Gower and Wilkey to add some fire to the encounter... VAndenburgh to guard almost everone .. coz he will have to as Sturt are so deep . Jye Watson to be smothered bumped and battered by 2-3 guards OR else he will get 30 on them .

If i were Sturt i would press all night and use Bauers speed and Oscars Height and athleticism to stop an easy flow of the ball to the shooters.

Ng will get a lot of steals and be important in help D.

Sturt by 15 pts .. if Centrals "guns" can find their shots... Sturt by 30 if they cant !

PREDICTION : Phil will be there .. so will Breheny ..and Darren and Jye will be fighting it out for 2nd off the bench this year !!

Sturt have a clear advantage in the forwards with Forman (averaging 26 PPG and 16 RPG) and Gower (19 PPG and 10+ RPG). Add in Finkemeyer - a strong body who showed good touch against West - and I'm not sure how the Lions will handle that.

At the smaller end, it should be far more even. Centrals have quality players in Wilkey, Watson and Reggie, while Sturt have Ng (averaging high 20s), Bauer and (IMO) a rarely noted talent in Shepherd. Reggie can only defend one Sabre though and you would think it would be primarily Ng.

Adding fuel to the fire, Wilkey faces his previous team, while Reggie and Darren face off after having also been team mates last season.

Centrals will need their shots to fall from range to maximise their chances, I think. Sturt have won their three games by 51, 13 and 20 but could well be pushed in this game. After looking a bit below their best last weekend, hopefully the Sabres will be ready.

My bad on the last post hit enter instead of backspace.

Anyway I dont thing the sturt vs centrals will be a blow out, I really think sturt will have trouble gaurding centrals!!!! not the other way round. Ricky has done a great job at getting every player to play both ends of the floor this year which is what impresses me about this team... not one player is a liability.

Centrals wont be pushed around by sturt .. there playing good and are full of conferdence... I think centrals have better guards ... im just worryed about sturt inside .. Clayton is good but he cant stop the big O ... i cant see him getting 30 and 20 on centrals ...big games are needed by hamo clayton and terry for centrals to get close

The key to Central's strengths this season is no secret - the big 3 of Wilks, Watson & Reg. Right there you have 3 of the best inside/outside players in the league and will cause matchup problems for Sturt's guards. True, Oscar won't be stopped, and considering he even gave some NBL teams trouble, Centrals won't be kidding themselves that they can shut him down. Apart from Forman, Sturt are not a huge team, and while they have immense talent and will challenge for the premiership, Centrals will come out firing and will expect to give it a fair shake. Gower has been firing this season, and NG has been getting his shots. Funnily enough, with all of the NBL & OS experience of the 2 clubs, it is probably going to come down to each team's role players and who can step up with a big game. Sturt are certainly the hot favourites, especially with the game at Pasadena.

Skyhook, I must need my eyes checked because I thought you said Phil would be there. Obviously seen him at alot of district games, have you?