I think Magnay should be in the Paris team he certainly gets away with a lot body checks, which again is a foul but I'm glad they don’t call. You can pick apart all refs calls if you want, it’s all part the game as in all team sports.

If you can pick apart all refs calls Dunkman it's kind of hypocritical to then continue to complain about them constantly.

So much analysis from LV on the calls from PER-TAS in a MEL-ILL thread.

Someone has pressed the turbo button on his projections.

Yes PW, and they are crap imo to the global game of basketball. I've still got few months of euro to keep up with and a few in Asia, then nbl1 plus nz to keep an eye after that.

[Someone has pressed the turbo button on his projections.]

Projections? I tipped JJs but as I've said a few times, they have it over United so I'm actually happy Perths won. Increases The chances of another banner hanging at John Cain Arena I reckon

Although, I wouldn't be too fussed if JJs win it. I'd be happy for them and Tasmania. Perth on the other hand...

You are probably right Sebastian, overall I just wish let game flow more. Call the hand checks and pulling of singlets, jumping on players when on loose balls but award straight up D with arms and hands out.

What's the actual rule with fouls on blocked shots?
If a jump shooter gets a clean shot off but you touch them once they have landed again they're off to the free throw line, but if you block a shot cleanly - before any body/arm contact has occurred - then you're allowed to smash them to the floor afterwards and deny them any hope of getting the rebound? Is that what the way things are actually written?