Melbourne ties Grand Finals at 1 with 92-74 victory over Perth

From nbl.com.au: Third quarters are proving pivotal this Grand Final Series with Melbourne United coming out of the half-time break a dominant force to bounce back and beat the Perth Wildcats 92-74 in Game 2 at Melbourne Arena on Sunday. After falling to Perth in Game 1, Melbourne dominated the rebound count and turned those extra possessions into baskets in the 18-point win in front of 10,062. The best-of-five series is now tied at 1-1. Remarkably it now means that 31 of the past 34 NBL Grand Final matches have…

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Andrew Bogut wins Andrew Gaze NBL MVP Trophy

Former NBA veteran, world champion Andrew Bogut capped off his successful inaugural season in the NBL by being awarded the Andrew Gaze Trophy, which is given to the Most Valuable Player. The former no. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft garnered 83 votes to beat out Melbourne United’s Caspar Ware, who finished with 77 votes and Bryce Cotton of the Perth Wildcats, with 65 votes. Bogut was not done racking up hardware and acclaim, as was also named the NBL’s Best Defensive Player as well as earning a…

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Liam Santamaria’s Week 17 Studs and Duds

Written for nbl.com.au by Liam Santamaria Bryce Cotton is a gift from the Basketball Gods and Damian Martin is the hero we all deserve. STUDS Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats) What Bryce Cotton did across the final 16 minutes yesterday was one hundred percent pure basketball brilliance. As Perth’s clash with Sydney approached three-quarter time, and with the Wildcats trailing by 8, Cotton was 0-for-10 and had not scored a single point for the afternoon. That’s before a backcourt steal by Clint Steindl gifted him a rare open look, sparking a…

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Damian Martin helps save man from burning home

From nbl.com.au : Written for NBL.com.au by Chris Pike Just hours after sending his Perth Wildcats top of the NBL and minutes after shaking off a death threat, Damian Martin added to his remarkable reputation by saving a man along with his dog from a burning down house. Martin is in the midst of some outstanding form on the floor over the past month and his renewed offensive aggressiveness combined with getting back to full health to be firing defensively is a big reason why Perth sits on top of…

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Cotton comes on late to lead Perth past Sydney

From nbl.com.au: The Perth Wildcats might hope for more scoreless first halves from MVP Bryce Cotton after he delivered 24 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and overtime in Sunday’s come-from-behind 95-86 win over Sydney Kings. The biggest crowd of the season, 13,520, turned out at RAC Arena to watch the Wildcats and Kings battle over finishing Round 17 in top spot, but to also move a stop closer to an all-important top two finish. Coming off Friday’s home win over Melbourne, Sydney started full of confidence having…

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Perth outclasses Sydney in 88-68 beatdown

From nbl.com.au: The demise of the Perth Wildcats was greatly exaggerated with the league’s benchmark back to some imposing form and to the top of the NBL with a dominant 88-68 victory over the Sydney Kings on Sunday. The start of Round 14 saw the Wildcats lose on the road to Adelaide to leave them in danger of seeing their remarkable playoff streak come to an end having lost seven of the past eight games. But the response from the ‘Cats has been emphatic starting with a narrow home win…

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Perth pounds Adelaide 100-81

From nbl.com.au: The old warhorse Damian Martin turned on a clinic as the Perth Wildcats shook off a blistering Adelaide 36ers start to continue their resurgence with a statement-making 100-81 win on Friday night at RAC Arena. The Sixers shot out of the blocks with 18 points in the game’s first four minutes with Jacob Wiley hitting 12 of them as they looked set to fire themselves back into the NBL’s top four. It wasn’t to be with the 36ers ending up scoring just 13 points in the second quarter…

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