Friendship Games - Perth Sept 17-19

[Ted]

Friendship Games
September 17, 18, 19, 2010
WA Basketball Centre


Perth Wildcats
Sydney Kings
Beijing Ducks
Shanghai Sharks

Announcement in the West Australian (http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/basketball/7826985/beijing-ducks-on-the-menu-for-wildcats/)

Event information, tournament schedule & ticket prices (http://www.eventdevelopmentnetwork.com/news/view/friendship-games-basketball-tournament/)

Looking forward to catching 7 foot 9 Beijing big man Sun Ming Ming dominate the intimate venue! Tickets start at $15 for kids, $24.50 for adults - for 2 games each night!!

Presale 12noon Friday 27th August until 5pm Monday 30th August (Codeword: FRIEND). Click the above information link for sale instructions.

[meg]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs411.snc4/47435_462494977173_235975872173_6358717_1341264_n. jpg

[Julian]

As much as this is a nice relationship-building exercise with the CBA, the actual competitiveness of the games will be lacking resulting in a cakewalk for the NBL sides, bar Sydney being dodgier/more el cheapo than first thought.

Kings and Ducks have history playing against one another in the Singapore Cup (tourney to gauge basketball interest pre-Slingers), with the former winning in a blowout. I remember yawning all the way through it as it aired on Fox Sports. Google says 2005? Time flies.

[Nerf Herder]

bar Sydney being dodgier/more el cheapo than first thought.

Hahaha... don't make me message Cesar about you dissing his team... He will unleash all SORTS of whoopass... heh...

Hopefully someone rocks up with a video camera and gets some footage as I'm really keen on seeing how the Razorcats and Kings go up against each other...

[Daevo]

I could risk bringing fire & brimstone on myself by calling them the Razorbacks East & West teams ;)

[Ted]

http://www.bokinachbar.com/wp-content/uploads/p1_ming.jpg


7'9 231cm height
163kg
259cm wing span
Size 20 US shoes...

:eek:

[Voice(s)]

Sun Ming Ming profile on NBA TV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pj_jhwjhbU&feature=related

[Steve]

http://www.mopo.ca/uploaded_images/sun-ming-ming-798764.jpg

:shock:

[paul]

Hard to argue with that Steve!

[Nerf Herder]

Hahaha... jesus... :shock:

So I'm wondering if the Cats will be streaming commentary or something for the Cats games at least? That would be good for those following with interest in one of the proper states :D

[Ted]

We just put on some courtside seats right on the sideline for the tournament onto Ticketmaster.

They're $110 each to 2 of the games on any night. There's only a small sign (600mm) high in front of you, so it'd be a pretty amazing experience.

It's selling well so worth looking at sooner than later. Fathers day gift idea?? Get him a ticket for $24.50...

I'll keep you posted on ticket releases and special offers etc.

[Ted]

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2007/writers/pete_mcentegart/02/01/ten.spot/p1_ming.jpg

[Clips]

Shame he never got a chance with his heart conditions, although that being said, he is a defensive liability in transition or outside 6 feet from the hoop. Robotic lateral movement at a snails pace in the most recent videos of him I have seen.

[Clips]

and yes, he is the guy from Rush Hour if you haven't seen him before.

I like this picture though. The guy he's walking into the gym with is Kevin Garnett's size, a shade under 7 feet.
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/04/26/27s_richie2_narrowweb__200x277.jpg

[Warpig]

and yes, he is the guy from Rush Hour if you haven't seen him before.

I like this picture though. The guy he's walking into the gym with is Kevin Garnett's size, a shade under 7 feet.
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/04/26/27s_richie2_narrowweb__200x277.jpg

so your saying in that picture he is only 10" taller than the guy in front?
I doubt it...

[Clips]

so your saying in that picture he is only 10" taller than the guy in front?
I doubt it...
This is an old picture that's been floating around the net for years, way before his heart problems and surgery. The place where I first saw this pic (along with others of the workout) also identified the guy he was working out with, who is apparently listed as 6'11.

[Julian]

<snippage>
Be questioned on the quality of fixtured matches.
Ignore it and post a pic and measurements of freak.
Post another image of said freak.
And repeat.

[Ted]

Be questioned on the quality of fixtured matches.
Ignore it and post a pic and measurements of freak.
Post another image of said freak.
And repeat.

I'm giving info on ticket releases and the event to those who want it. I'll leave the analysis to people who want to give their opinions.

[angry ant]

Anyone going to the games tonight?

[Wild 1]

Im going. Most interested to have a look at Matty Knight as I think the workload that he is gong to shoulder this season will be key to our chances.

*Will be taping the Geelong v Coll game and watching when I get home ; )

[Be Aggressive]

I'm going on Sunday, straight after the WAFL grand final.

Have a huge weekend of sport viewing lined up. :)

[Ted]

Everyone we're pleased to announce the entire Friendship games featuring Perth Wildcats, Sydney Kings, Shanghai Sharks, Beijing Ducks will be streamed live & free of charge at widescreen broadcast quality through iinet's Freezone.

Visit: http://freezone.iinet.net.au/#/freezone/sport/friendship-games

5.55pm AWST Game 1
7.55pm AWST Game 2

Today, Saturday and Sunday. For fixtures visit www.rvsport.com.au

Approx 300 tickets still available at the door from 4.30pm today.

[mysterio]

Going on Sunday night.

Wouldnt of minded to go Fri or Sat night to see Cats against one of the asian teams, but already had plans on those nights

[upnorth]

Can anyone get the stream going?

I just get the connecting to stream logo, going round and round and round....

[angry ant]

Same thing for me, live stats here though- http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/5980/01/26/23/25acdcY8LEWhw/

[upnorth]

Sydney well, ermmmm, off to a flying start?? 0/10 FG!!

[DDFan]

Any clues on how non-iinetters can follow the stream? I'm getting the "connecting to stream" thing too, but I'm attempting it from the iinet link that Ted posted.

[madskree]

I'm with Iinet and it's not working for me at the moment either. I assume it's just some teething problems.

[DDFan]

I'm with Iinet and it's not working for me at the moment either. I assume it's just some teething problems.Thanks for getting back with that. It's a pity that you're missing out being a subscriber though.
Hope it comes good.

[madskree]

I'm not particularly fussed, as far as I'm concerned the stream is a total, unexpected bonus! Just hoping they can get it working for the Cats' game in an hour and a half :wink:

[DDFan]

I'm not particularly fussed, as far as I'm concerned the stream is a total, unexpected bonus! Just hoping they can get it working for the Cats' game in an hour and a half :wink:With you on all counts. I'm busting for my 'Ball fix & the 'Cats game would make my day.

Fingers crossed.

[Nerf Herder]

Also thinking that this is a total bonus and with the teething problems, makes me wonder how last minute it was? Still a huge bonus, even if tonight is used to work out the kinks and have it working tomorrow properly...

eek... 5mins before a FG made for the Kings... *sigh*

Does anyone know the level of quality of the two teams coming in? Are they respectively the Wildcats of their league, or umm, more like the, well, less than great teams in our league? :)

[Southern Joe]

.... I got stream..... ( just as they were going in at 1/2 time. )

[Marius08]

.... I got stream..... ( just as they were going in at 1/2 time. )

... And we're off! And just before I was about to give up and chuck on "The Other Guys" too!
Awesome stuff! :)

[Ted]

Thanks for your patience guys! 0.5 games down, 5.5 to go.

The genius guys from iinet and Media Release Production have it all sorted now :)

Thanks for sticking with it.

[DDFan]

Great work Ted, I'm in now.

[upnorth]

Stream is working now.... the big bloke looks every inch of 7'9"!!! 8)

[Marius08]

HOLY CR@P that Ming Ming is HUGE!! I have seen pics, but he looks like a dad against his kids. Almost as unco too though :P
What's the deal with the training gear for the Kings though? I know its pretty common for pre-season, but it looks kinda ugly.
Let's hope they find some rhythm in the rest of the second half though. Looking a bit uncohesive on offense with the new squad.

[upnorth]

I just hope that those singlets are training gear and not their home strip!

[Southern Joe]

... We win... 73-69. Good 2nd half.

[upnorth]

Yeah the Kings did a good job to get away with that one... they played some good solid D. A bit of a concern that the import duo of Grizzard and McCullogh were pretty underwhelming.

[upnorth]

Also... good quality cast in the IInet Freezone. Not sure who is doing the production on it, but it was a pretty polished product. I wonder who will be calling the second game?

[Nerf Herder]

Great work Ted, I'm in now.

What about the stream... OOH AHH! heh...

Wow... looks to be a great fourth quarter for the Kings... wish I could have watched it (not technical difficulties, husbandly duties lol)

Funny that I had the fibastats page open and got to see the main page of that, but as soon as I refreshed it, the URL was the same, but it showed the start of the Wildcats/Sharks game... hopefully we get to see them again...

Great job, Kings, showed some good stuff to get back on track...

[hellcat]

Point of randomness for Cats fans: former Breaker benchie and dunk champ Everard Bartlett (sic) is suiting up for the Cats tonight.

[DDFan]

Yeh pulling Grizz & chainsaw got the team motivated & brought a higher intensity. Plenty to like.

[Nerf Herder]

Good to hear Tony Ronaldson involved in the call for the Cats game... Always liked it when he was commentating last season on Fox Sports...

Wildcats looking very polished so far... and so they should I guess... most played together last season, and have since been training for the last month at least yes? Definitely shows...

Trueman in already for Matty Knight... looked to have a bit of uncomfortableness in the chest muscley region (FNBL GMs all raise their eyebrows)

Weigh looking really comfortable...

[Dunkin' Dan]

This webcast is excellent!

[Ted]

Also... good quality cast in the IInet Freezone. Not sure who is doing the production on it, but it was a pretty polished product. I wonder who will be calling the second game?

Media Release Productions are doing the broadcast, iinet are streaming for us.

Glad you like it!

[upnorth]

How do they keep it all together when the have to call a name like "Wan Kin Yu" (not sure if that's hows it spelt, but that's how it sounds!)

[Ricnat]

Media Release Productions are doing the broadcast, iinet are streaming for us.

Glad you like it!

Great broadcast and excellent streaming by IINET. I'm an IINET customer, but my house has crappy cable connections to the exchange, so at this time of night I usually get stuttering video feed.....not this time baby !! Ran as smoothly as normal TV. I can't get to these games and am wrapped that I can check out the cats prior to regular season tip off.

[Ted]

Present!

http://www.eventdevelopmentnetwork.com/images/uploads/friday_night_stats.pdf

[Ted]

Stats at www.eventdevelopmentnetwork.com (http://www.eventdevelopmentnetwork.com/images/uploads/friday_night_stats.pdf)

Pics at EDN's Facebook (www.facebook.com/eventdevelopmentnetwork) and also RV Sport's Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Subiaco-Australia/RV-Sport/146883412011873?ref=ts)

[Mike]

was at the games tonight. and Sun Ming Ming is seriously huge. No good at all, but wow is he big. Must have some real problems with his feet, coz when he starts to run it does not look comfortable at all.

The kings looked pretty average, not alot happening for them, but they were playing against a zone the majority of the time, courtesy of Sun, so alot of their offense would have been disrupted, and them not knocking down shots, wasn't surprising they fell into such a deep hole. If you can't knock down open looks, you won't do well against a zone with a 7'9 giant locking down the middle.

For the Wildcats/Shanghai game. It was pretty obvious how much better the cats were right from the start. Shanghai just looked out of their depth and basically had no answers to the defensive intensity shown by Bevo's men. lets look at each player for the cats

Stevie Weigh - Does look like he's grown some arm muscles over winter. He was just on fire in the first quarter knocking down open three's. His added strength helped him contest rebounds more than he has been known for even though he didn't grab too many of them. So thats good.

Matthew Knight - Played the least minutes out of everyone (only eight) so it was a bit hard to evaluate but he did well playing without the ball in his hands. Set some good screens, grabbed some rebounds and was an all-round Big Burley Man as we hope him to be. Thats also good.

Joel Wagner - Played well when the flood gates opened towards the end. Its easy to see how he dominates SBL, with his pinpoint passing and knack for getting loose rebounds. Played good up in your face defence and look pretty comfortable both running the offense in half court and pushing it in the break. Good Insurance if 4 other options fall over.

Cam Tovey - Did very well with good hustle and a semi-reliable jump shot now. I certainly wouldn't cringe with him shooting a 3 even with the extended line. Played some point early on and that was good to, he has pretty good handles for a tall lanky willetton player. And good to see him coming up with steals, very nice.

Kevin Lisch - Played all his minutes at the 2 spot. Didn't really notice him, but wasn't really paying attention when he was on. Had a bit of a tendency to sort of just fade into the back ground when he didn't have the ball. Not what a finals MVP should play like even in limited minutes.

Brad Robbins - Does what he always does. Played hard, up in your face defense, taking the ball hard to the hole. So was good to see. He also knocked down a jumper from probably old 3pt line catch and shoot early in the offense with no hesitation so its nice to see he has the cojones to take those shots and knock them down.

Jarrod Balcombe - He's a lanky guy thats from East Perth. Played some decent on ball offense, but once in the half court had a tendency to stand a step off. Didn't particulary like his jump shot, so i wasn't surprised when he couldn't get it going. Good intensity going to the hole, but would have liked to see him try to do it more rather than settle for sitting on the 3pt line waiting for a skip pass (but i don't know the offense)

Jesse Wagstaff - Played pretty good aye. Was knocking down jumpers. Getting inside buckets, hitting free throws, racking up assists. Can see why he won rookie of the year (one of the most competitive awards each year in the NBL) but seriously he played awesome, probably best player all night.

Jeremiah Trueman - Don't know where this talk of him being a centre came from, but he clearly isn't. Floated around a little bit, but bit hard not to in these sorts of games. Obviously likes his jump shot, couldn't get it going, but definately can contribute some minutes when Big Burley Man (Knight) needs a rest during the season.

Drew Williamson - Still likes his 3 pointer, in my mind all he can really do at NBL level is jack 3s from the corner but he does it well so no point knocking him. Bit surprised to see him rack up 3 assists but again i zoned out in parts, so kudos to him.

Greg Hire - Had more than the 4 rebounds he was given credit for. Also took 2 charges, and got 5 fouls trying to play good defense and take more charges. Good for some hustle minutes off the bench. He is a lil short, but his play makes up for it. Tell him to stop trying to take a charge, he's on the floor a mighty lot.

Everard Bartlett - Didn't know his name the whole night. Wasn't overly impressed with him, except he can jump. But he doesn't use his athleticism during the game so is a bit of a waste. Glad theres no contract, because his play didn't show he deserved it more than a local SBL player that plays the same position.

Shawn Redhage - They spelled his name wrong on his jersey. I'd be pissed if i was him. Hate getting my name spelled wrong. Played decent enough. Didn't really have to do much. Seems he needs to get used to shooting another 40 centimetres away from the basket on 3s, although he should really be going to the hole coz no one can stop him there. Played as good as he needed to, when he didn't really need to play. Could tell there was a bit of extra muscle, but no puff piece article about it needed. Certaintly didn't lose his quickness.

Damian Martin - He's good. Definately good. Plays good defense and is a good shooter. Would have liked to see him with the ball in his hands more initiating offense but what are you going to do. Good defense the whole court. What more can you say. Played like he is a boomer.

[Dunkin' Dan]

Good summary, Miek.

I too was particularly happy with Weigh & Wagstaff, but it was a little hard to gauge too much from the game because we were so dominant.

[Madcat]

Does anyone know if there are any replays of the Wildcats game last night on iinet?

[meg]

Fantastic streaming, though I only got to see the second game. Didn't fall over once...very impressive!
One again, though, let down by the MASSIVE score display in the bottom right hand corner, hiding half the court. Please, please, please move it to the top of the screen where it obscures the crowd rather than the court!

[DDFan]

Nice wrap up Big mike. I too was spellbound by Waggs. he can it all. Loved his quick release shots, hustle & sheer quality.
Big fan of DLisch, he did enough to keep his personal stats alive, but his uncanny eye for the team-mate is right up there with the best. Sure he had some TOs, but creative PGs do.
Thanks for picking up on Redhage's jersey, I thought it looked wrong last night, but put it down to me being inconsistent in the memory department.

[Marius08]

Was great to see the boys in action after what seemed like an eternity!
Gotta love Robbins' mega-mullet, please don't cut it dude! haha

Was a bit worried when Knight came off early complaining about the chest problem. Sure it's only minor now though, and they didn't need to put him back in really.

I reckon Lisch was alright in his limited minutes, didn't try to push it too much, and as mentioned, spent all his time at the 2, so wasn't required to set it up. He does have a great stroke from deep and excellent court vision though, will surely be a huge asset this season.

Wagstaff was the real positive for me. Seems to have taken the next step, and with more court time, should be a big player this season.

Tonight should be good, will be interesting to see how the Ducks come out against the Cats after blowing a 20 point lead last night, with Ming Ming really not imposing himself in that one.
Hope more fans make it to tonight's game too! Look like comfy seats :P

[Daevo]

Tonight's stream is working very well for me but a friend reports he's having problems. Anybody else care to report good or bad?

Geez this Shanghai team is ordinary. Highlight of the game so far was one of the commentators giving the Ozhoops crowd watching iiNet's feed a big mention.

[Skink]

Fine feed for me, but I am on iinet.

[Nerf Herder]

I'm on Optus fibre in NSW and experiencing no problems, watching full screen... is top notch quality...

although if I could make a tiny suggestion... more cuts to the cheerleaders in timeouts, etc, please :)

[Skink]

Looks like the Sharks aren't turning up for the second half..... or the first!

[Nerf Herder]

Speaking of the Sharks... it's interesting watching their timeouts, as obviously they've only got about half as long as everything needs to be translated, but the players are just checking out the crowd for the most part... It was funny when one player asked a big long question looking all concerned and the coach asks "is everything ok?" to which the translator just gave him the thumbs up... lol...

another ozhoops shoutout... whoop! whoop!

ooh... REALLY nice 2nd alley for McCullough... hanging on and shaking the ring after though... isn't that tech-worthy or just a warning?

[Skink]

50/50 whether hanging was a tech - there was traffic, but he may have got a delay of game for putting the ball on the floor afterwards.

[Skink]

Lee Gang (#30) seemed to be able to speak enough English then to argue his point, wanting to shoot the second free throw.

[Daevo]

One of the most boring games I've seen in a long time. I'm going to save bandwidth & skip the rest.

[Nerf Herder]

Jeez... Don't worry Matty, you didn't need that side of your jaw on the correct side... heh...

[Crocodile Rock]

Watched the Kings smash the Shanghai Sharks tonight.
A few notes on the game:
- Taj McCullough did hardly anything as commented by Andrew Vlahov except 2 sensational alley-oops and an open 3. He tried a step back 3 and hit the shot clock.
- Rod Grizzard also did very little but was required to give little as they blew them away. He had 2 great dunks as well and look very good handling the ball at over 204cm
- Luke Cooper, Jared Scoines, Ben Madgen, Luke Martin and Jarrod Weeks all shoot the ball well from deep. As does Damian Ryan who didn't play.
- Julian Khazzouh has an improved jumper but doesn't look any more comfortable going toe to toe with big strong centre's. (Not that he had to against Sharks)
- Graeme Dann and Blagoi Janev will add some nice touches at stages as long as they both accept a role and always play hard. Both have had issues doing so in the NBL.
- As long as the imports provide 30 points per night combined and they all play hard at both ends I can see the Kings challenging most teams, I just don't see any star power to get them big road wins or wins over top teams at home.

[DDFan]

Bard Robbins yet to take to the floor.

edit: Scoreboard fixed now, Brad Robbins zero minutes.

[Spiegel]

Both the Chinese clubs were at SBL level so you cant read to much into this. On anthor note, Kevin Lish might endup having a monster year. He just cant be stopped off the dribble. And to think people were calling for his head 5 weeks into the seasons last year.

[DDFan]

Kevin Lisch might endup having a monster year. He just cant be stopped off the dribble. His last crossover dribble was a sight to see, the guy' a superstar.
And to think people were calling for his head 5 weeks into the seasons last year.I hope they've learnt from that, some players take the backseat role till they get a feel for the team, or get given the nod. Kev's a classic example.

There's a lot to like about Joel Wagner & Greg Hire's games too. WA seem to have their fingers on the pulse & reaping the rewards. Top stuff.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's Kings/'Cats clash, should have plenty of heat with both teams not backing down.

[Spiegel]

I pretty much see Greg every second day. He goes to the same gym as me in Goodlife Joondalup. Really top bloke. Really happy for him that he made the squad as a DP.He'll never be a star because he dosent have a polished offensive repatoire, but he makes up for it with his intensity and good rebounding. He has the ability to be a solid role player.

[Ted]

Pics from tonight's games at www.facebook.com/eventdevelopmentnetwork

I'll put stats up in the morning. Proud to say I did the post-venue maccas-run that's made famous on this site.

[illusiv]

Pics from tonight's games at www.facebook.com/eventdevelopmentnetwork

I'll put stats up in the morning. Proud to say I did the post-venue maccas-run that's made famous on this site.

Hahah so Did I Dave!

Glad everyone liked the streaming feed and there were no issues with dropouts or buffering... The internet connection is nice and solid there :p

[Ted]

Box scores from both nights: http://www.eventdevelopmentnetwork.com/news/

Big showdown tonight! Around 300 tickets remaining at the door from $12.25 for adults, $7.50 for kids (2-for-1 on normal ticket prices) - or from Ticketmaster if you want earlier.

[Nerf Herder]

LET'S GO SYDNEY! LET'S GO!
please don't suck too much...

So it looks like an exciting game between the Ducks and Sharks going into overtime (I only just got home) I love the Sharks coach... he's good value in timeouts ("Damnit!") heh...

[Spiegel]

This is a much more of a indicator of where these two ball clubs are then the games against the Ducks and the Sharks. No disrespect to both those clubs, but lets be realistic, they are not even SBL standards.

[angry ant]

Anyone know how I can get the stream to run smoothly, and not stop all the time?

[Spiegel]

My'n works fine, but i have cabel connection so it's pretty strong.

[Nerf Herder]

Anyone know how I can get the stream to run smoothly, and not stop all the time?

Stop all your pr0n torrents seeding? :D

[Nerf Herder]

On a technical note... is anyone getting the "rate this" stars thing whenever they go fullscreen? I'm using Firefox browser, but this is the first night it's happened...

Hmm... bit of scrap on the floor at the end of the first quarter... no-one really knowing what was going on... guess that's where the benefit of a replay helps... They might have seen the reverse headslam of Lisch's into Magden's nuts... lol...

All-in-all, a pretty solid effort from the Kings... Wildcats looking a lot more polished, even though it's tied at 17 after the first 10mins... the difference between the teams is on the offensive end... Overall the defence is pretty good from the Kings, but Wildcats getting a few more easy shots and just looking a lot more confident and giving the impression of shooting better...

Kings rebounding well though... Grizzard working hard... Khazzouh removing all doubt about his toughness, really taking it into Knight and challenging the inside on consecutive plays...

[Spiegel]

Matty Knight might endup being the best pickup of the season.Without Schenscher Redhage will hopefully revert back to being a more of a offensive power again. I think the Cats are missing Damo's playmaking ability tonight.

[Dunkin' Dan]

Bob & Bear make a pretty entertaining duo :)

[Lukosius]

I have a 'standard' 1512 ADSL connection and haven't had one single 'pause' in the broadcast. And great quality vision.

Excellent work. I wonder if we will get something like this in the regular season? Probably not considering the broadcast rights side of things.

[Nerf Herder]

Heh... yeah... Note to OneHD, bring them back for the season proper :D

Hate to say it about Redhage (considering my history of thinking that he's a tool) but he's just scoring at will tonight... Outside, floating shots inside the lane...

Good to see that Taj has pulled his finger out a bit... much better quarter from him... Wow... nice back down and-1... Oooh... set play... missed FT and slam from Griz... heh...

[Spiegel]

Coach Bob is awesom.:).

[meg]

Cheers, mate!

[Dunkin' Dan]

Not a bad first half by the Kings.
I was thinking that Perth would get this game fairly comfortably, but Sydney are doing a nice job of disrupting our offence and not letting us run.
Looking forward to the remainder.

[Nerf Herder]

Wooo... that's how you make the most of beating a full court press...

[Skink]

More of Coach Bob's analysis of the game in general!

Would have loved to hear how he deals with the language barrier with his team. How does he know the translator isn't just putting his own coaching bent on it all?

[Spiegel]

Kings are pretty good at defending the pick&roll because their bigs are mobile.

[Nerf Herder]

Great to see the Kings with the lead (or tied?) for all that 3rd quarter... It all looks a bit shakey though... looking a bit tired, but not making the silly passes they did at the start of the quarter, but when Perth players are shooting like they do when they just chuck it as they're fading out of bound and it's nothing but net, it's a bit difficult to combat... lol...

Can't keep letting Redhage get such open looks from outside...

[Spiegel]

Cats are really missing Damos leadership tonight. Just breaking down alot on offense.

[Spiegel]

Whats happend to Weigh shot?.. Gee Kazzouh is good.

[Nerf Herder]

HAHAHA... Redhage has been teaching Lisch his flopping handywork...

[Spiegel]

Hopefully this is the year Redhage gets the MVP, but on a team as deep as this, it'll be hard to standout enough i guess.

[Spiegel]

Lisch is MONEY!

[Dunkin' Dan]

Gee Kazzouh is good.
Yeah, great to have him back.

Scrappy game overall, but not bad to watch.

[DDFan]

Kings did a great job, but their shot selection in the closing minutes undid the hard work that they'd put in all game. Really impressed with Zoo & Cooper for the Kings.

[Nerf Herder]

Lisch is MONEY!

Yeah, that shot was awesome... His vision and control of the game was a huge factor too... he just looked smooth at all times...

All in all, not a terrible result for the Kings... the final scoreline not a great indication of the closeness of the game with the fouls in the last 30secs... The Kings were in it until Marto rushed that early 3... Make even a 2p FG there and it's a different ballgame with 90secs to go... But he'd made a couple in the first half, so I can see where his brain was leaning... if it works, it's awesome...

The Kings defence really fell apart at the tail end of the last quarter which I think was a key factor in the 6-7pt turnaround... Perth just kept passing, made the Kings players dizzy, and the downside of not playing together for the last season or two, your teammates aren't used to picking up for you, and Perth get an easy basket through the lane...

Congrats to Perth on a well-won 'Games... And also to the production team... the footage was pretty solid, the commentators were good (very good on Bears case... Bring him to OneHD! He's got the knowledge, NBL experience and can say the funny names of players without giggling! Bradtke couldn't even say Jawai properly!)

Really impressed with Zoo & Cooper for the Kings.

JK was a MONSTER tonight... I just hope he can keep it up throughout the season...

I thought Griz was pretty good also... defensive boards presence was key... I thought we looked a bit better at times with Coop running the show...

Hopefully Knight will be back soon... we look a bit stagnant with Janev at the top of teh key holding out the ball for someone to take it from him...

Even Dann played better tonight... no real brain freezes and some quality play from him...

[Alex_Traitor]

Kazzouh > Knight and will be all NBL First team this season.

Was always worried we got the wrong one this season, tonight confirmed it.

[DDFan]

Kazzouh > Knight and will be all NBL First team this season.

Was always worried we got the wrong one this season, tonight confirmed it.I wouldn't lose any sleep over be stuck with Mattie Knight's services. I thought Matt was a major player for the 'Cats, along with DLisch, Red & Wags. That's some quality players to be grouped with.

[Nerf Herder]

Yeah, while I think tonight wasn't the most obvious showcase of what Matty Knight is capable of, he doesn't need to be the one getting 20/10 as he's surrounded by a more experienced and established team... He got pushed around a bit my Khazzouh, but I think everyone was surprised by that (especially Damo, BAM! to the side of the head! ouchie!) but a 16/8 performance is pretty much what you'll get from him every night, which means he'll easily be top 10 scoring and top 2-3 rebounds... On a team as deep as the Wildcats, that would be awesome... freeing up Toolhage to shoot like he did from outside or drawing the defence to open up inside... the perfect pick up for that team...

[Ricnat]

Kazzouh will be ALL NBL 1st Team no doubt. But He will / should also be the absolute focal point for all Kings Offense. He will see more of the ball than Knight will and the Kings will live and die largely by how well he does. In contrast the Cats are so evenly spread that Matt Knight can have big games or quiet games and the Cats will probably still be in with a chance to win most games.

I like what I have seen from Knight so far. Not flashy, doesn't push anything - lets the game come to him, works hard, hits the boards and is strong as an ox. We didn't get any of that from the big ranga last year.

The overall balance of the Wildcats and flexibility at numerous positions really stood out over the few games. Yes they are a bit short, but it didn't hurt them on the boards at all (against any of the teams). With the way our guards backup the forwards in hitting the glass they really have a team approach to everything.

[curious]

Beveridge and Robilliard call for stronger opposition next year.

[Nerf Herder]

Beveridge and Robilliard call for stronger opposition next year.

Speaking of which, I wonder how Coach Bob went checking out Sydney Facilities... Even if Chinese teams don't come back next year, I hope he does :)

[fan since the old snakepit]

Beveridge and Robilliard call for stronger opposition next year.
Robilliard is kidding. Complains about the standard (probably legitimately) but then organises a Kings game against Philo allstars (well every Philo bball player thinks they are an allstar) at Blacktown. Message is if you complain about this then dont organise other crap games yourself.

[Daevo]

I doubt Robilliard has had anything to do with organising any of the trial games (except maybe the one at Terrigal) & certainly wouldn't have any control over which players are selected (scrounged) to play in them. It's basically the same subset of ABA players plus a few ring-ins to add the appropriate local or ethnic flavour.

[angry ant]

http://freezone.iinet.net.au/#/freezone/sport/friendship-games?player=video/low/1837

Watch the Kings/Wildcats match...