While many think this will result in a NZ win, we must remind ourselves that the pressure of holding home court is now on New Zealand.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in no championship series with the breakers have the Wildcats had or held home court?

This is new territory for the breakers.

I'm ever so slightly and foolishly confident the Wildcats could sneak in a cheeky victory here.

Of course we're a good chance. It's a free hit for us. All the pressure is on NZ to not make too many mistakes for the next 80 minutes of basketball.
If Beal gets hot or Casey gets loose then we're every chance of winning.
NZ's zone was pretty effective though, and I was far from convinced about how we dealt with it. So at home I still favour them. There's a lot of scoring power in that team.

Side note - My brain is still struggling to cope with Cedric "hack-a-Jack" Jackson's transformation from a guy who can't hit a clutch free throw to a guy regularly nailing step-back threes.

I think with Cedric it's the case of - while he's not a great shooter, he knows he needs to take those shots.

And because he's got the swagger of 3 championships, he backs himself, and low and behold he makes shots.

What frustated me last night, was the Wildcats lack of attention to Cedric playing defense and his quick hands.

Whenever a cats player caught the ball in the high post cedric was always lurking nearby - very dangerous.

NZ zone gave us problems because we were so focussed on getting it inside when it came to needing to adjust our shooters were cold.

Fingers crossed Beal shows up to game 2 and makes some shots!

Game one rated at 50k on Fox Sports, not too bad.

Anyone know the official crowd figure at Perth Arena?

I agree that the pressure is now squarely on NZ to win at home. The Breakers do seem to thrive on high pressure games and Perth will be pretty keen to get this over in 2x so it's going to be a great game.

Just to repeat myself, I wish we had a five game final series, oh what a great series that would make...

Worst game I have seen Beal play, rather go north shore 1 up than 1 down.

The crowd figure was posted on twitter. it was between 10,500 and 11k from memory.

Def not over 11k.

Honestly, when I think of the Breaker's courts, I think they can be beaten (if only rarely) at North Shore, but at Vector they're damn near invulnerable. Not being able to use Vector is a pretty handy result for the Wildcats.

Bear if we had a 5 game series, then mostly likely with NBLs insistance we would have 5 games ove 9 days.

It wouldn't be that bad if they played it 2-2-1.

This isn't the NBA, and the players we have are not adapted (or suited) to that schedule. To play a 5 game series, they'd have to spread the games our more, and the NBL seems very reluctant to extend the season like that.
The travel could also become a problem. The reason we have a H-A-H series is because teams bitched about the A-H-H format.

This should be an interesting game. Obviously NZ must win and are favourites at home, but I think the Cats will be pushing hard. A 3rd game does them no favours.
Sometimes the team that is a game down, loses confidence or motivation in the 2nd. That won't happen here. NZ would easily back themselves to win from here.

both teams have another level to go to yet.

and yes this should be a 5 game series.

Cats checked into their accomodation 2am NZ time - the same day as the Grand Final. That's ridiculous. Not sure what would of been better for them , leaving the night of Game 1 like the breakers did or what they have done.

Neither option is good.
NBL decided that TV exposure was more important than giving its grand finalists a fair chance at playing their best basketball.
Not sure that was a great call.
Guess we'll find out in about 15 hours...

I know people think that LK is the 2nd coming, because NBL is on Foxtel, but the scheduling this year was apparently done by some kid with a crayon. They seem to have completely forgotten that getting to Auckland (from Perth) is not like getting to Melbourne. There's a couple of direct flights per WEEK, other than that you're stuck trying to get a connection through Melbourne.

They don't have to play until 7.30pm local, I can't imagine getting in at 2am is going to do much harm. That's the equivalent of getting in at 4pm before starting a normal workday.

"NBL decided that TV exposure was more important than giving its grand finalists a fair chance at playing their best basketball."

This schedule is even great for TV exposure.

It's worth remembering that Game 2 last year was a pretty close, exciting game. That was less than 48 hours after Game 1 and a similar travel time between games as this year. The first final was in Cairns at 7:30pm 6 March and the second game was 3pm in Auckland on 8 March.

Further to koberulz' point, 2am is 9pm Perth time and they'll be playing at 2:30pm Perth time. Perth have the opportunity to match their sleep pattern to Perth time zone and be able to come up okay for the game.

Many professional people regularly travel like this and then have to work a full day without the opportunity to get a night's sleep first. I think the players will handle it fine, just as they did last year.

Perth don't need to be using the travel as an excuse.

If they bring it, they can do it.

Do I think they will? NO

Do I hope they will? NO

Bring on game 3. My Sunday is dependent on it :D

That's true Peter John, it's more G3 that could be impacted as we saw two years ago.

True, but less than half the travel and a longer break between game one and two. Game 5 the 08 Sydney v Melbourne series was another example of a fatigued slog.

At the end of the day it's the same for both teams, it's just not ideal for good basketball. Not even NBA Finals have this sort of scheduling.

The travel factor should be bothering the Breakers more as they travelled to Perth and back instead of the Cats who only travelled the one leg.

Tip Breakers by 10. Perth in game 3 by 8

Personally I don't see how a 5 game final series in the NBL can be anything but beneficial, we will see if they powers can work it out I guess...

"The travel factor should be bothering the Breakers more as they travelled to Perth and back instead of the Cats who only travelled the one leg."

The Breakers were in Perth days before game #1 and had a longer break before the finals.

Don't like it don't watch it p off

Grand Final series should be best of 5. Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Friday, Sunday.

Should be a 1-2-2 format as well. For this season, PERTH, NZ, NZ, PERTH, PERTH.

It allows the lesser team to get a chance and it allows for minimal travel.

Cats really struggling to score early

Gleeson timeouts are so painful to listen to.
Stop telling the players what isn't happening, and instead provide some solutions to things they can try, or do better.

Cats look asleep early, nothing like game 1.

Prather shitting on the big stage

Just checked Gem and they're using the same Sky Sport feed ... but at a small fraction of the video quality.

Well Dolla came to play at least

Pretty happy, and more than a little surprised, to be leading at the first break. Great composure by Jesse.

Perth great comeback.

Wow, Perth Bench (and Beal) getting it done!

Horrible start, very tentative.Just need to maintain intensity now, not switch off. Prather seems very unsure of himself, looks like the foul trouble he has had is affecting his mindset.

What's the cooling off period for a televised marriage proposal acceptance? I sensed some reluctance there :p

NZ getting every call. lool how did jawai miss that? man that is high school level stuff

Grimace got away with a push off, now he's back to the bench for a cheeseburger:)

Hire athletic? he is anything but athletic. lol

Knight with a dumb foul

wagstaff shot went in, in, in and then out lol

Looks like these refs have massive cash on the Breakers...

Who do you reckon places the bets for these refs? Wives? Brothers? Close family friends?

Feels like the Cats are just barely clinging on here. Not helped by how amazingly sloppy we've been.

Trevor Gleason unhappy makes me very happy :)

So i guess the Wildcats aren't the only ones who get looked after at home.

Tempo/Blowout Troll/Betting Police

Haha ... the refs are showing admirable restraint in not teching him.

LOL, 16 Fts to 5...

What's with the sooking about the reffing? It's been just fine IMO.

down six with Prather MIA, that's not to bad, hope they ask him to be more aggressive, seems reluctant to attack the basket. Foul trouble has got in his head big time.

When are tickets available for Game 3?

Shit half, no cats player's are scoring. 6 down I'm happy, mystro get the corks out :-) all good. 31 half time is pathetic

These referees either get a bonus if it goes to a game 3 or they have placed bets on the Breakers..

Maybe both.

Cats need to adapt to the way the game is being called, and stop giving up stupid fouls. They have been the victims of some ridiculous calls, but then they compound it with stupid fouls. Letting NZ walk the length of the court and shoot frees.
Perth were fortunate in game one, that the refs were (unusually) calling all the contact inside on Knight & Jawai. They're not doing it today, need to adapt.

Need to get Prather on the scoreboard, and not by throwing up bricks from outside.

"When are tickets available for Game 3?"

In about an hour

Clearly I'm watching a different game to several other people here.

This has been a great series so far , not much in it.

I forgot that the foul count is meant to be dead even despite what actually happens on the court.

Great series. Only the ref is determining the winner in Game 1 and now Game 2.

Cats 4 Life can save up all his excuses for next season if the cats can get over the line here tonight :)

Grimace with 3x fouls and 7x cheeseburgers

Prather is terrible lol

He sure is. Yikes.

Perth fumbling passes. wow

6 missed shots and 4 turnovers, 0 points for Prather. Ouch!

Why are the sheep shaggers booing? that was a clear tech

Redhage goes down hard but appears to be quite ok.

Remarkable!

These teams are real similar in that they live on the edge defensively..and struggle to adapt sometimes when refs call it closer.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR GLEESON TO GET A TECH? Seriously, the refs look like idiots.

Here come Perth.

These silly touch fouls by perth

"Redhage should of retired last season so the Cats could have got someone else. Surely he retires now? Guy is cooked."

Really? Looks to me like he has given the Cats some desperately needed life in this game.

Wildcats make it close again, refs panic....how will they cash there bets in? How will they earn that bonus if there isnt a game 3...

Solution? Just start sending the Breakers to the line...

That is there safety net.

Legacy of Tim Donaghy lives on

Have been thinking the same thing, anon 595.
Can't really start doing it now, but set the tone from the start of the season. It's really ugly.

Webster probably needs to realise he's playing in a Grand Final

Perth keep making stupid fouls. They need to go much harder at the basket when they have the ball!
No point giving up the ball softly, then fouling on the rebound. :-(

Shawn is actually looking well.

NBL is on FTA tv? Why am I only just finding this out?

50 points at 3Q time
:/
Yet it's still a game thanks largely to Shawn.

Beal is not very good as a primary ball handler. He is better coming off the screens as a catch and shoot shooter.

Wow! Redhage wants another ring before he retires!

Redhage playing very well.

Wildcats can win this if they don't keep making silly errors and the ref calls it fairly.

Any one can win.

Martin flop.

This will go to three, we just can't get to them. Too many players MIA

OMG Prather did something positive :O

If perth can get any offense going they'll win

Tiredness really showing..how many airballs/short shots have we seen tonight.

NZ have done a great job of attacking our press. The points it has cost us have probably been the difference. In the half court things are equally ugly at both ends.

Arggh NSEC is embarrassing compared to PA :(

I have never seen so many air-balls.
I'd always expect a final between these two teams to be a tough slog, but I suspect this rubbish is what you see when teams try to back up after 2 days and 10 hours travelling.

Honestly don't know whether Corey Webster wants to be here

Dolla!

Think the game has been called not too bad actually. Perth maybe got a few bad calls but if you're going to reach wildly you put the ref in a position to make the call.

Think a lot of Perth fans buy into Gleesons whinging. See him whinge and assume Perth got a bad call. Note: Gleeson argues everything.

Jackson is a fucking terrible shooter.
How he made 7 against us is beyond me.

Perth are roaring into this game

Cats 4 life, can you come up with a couple of excuses for me in case the Breakers choke?

NZ 5th team foul. Perth only 1. OMG massive ref bias!! :O

This is intense!

Breakers playing terribly

ABERCROMBIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

perth blew it

Man ... what a possession ... how did Beal miss a layup that open??


TA left open = money

Think Perth just lost the game for themselves on that play. So many opportunities.

Say what you will about Abercrombie not reaching his potential as a player, but the dude is CLUTCH

"Think Perth just lost the game for themselves on that play"

Feels like it to me too.

redhage , huge 3rd quarter but no court time in the 4th

"NO it was the refs that lost the game for them"


I haven't seen anything in the last 5 minutes from the umpires that has favoured NZ tbh.

WEBSTER IS CLUTCH!!!!!!!!!!

That oughta do it

1) Webster didn't deserve that three

2) Backcourt violation on the Beal catch

Webster just avoided a lot of flack I reckon, because he's been seriously ordinary this game until that shot.

There's been so many games this season where Webster has had such a bad shooting game but has come up MONEY in the 4th... he's done it again with that shot.

Yeah he has only moved when he had to. He's actually been a terrible headspace all night

Yep, that was it, how many shots did the Cats miss?
Then leave Crombie open for a 3.

Then why foul & waste time when you're behind?

Then all they had to do was take that rebound, instead they let NZ grab another 3.

All over

Bring on game 3

"2) Backcourt violation on the Beal catch"

Yeah that looked really suss to me as well

And then he does that LOL

NZ finding ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Credit to Perths D

Yep... back to being soft. Sorry but that's pathetic

Beal bahahahahahahahaha

Looks like Perth will win Game 3 easily. Breakers did nothing to win this.

Vukona is a BEAST!!! What a performance by Mika. True hustle and determination from him tonight.

Maybe the travel has been a factor. The skill level for tahe last quarter has been poor. Not good tv at all.

Classic tense, ugly GF contest.
Well played, NZ.

Jervis has been rubbish this series.
That probably justifies taking the risk on Jawai, and Perth did get close.

Perth Wilburs,

"Breakers did nothing to win this"

Except score more points than Perth.

If NZ are ANY hope of winning game 3 they need to shoot better at the stripe. An abysmal 19-34 from the line is shockingly bad.

Looks like refs will win Game 3 easily.
They've been blatantly biased against both teams in both games so far and can't possibly be that bad again.

It's also one of the rare games Beal gets 16+ and Perth loses

Is it fair to say both NZ and Perth's chances rest highly on the production of Webster and Prather respectively?

Not looking forward to the quality of game 3.
Never seen so many air-balls, and otherwise one of the sloppiest games I've seen for a while, players just knackered towards the end.

There's an old saying (related to university) that 51% is wasted effort, and 49% is a wasted year.
For all the effort Perth put in to get close, they lost. They clearly went all out for a win, but it didn't pay off.

^ I wouldn't say so, MACDUB, since both were ordinary tonight and either team could have won it, and a sub-par game from Prather on Wednesday didn't prevent the Cats getting the win.

wow!!! all i can say is bring on Game 3. This is the one of the best Grandfinal series I've witnessed.

A win is a win but that was far too close for comfort. It will be a huge ask for NZ to win in Perth but anything can happen.
I'm not sure which made me more nervous, Perths d or NZ's woeful shooting.

If Webster plays like that we lose game 3. Even if he plays slightly better we probably still lose.

Need to play close to a perfect game to beat Perth over there. Should be a cracker.

Wow when the cats lose the haters come out in force. Why can't you appreciate the game and series without bagging the fans and even the coach. I'm sorry if your team didn't make the grand final but it's funny seeing all the hate.

When can general public buy tickets?

"When can general public buy tickets?"

Now.

But members' seats are reserved until (I think it is) noon tomorrow Perth time

NZ handled the pressure (just) and gave themselves a shot a a ship.
I agree that for the most part that was an ugly contest and neither team looked that great due to such a short turnaround from game 1.

Best of all Trevor's sucking lemons :)

Perth MUST do something about their stupid fouling. ie pointless reaching in, especially after the opponent has grabbed the ball. Either go hard for the rebound, or leave it alone. Don't wait for him to grab it, come down, then just shove your arm in.

It's bad enough that Prather does it a couple of times per game, and winds up on the bench in foul trouble, but today they just went spastic. NZ may suck at shooting frees, but if you send them to the line for 34 shots, some of them are going to drop.

Ok, so they copped a few fouls early that were questionable, but if that happens you need to tighten up and stop giving away easy ones.

Yes today's loss does matter.
Fact is that Perth had the opportunity to win, and didn't. Yes, they get G3 at home, but if the game is on the line will they be able to pull it out?
Being in Perth favours the Cats, but I feel being the 3rd game in 3 days favours the Breakers. Jervis needs to redeem himself.

This forum sucks when it comes to replying to people's post. Needs to have a quote function where you highlight a quote and then you push an insert quote button.

"3rd game in 3 days" oops meant 5 days

Credit to Perth, playing breakers in NZ with their backs against the walls was always going be tough. The way they were playing they were lucky not get pants by 20. HCA has been huge this season and I expect nothing less from Game 3. This series is going to the wire. Perth by 3 in the decider. My ticket is booked and I can't wait for this game.

Bit rich complaining about something that is free, pretty simple if you are quoting something just tag it with the word quote either side, or put your money up and run your own site.

quoteBit rich complaining about something that is free, pretty simple if you are quoting something just tag it with the word quote either side, or put your money up and run your own site.quote

It didn't work.


It's not too hard to work with, but the issue is if you screw up a tag, you break the entire page. And then Isaac has to come fix it. Which is his stated reasoning for not more publicly posting the correct markup for things, so fewer people try it and therefore screw it up, but it also means it's to his benefit to have a system where pushing a button quotes things. So you could look at it either way.

Could Michael Aylen give Perth the easy win by getting rid of Trevor Gleesen by half time?

NZ is relying heavily on keeping Trevor the clown on the sidelines in game 3.

so you qouted my post, wasn't that hard was it.

Gleeson is a flog.

I think he sucks more than Flophage, Shitstaff and Hire combined!!

Really not impressed with your failure to create a zingeriffic nickname for Hire

Good point. I'll fix it for you.

Gleeson is a flog.

I think he sucks more than Flophage, Shitstaff and Wouldn'tHire combined!

And yet they have taken Perth to equal first for the season, and now game 3 of the GF. Win or lose that's better than 6 other teams including yours.

What about Vickerman? Is he a flog?
Given that to this point his record is worse than Gleesons?

Maybe you should hedge your bets by pointlessly insulting both teams.

* Must defend against any criticism made of anything related to Perth, even when it is clearly true! *

^^^ lol

Dazz just loves him.