Straightforward scenario for SEM

Win the last 2- finish 3rd

Won 1- finish 4th

Win neither- miss playoffs

The most talented team left outside United, so lets hope they at least guarantee a spot today

This game will probably be the cincher.
SEM win, and it's hard to see Sydney or Brisbane getting past on %.

Where is MU playing it's first SF?

The most talented team left outside United

SEM looking sharp

Sykes killing them

Loving Moore's energy off the bench

Must be a leading candidate for 6th man of year

Refs working hard to get NZ Back into this game

Sykes was great but too much iso on offence

Defence was good, and they crashed the boards hard. They went after it.

Welcome to the playoffs SEM!

Re "undermanned" nz who were they missing? Abercrombie and loe? Anyone else? SEM missing Gliddon and Pineau so that's both teams roughly equally undermanned

Agreed nz commended on professionalism. But I did expect them to finish stronger in their home stand than they did

Pineau was top 5 in the NBL in rebounds, blocked shots and FG% last year.

He played 1 game in the middle of this season

Rubbishing him just shows ignorance

With his absence, and hugely disrupted seasons for Sykes, Broekhoff, and Gibson, plus Creek's legal issues and now Gliddon's unavailability, SEM should be proud of their season.

And the rest of us should be excited at what they might be able to produce from here with hopefully a full contingent of players (minus Pineau).

Rebounding and dirty work is meat and potatoes bball. What's your point?

Not true- Pineau wasn't expected to be out all year. He actually played on 20th March vs Adelaide.

If you look at SEM roster, that's the one weakness- the lack of genuine inside players. This was shown in their loss to Brisbane when they were monstered on the boards. Pineau's skillset was intended to be- and would be- the perfect completion of their roster.

Despite his absence SEM still have the most talented roster after United.

They're 10-5 with Broekhoff who, despite not putting many points up, commands plenty of defensive attention and makes it difficult for opponents to double team the accomplished scorers Sykes, Creek or Adnam on the drive, or Wetzell in the post. 9-3 when Broekhoff plays 11 minutes or more.

As a United fan, I'm more scared of SEM than anyone else to be honest- now that I know Perth won't have Cotton, and we'll only have to play over there twice max, where we've just beaten them twice anyway (plus last season too).

Nonsense, when you construct a roster intending Pineau to be playing and your replacement is Mike Karena, you are absolutely missing him

Suggesting otherwise is beyond laughable

The difference is Perth found out Majok would be missing the season 10 weeks before the season began! So they had about 6 months more time than SEM to find a replacement, since SEM thought Pineau would be returning until late in the season

2ndly, Pineau was a starter last year with an impressive season, Majok hasn't been a consistent starter since he was first in the league 4 or 5 years ago. Pineau is better

Perth replaced Majok with Jervis who has played roles in a bunch of championships. SEM brought in Karena, an unproven 27 year old from the NZNBL

Pineau>Karena is a bigger gap than Majok>Jervis and the circumstances of The two injuries were completely different

You know all this though, pretty sure you're just the same troll who was trolling KET and and me with the NBL cup thing

Sorry, let me say that another way. No one was trolling you or KET about the NBL Cup. I asked you a pretty simple question which you avoided answering, and it wasn't related to the Cup at all.

No I am not the person who is "trolling" you in this thread.

You seem to be playing that card a bit lately though. Is that your new go-to move when you realise you've backed yourself into a corner?

The trolling part is the ridiculous implication that the nbl cup, and United's overall fixture, was somehow set up with The purpose of giving United some special advantage

In this thread, its the idea that SEM isn't missing Pineau. And the follow up suggestion that The circumstances around Pineau's injury issues are comparable to Majok's Achilles snap in early November

Also on the question of Majok, given how Mooney's influence has declined since Magnay arrived, you could argue Perth would've always been better off with Mooney at the 5 and Gleeson being Gleeson would've realised this and played Mooney at the 5 from the beginning, making Majok a small part bench player (as he has been for the past few years) rather than the starter that people allege Majok was going to be

In other words, I'm not sure Majok would've been the right fit to complement Mooney.

Just like Peatling and McDaniel at United starting over the likes of Barlow, Perth mightve found themselves playing DPs or inexperienced players in the starting 5 even if Majok was there

Why the constant whining about United then, and not SEM, who had one quick 6 day road trip in the 7 week period between April 2 and May 21, and were otherwise in Melbourne during that time?

(And one game in Cairns on April 25, followed by 5 straight games in Melbourne)