Category: National Basketball League

Melbourne United v Sydney Kings: SF2 Preview

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au : When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Monday 3 March Where: Melbourne Arena Broadcast: SBS Viceland; ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand The last time Sydney 86 (Tate 23, Newley 17, Cooks 13) d Melbourne 80 (Trimble 34, Long 23), Semi-Final Game 1, Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Most of these comments should be about Melbourne because they were quite simply superb … for 34 minutes. At that point they were tracking for a 93-74 win that would have seen their offensive and defensive planning and execution lauded, especially on a…

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NBL adds tenth team

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au ; The Hungry Jack’s National Basketball League is set to return to Tasmania for the 2021-22 season following a landmark agreement between the Tasmanian Government and the NBL.  NBL Owner and Executive Chairman Larry Kestelman and Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein announced today that the league’s 10th team would be based in Tasmania.  Under the agreement, the Tasmanian Government will become the sponsor of the new team and undertake a significant redevelopment of the Derwent Entertainment Centre (DEC) in Hobart.  The new Tasmanian team will play the majority of…

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Cairns pushes series to decisive Game 3 with 85-74 win

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au: The Cairns Taipans have answered every challenge so far in a remarkable #NBL20 campaign and they responded to the call on Sunday at Cairns Convention Centre to fix up what went wrong Friday and beat the Perth Wildcats 85-74 in Game 2 of the semi-final series. MVP Bryce Cotton was simply unstoppable on Friday night despite the best defender in the league DJ Newbill making him work hard for everything he earned. Cotton still delivered 42 points including 10/19 shooting from three and the Snakes just couldn’t let…

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Must win for Melbourne extends their season

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au : Melbourne United has never quite clicked all of #NBL20, until now, and it took until the very last regular season game for them to beat South East Melbourne Phoenix 109-90 and secure a semi-final berth. Coming off appearing in the past two NBL Grand Finals and adding Shawn Long, Melo Trimble and welcoming back triple championship winner Casey Prather, there were high hopes for Melbourne for this season. But they started off losing three straight, including the season-opener to the Phoenix in the first ever Throwdown, and…

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Finn Delany and Rob Loe re-sign with Breakers

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au : Finn Delany has signed a two-year extension to keep him contracted to the Sky Sport Breakers until the end of the 2022 NBL season while Tall Blacks Centre Rob Loe has agreed terms to stay at the club until 2023. 28-year-old Loe has come back impressively from his serious skull fracture midseason to average a career high 9.6 points and 4.2 rebounds over 20 games.  24-year-old Delany is in the form of his life averaging 12.6 points, at an average of 47 percent from the floor, and…

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Sydney Kings captures regular season NBL crown

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au : The Sydney Kings celebrated winning their first NBL regular season championship in 12 years by beating a gritty Illawarra Hawks 98-82 at Qudos Bank Arena on Friday night. The Kings, who achieved the rare feat of leading the competition from go to whoa, will finish the season at least one win ahead of second-placed Perth regardless of the result of the Wildcats’ clash against Adelaide on Saturday. It’s the club’s fifth regular season championship and the first time the Kings (20-8) have topped the NBL standings and…

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Melbourne keeps hopes alive with 99-83 win over Cairns

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au : Melbourne United took a significant step towards salvaging their season by still reaching the post-season knocking off the finals bound Cairns Taipans in likely their best performance of #NBL20 on Thursday. With 6315 fans screaming like a sold out crowd at Melbourne Arena, United found a way to score their first win over the Taipans in four tries and keep alive their hopes of finishing in fourth place. The loss for the Snakes means they are locked into finishing in third position as their four-game winning streak…

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Melbourne saves season with 77-67 win over Perth Wildcats

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au : Not only did Melbourne United keep their NBL season alive beating Perth Wildcats 77-67 in the open-air game at Melbourne Arena on Wednesday, but all but handed Sydney Kings top spot in the process. With the Melbourne Arena roof open as part of NBL-Australian Open connection, United skipper Chris Goulding (17 points) and his bench (32 points) proved the match-winners as Melbourne scored a 10-point win to arrest a losing slide and keep their finals hopes alive. Reserve centre Jo Lual-Acuil (15 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks)…

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LaMelo Ball has returned to the Uniced States

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au : Illawarra Hawks NBL Next Star LaMelo Ball has returned home to the US today to continue his rehabilitation and preparation for the 2020 NBA Draft. Ball, 18, had previously been ruled out for the remainder of the 2019-20 Hungry Jack’s NBL season due to a foot injury. He played 12 games for the Hawks and averaged 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game. Illawarra Hawks General Manager, Mat Campbell said: “With only four games remaining this season we understand LaMelo is keen to return home…

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New Zealand lays the smackdown on Melbourne 90-68

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au: The New Zealand Breakers continue to defy all the odds and have put themselves right back in the NBL finals hunt and continued the struggles of Melbourne United with a 90-68 thumping at Spark Arena on Sunday. There have been times this season could have been described as the season from hell for the Breakers with all they have had to deal with. It all started with an import replacement before the season even started and has continued to snowball, but right now they are among the hottest…

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