Wednesday 11 December 2013

Aaron Baynes has a huge game for the Spurs against the Toronto Raptors

Arron Baynes got to play some decent minutes with the Spurs back up centre Tiago Splitter injured and out for the night. He played 21 minutes and had a career high 14 points and 6 rebounds he was also a monster on defense shutting down the Raptors centre Jonas Valuciunis. Baynes has struggled to get some decent court time with the Spurs lately and spent some time in the NBA D league where he immediately dominated and was quickly brought back into the line up. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich had this to say on Baynes "[Aron] Baynes did a great job. He hasn't played that much but he went down to the D-League and played a few games to stay in shape, kept himself ready and it showed tonight. He came in and did a really good job for us."
Patty Mills played 16 minutes and had 11 points off 3-4 shooting from the 3 point line. Their was  great play where Baynes saved the ball from out of bounds and threw it up where Bellinelli got his hands on it and with a no look pass got the ball to an open Patty Mills for the 3 pointer. It was a good game and great to see the Aussies getting some decent minutes and being productive with what their given.

Check out Baynes making the highlight real with the play of the game
 And heres his highlights from the D league game that got him back into the Spurs line up. Looks like he has carried some of that confidence over to the NBA. I really hope we get to see more of him on the floor.

Saturday 7 December 2013

The Perth wildcats take down the New Zealand Breakers in a close finish


The Perth wildcats took down the New Zealand Breakers on their home court in what was Cj Bruton’s 499th game in the league.It was a good game in what was looking it was going to be another blowout home win for the wildcats but the Breakers brought back the deficit and lost 95-91 behind some game winning heroics from James Ennis.

In the first play of the game James Ennis penetrated against Vukona who played some good d but a foul was called and it sent James Ennis to the line for the first 2 points of the game.
Opening scoring for the Breakers Darryl Corletto hit a 3 after Jervis got an easy 2 and Beal hit a 3 and Perth are off on the races. Another 3 by Beal and wildcats are away 10-3 with only 82 minutes gone in the quarter.
Alex Pledger had a fumble in the post and Perth force the turnover who got the outlet pass to Ennis for the fast break, who threw it off the backboard to himself and jammed it through the basket. It was only 3 minutes into the game and Perth were already dominating 12-3.
Another slam from Ennis just past the 5 minute mark and Perth’s transition offense has been too good. 19-8.
Mika Vukona got the rebound off Jermaine Beal’s first missed 3 and drove the ball up the court and took it to Jervis getting the 3 point play.  But immediately after Vukona got his second foul and had to take a seat. 19-12 4min.
Ennis was having a dunk party and he likes to throw it through the basket.
In a mid game interview Ennis had this to say on his self alley-oop jam, “I had a lot on my mind and always wanted to throw it off the back board in a game and Im pretty happy got to do it In a game.”
In the last play of the quarter Ennis worked his way to the foul line to cap a huge first quarter from the Wildcats with a total of 33 points to New Zealand’s 21.
Perth dominated on offense the first quarter  but the breakers at only 12 down didn’t do too badly on offense just played terrible defense. If Matt Knight can run the ball the whole length of the floor and get to the basket their had to be something going wrong on D.
2nd Qtr.
Matt Knight opened the scoring in the 2nd with a nice hook shot inside.
Cj Bruton is defending Ennis and doing a good job to contain him.
Alex Pledger finally got the first points in the quarter for the breakers to stop an 8 point run from the wildcats 39-23 7:30 left in the half. Pledger got a good block on Hire and Corey Webster hit a 2 but every time it looked like they would get going Perth breaks them as Beal hit another shot.42-27 and 7 minutes left in the half. Vukona hit a nice hook shot and the Breakers had it back to a 10 point deficit 42-32 and 5:33 left till the main break. James Ennis fouled Abercrombie on a open court fast break and it was called a tech foul and the Breakers had the deficit back to only 6 42-36 at the 5 minute mark.  Breakers have stepped up the defense and gotten a couple of steal to bring them back into the game.
Mika Vukona had a big dunk off a nice dish from Abercrombie and the Breakers are back to only 3 down with 3 minutes left in the half.  Beal knocked down another 3 and Mika Vukona is too smooth with some spin moves going to the basket he has really stepped up his game this season.
Gary Wilkinson gets a tough offensive foul and then gets called for a tech due to complaining and that home court advantage had really stepped up.
In what in my opinion was a Bruton, Vukona lead come back it was a huge quarter for the Breakers who down by 18 early in the quarter got it back to 3 but a rough couple of plays to close the quarter and the Wildcats go into the main break with the lead  50-45.

2nd Half
James Ennis again opened the scoring for the Wildcats in 3rd quarter with a rebound and little hook on the inside.
Darryl Corletto opened scoring in the the quarter for the Breakers with a nice little floater just in to the keyway and immediately after he made a long 3 to keep the Breakers in it. But James Ennis and Jermaine Beal were making it difficult for the Breakers to keep up. 58-50 and 7:30 left in the quarter. The refs were pretty trigger happy this week after last weeks lapse in tight calls. Ennis hit a nice 3 to take the lead back out to 11 and Damian Martin got a steal from Pledger who wrapped him up which  looked ugly but no tech called as it just looked bad. With Cj on the bench the breakers are back down by double digits and they need his leadership back on the court.
Beal hits a long 3 and the all of a sudden the lead was back out to 16, 3:38 left in the 3rd. Cj Bruton comes back on the floor. They Breakers got it back to 10 but with 2 minutes left but Jermaine Beal hit his 7th 3 pointer of the game and took the lead back out to 13 and CJ got hit in the face and had to take a seat.
Abercrombie hit a 3 to take the deficit down to 11 76-65 but he fouled Jervis on the buzzer to end to quarter and the wildcats close the 3rd term up 77-65
Tom Abercrombie hit a 3 to open the final quarter and Ennis forced himself to the line to get the Wildcats on the board with 8 minutes left in the game 79-68. A good block by Pledger and a corletto fast break and 3 got the Breakers under 10 79-71 with 7:15 left in the game.  A killer no look pass by Kerron Johnson to TeRang and a Corlletto 3 get the breakers back to a only a 6 point deficit. 79-73 and 6min left.  
With 2 minutes left Kerron Johnson drove to the hole and dished the ball to Vukona to take the deficit to only 1 point and the game had turned around on the Wildcats.
Vukona was called for a foul on Shawn Redhage on another very weak call and the refs did all they can for the fans. He made them both and a tip by Abercrombie made it a 3 point play and it was 86-82, but a Wilkinson drive and 3 point play kept the Breakers alive. 86-85 1:31 left in the game.
In the last two minutes the two teams were trading buckets and every touch Ennis got going to the hole sent him to the line. I'm sure Sam Young wishes he got that kind of treatment.  90-87 with 37 seconds left In what was a looking like a blow out win for the Wildcats in the first quarter turned in to a very close game. In only 6 seconds Johnson got hit to the ground got up and got the ball back then dished it to Wilkinson for an easy lay in and got them down by only 2, 90-89 with 31 seconds left.  In the play of the game Jermaine Beal twisted his ankle but got the ball to James Ennis who with 2 seconds on the shot clock got the shot up from way outside the 3 point line and hit the shot off the backboard to ensure the win. 93-89. With 6 seconds left for the breakers they got a quick 2 from a Wilkonson cut and then a foul Ennis on the inbound to stop the clock who hit them both. The Wildcats won a tough fight and a great game 95-91 with the man of the match James Ennis secured the win.
Also revealed this game apparently James Ennis will most likely be staying the whole season. In what to me was unexpected as a talent like his wont stay out of the NBA for too long.

Wednesday 4 December 2013

NBL Round 9 weekend preview

This weekend has 5 games to watch on NBL.tv with the Adelaide 36ers and New Zealand Breakers having two games across the weekend.

Friday night's first game see's the Townsville Crocodiles hosting the Adelaide 36ers. The 36ers are on a winning streak and it will be tough for the Crocodiles to stop the number 2 team in the league. Townsville are coming off of their first away win of the season last week against the Melbourne Tigers and are looking to be playing some great basketball, lead by their two impressive imports Josh Pace and Brian Conklin. Pace has proved he can score and lead the fast break and Brian Conklin has dominated in the paint. Townsville's starting five players will certainly be a good match up to the Adelaide 36ers however its the 36ers depth that has shown how strong a team they really are. Head Coach Joey Wright has at times subbed all starters off the court and brought on nearly his whole bench and they haven't dropped a beat. But when you've got an up and coming point guard like Jason Cadee, a centre as big as Luke Schencher and the strength and athleticism of Mitch Creek and BJ Anthony its a bench that could soon be a starting five with new teams coming into the league. Then when you have a player like Gary Ervin who can close out the close games like no one else in the league the 36ers should be able get the W in a tough away game. Townsville will fight to the end but i think Adelaide's depth should carry them over the line to win by 8. Centrebet has the Crocodiles at $2.75 for the win and the 36ers at $1.45. Probably best to let this one go unless you put a decent amount on Adelaide as they should get the win.

3 hours after on friday night the Perth Wildcats take on the New Zealand Breakers in Perth. The Breakers are coming back into form with back to back wins. Mika Vukona last week was in full beast mode with a near triple double for the Breakers and he will be looking to have another big performance in front of the biggest crowd in the league. In last weeks win in New Zealand the game was fairly rough with the refs taking the league back to last years basketbrawl. This helped the Breakers get the win who have thus far struggled with the new rule altercations. This game may come down to how the umpires ref the game. If they let the teams play it should be a tough match up as both teams like to play hard and physical but if the refs call it close then expect to see the Breakers key players in foul trouble early and the Perth Wildcats to run away with the win on their home court. Im picking the Wildcats to continue their good form with another win, to take it by 5. It should be a great athletic match up between Tom Abercrombie and James Ennis. Last time the Breakers were in Perth they were cutting down the net and im sure the Wildcats are looking forward to the game. It should be a great match and will be a real measure as to how close or far behind the Breakers are from the league leaders. Centrebet has the Breakers to get the win at $4.75 and the Wildcats at $1.18 not really worth a bet due to it coming down to the reffing to decide the win for most games the Breakers play.

Saturday night's first game is in Cairns with the Cairns Taipans taking on the Adelaide 36ers. This will be a tough game for the 36ers after a game the night before in Townsville, therefore fatigue may be an issue for the 36ers. However with a team as deep as the 36ers have it wont be as big an issue as it would for other teams in the league. The Cairns Taipans have had a rough start to the season and have lost several close games not to mention last week loss to the Wildcats in over time. The Taipans have a tall team and their centre Alex Loughton has come into form hitting some big shots, but this will be a tough game where they will have to work hard to get the win. The Taipans don't tend to run the ball as much as other teams but i think this will be key to use the 36ers fatigue against them. If Jamar Wilson and Demetri McCamey can run the ball and dont have too many turnovers up against the tough defense of Adam Gibson they may be able to take down the number 2 team in the league. Im going to pick the Taipans to get this win in their home court by 2. It should be a great game. Centrebet has the 36ers to win at $1.55 and the Taipans at $2.45 this could be worth a few dollars with the 36ers coming off a game the night before.

The second game of Saturday night will be the Wollongong Hawks hosting the Sydney Kings. The Hawks have a big hole in the team with the loss of their centre Larry Davidson to an ankle injury. In the last few games rebounding has been where the Hawks have lost games and expect to see this one to be similar due to the Kings two big rebounders in AJ Ogilvy and NBA player Sam Young. The Hawks are a very well coached team and have some shooters that can get on fire at any time in rotnei Clark who has proved himself as one of the best offensive players in the league and Oscar Foreman who thus far hasn't had a huge start to the season. For the Hawks to get the win Foremen will have to be hitting some big 3's and Clark as always will be on fire, but Rhys Martin will also have to show his return to form to reduce the impact their lack of size will have. If the Hawks can attack the Kings in the back court it also may help their cause, as Sydney still look to be adjusting to not having a real point guard on the team. Expect to see Sam Young to have a big game with no players on the Hawks roster who can match his athleticism. I'm picking the Kings to get the win by 6. This game centrebet has the Kings to win at $1.55 and the Hawks at $2.45, could be worth a few on the Kings to get your total up a few $$.

The last game of the round is in Melbourne with the Melbourne Tigers taking on the New Zealand Breakers. The Tigers are coming off two losses last round against the Breakers and Kings. In last weeks physical battle between these two teams the Breakers managed to get the win with a big fourth quarter performance from the breakers at home. This time its in Melbourne and the Breakers are coming off a tough match in Perth, so fatigue may be an issue for the Breakers. The Tigers will be looking to get revenge from last week and watch out for Chris Goulding too come out fireing. But for the Tigers to get the win a few more players then Chris Goulding will have to an impact on offense. Mark Worthington still looks to be carrying his shoulder injury and has a quiet few games the last couple of rounds. If he starts fireing the Tigers should be able to get the win but if has a quiet one again and the Breakers are able to contain Adam Ballinger the breakers should be able to get a win on the road. This will definitly be a tough game for both teams and a tough one to pick but i'm going with the home team, for the Tigers to win by 4. This is a close game and is definitly a tough one to call and therefor centrebet has given both teams the win at $1.90.

Its a few tough games for betting and if your looking at making a few dollars in a multi bet a decent pick might be for Adelaide to beat Townsville, Perth to beat New Zealand, Sydney to beat Wollongong and Cairns to beat Adelaide and this pays out at $6.50. Without the Taipans to win in the multi its all favourites and only pays at $2.65. Good luck to anyone having a punt and any comments are most welcomed.