No hope, unless the breakers go 0/20 from the 3-point line.

Last week I said there was no chance Cairns could beat NZ without Cat however they surprised everyone and beat them. This week I would say there is no chance Blaze could beat NZ and I would say even less chance since NZ will be pumped up after losing last week. Blaze lose by an average of 12.6 points per game however I think their desperation as well as Casey Frank and Pero Cameron having big games should have them losing by less then the points spread. Blaze really need to focus on getting the ball inside if they can win that battle then they might come away with a competitive close loss of around 8. Unfortunately the team is coached by Joyce so that would mean changing the game plan and not playing his son so much. So this is a very hard game to predict but I think they will be able to get the margin under 16. Having said that I aint brave enough to bet on that as NZ have an offensive arsenal and the only way a team has beaten them this season is by beating them at their own game which is scoring. Blaze do not have enough offensive guns so i think either they will lose by 8 or lose by 25+

What do others think?

The Blaze need serious help, they will win a few games but i will not be this one.

Breakers 125 will defeat Blaze 82.

Harvey will get his 20+ and Casey Frank will come to play today as well - Id expect 20 and 12 from him - plus the standard 4 dumb fouls followed by whinge to the ref. Heal will get 15+ purely on the ammount of shots he will take - other than that I cant see anyone opening up and scoring big numbers. Whitehead is the only other real threat in that department but I feel he is still very much carrying an ankle injury and will cointinue to struggle.

IF Pero sees more than 15 minutes on court he could be usefull down low - but that will depend upon the coach and Peros attitude.

Dont worry about the woofing Isaac - The Blaze will put up an improved effort but the Breakers will be far t oo good and get up by 18

KingJames, see I wasn't at all surprised that Cairns beat them last time. But that's Cairns. And this is the Gold Coast.

Pero would have to play a solo game to cause much damage, and I don't know that he's still the type to have a 30 point game. I think he seems too proud to come back under Joyce's plan after being so obviously out of favour recently (15 MPG or so).

Breakers will be out to pummel them I expect.

Saw some mention on OzHoops by some Kiwis that the Breakers are not impressed with the standard of the local refs that do their games and may fly in 1-2 more senior Australian refs. A couple of fans seemed to think that the Kiwi refs over-compensate to avoid claims of bias, and ref too aggressively against the Breakers. I know I've thought that too in a few televised games in the past.

Breakers to win by 30 points. The team is awesome and strong this year.

CJ & Boucher make this team.

I still think Blaze will be able to get under the line betting margin. Mcgregor being injured might even help blaze's cause with Vanderjaqt getting a go. This brings the following bigs for Breakers and Blaze

Breakers: Rickett, Ronaldson, Forman, Behrendorff

Blaze: Melmeth, Frank, Cameron, Vanderjaqt, Whitehead, Hawkins

I am interested to see how this game goes as you guys seem supremely confident that it will be a thrashing. I think it really depends on how Joyce coaches in this game and he has been pretty bad so far so im expecting him to change his ways. Either way NZ will win no doubt.

Agreed KingJames

On paper the Blaze have a big advantage in the paint, this advantage dissappears when the coach runs 3 guards for long periods and leaves the advantage sitting on the bench!!

What the Blaze need is for Joyce to have a re think and play 2 of Melmeth, Frank, Pero, Vandy, Whitehead on court at all times with Hawkins/Whithead at the 3. Then have Heal and Harvey outside. Hell even run Hawk at the 2 for a some minutes and go really big - it cant work out any worse than what we have seen so far!

IMO a lot of the Blaze issues stem from Joyce being so dominant a personality. Woko cant/wont stand up to him at all so Joyce just does his own thing without being questioned. I believe he can be a very good coach but he needs a strong assistant to pull him up when needed and to try other ideas.

I just can't see the Blaze getting close, I mean Heal could wind back the clock and drop 40 and the Blaze would still likely lose by double figures.

The only way the Blaze have even a slight chance is if they can somehow keep the Breakers under 105 pts, which is unlikely unless Penney, Bruton, Jones and Forman all get injured in the first couple of mins!!

Live scores have started with 10 minutes on the clock. Before the clocks even noted as started, Forman's attempted a three (bit eager, even for him...), subbed out and back in, Frank's got a rebound and Whitehead's taken two free throws without anyone fouling him...

Daniel Joyce is subbed in early in this game there goes my prediction of them keeping it under 16.... The flood gates are about to open :P

What's the Hawk up to Statman? -0mins

Seems like he is injured. Blaze up 64 to 63 with 9 minutes to go in the 3rd

KingJames, your post prompted me to look up D.Joyce's stats on nblstats.com.

I found it amazing that he has played nearly every game in three seasons, averaging over 20 minutes per game, with career stats of 4.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 2.1 apg and 1.2 tpg. What is worse is his career shooting percentages: 28-27-67. This season he has managed 25 mpg for a slight statistical drop in performance in every category.

Seriously, has anyone else played so much at this level for such a return? Jason Williams should feel very hard done by with his NBL career and the minutes he got in comparison. Joyce could not get a roster spot in any other team in the league on merit, let alone 25 mpg.

The second thing that jumped out at me was that Shane Heal, the oldest guy in the league, is spending the most time on court of any player (40.7 mpg) by some margin. Seriously, how do they expect to win games this season?

Yet, despite all of that, right now they are looking like a real chance of winning in Auckland...

XY, this isn't the best time to start bashing SoJ lol, any other time I would join you but at the moment he actually isn't having a bad night.

Nah screw it I'll join in, he's pathetic.

NZB up 3.

He could get 29 points tonight on 100% shooting (I seem to recall he did go off for a really big night at least once before), those shooting percentages over 1,449 minutes of game time are atrocious.

As for the Blaze, I still think they will win a few, but they have the weakest backcourt by a small marathon.

Breakers leave it until late to pull away, winning by 12, 120-108. Four NZ players with 20 or more points (and not for the first time this season).

Blaze were quite threatening even down Hawkins and McGregor. Whitehead's 22/6/5 could keep him employed while Vanderjagt's 15 and 7 will mean they might not miss McGregor.

Will a good effort be enough to prevent any changes to the roster? Or will Hawkins' injury mean they'll take the opportunity to make a change?

SoJ couldn't keep it up.

0pts in the second half.

lol what was I thinkin :P

Heal played 44 mins, not Heal bashing, just saying- 23pts and 7 assists- not bad! and much to the contrary of what everyone though- Blaze won the boards- though Whitehead only had 6- are 22pts and 6 boards enough to save him? Vandy had 15 and 7 in only 25 minutes- i say play him more!!

Also, looking at stats- not too much in it!
BLAZE BREAKERS
FG 36/73= 49.3% 37/74= 50%
3PT 10/29= 34.5% 13/39= 36.1%
FT 26/30= 86.7% 33/37= 89.2%
Turnovers 16 11
Boards 41 37

Interesting reading!

XY, to answer the question "Seriously, has anyone else played so much at this level for such a return?" The answer is yes. His name is Mark Nash.

haha Good point! I look forward to the Blaze coming here. I will be yelling for Coach Joyce to put his son in so that we can win much more easier.