JJ's by 3

Cats with the home crowd momentum for the win

Reading online and looking at my own ticketek acct there appears to have been a monumental f-up with members being assigned random tickets instead of their own seats. They should turn the cameras into the stands for the pre game entertainment!

Perth by 6.... Can't see them losing in Perth. They dominated most of game 2 but struggled to keep Doyle off the leash in the third. I think Dolttle will keep him in check. Crawford is struggling on offence against the bigger Tai Webster guarding him

One of the JJ's guards needs to stand up but not necessarily both- Doyle had a shocker game 1, and Crawford in Game 2 yet they still won

JJ's have more upside from where I'm sitting- key is staying out of foul trouble. McVeigh missed a lot of Game 1 and Lee was suspended Game 2. If everyone stays out of foul trouble, McVeigh can play 30 minutes (his average this season) with rim protection from Lee and Magnay at all times, JJ's have more upside based on the series so far.

Just looked up box scores- JJs were +1 with McVeigh on court in Game 1. The only starter in the positive.

In game 2, JJ's were +8 with Magnay on court and level without him.

They were -8 and -7 in Krslovic's time on court. That's -15 in 16 minutes of game time.

All these stats match the eye test.

With Lee or Magnay, then McVeigh with Deng playing a few minutes, that would be a winning rotation I reckon.

I think the cats are lacking another legit scoring threat. Usher has not been that consistently and Corey Webster, who could play the role, has looked pretty cold perhaps due to lack of minutes.

Next year cats need to back to finding a Terrico style shooter that can light it up when Cotton is being stifled.

I think that the JJs team is built for big games, better defensively and can rotate scorers on you, one has an off night someone else steps up. To many variables in cats re consistency, Usher, Pinder ( if he plays) Harris. To much left for Cotton and Doolittle, hopefully either Webster can step up. If McVeigh gets rolling in the four spot, who stops him with Doolittle having to guard Doyle. JJs by 12.

If the refs let the game flow without being unduly influenced by a partisan crowd, I think JJs win a close one.

JJs are slight favourites now with the handicap set at TAS -1.5.

Tasmania is definitely gonna come out and play well. No idea who will turn up for Perth. However, Perth do have home-court advantage and an incredibly deep team when others contribute to support Cotton. Hard to make a prediction, but I'd like to see Tasmania continue. Perth have been disappointing this season and don’t deserve to be contending.

In an elimination game I will always favour the team that has Bryce Cotton, but Pinder is probably the X-factor.

Doolittle really important, has the job on Doyle which is crucial, and needs to have a similar offensive impact as last game.

Is it considered an upset if JJ's win? The bookies have JJ's as slight favourites.

Difference between Cats total score and JJs total will be (5 - NPA),
where NPA = No. of Posts by Anon between tip-off and final buzzer.

I think it comes down to how cotton plays if the jack jumpers can hold him to around the twenty point mark there a big chance, I would even look at giving MacDonald the bulk of minutes at the point tonight he had Bryce under control when it mattered last game.

Still no sign of tickets for the game. How Ticketek can totally screw up their core service on such a regular basis is beyond me.

Myself and the 2 others I'm going with have decided to get into RAC using the incorrect tickets nice and early, grab a beer and plant ourselves in our member seats. I totally anticipate it will be resolved before then but if not we will punch on (metaphorically) if necessary

The incorrect tickets have been invalidated, so you can't get it.

Zero communication about any of this outside social media.

Perth have been disappointing this season and don't deserve to be contending

Luucc glad I'm somehow living rent free in your head. Bad prediction though as I'm on a flight so no comments sadly. Will you manage without me.

Essenx how can the team that finished second not deserve to be there? O agree the difference between their best and worst is big, but their record surely warrants been there???

Member ticket sitcho "fixed" but available tix in ticketek seating map was enormous las time I looked hope its not a ghost town

Early days but JJs starting better

That was not a goaltend.

6 from 11 from stripe, cats will have to do better than that.

Chris Reid coming in with an incorrect overrule? Surely not!

Pinder playing like a man concussed

Pinder will never make a World Cup or Olympic team too loose braindead and mentally not right

Some interesting quotes form the first half, pinder - why the time wasting warning, Ref - you took a half court shot after the whistle. Liam Santa Maria, cotton is so small out there on the court, not realising they are both the same height.

Cats in trouble, other Cotton balance team struggling.

Oh jo Healy that wasn't great did she listen or doesn’t she know basketball ouch

Then she said goodluck bro Jesus car crash poor thing

What on earth are you talking about?

JJs have been super disciplined (as usual) with not letting the Cats generate any momentum.

Sideline reporter.

I figured that much, but the specifics are incomprehensible.

Good night cats.

Thanks Hutchy.

jR is struggling big mistake with one second to go to put Sarr on inbound and not protect ring. Offensively Sarr and Dolittle seem to be an after thought.

I'm driving Usher to the airport tonight no matter the outcome.

jR is struggling big mistake with one second to go to put Sarr on inbound and not protect ring.

Gotta love Perth Fans.
Perth Win and JR would be getting keys to the city
Perth Lose and they are calling for his head

Appears to be totally focused on referees and in high stress mode whereas at the other end is composure and direction.

Yes Usher has been very average tonight, most of season actually. Harris has shot it more than Cotton. Rilie needs help next season structurally. Pinder also hasn't played to his first semi ability.

I've been calling for his head since early in the season and mocked for it.

Tassie clinical at both ends

Perth D poor.

From United perspective this is a nightmare

Rilly completely outcoached, Tassie controlling who from Perth can shoot it

Hey Anon I'm a kiwi, a basketball fan not a Perth fan and is my first time ever of questioning a coaches ability, but right now teh Perth coaches look lost .

Go kick rocks Anon. We've been calling for JR to be gone since before the season started.

Not surprised though. Doyle had a shocker game 1 and McVeigh had foul trouble. Helped Perth a lot.

JJ's quality at both ends, a quality finisher in Doyle, 2 rim protecting 7 footers, deep, well coached. And they've got the wood over United ever since they joined the NBL.

I've been pretty consistent with my Rillie hate from last year.

This would be a miserable enough experience even without the guy behind me constantly hitting me in the back of the head, spilling beer on me, and yelling obnoxious trash every second of the game.

Hopefully the Lynx can make up for it tomorrow night.

JR to be gone for the love of God. Please bring Trev back.

Here's a take from someone that hadn't seen more than 4 mins of the fourth. Tas completely outplayed and mkst likely outclassed perth, always going to be a strength the longer the series went. So will anyone acknowledge that Tas getting the 4th quarter in game 2 was the series? That was clearly perths best shot. Hopefully this new cats regime can actually put a good well balanced team together with a secondary gun import. But a better coach would also be worth its weight on gold. Rillie not winning many tactical battles

Get that up ya Wildcats.
The tears of John Rillie could be heard from Tassie.
Bunch of sooks!

Well played, JJs.
Too smart, too disciplined, and a tactical masterclass vs an opponent that had no answers.

Was meant to say out coached. The irony of calling perth sooks after tas amd lees suspension.

15 down and you sub Jessie and usher in Jesus . Every play he yells at the refs instead of focusing on the game . Roth focused all game knew the refs were out of his control stuck to what they could control

Perth totally out classed not only in the coaches box, cats got so many dumb iso players, they got build the team around Cotton, he's still the mvp, Doolittle done ok, should be third string import and worth keeping, get a defensive five that rebounds and try Pinder at the four. Cats got to many glory seekers.
Magnay destroyed cats around the bucket, Doyle and McVeigh outstanding. They are just one super unit and go deep and Roths a winner. United won’t have an answer to them.

Well done Tassie played the perfect game. They made the cats look like a bunch of morons. Better coaching. Better system. More skillful execution and more disciplined. Deservedly should be favorites against MU imo.

Cats with too many inconsistent players and their style of play not suited to playoff basketball. Surely they could do better at finding an open man when cotton is always double teamed? Rillie seemed completely lost. Cotton with only three shots in the entire second half. His last shot gifted to him in the final seconds. Thats just pathetic. He was shooting it well in the first half and with half descent system he should have had a big one.

Should it be all on Rillie or there is only so much you can do with the dumbasses he's got to work with

I maintain it's a combination of SEG ownership (it's a sinking ship, check out their financials), Mills' recruiting (he was a NBA video operator, not experienced enough) and Rillie's coaching (no pro CV) because the owner appoints the management who hire the coach. The whole thing is a shambles.

Congratulations to Tasmania and Scott Roth.

Watching Magnay roll to the cup uncontested or Doyle, Steindl, McVeigh, etc get open easy looks from the perimeter for most of the game and the entirety if the 4th was painful and disappointing. Rillie takes far too long to adapt its a worry for next season regardless how we recruit.

Deservedly should be favorites against MU imo.

Before the last Cats thread fades away, I just want to give kudos to Alex Sarr.

There would have been some pressure for him to pull the pin in the back end of the season. Once you've proven draft-worthy, there are big dollars at stake that would be hard for anyone to jeopardise.

Much easier to say now in hindsight with the season completed injury-free, but he clearly needed every bit of court time he could get for experience & development.
Glad he stuck around until the end. The lottery hype was overblown to death by the league, which got pretty cringe, but he was a legit contributor to the team and an asset to the league.
A nice bright spot for the Cats & the Next Stars program.

Cheers Alex!

Totally agree Luuuc, he was excellent both on and off the court.

Agree 100% Luuuc, if the draft wasnt a weak one he wouldnt be going top 2 but lucky for him he is heading to the NBA at the right time. And great of him to stick around for the entire season.

[Outright odds are currently MEL 1.65 TAS 2.25.]

$1.70 vs $2.15 with TAB.

I'll have to do some calculations, I'm tempted to further hedge on TAS. Already put a little amount on them when they were $6.50 or so

(Don't gamble folks, unless you can afford the lost the small dollars you bet)

The odds I quoted above were from TAB as well, since they were the only book with the market up last night after the double header had finished, so they've moved since yesterday.

Personally I layed (bet against) the Wildcats in the outright market throughout the season on Betfair exchange so whoever wins the GF makes no difference to me. Essentially by doing so I have the field in other words.

Curiously someone asked for odds of 3.00 on PER about a month ago, when all bookmakers were quoting higher, so I duly obliged. I just wish the market had more liquidity - the total amount matched was only $20K. The other steal was laying ADL for top four when they were clearly dysfunctional although that market was extremely shallow.