How crap do you have to be to lose to Perth these days? Hawks by 20!

Melbourne spent all week doing lay up drills.

But they were only mandatory for all import guards.

Melbourne by 2.

United by 22.

"United by 22."

Long live Richie Benaud!

While I wouldda got that layup in , not sure how Melbourne beat Cairns.........Ilawarra , I think...

A United win is almost a given

See how the ref's are hey LV? Didn't hear any complaints about it in the grand final series last year?

No way the ref's let illawarra win, Larry wants the big boy's in the finals. Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth or Sydney.

Its too hot here open the damn roof already

Hawks too cheap to buy matching shorts?

Game looks like Melbourne versus a random division 2 team from a nearby social comp.

Every time I watch the Hawks, Kevin White is knockdown. I would've put him at near 50% from downtown

Cedric Jackson used to be a fantastic player in this league. Now he is mediocre at best

why do we need a live close up of the player that just scored, every, every time, even when the ball is now in court and presure is being applied ?

I have old dvds og the celtics/bulls/lakers NBA series in the 80's , who do i send them to so the video edditors can learn how it was done properly before they were ever born ?

Doesn't look like a great crowd.

White is probably the best shooter I've ever seen

So NBL app has Illawarra with 17 missed shot attempts, including free throws. Melbourne with 22 defensive rebounds and Illawarra with 5 O boards. So 27 rebounds off 17 missed shots?

LOL at Kevin White being "lockdown". The bloke could barely hit the side of a barn

Good to see DJ Kennedy back after the car accident. Melbourne need him especially with CG and CM out of form

put a bet on the under 178.5 ...thsi leagues's pace is out of hands..crazy

*and lack of defense

I'll qualify my comment by saying I haven't seen the game and am going off the LiveStats (which, yes, is problematic at times).

To all the Cedric haters in this thread, yes he hasn't been the great Cedric of years gone by, going off his statline of 4pts, 2 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block he hasn't been that bad! +/- of 7 too.....

I will tune in for the second half and see how he goes.

Are they minor premiership favourites now, Melbourne?

Another open air game?

Aylen vs. Blanchfield. Nice grown man reference by Todd.

Todd Blanchfield.

That is all.

United has been very good.

But, Illawarra hasn't shown up

*checks scores*

*checks thread for LV whinging about the refs*

Carry on then.

That is all.

There will be a lot of fans just sticking to tennis after this easy baskets rubbish display of a game. Worst game of the season - embarrassing with international visitors in attendance.

Tough game for Steel City! Cedric Jackson needs to leave the NBL and not return...

United has had the better of the reffing tonight.

Well that was a fizzer :/
Unfortunate.

United by 22?

Only 10 seconds off it

Anyone notice the ad during the game on the courtside "next home game Thursday 14th Feb"...ah, try Feb 3

Conklin, Jett and Naar went missing. Good result for Melbourne to go to number 1 on ladder but still think there are 2 or 3 better teams that will knock them off

I think the championship still goes through melbourne. Bringing CG43 off the bench was a great idea. Melbourne at their best beat everyone.

Melb are favs to finish first for mine.

Have a pretty friendly schedule to finish off... Even though it's all DBL headers.

I'll be shocked if they don't finish h&a 1st

Haven't watched Kennedy's defence, but comparing him with Prather... I think Kennedy fits a bit better in this Melbourne team.

Kennedy a bigger body, bigger presence on the glass, he's just as good a penetrator as Prather, actually he's probably better. Prather edges him from downtown. But I've changed my tone on Kennedy, he's legit. Unstoppable going downhill, and he creates a lot of those opportunities. Fast top speed and fast off the mark too. Crafty in the pick and roll, can navigate his way to the cup.

United were found wanting last season in drawing fouls. Kennedy gives them bulk foul shots. Gives them the general toughness that they wouldn't have without him

Boone also seems to have his bounce back

Yeah Boone looks a completely different player to the first half of the season. And melb need him back in form.

Shame they still have several out of form. But if they all come good. Gonna be tough for anyone to beat em

Boone will lap up the Fiba window too. Should be cherry ripe for playoffs.

Prather was weak sauce offensively for a lot of last season. Often settled for mid-range jumpers, pull-ups and runners instead of putting his head down and getting all the way to the rim. When Felix came in people realised he was a better fit than Prather despite not being a better player, because he hustled and crashed the glass more. Same with Kennedy, except Kennedy has an offensive game

Been leaning this way for a while now.....forget about Gliddon, Goulding etc, Barlow is the one to go to into the Oympic team.

Its not easy coming back from a nasty injury. Prather was unstoppable penetrating to the hoop but tend to agree he wasn't the best fit at united

I agree with you Very Old "why do we need a live close up of the player that just scored, every, every time, even when the ball is now in court and presure is being applied ?"

Just too many times that shot of the player who just scored which add zero value to the broadcast means we miss some action on the inbound play that is actually of value.

^ Yeah, that's a pet peeve of mine too.

Just too many times that shot of the player who just scored which add zero value to the broadcast means we miss some action on the inbound play that is actually of value.

The crazy thing about Barlow is that he was part of the last two seasons of the Kings threepeat.

I think he, Kay and Maker will be competing for a spot at the WC.

Feels like at least one game a round we miss a scored basket off an inbounds play or a fastbreak due to either the camera focusing on a player, or they decide to throw a 10 second long replay on the screen while the clock is ticking.

United will be tough to beat with Goulding warming the bench, wonder if it lasts...United would be stupid to change it.

"Feels like at least one game a round we miss a scored basket off an inbounds play or a fastbreak due to either the camera focusing on a player, or they decide to throw a 10 second long replay on the screen while the clock is ticking"

Totally agree,the camera work/replays are terrible. Wait for a %$@#*@ break for replays!