Transcript
Speaker: And now we're live, for real this time. Welcome to East Got Game, where we give you the X's, the O's and the insights into NBL One East.
Speaker: ah Thanks for joining us tonight live on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Remember, you can follow us on those platforms at East Got Game. or you can continue to find our recorded episodes on your preferred streaming platforms.
Speaker: And while you're there, make sure you check out Cut to the Jace, a podcast featuring the Bankstown Bruin himself, Jason Caddy. And It's a Cole World, a podcast by WNBL champion Beck Cole.
Speaker: both of Both of these podcasts brought to you by basketball.com.au. All right, Lockie, we made it. We have made it through another exciting round of finals in NBL1 East and NBL1 across the conferences. How are you feeling after that game on the weekend?
Speaker: Up the Sharkies. Woo-hoo! mean, to win by 20-plus over Maitland, geez.
Speaker: Sharkies, do they? They were... They're on a roll. um Always tough to bounce on. You're at home, but you bounce back after that loss against the team that got the win the previous week. But yeah, Sutherland boys came out and got it done. So that was our final game at the Shark Tank for the season for NBL 1 this year. So great way to finish things off.
Speaker: Yeah, awesome. Very good. Very good indeed. Certainly making a statement ahead of the preliminary finals this week. ah What was it like for the final, I guess, game at the Shark Tank as well? ah Did the crowd get around it? Was it sold out? What was the atmosphere like? I don't think it was quite sold out. It was good atmosphere. it wasn't the biggest crowd I've had all year, but it was definitely good. You know, people people got around it. ah Good, good traveling pack of Maitland fans as well. I don't think they had anything like a bus or anything organized, but lots of, yeah, a fair few Maitland fans came down. You can always tell because that area off to the right of the commentary is always where the away fans sit. So yeah, it was well patronaged by both teams, fans.
Speaker: And just as we started the episode, we received some breaking news direct from MBL One East. The MVP final two for both men's and women's competition has been decided.
Speaker: So the MVP for the women's competition and will be between Shiloh Hill from the Bankstown Bruins and Jazz Shelley from North Bears. And, no you know, no big surprise here. The final two in contention for the men's MVP is Todd Blanchield from the Illawarra Hawks and Quinzel – I'm going to say it wrong.
Speaker: Quinzel Azinski. Yes, thank you. i only say it wrong now because when we watched their game against Illawarra a couple of rounds ago – The commentator for the Illawarra Hawks kept saying it wrong, and so now I've cemented the incorrect pronunciation. But, yes, they are the two, the last two in the race for the MVP. Very exciting. Probably not no surprises, but it's nice to have confirmation.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, we knew who the top five were and those four players have been going off all season. So yeah, no, no surprise. I mean, just, I mean, especially like you look at Bankstown with and without Shiloh kind of thing. That's, you know, night and day as we'll probably get into when we talk about the preliminary finals coming up, but um yeah, well done. Congratulations to all four players and really to all, all the players who got nominated in the first place. But yeah, once again,
Speaker: Todd Blanchfield in the top two. Will it be as close as last year? Yeah, it'll be really interesting to see how close it will get. ah What I find it really cool as well is that three of the four um of these MVP final nominations are local talents with Slosinski the only import.
Speaker: um And obviously, Shiloh Hill and Jazz Shelley are former teammates in Geelong. Jeez, yes.
Speaker: Connections all over the shop. Yeah, so runs deep. And three of the four are also still currently in the finals. They are, yes. oh
Speaker: So very good. Yeah, so congratulations to um all four athletes and their respective clubs. um Yeah, super exciting to see how close it gets.
Speaker: Well, it can't be any closer. It can't be closer than last year's men's one. Yeah, maybe remind our listeners how close it got last year. There was one.
Speaker: One vote in it. So when I say it can't be closer than it was last year, i I mean, can it, I don't know, can there be a tie? I guess it could be a tie and a count back. So, yeah, I guess it could be technically closer, but, geez, if it is.
Speaker: Yeah, NBL won North this season. The Women's Defensive Player of the Year was tied between Michaela Cann and Erin Bowman, so certainly a possibility. There we go.
Speaker: I don't know how you would decide the ultimate winner in having, you know, a defend off. A defend off.
Speaker: But, yeah, we should get stuck into the episode. ah Some discussion points before – actually, before we get into the discussion points tonight, tell us about those fine-looking jerseys you've got in the background, Lockie.
Speaker: I just was rummaging through the old jersey collection I chucked up a couple of jerseys I liked. I've got the Laura Stockton Gonzaga number 11, which – it doesn't have a name on the back, so people are like, is that a John Stockton Gonzaga 11? I'm like, no, it's not John. It's Laura.
Speaker: And then the Iowa 22, Caitlin Clark bought that on a trip to Iowa City, which indirectly, shout out Beck Dallinger for getting me tickets to see Iowa play Kansas State. So just rummaging through the collection.
Speaker: Very good. When in Iowa, do as the Hawkeyes do. 100%. Honestly, amazing place. When get out to Iowa City, great college town.
Speaker: Good to know. Good to know. um Okay. So some good looking jerseys in the back. We've got lots to talk about in terms of what happened in the semifinals and obviously preview the premi preliminary finals ahead of next weekend. But before we get into that, tell me about the grand final tickets. They're on sale, it looks like.
Speaker: Grand final tickets are on sale and you can buy single game tickets, men's or women's this year. You can buy double header tickets, which I think is amazing. So they're not going force you to clear out the whole stuff. or They might, but.
Speaker: Regardless, you can buy double-headed ticket and know that you're getting a ticket to both games. So $20 for the single-game ticket for adults, $12 for children and concession. Ticket to both, get you into both games, $35 for adults, $20 for child and concession. So reckon that's well pretty reasonable considering ah some clubs are charging, you know, $15, $20 for just to get in the door for a regular season game.
Speaker: Yeah, I think that's really good. And um I wonder as well, well, maybe this is being overly optimistic for me, given that it's at GYG Stadium in Terrigal and you and I have been to some GYG-sponsored MBL1 events before, will there be burritos and socks on offer? I need i need some. I only got one pair of GYG socks. I need more socks.
Speaker: And for those who aren't as blessed to have GYG socks, one is black with yellow font and one is yellow with black font and they're purposely mismatching. So if you're someone who can't handle that, you need two pairs of socks.
Speaker: I love it. Yes. which um yeah we we got yeah na We got at Nationals, NBL1 Nationals is where we got our socks and burritos. So we're not just making up random GYG.
Speaker: No, it was the inaugural NBL1 Nationals at State Basketball Centre in Melbourne. Some of us ah ah didn't ah get to commentate the grand final that year because it was different formats, which was totally fine because then it meant the rest of us could hang out with our free burritos, watching great basketball, true bonding moments. Still talk about it to this day.
Speaker: Those, like... Anytime you go, at like, whether it's a playing team or a commentary team, the best moments are honestly just sitting around, having a chat, whatever.
Speaker: Hanging out, having a good time. Yeah. And also it's worth mentioning that media accreditation is also available. So, well, I should say applications for media accreditation for the finals is now open. So do complete your expression of interest.
Speaker: Regular season accreditation will not get you in. So you have to apply for separate finals media accreditation. We cannot stress this enough.
Speaker: Yeah, 100%. And well, it's, well it's it's going to be you know cutthroat. There's only going to be limited spots available. Like we see it every year, there's not really even much room. There's obviously a bit of room for photographers, but as in terms of other media, there's not really like much room to sit down and put your laptop out or anything like that. So, I mean, we don't see much of that media at games, but even for photographers, there's not going to be a whole lot of space.
Speaker: No, absolutely not. so don't rest on your laurels and think your regular pass will get you in. Please apply. and also keep in mind that if you're someone who hasn't really actively participated or contributed in the media space for this season, manage your expectations about if you were able to get a pass or not. We don't want people to be disappointed.
Speaker: Yeah, 100%, yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Any other whispers around the ground? I think we have to congratulate again Luke Cassidy for his 100 NBL1 games, all with the Crusaders, the loyal the you know loyal Crusader and captain that he is. So congratulations to Luke.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, big congratulations to Luke. Yeah, 100 games have gone club. always And you fully expect it from someone like Luke, to be honest. Definitely. And I think he's certainly got 100 more in him.
Speaker: Oh. Definitely. He was grand final MVP when I commentated a grand final. so So that's what I remember him remark mostly for. Crew against Hills down at Sutherland.
Speaker: Oh, interesting. i i don't know. i definitely wasn't there for that one. But I know i know the series you mean. I think that was COVID year. Yeah. Yeah. yeah the Very good. Yes. um Other news, another player leaving for college. If you watched the Illawarra Sutherland game on the weekend, I probably mentioned it. You might have noticed. Bailey MacArthur, he's headed off, so he wasn't there. and He'll obviously not be back for the rest of the finals. So big out for Sutherland. They got it done without him, but he was one of their best against Norths in that loss in the previous week. So we'll see what transpires because he's turned into a big part of the Sutherland ends roster.
Speaker: And he's going to North Georgia, I think? Yes, the North Georgia Nighthawks. The pretty cool name. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, so it's it's going to be that time of year where we see some of those young talent leaving and to make their college debuts. But I think we should probably get stuck into the semi-final recaps. What do you think, Lockie?
Speaker: I think we should and whilst we're on the topic of Luke Cassidy, we'll talk about a game that I dare say made you very happy, Squinn, the ah men's semi-final between the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Central Coast Crusaders.
Speaker: Huge win. Huge win. Now, I know that you messaged me. I can't remember if this round or last round you messaged me if I was keeping an eye on the score. And sometimes i will purposely distract myself and do something else and kind of watch it later so I don't get too nervous or anxious or whatnot ah with these results. But...
Speaker: ah What an absolute hell of a game. Packed with highlights, this one. um It ended up going to the Crusaders on the road, winning 71 to 73. Like pretty much literally going down to the wire. Oh, coming down to a blocked shot, a late a late basket and a late blocked shot to to seal it.
Speaker: Yeah, in Maturamaker's three-pointer at the top and then turn around Garrick Young's block. um And then I think it was, was it Garrick Young or Luke Cassidy to win to make the winning layup? it was Yeah, Garrick Young got the winning layup and then he and then he blocked Isaiah Lee's three right on the buzzer as well.
Speaker: Yeah, got to love the desperation. But I mean, we we did say that Cruz Big Two are dangerous. And, you know, Jamal Schwabe and Dylan T, the Big Two, they they certainly show that they're dangerous.
Speaker: Oh, my gosh. See, this is also why i love finals time basketball, because anything can happen. It was also one of those games where people were in foul trouble. Garrick Young had four.
Speaker: Maker had four. um Aaron Redhead had four. And then also on Manly you had Slyzinski on four fouls. ah Shimanga on four fouls.
Speaker: um So it was just it's just happens at finals time. it It was similar to the semifinal I commentated up here where – All of those things that could possibly add extra pressure and layers to a game will. So things like star players getting in foul trouble if they're having an off game, the shooting end. But equally, it's when the young guns and the bench players step up like Dylan t who started, to be fair, played nearly the whole game. So Coach Miko really put his faith in him and obviously said if he's playing well and he's getting done what we need done, keep him in the game.
Speaker: 25 points, 5 rebounds, 50% overall from the field. Outstanding. And 9 or 10 at the line just to just for good measure. It's funny you talk about foul trouble because I was i was keeping an eye on the um on the stats for a little bit. And sc scrollw i was just looking at the foul counts. It was about probably in the – probably at halftime, was looking at the foul counts, and it said – crew 13 fouls I scrolled down I couldn't add them up and scrolled right down I saw Red Hat had four fouls in nine minutes of play so he didn't commit another foul for his other nine minutes on the court that's impressive that's really impressive that's kind of that extra mile stuffed out of desperation that you just have to find within yourself in finals time
Speaker: And, of course, Jamal Shwaib as well, playing under just under 20 minutes, had 15 points, three rebounds, shooting at five from nine from the field, which is 56%.
Speaker: And of that five of nine, four of six were from the three-point line. So he he gets his shooting from his dad. I mean, he had 15 points in 20 minutes of play, but he had 12 points in about two and a half minutes in the fourth quarter. Or 13. He had four threes and one was a four-point play.
Speaker: He just... It was a takeover. It was amazing. ah why Honestly, when Slosinski had that four-point play with about... think was about seven minutes to go, i put Manly up 14. I was like, that's a big moment. Put you up 14. You know, it's just one of those moments where the opposition can be like, we just gave away a four-point play to Slosinski of all people.
Speaker: I was thought this should be the moment that Manly just... You know, pedal to the metal, away you go, lock in a prelim spot. And it didn't happen. Crew came back.
Speaker: And i think, ah i mean, neither team shot the ball particularly well. I think they were both they were both under 35% from the field. But a game like that still favours crew.
Speaker: Even if they're missing, if you're missing as well, they're going to get out and run and run and run off misses all day long. And that will be to their advantage down the stretch every time. Yeah, yeah for sure. 13 fast break points helped them go on a 13-point run in the fourth. Yeah.
Speaker: Speaking of Jamal Shwaib hitting, however, all of the threes in a short period of time in the fourth quarter, the Crusaders shot at 64% overall from the three-point line in that fourth quarter. So certainly giving them that edge. Like you said, neither team really shooting at their best this game. ah But Crusaders had a 29-point fourth quarter to run at home, seventeen to twenty nine they They won the last one.
Speaker: But, yeah, it was – it just makes – all those things just make it really exciting. I think Crewe also had a bus come down. ah Manly Warringah had a healthier attendance to this game with 225 people because we noticed even in some of the last round games it was looking a little bit underwhelming in terms of the numbers.
Speaker: um But, yeah, statistically, you know, Manly won the rebound count, the assist count. um Crusaders had nine to six steals, which is pretty good.
Speaker: Blocks were fairly even. ah Yeah, it just really came down to those moments in the fourth quarter. Yeah. And, yeah, I mean, sometimes the and an unexpected player pops up and, you know. i mean, it was Dylan T throughout the game. He was steadily scoring. And then Schwabe just something just clicked.
Speaker: Yeah, hold my beer. Oh, I love it. And then, you know, in the final moments, Maker and Young stepped up. You the big name still stepped up right at the last second when it was when it was needed.
Speaker: and And Cassidy was there playing conductor the whole time, seven assists. Didn't have his best shooting night, you know, two of ten, but seven assists, played the full 40 minutes, was out there just conducting the orchestra. Yeah.
Speaker: I have to feel a little bit for Slizinski as well because he only played 27 minutes. So obviously the four fouls really affected his playing time and his ability to contribute as much as we know that he can.
Speaker: um so that put a real damper. But while he was on there, it really looked like he was doing as much as he possibly could, yeah making the most of his time than he had. He had 16 points, six rebounds, two assists,
Speaker: Four from four from the three-point line, perhaps not his best shooting day, but when you the flow of your own game as an individual is disrupted by foul trouble, that's just that's just what's going to happen.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, he was doing his utmost to put the team on his back. You can only credit him for that, even if the even if the ball wasn't going through the hoop.
Speaker: Yeah, that's right. So Volkovich also had 14 and 6 for Manly. Isaiah Lee had 12.7 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals. So he was always um also really giving in his best shot, flirting with a triple-double.
Speaker: But again, just not their best shooting day. um To be fair, Volkovich did shoot at 50%, so he was having a great day, including 2 from 4 from the 3-point line. But yeah, overall, just that era finals, I think, ah having having its effect on this game.
Speaker: Yeah. all that The thing is, thought I talk, I say, like, you know, crew are kind of playing with house money because they finished eighth and no one really expected them to do much. But when you watch them, they they don't look like they're playing with house money. They they just look like...
Speaker: i they They look like they're playing with an expectation that they're going to keep getting through this. They might not have the pressure on them because they finished eighth, but they play with the expectation that they are going to keep going on this run.
Speaker: Yep. Just got to keep rolling. That's right. um And now should we move on to the other semifinal that you briefly spoke about earlier, Sutherland Sharks defeating the Maitland Mustangs, 100-76 in what we described before as a bit of a statement win on the weekend.
Speaker: It was a bit of ah a bit of a statement when the Sharkies had to bounce back. Obviously, they to bounce back from that loss to Norse to keep their season alive. But um they came out they came out firing. they sort of serve and and And they just looked polished from the outset.
Speaker: um i Hutchison and Spurgeon or Hutchison and Cabrera. It was a trademark Lachlan-Hutchison finals performance.
Speaker: He finished with 13.6 assists. He was 4 of 9 from the field. um He scored his points in big moments, had a couple of and ones laid on to kind of eliminate any chance of a Maitland comeback.
Speaker: um He was dealing really well, um just finding teammates. And just, yeah, when finals come along, Lachlan Hutchison is just one player you really want in the lineup. Can't say enough good things about the way he played.
Speaker: Yeah, it looks really good. Good spread of scorers for the Sharkies as well. Cabrera ending up with 20 points, shooting at 80%. Eight from ten in the two-point range, so really getting his feet in the paint.
Speaker: Hutchinson ended up with 13 points, two rebounds, six assists. He's shooting at four from nine for overall and 100% from the charity stripe. I've got to say these sutherland this Sutherland free throw percentage for this game against Maitland was really impressive. 22 from 25 from the free Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: yeah Yeah, um and a lot of players, I mean, but three misses and from three different players. So a lot of players going 100%. think we have four players shoot multiple free throws and go 100% for them. so Yeah, I mean, boys are getting done.
Speaker: It's funny, we've we've often talked about not having... um yeah Our shooting's not always been our best from three-point land or from the free-throw line at times. But we're up over 70% as a team for the season, and we're six in the league at 31% for a three-point shooting. So little bit of change for the Sharks, which, I mean, there's been seasons where...
Speaker: Like last season when we had, you know, Callum Norris and Angus Lake were our our real shooters, but a couple of seasons ago, sorry, Angus Lake, Callum Norris, those guys, but they weren't always getting big minutes. So even if they were having good shooting nights, it didn't really show out in the team percentage all that much.
Speaker: um So, yeah, we got it we've got a few guys who can stroke it now, which is a very nice to see. And it I mean, Harrison Rainer shooting 50% from three-point land for the season. So, yeah.
Speaker: that's ah That's always a help. Yeah, I mean, Cabrera is just like eight of 10. He's just so crafty around the basket. um And he played, like he's always got that that cheeky smile. The ah the mo the moe helps, the mo helps add to the kind of cheek of the smile, I think. But he's always crafty around the basket. He loves to back cut people. Like just just things that get under your skin. It's like, Cabrera back cut me again and then beat me on the reverse layup.
Speaker: It's like, yeah, he's he's really playing with a real real joy in his game as well. and he's He's a better player. And as we said, he brought up 100 games, and I think that leg-sleepy wall must have at least reached 50 by now, but he hasn't had to wear that for most of the season, which is really, I mean, it's really shown in how he's played is he just looks more explosive, more athletic, faster, because, you know, he's finally got past those calf troubles that have really hindered him over the last year or so.
Speaker: um I've just noticed that ah we've got one of our first YouTube comments in a long time here on EGG. Just going to flash it up quickly on screen. Poor Jacob. Skip this segment.
Speaker: Oh, we're sorry, Jacob. Oh, sorry, mate. got to cover the news, though, my our friends. So maybe maybe mute this bit and come back.
Speaker: It won't hurt for long, we promise. No. No. But Jacob, make sure you apply for your media accreditation, by the way. Yeah. um But, yeah, so it was really interesting statistically as well that the Sutherland Sharks only shot 14 threes for the whole game.
Speaker: Yeah, but they were they were doing a good job of Cabrera getting into the paint. the The interesting one was Tyler Robertson only shooting two threes. But you know this time of year, Maitland, you know they'd be locked in.
Speaker: Don't let Robbo shoot threes. um I thought... I mean, even... though like Harrison Rainer only shot two of three, and he was up faking a little bit that you don't ordinarily expect. There was one where...
Speaker: Jake, my co-commodator said, I think it was Cabrera, he said Cabrera got the finish and he was like, I think Cabrera thought Harrison was going to shoot that. And I just said, I think half the stadium thought Harrison was going to shoot it because, but he didn't and he got the pass. So yeah, even Rainer not shooting as many threes, but like Robertson's just so, he's crafty as well. He'll get in, shoot that mid-ranger that he loves, use the glass really well.
Speaker: um So good to see that the Sharks were able to get it done, not shooting as many threes, especially on a night where they shot it pretty well when they did shoot it. They just didn't shoot a lot of them.
Speaker: Yeah, that's right. it's just I think it just shows it's more of a reflection of what was working for them in that in this particular game and I guess their focus, which you know you just touched on. Yeah, overall, the Sutherland Sharks were shot at 52.7%.
Speaker: for the game, which is really impressive. Even when they were taking threes, they were still shooting at 42.86%. And like I said, multiple scorers. Tyler Robertson ended up with 24 points, six rebounds,
Speaker: ah seven assists, two steals. He shot at 44.44% overall. um What I find really interesting, if we start taking a look at some of the team stats, Sutherland only threw 14 turnovers.
Speaker: um Maitland committed 19 turnovers. But if we take a look at the analysis, Sutherland really look like they capitalised on that, having 21 points from those 19 turnovers, so especially in the second quarter.
Speaker: So that's um that's that's really efficient. There were a a lot of passes that were telegraphed by the defense in this one. There were a lot of steal. I think yeah Sutherland had fifth of the 19 turnovers, Maitland had 15 with steals. So it wasn't you know they weren't throwing it away or you know getting called for charges or shot clock violations as as much as... yeah And it was at both ends. There were times where Will Cranston Lamb was just like...
Speaker: Thanks, bye. Or, you know, tipping it to a ah teammate or something like that. Rain Smith had a few. But, you know, I mean, Luke Jamison alone had seven steals for the Sharks.
Speaker: Yeah. And 16 rebounds. yeah There were 16 rebounds, I expect, from Luke Jamison. The seven steals, not so much. But, yeah, he was, you know, tipping passes away, just, you know,
Speaker: They're breaking things up and it was really hard for Maitland to get in much of rhythm. it Apart from a small part of the third quarter, really, they they started to bring it back. It got back to from 21 down to 13, I think the margin was.
Speaker: And then Sutherland kind of got the show back on the road and ah and pulled away once again. It went from 13 out to 26 over the back end of the third into the fourth.
Speaker: But, um I mean, Rain Smith, you know, tough shooting night, bit like Slosinski, you know, trying everything defensive well against him, just couldn't get the shots to drop.
Speaker: Cranston Lowne, seven of 20, still had 17.6 rebounds and five assists. um Yeah, he was seven of 21 from the field. You know, just these guys who and six turnovers. It's just these guys are trying so hard to get something done and, you know, trying to put the team on their back a bit. but ah Yeah, just not working out. dan What I found interesting, Dan Milburn, 11 points, felt like he had more.
Speaker: Maybe just, you know, when he hit his shots or he was doing other things really well, I thought it just felt like he had more impact than the stat line showed.
Speaker: and ah One thing, you you won't be surprised to hear that it it did get chippy between Cranston, Leon and Hutchison in the fourth quarter. No, I'm not surprised at all.
Speaker: is it Is it really a Sutherland Sharks-Maitland-Mustangs game if that doesn't happen at least a little bit? Yeah, correct. Yeah. and Interesting for Maitland as well. Myles Cherry has just been on a tear at the end of the regular season and into these finals games, and he only had eight shots.
Speaker: Eight. Not too too few. Give him the ball. the ah The Spurge effect. Yeah. Yeah. the big The Roomba from Toowoomba cleans up all over the floor.
Speaker: The Roomba from Toowoomba. That has to be one of the best nicknames I've heard in a while. Did you coin that? Yeah. Yeah, of course. why it shouldn't Yeah, of course. You need to trade start trademarking or copywriting these things. No, no. that These are the ones I give. I give these out for free. i just Just shout me out if you ever use it.
Speaker: Too generous. Too trusting. ah But, yeah, I suppose it is the Spurgeon effect for sure. just yeah I mean, Myles Cherry still was six from eight from the field. Yeah. 13 points, five rebounds, two assists.
Speaker: i I would just, you know, like him to get a ah lot more touches than that. Yeah. Matt Gray, 10 points in 18 minutes. um And I think, oh i was also going to say Lucas Walker from the Sharks, 10 minutes and 11 seconds, but still i had eight points and five rebounds.
Speaker: Yeah. Shown some hustle. Yeah, first quarter he um had a basket. He got a tip in and then hit a three. he was ah he had five points early and then had an, I think he had an N1. Did he have an N1?
Speaker: No, he had another basket and then was fouled another time. But yeah, he was like, Wax, he was on, like early in the season, he wasn't getting minutes. He was like, you know, it was like the Eudonis Haslam of the Sharks, you know, just the experienced old head there on the bench almost. But are ah Ryan Abbott got injured a couple of weeks ago and had a couple of games off and a couple of other players. And yeah, they've sort of been doing the minutes by committee. And yeah, Wax, he's getting first quarter minutes now.
Speaker: Very good. Love to see that. And also and yeah we have to, of course, mention James Hunter late on getting the basket against his old team. Oh, yeah, yeah. i don't think I've ever been so excited for a 38-minute basket in a 25-point game as I was for James Hunter getting that one.
Speaker: Was he just as pumped as well? ah I think it was, ah you know, some friendly banter with the – it was in the fourth quarter, so it was off but in front of the Maitland bench, just some friendly banter with the boys.
Speaker: Oh, very good. Very good. um But yeah, I think the only other outstanding statistic is the three-point percentage, like I mentioned before. Southland taking a lot fewer takes or attempts from the three-point line that I would expect, but they still shot at 42.86 from the arc, whereas Maitland struggled 25.81 from the arc.
Speaker: They were twenty five point eight one from the ark they were eight from 31 overall, including two from 10 from Rain Smith. So, yeah, certainly not their best, unfortunately. No, but they they they had little moments that were good here and there, like I mentioned that pit in the third, but, yeah, just not able to, you know, continually get in. Foul trouble was a little bit of an issue on occasions, but, um yeah, unfortunately. I mean, so someone has to win someone has to win, someone has to lose.
Speaker: That's right. And you gave the Stangers gave it their best shot, but the Sharkies are the ones moving on. They are. Down the F6 next Saturday.
Speaker: Say again? Down the f seeks to face Illawarra on Saturday. Yes, that's right. Preliminary finals time of the last a pair of games to help decide who's heading to the championship. So Illawarra.
Speaker: having the week off, now waiting for their opponents in Sutherland Sharks. And then obviously in the other preliminary final, the Norse Bears had the week off and they'll now be playing Central Coast Crusaders.
Speaker: Yes. Yeah. um So should we talk about this preliminary finals matchup in the men's competition between Illawarra and Sutherland first or do you want to do North Central Coast first? Yeah.
Speaker: um Let's talk about our North Central Coast, I think. Yeah, cool. So North and Central Coast have met each other twice in the regular season.
Speaker: ah Once in round one where it was at GYG Stadium in Terrigal. ah Central Coast losing 74-99.
Speaker: And they also met in round seven ah in the Bear Cave and Norse also winning that one 107 to 90. But round one for the Crusaders, no maker. Aaron Redhead didn't play.
Speaker: They still had Sharif Saipaya, Tommy Akamamoy, no Alex Bailey. North had no Hunter Goodrick or Wani Swakala Bullock.
Speaker: So it was like a pretty different roster. And there were even some people on the Crusaders' rosters between these two games that I don't think are on the rosters anymore. And pretty similar for North. North, though, showing that they've had a bit more stability in their roster throughout the season.
Speaker: um North just demolished Crusaders in the fourth quarter, out winning eight points to 26. That is... Yeah, that's... yeah that's Yeah, that's that's not only just bringing it home in the fourth quarter, that is like taking it home and putting it to bed. Like yeah that's a big fourth quarter. They had 12.
Speaker: They had 12.
Speaker: 12 points in the paint in the fourth, one three-pointer. And I think the rest were, I think then they than they had, they had 15 points out of field goals in the fourth quarter, 11 points from the free-throw line. Because in this game, Norths were 21 from 30 free-throws. 30 free-throws.
Speaker: Just got to 70%, but yeah, 30 free-throws. And Aidan Gunderson fouled out in 13 minutes of play. Garrick Young had four fouls. He played 29 minutes, but I'm sure that number would have been 39 if he didn't have foul trouble.
Speaker: um I would have loved to have known how long this game went for in real time. Was it 20? Well, the Bears only committed 16 fouls, so maybe not as bad, but still 30 free throws. And even on those, yeah, even Central Coast shot 19 of their own. So, wow.
Speaker: but that's a That's a long game. Sharif had 17 points in that game. Yeah, he did. Unfortunately, no longer. lot has changed.
Speaker: A lot has changed. Yeah. A lot has changed. Brand new teams, essentially. essentially Well, a team almost reborn. Yeah. But also in that fourth quarter that I mentioned before that Norse won 8-26, Crusaders only made three of their 17 field goal attempts, two twos and a three and one free throw to make up their eight points.
Speaker: For me, what also stood out was the turnovers. Crusaders had 17 turnovers to Norse, only seven. Yeah, that's tough. Seven turnovers. That is such an impressive number, honestly. think anytime you're under double figures, you should feel pretty good about yourself.
Speaker: um but It doesn't just speak to you. You're not hitting the ball open. Your offense is probably humming pretty well as well, just in general. Yeah, certainly. i wonder if it was a case of like you know tough first-round matchup, still trying to catch up with...
Speaker: Team chemistry, who's guarding who, pace of things. Maybe that's why things like committing lots of fouls and stuff like that maybe came into it. um But each team shot pretty well. I mean, Crusaders shot 38% overall, which isn't too bad.
Speaker: um but North shot 47.37 overall. Didn't have their best day from the arc, only shooting six from 21 in this particular round, but they still had four players in double figures. They had Iggy Mitchell on 17.7 rebounds in just under 25 minutes, which is really good.
Speaker: He shot 50% overall in this game. Boffinger had 15 and 6. Bailey Hansen had 14 points. And Chris Levic had 18 and 5 and then, ah sorry, 18 and 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
Speaker: pretty expected, though, from Norse, would you say? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. The thing that stands out to me is Bailey Hansen dropping 14. He's now coming off the bench and providing impact. So, you know, obviously Norse have got only gotten better with Goodrick and Swakka Le Bullock, but the crew have gotten better as well since this game but in terms of personnel and just as a team. Because if we look at the second fixture, there's more even more outs for crew.
Speaker: Yes. Yes, there is. There's no Maker, no Young. um No Saipaya. ah No, Sharif was there. My bad.
Speaker: Four minutes. Four minutes. so things like there was a couple of new players here in the roster what by the time Crusaders and Norse Bears played again in round seven. Yeah, still no Garrick Young. Oh, I shouldn't say still.
Speaker: Still no Maker and no Garrick Young this time. But only going down by... you know Well, it was tied at the end of three quarters.
Speaker: Yeah. And then... 37 to 90, and it was a 17 point, 30 to 13 in the fourth quarter. I don't think we're going to see crew get beat by 17 in the fourth quarter.
Speaker: Not judging or what I've seen of their fourth quarter is the late part of the season. Yeah. and And this is the time of the this round seven. We see Hayden Gunderson really starting to cook.
Speaker: So he had 24 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals, two blocks, 10 from 15 from the field at 66.67%. So absolute hell of a game, including four from eight from the three point line.
Speaker: Jamal Shwaib as well lightened it up. He had 19 points, four rebounds, to assist two assists, two steals, five from nine from the three-point line and seven from 15 overall. so it' And Redhead played this game. So he was back in the lineup and he had 19 and eight. So really starting like letting the others really cook, um you know, in Garrick Young's absence and still waiting for Maker to to appear. Yeah.
Speaker: yeah yeah I mean they obviously the big out for crew now is Tommy Akamamoy who had six assists in this game and before he went down was I mean what he did against Sutherland was amazing just being there in person for that as I mentioned fourth quarters over time's through just uh they love it they'll keep running they'll keep running
Speaker: And I think for this round seven game, like you mentioned, it was a thirty to thirteen fourth quarter. North had 60 of their 107 points in the paint, 41 points from the bench, so which I thought was really interesting for this game. So let's have a look and who see who was the bench for North this game. So Boffinger...
Speaker: Yeah, so Wani Swaka coming off the bench, playing just under 24 minutes. He had 14 points, two rebounds, four assists. um So that certainly helps. Then you had Robbie Moore coming off the bench. He had 13 points.
Speaker: Holy chipping in with five. Benjamin Gill chipping in with six. um So, yeah, I think that obviously all quickly adds up when your bench players are still chipping in even just those little bits.
Speaker: Robbie Moore. I just like him. Yeah. i just like him. Just like him. And Boffinger had 27, eight and four in this game. Do you think Boffinger is going to be another defensive assignment for Hayden Gunderson in this pointt preliminary final?
Speaker: Oh, possibly whoever does it has to keep him to lower shooting numbers at 11 of 13 from two point range. I know that for ah sure and certain. Um,
Speaker: i just think so bears would go So of that starting lineup, you sub in Swiney Swakala Bullock for Bailey Hanson.
Speaker: I'm just running through the ah the crew lineup with Young and Maker in the lineup. Because also in this round seven matchup between the two, Goodrick didn't play either.
Speaker: That is also a point to contend with. So Maker will, you know, Norse last time having 60 of their 107 points in the paint, but at least now with Maker, that's obviously going to provide a lot more rim protection. um It's a bit of a mismatch, though, when he's coming up against someone like Goodrick. Given that he doesn't.
Speaker: Witts. Yeah, yeah, width. Yeah, not so much in the size and the width, that kind of size where um Goodrick might have an advantage of being able to get around to make it a little bit more. So Maker just has to make sure that he plays as big and wide as possible to make that as difficult as possible. i mean, Garrick Young, though, showing his defensive chops the last couple of games, but I don't think he's going to be match up against a Goodrick player I mean, redhead redhead on Goodrick may be the same kind of yeah disadvantage as having Maker, not just not matching Goodrick with breadth.
Speaker: Bulk. Bulk. Bulk. Yeah. ah But, yeah, I think it's you. So you think Gunderson maybe on Boffinger? Yeah. i They're tough to match up against Norse, but they might they could throw him...
Speaker: throw Gunderson on him. I mean, yeah, you think, yeah, Makers patrolling the paint, Young, maybe Young on someone like Iggy Mitchell. um Cassidy and Waiter will be a battle. Ooh, yeah, that's going to be a good one.
Speaker: It's starting to fall into place, but that might be ah how it transpires. And then who's going to guard Wani Swakala Bullock?
Speaker: This is why Norths finished as high on the table as they did because no matter who you put on who, you're always asking, well, who's guarding who's guiding the other guy? And then Chris LeVitch.
Speaker: So, yeah, it's ah that's some big defensive assignments coming up for some of these crew boys. But, I mean, they've that they're like they're absolutely riding the wave right now. Yeah.
Speaker: And I'm sure that Coach Miko has got something up his sleeve, even if it's some kind of like match-up zone or something. Just to throw them off a little bit. Yeah, yeah. A match-up zone just to kind of throw them off, slow them down a little bit, maybe pack in the paint to add that extra kind of protection and put a bit of doubt in the minds if it goes inside to Chris LeVitch and Goodrick and... making it hard for the lights of Mitchell, Boffinger, Le Bullock to penetrate, maybe something like that to really pack in the paint.
Speaker: I mean, yeah. I am, i am, my brain is swimming with ideas and I'm just, I'm just very interested to see what coach Miko throws out there.
Speaker: Yeah. the Defending this North team is one of the most interesting puzzles we get just with, they have seven starting level, probably eight starting level players in the rotation.
Speaker: Come, come prepared, come with plans E, F and G. Yeah, that's right. That's right. And keep them off the foul line. Yes.
Speaker: Yes. Because even in this round seven game, North were at the far line 24 times compared to Crusaders who only got there 15 times. ah Crusaders, 40% from the three-point range this game in round seven and North, nine from 25, so 36. So not too bad, but obviously not their best. I think North will still have to play pretty disciplined this game. I don't think they can't take this game for granted.
Speaker: no room for complacency because... Yeah, everything is going the Crusaders' way right now. And as we say, anything can happen in finals time. You know the crew fans are going to be, they will sell out their their allocation 100%. mean, they sold it out against Manly. They'll do the same against Norse.
Speaker: And look, the allure of a home grand final is certainly something to get up for. Especially when they last time they played in a home grand final. That's right. was the touch of God winning us championship.
Speaker: um
Speaker: All right. So that is going to be a cracker. um Yeah. I think it's going – if Crusaders can stop a fourth quarter run again from North, it will get into single digits.
Speaker: Yeah. I can't see this being a – 15 plus point win again. no. As long as it has crew bring it, it's going to real fun. I mean, North are yet to play a crew team with Young and Maker both in the lineup.
Speaker: I know that conversely, crew are yet to play North's team with Goodrick in the lineup, but yeah that i the depth that North's have compared to what Young and Maker bring to crew, the offset is, you know, night and day.
Speaker: Yeah. Very exciting. All right. So should we crack on to the next preliminary final matchup, which is Illawarra and Sutherland? Yes, we should.
Speaker: Yes, we should. They've also played each other twice in the regular season, once in round four and then once again in round 14. Illawarra winning in round four, 84 to 77.
Speaker: And Sutherland Sharks winning in round 14, 92 to 88. So one and one for the season. This is the decider, Lockie. It's.
Speaker: It is massive. And again, we're talking about games where the teams have played each other and one team hasn't been at full strength because Tyler Robertson had not arrived for Sutherland in time for the Anzac Day game.
Speaker: And Mason Peatling did not play in round 14. So, you
Speaker: you know, they've been two very close games and both times one team has been missing a major piece.
Speaker: Yeah, that's right. ah So, yeah, it it wasn't really as accurate or as measurable as it could possibly be. um In this round four game that was at the Snake Pit, 770 people in attendance, mind you, according to the box score.
Speaker: Get out Get out there. love that. um They should start an NBL One East Award for best crowd as well, I think. Best fan base or something.
Speaker: every team ah Every team should put their crowd numbers in the stats every game. That'd be a nice thought. What are you hiding? what are you hiding? What are you ashamed of here?
Speaker: ah Both teams shooting pretty – not their best from the three-point line in this round four game. Illawarra were 12 from 44. 44 free throws is sorry, is a lot
Speaker: um ah Between Mims and Blanchfield, they had 22 of the 44 three-point attempts. So Illawarra were 12 from 44, 27.27 from the sutherland sharks were 5 from 31 from the arc, 16.13%, with Hutchinson and Abbott having seven attempts apiece. So, yeah, not not the best. This game definitely wasn't won and lost from the arc.
Speaker: No, the interesting, obviously Robertson not being there is obviously a thing in terms of the Sharks' three-point percentage. But also Harrison Rayner, he's 50% from the three-point line for the season now. He played 19 minutes in this game.
Speaker: He was one of three from three-point line. But early in the season, he actually played a game in Warratah Men. Look at where he is now. He played a game in Warratah Men at the start of this season.
Speaker: What, do you know why that was? because he wo I don't know if he wasn't going to get minutes in NBL 1, but yeah, he played a game in Waratahmen earlier in the year. There you go.
Speaker: And this was also Luke Jamison at the start of the season. If you look at his shooting numbers for the year, um I would dare say they're not great.
Speaker: We just take a look. I do have them up. Yeah, he he was one from seven this game from the field. Yeah, he was he's 39.8% from the field now.
Speaker: He was in the shooting slump to end all shooting slumps to start this season. So this one of seven but in this game, that was almost to be expected at that time.
Speaker: Right now, you expect the entire opposite.
Speaker: Yeah, that's that and it's it's really interesting how many teams we are seeing in the preliminary finals are just peaking at the right time. Like Sutherland were a little bit wobbly at the start of the season, maybe underperforming, but everything has started to click since then, whether they have Robbo on a great game or not.
Speaker: think They're still able to carry on and find a way to be competitive and and still consistently score. so And then Crusaders are similar where they've just been bubbling away, bubbling away, improving on their chemistry as the season have gone on to peak at the right time as well. And then and then both of those teams are now matching up against two teams who have been consistently outstanding all season.
Speaker: And I think that's one of the best parts of five parts of finals basketball is
Speaker: is peaking at the right time enough? Does it put you over the top of this these really consistent teams? m it's yeah it's It's very interesting.
Speaker: it's I mean, we keep giving reasons why we love finals and this is why we love finals. yeah Just these two teams in different situations, one that started at the top and has stayed there and one that's built slowly all the way through. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. And ah in this particular game, Illawarra had four players in double digits. They had Kone on 12 points, five rebounds, eight assists. Matt Mims on 20 points, three rebounds, four assists.
Speaker: Blanchfield had a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds, three steals, and Peatling had 17 points, 11 rebounds. Peatling shooting at 61.54%. Blanchfield not his day, 31.25%. And then for Sutherland, though,
Speaker: and then for subtherland though given it was still, ah you know, only a seven-point game, only had two people in double digits, Cabrera on 19-3 and Spurgeon on 15-8-4, which I thought was interesting. So a lot more, like just what we were saying before, that contribution off the bench.
Speaker: um or or from the role players of just doing a little bit as or just doing as much as you can in the time you're given certainly makes a difference. Like Lucas Walker started this game. He only played 16 minutes, but he still had seven points and four rebounds and two steals in those 16 minutes.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean the Sharks had, what, six more players after that score, five or more. So just, I mean, there are players, like I know Lachlan Hutchison will have walked away from that game.
Speaker: thinking he could have scored a lot more points shooting three of 14. Ryan Abbott, three of 12. But you see, like, you know, Rayner was two of five for six points. Hunter was three of five for six points.
Speaker: um i MacArthur had three points. Yeah, and as i said, Luke Jamison, he's not going one of seven. The way he's been playing lately, one of seven is quite clearly in the rear vision mirror.
Speaker: Yeah, and this game Sutherland, 50 of their 77 points came inside the paint too. So, um yeah, that certainly kept them in touch given that they were shooting poorly from the three-point line.
Speaker: But, yeah, then roll around in but' to round 14 at the Shark Tank. Different story. Sharky's getting up 92 to 88. This one was really close all game. Sharky's finishing the fourth quarter 27 to 22. Yeah, this would have been ah a hell of a ride to commentate.
Speaker: Yeah, jane James and I reviewed this game for the pod a few episodes ago. So... um You want to find out more about, you know, this matchup, you can go back and walk listen to one of our old episodes.
Speaker: but Yeah, best way to do it. I mean, just look, Luke Jamison, 7 or 11 from two-point range on his way to 24 points. um Spurgeon was doing everything for 25. Harrison Rayner, 3 or 4 from three-point range, 3 or 4 from two-point range. You know, don't know.
Speaker: It's gotten to the point where the Sharks now can interchange Cabrera or Rainer in the starting lineup. um They've got it worked out. They've got it down pat. um head Harking back to it when they were trying when Rainer first earned starter, you know, starter minutes, took him a few games to kind of work out, you know, how how does this work? You know, where where does he fit in as a starter? it Now that it's working, they can, you they, um,
Speaker: change it up regardless of who, you know, what the matchup is. Just do we put Cabrera in? Do we put Rana in? We'll do what works. um Yeah, big, big games across the way. you have four players with 16 or more points and, I mean, Hutchison again,
Speaker: Not having a great, but important to remember that Matt Mims was an all defensive player in his college conference. So, you know, he's tough to play against. The Hutchison-Mims battle, a bit like the Hutchison-Cranston-Lowne battle. Two guys that, you know, will both get at it against each other all game.
Speaker: Does Mims get a bit chippy though? Does he, is he wanting to have a chat? Not really. but um I just mean more in the actual, you know, is in the in the play.
Speaker: yeah Okay. Yeah. We'll defend each other with with gusto. Good. Yeah, good. No, i like that. Keeping it super competitive. I can definitely see that from from these guys. But um on this occasion as well where Sharky's got up, ah this time they had four people in double figures. Robbo having 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals.
Speaker: uh harrison rayner 16 and 5 and 3 spurgeon 25 12 and 3 and two steals and three blocks so really doing everything he shot at 64.29 overall including three from four from the three point line so he can stretch he stretch can stretch yeah yeah and jamison 24 and 9 like you said finding his form yeah 100 and You know, it's one of those days, you know, this time Reina stepped up and had big points. Cabrera didn't, you know, different player steps up and gets the team over the line.
Speaker: ah For Illawarra this game, you know, big three having big numbers. Kone, 19.7 rebounds, three assists, five steals, which is, you know, again, a bit of everything. We love to see that.
Speaker: Matt Mims, 27 points. Blanchfield, 28 and 13. Like you said, no Peatling this game. So it would be great to see Spurgeon and Peatling match up against each other. Very similar skill sets, but I think Spurgeon might have the – A bit of a length advantage over Peatling, if I'm right.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, 100% does. Yeah, he does have a a good few inches on him, I think. I think Mason Peatling is, he uses what size he has well. But, I mean, he's, I think he's only six foot eight or 6'9. He's listed at 6'7 or 6'8, depending on the source.
Speaker: I would lean closer to 6'8, and he definitely plays bigger than that as well.
Speaker: Yeah, so a really good test for Peatling. the bench that game as well, I guess, in preparation for this moment. Yeah. It's interesting. You look at this game, like the last score, you know, it was four players went up for Sutherland, only three put up big numbers for Illawarra.
Speaker: What happens if Peatling's there? Do they have a fourth player who puts up good numbers and gets them over the line? We can decide that on Saturday. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: So Illawarra winning, sorry, Sutherland won this rebound count as well for this game, 50 to 38, and the assist count, 18 to 13. So I think winning the rebound count is going to be really important for this matchup in particular. I could probably say the same for Norse Crusaders, actually, just being able to limit your ah opponent to as fewer shots as possible.
Speaker: um And from the free throw line, nothing really too outstanding on that respect or from the foul count. Sutherland only committed 13 fouls this game, which was impressive.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm trying to think about it. At this point, all the games blur into one. As good as they are, the the details get a bit ah bit blurry. But yeah, I think we did note that they let them play a bit, but it was good it was good fun basketball to watch.
Speaker: Yeah, and Illawarra this game were really a lot more consistent from the three-point line in this round 14 game. four point Four threes made in the first and second quarter, five threes in the third quarter and two in the fourth quarter. It's dropping off a little bit um but much better than their performance in round four. Sutherland had six from 11 points in the paint in the fourth and two from two from three, three-pointers in the fourth too. So they were firing.
Speaker: Yeah. ah it I mean, but it was so bad. It was such a good game to watch. It's like, the you've got to tune into this game.
Speaker: They've put up yeah two classics already. It's just going to be fun. Very fun. Even though I'll probably actually be at the Sutherland Warratah Men semifinal while it's going on.
Speaker: So the preliminary finals this round, similar to our semifinals up here in North ah that we had on the weekend, they were staggered. We had one at five, six, seven, and eight.
Speaker: So for NBL1 East prelims this weekend, almost a stagger. We've got the women's game at five and six, but both men's game at seven, which is a bit of a bummer. Two monitors by this stage. What are you even doing?
Speaker: Yeah, it's going to say at least a phone and a monitor. It's a something. Your TV and your laptop, whatever it takes. Whatever it takes to get those two screens going.
Speaker: Surely the North doubleheader is KO Game of the Week. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. would have thought being being both games at North, that would have been on KO. But either way, one of those men's games is going to be on KO.
Speaker: So you're watching your smart TV on KO Freemies. And then stream the other one on your laptop. on Done. Done. All right. Well, that is the men's competition ah wrapped up. So ready to go both games at 7 o'clock this weekend.
Speaker: um Are we ready to get stuck into a recap of the women's semifinal? We certainly are. Very good. ah First cab off the rank is the centre of excellence, defeating Aubrey Wodonga Bandits at home, So so close, the Bandits, to getting to that next level, next phase of finals.
Speaker: um This one was, yeah, this was a struggle it looked like for Aubrey because they lost the first quarter They had to... eight they had to really do a miley cyrus and face the climb yeah that's a reference this is is a ah um well we actually um while we were doing sound checking things chucked this game on so we watched most of the second half actually jake and i in between talking about sutherland and um sutherland and maitland but um
Speaker: I mean, Auburn and Wodonga, they put themselves in a hole early. They only lost by eight, but they brought it back to lead at one point. But, I mean, they put themselves in such a hole early. 29 to 8. I think Ineek Thompson was one of nine from the field to start the game as I was keeping an eye on the stats while was doing set-up. But it just puts you in such a hole.
Speaker: I mean, Emily, ah watching it, Emily Lytle, shots weren't dropping early, but you could tell something was going to happen. just the way she was getting to getting to spots, getting shots up. They weren't hitting in the first stages, obviously judging by the score, but you could tell something. but i don't think I expected 40 from her, but I could tell she was she was she was ready to ah make something happen as the game went on.
Speaker: Yeah, 40 points, eight rebounds, three assists, 11 from 11 from the free-throw line, 14 from 24 overall. like that's like if you like Like you said, Lytle kind of started a little bit rusty, she certainly found her form.
Speaker: Yeah. i mean, she but and she was getting in there. I mean, she was 13 of 19 from two-point range. was She was in amongst a low scoring game where, you know, I mean, turnovers 18 apiece, shooting percentages not too crash hot.
Speaker: Her team lost, but boy oh boy was she fun to watch.
Speaker: and Thompson had 16.6 rebounds on not her best shooting night either, seven from 25, only getting to the free throw line ah twice, so she was and she was two from four, which I always find really surprising given that she attracts so many defenders and so much contact that she's only getting to the free throw line twice. Yeah, in the in the bits and pieces i saw, and feel free to correct me on,
Speaker: uh part that i didn't see it looked like manioc was tasked with just get a hand up make her shoot over you don't properly engage too much use use your height and length advantage that you've got and just make it difficult for her just puts the doubt in ah in someone's mind sometimes that extra length because um i mean she had six blocks did manioc Yeah, six of eight blocks.
Speaker: CRO had eight blocks as a team and she had six. Oh, my God. Yeah, wow there were a couple I saw. um Yeah, but there were there were times where she was forcing Unique into shooting some tough fadeaways just to get over her. So, you know, we've been watching Manioc in this league for a couple of years and she started off, she was a real project player. You know, you like they saw something in her, but She had a lot of height, a lot of length, but a lot to work on. And, you know, she's coming into her own, just getting more and more experience. And now she's got, you know, six blocks in a semifinal game. And, you know, only committed two fouls in 31 minutes of action, just playing really disciplined ball. Because i think if you think back to last year's grand final, she got cooked by Zoe Miller repeatedly getting, you know, Zoe Miller would beat the first line and just Jemima would just be late to react or, you know, commit a foul. And Zoe would just cook her.
Speaker: So great to see from the youngster. Yeah, she's probably got a lot of confidence coming back from the U17 World Cup as well. She played some pretty important minutes in that tour in that tournament. um Same with Jasmine Jones as well. She's playing a lot more minutes for COE. noticed that Myra Duncan has been coaching the last few games for COE instead of Mel Downer. so Yeah, Mel's been in the last few games.
Speaker: I think Mel's been overseas doing some conference or course or what exactly what it is, a scapegoat. I've definitely seen seen something. Cool. COE Aspen, Crace, recent Davidson commit.
Speaker: 15 points, 3 rebounds, 5 from 6 overall from the field. Aleknewicz, 14, 2 and 6. Isabel Smith, 14 and 4. and Jemima, 7.7 rebounds, 6 blocks. Oh, how cool would it have been if she had a triple-double with blocks?
Speaker: When's the last time a female did that in NBL 1?
Speaker: In blocks? In blocks. Why? If ever. i Honestly, I have no idea. Like Hassan Whiteside. Ain't nobody doing it with blocks.
Speaker: Nobody. Nobody is doing it with blocks. No. And for Aubrey Wodonga, we mentioned, you know, Lytle and Yannick Thompson. But shout out to Mika Coleman, 10 assists, 10 of her team's 17 assists.
Speaker: Yeah. She is one that has really um taken off this year as well for all we were doing. Yeah. Ten assists in a semifinal. I mean, yeah.
Speaker: Great. Great. I'm a big fan of Tamika.
Speaker: Shock horror. Lockie is fan of country women's basketball player. Yeah. Aubrey were 15 from 23, though, from the free throw line, 65.22%. So some of those missed free throws, ah perhaps biting them on the bum a little bit.
Speaker: Field goal percentage-wise... COE shot 41.67 overall, two from from the line for Aubrey, only So not not the best from the line, but equally c oa was seven from thirty three at twenty one point two one percent so yeah bit of a bit of a struggle from the arcrk there Yeah, I did make a few notes just about the ah the shooting percentage. Like, Aubrey, you can't shoot 26 of 73 and 2 of 19 and expect to win.
Speaker: I think they had nine extra possessions and, you know, you're not going to win. Lytle was 13 of 19 from two-point range and the rest of the team was 11 of 35. And what I found interesting for COE is they had four players with 10 or more field goal attempts.
Speaker: Shanahan was four of 13, but the other three, Aleknevic, Jones and Smith were all 40% from the field. So the players that were getting the ball in their hands a lot and taking the shots were were making them.
Speaker: And I'm pretty sure Isabel Smith had eight of her points in the final quarter. Oh, wow. Yeah, 14. So 46 of COE's 77 points came from inside the paint. We mentioned that they won the first quarter 29 to 8, but the Bandits came out of that locker room at halftime, winning the third quarter 10 to 22. So certainly on the comeback, you know, very determined to get the win. They had 40 of their 69 points in the paint.
Speaker: they rattled COE in that third quarter. There were a few, there was a good couple of minutes where COE were just thinking, we've got to get a basket, we've got to get a basket, we've got to get a basket, put a shot up, put a shot up, someone put a shot up.
Speaker: And fortunately, the COE, they snapped it. I think they snapped out of it at about the point where Aubrey Wodonga took the lead. um The the moment moment I noticed, if I are find the exact, let me close my notes.
Speaker: The moment, it was ah about six minutes to go. i'm pretty sure it was Aleknovic. i was still It was back and forth, but Aleknovic got a tip away from Lytle out near midcourt and managed to get up court and give it to Maniok. And Maniok finished really well off the glass. They went from that to Maniok getting a block to Aleknovic hitting a three all in a minute.
Speaker: And I feel like that was the one where COA was just like, all right, we're back in rhythm now. We're good.
Speaker: made a massive difference. It it really did. It was just a little minute of play that, you know, they are yeah. And then obviously Isabel Smith in the latter stages getting those, that late flurry of points.
Speaker: So COE going through. Unfortunately, the Bandits season has come to a valiant end ah with a loss on the road. But, yeah, they certainly fought all the way to the very end of this season, the Bandits, to find themselves in this position of the semifinal. So lots to be proud about.
Speaker: yeah The only thing I will is notice is ah Unique got two tech. got Her fist bow was a tech. I saw she got one. i ah The first one...
Speaker: Look, it didn't look... It was just after a play, um Unique just bumped Manyock in a little bit of ah a scrum of players. It didn't look like too much to me. And then the second one was off camera.
Speaker: So really no idea what the second one either was. Game was gone by then. It really doesn't matter. um Yeah. just yeah it was it was They missed the pre-throw, so finished 77-69. Yeah. Unfortunate way for a season to come to an end. But um as always, I'm sure the Bandits will be back and amongst the ah finals contenders in 2027.
Speaker: Definitely. Definitely. there the The recruiting and the rebuild already starts, you know. next week kind of thing for some coaches. certainly does.
Speaker: It certainly does. Okay. Semi-final number two was between Manly Warringah Seagulls at home against the Newcastle Falcons. This one, yeah this one was on a nice edge for me. I couldn't really tell how this one was going to go, but it was the Manly Warringah Seagulls winning 90 points to 78.
Speaker: Huge fourth quarter from both teams, 26 29.
Speaker: ah But Manly winning the first quarter by four, the second quarter by three and the third quarter by eight. So even though Newcastle tried to make a late run in the fourth, it just wasn't enough. Wasn't enough. ah Manly's roster looking really thin.
Speaker: but still managing to get four people in double figures. ah Jada Jansen having 25 and six, Zoe Miller having 22, two and nine, Alex Delaney having 15 and nine and Brie Delaney with 14 and two. Really thin here, Lockie. It's at the crunch time of the season.
Speaker: Yeah. So obviously no Josie Redan, Freya Byker left long ago. Josie Redan injured, for though if you haven't been all over the news in the last couple of weeks. um Liv Johnston's left for college.
Speaker: Neve Smith would have left the college by now, I'm pretty sure as well. imagine Cassidy Thompson was with Youthly, possibly. She might have been the only other one they would have added. So...
Speaker: um yeah so Yeah, not, I mean, they're thin, but they're working with who they've got, basically. Mm-hmm. Yeah, they're not really, they're not missing, I mean, obviously, Redan's injured, but we know from everything she's posting, her season's done.
Speaker: yeah Yeah, which is ah a real shame. But, yeah, like her sisters are still carrying on without her and succeeding. ah Newcastle, Sophie Brennan had 16-3. Munger had 24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals. 6 from 17 overall from the field, so not her best shooting day either.
Speaker: Getting to the free throw line, though, and she was 9 from 10. Meg Jefferson had 9 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, showing her newfound versatility. 7 from 4 from the field. Probably could have...
Speaker: done with a few more touches um for me personally. I would have liked to have seen Meg with a few more touches and scoring opportunities there. And Mia Heidi, 22 points and 16 rebounds, seven from 11 from the field, eight from 10 from the free throw line. So, yeah, she had a hell of a game as well.
Speaker: um But, yeah, Manly just getting it done on the day. only had 32 rebounds for the game. and to which I thought was maybe a little bit on the lower side, but Newcastle had 43. So and it was just probably just the theme of the game, I guess.
Speaker: 14 steals to Manly. They shot at 46.03% overall, including 42.86 from the arc. So heaps better shooting on this occasion for Manly. You've seen a couple of games in the season where Manly have really dropped off in their three-point shooting, which is uncharacteristic for them. And Newcastle, 5 from 18 from the free point line, 27 from, 27.78%.
Speaker: Yeah,
Speaker: yeah i ah Meg Jefferson had, I think she might have, she had three fouls pretty quickly. i don't know if it was in the first quarter, but it was definitely early, which contributed to her 21 minutes.
Speaker: But let's just talk about the foul count in general. 23, 48 fouls committed in this game, 23 24. twenty three twenty The replay for this game with, you know, they cut out the halftime, they cut out the quarter breaks, and they cut out most of the timeouts.
Speaker: It still goes for an hour and 20 minutes, the game replay.
Speaker: So that's at least... Wait, what? It's it's still got an hour and 20 minutes with that many fouls? But that's taking out halftime, which is 10 minutes. Oh. And the two quarter breaks. So that's at least an hour 35.
Speaker: Plus any timeouts they cut out because they often cut out the timeouts from the game replay as well. So we're talking about how long for this game to finish. It's another long one. I don't know what it is about that court.
Speaker: I feel like a lot of games I've watched in NBL 1 East over the years where there's been an extraordinary number of fouls happens at Manly.
Speaker: and And you can't even say it's manly refs because, you know, you don't no one referees their home association. No, the manly ref is also the commentator.
Speaker: I mean, yeah. Yeah, there's ah there's another referee up in the stands. um But, yeah, only 120 people, though, in attendance for this game.
Speaker: which is a bit disappointing given that the men's game had so many more. Maybe that was because there were lots of crew fans. Ah, yeah, that might be it. So I don't know how much the stadium even holds. If you think 120, I think they had to give crew 100 fans.
Speaker: Maybe it was close to capacity.
Speaker: Maybe, maybe. and look and look for For the Manly crew game, it looked pretty close. Remember, they don't have they don't have stands yeah behind the benches like drum clubs Yeah, yeah. And I saw some footage from people who were randomly there on social media.
Speaker: um It looked like they were really far back. so it looked like they were as packed as possible. Yeah. Yeah. So, i mean I mean, yeah, if the crew fans all bought up tickets and it was a, you know, billed as a men's, women's doubleheader, then you can probably explain why the difference in the two games is about the number of ah number of tickets the crew fans bought.
Speaker: Because yeah Northern Beaches, according to the NBL1 website, the capacity of the Northern Beaches indoor sports centre is 3,500 people. Oh, well, that's... Why aren't we hosting the grand final there then?
Speaker: Yeah. i then be right questions And Great question. And NBL Games. It's like when claims the Red Hot Chili Peppers that his bar can hold 40,000 people.
Speaker: Yeah. yeah Maybe a topic of conversation for and another podcast episode. Yeah. Maybe... ah Edit that number slightly on the website.
Speaker: Yeah. um is Another stat that stood out to me that seemed pretty important for the game was number of turnovers. so Manly did a good job only committing 10 turnovers, forcing Newcastle to commit 19 turnovers, but then Manly turning those those turnovers into 21 points.
Speaker: To zero as well. To zero. Yeah, to zero, which right I think it was. Yeah, yeah. I think there was a highlight as well of Zoe Miller making a steal um and laying it in under pressure at the other end. I think that was must have been part of the a primary focus for Manly of just getting stops and running, stops and running.
Speaker: um And it obviously would see where they worked in F8 with those 21 to zero points from turnovers. Yeah, 100%. Another thing I know and i think noticed, and I think it's kind of a theme with Manly to beat Newcastle, is Munga scores a lot, but she does it on not her best shooting night. I feel like every time we talk about Manly, be like we talked about the regular season matchup, we talked about this prelim final last year, feels like every time we talk about Manly-Newcastle, if Manly win, Munga gets a lot of points, but it's not at a great clip.
Speaker: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, it's something about, maybe it's something around how, you know, Manly have so many great defenders as individuals. And I think we've talked about this in a previous season as well, how they're just able to keep switching different people on her just to make it a little bit more disruptive. You know, when Annie Henderson was still playing, it was like between Annie Henderson and um Josie Redan. And I mean, even either Delaney's sister could guard Munger as well.
Speaker: So I wonder if that also comes into it, just being able to switch different people just to be more disruptive. um But otherwise I didn't see, oh it was points from bench as well for me.
Speaker: So I think we spoke about as well in a recent episode about the question marks around Newcastle's depth compared to previous seasons. And Manly had 17 points from their bench to Newcastle's five.
Speaker: um which I thought was interesting. But anything else stand out for you in this game? um Yeah, the fact that Newcastle didn't hit a three across the middle two. They went 0 of 8 from three-point land across the middle two quarters. 0 of 2, then 0 of 6.
Speaker: Manly, not great from three-point land in the second quarter, 1 of 8, but then splashed for fun in the second half. 7 of 12. 4 of 7, then from three-point land. three point laid So very interesting that Newcastle couldn't find a three across 20 minutes of basketball and then go four or five from three-point land in the fourth quarter, which is something I found very interesting. Also, i it felt like Meg Jefferson was minus 11 in her time on court.
Speaker: it's in like It felt like she did more out there than the team being minus 11, but I guess when you're in and out of the game with foul trouble, it can feel like you're doing a lot when you're at someone's doing a lot when they're out there.
Speaker: um But just interesting. um But honestly, Manly just too clinical on the day. Kind of fitting that Newcastle's final basket of the season was among us three.
Speaker: um what What else would you expect? But Yeah. Again, Newcastle season comes to an end at Worrywood. Second year in a row.
Speaker: Yeah. Starting to become a thing. is. oh Or we were donger. i guess Different venue, but same team. Same team. Same round of the playoffs.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. It's ah a bit haunting, isn't it? Yeah. But that's what happens when you've got a wad of consistent teams. They're going to meet each other in a lot of finals games.
Speaker: Yeah, of course. Of course. um Which means now the preliminary finals is North Bears who had the week off against Manly Ulringa Seagulls. So the rivalry there continues between those two clubs.
Speaker: And then Bankstown Bruins will be hosting the Centre of Excellence. Yeah. ah I mean, it's too early to say. Are we going to see the most epic rematch of the NBL1 East women's season in North Bankstown meet again at the grand final?
Speaker: I mean, all signs point to yes, don't they? mean, we'll the two games, but, you know, on on form, um you'd have to say it's the most likely outcome.
Speaker: So interestingly with these two matchups, are you know, in the men's matchups, each team have met each other twice in the regular season, whereas for these women's matchups, they've only met each other once in the regular season. Nors and Manly played only in round 14, so very fresh. COE and Bankstown played each other in round one Yeah, and which game do we want to talk about first?
Speaker: ah Let's do COE Bankstown first. Okay, good, because I want get straight into that one. Because what can you even, I mean, what can you take from that game where Bankstown had no Margot Jafratis or Shilah Hill?
Speaker: Because it's if it ends up being this grand final matchup. We're going to talk about it then as well, because they lost to the North by 50 without those two. They lost to Centre of Excellence by 26. Now they've got Shiloh Hill, who's at least top two in MVP, and they've got an absolute weapon in the pick and roll for her to work with alongside Dale Tupire and Davis White in the starting five.
Speaker: It is a different team. And I mean, obviously it is. We've noticed that throughout the season. But what can you even say about this first round matchup? that you can even like consider.
Speaker: And in that game, Zara Russell had 21 points and she's not there either. okay Yeah, totally. Like um it's, it's essentially like to, I think it's essentially like they're going to be playing for the first time again. Yeah.
Speaker: A hundred percent. um In that occasion, COE limited Talia Tupaya to just 10 field goals, field goal attempts. um And she was four from 10 from the field. She had 14 points. Kiana Davis-White had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Bruins, and the rest was essentially...
Speaker: you know, scattered throughout the rest of the roster in terms of scoring. COE on this game had 60 of their 89 points in the paint and 34 points from the bench. um So they're probably going to have a similar roster in that sense of depth. But like you said, missing Zara Russell and Bankstown adding Heal and De Freitas. Yeah, I just, I don't, I don't think we can really say,
Speaker: We can only estimate how it's going to go. Also, Bankstown have that great defense up their sleeve that we saw against when they beat Manly all those rounds ago that looked like a pack defense, I'm going to say. and I think if it's if that's what it is, and given it was so effective against a team like manny who Manly who loved to penetrate and dish, it would be equally as effective against COE because COE, like I said, just loved to get too fit in the paint.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: If you look at this starting lineup, they had both Shalom Dunlop and Jane Dunlop in the lineup. So they're not even playing with like the same mixture of guards and for guards and bigs. and you know Because Dunlop, the Dunlops are both really backcourt players.
Speaker: And you're adding in De Freitas. So the entire, you're changing tack entirely. It's not just who's there. It's you know what roles they play. um But I mean... but you have to You have to say Bankstown a favourites. COE had a you know great ride to get this far and to knock off Walbury-Wodonga and that great start to the game and then hold on to the end. But I i do feel like, i know i know they beat North last year in the preliminary final when everyone wrote them off, but I just can't see them getting past this Bankstown team.
Speaker: Base down we're within two points of ruining North undefeated record. Yeah, yeah, correct, correct. um And COE from the three-point line this season, ah let me just check their percentage.
Speaker: Yeah, they're 31.3% from the line, which terrible But it's not the the greatest given that this is a young team that would shoot however many three-pointers a day.
Speaker: Yeah. um So they certainly like to get downhill, certainly like to get in the paint. Yeah, I think that that whatever that defence is, I don't want to put a name on it in case it's wrong or I don't want to give too much away for Coach Curtin. um That is certainly going to be very...
Speaker: challenging for COE to play against so they're going to have to find some form from the arc um it would be really great if Aleknewicz is matched up you know the U17 defensive player of the year in the world matching up against a Shiloh heel so her next defensive challenge yeah uh Maniok against Efratis but I think this game as well, like now that Heal and De Freitas are there, taking a little bit of extra attention away from Tupaya.
Speaker: I think Tupaya can now have another one of those games that we saw a couple rounds ago where she can just go back to old school Tupaya, have some kind of like different matchup on her and just keep outsmarting these kids with her, the way she uses her body to draw fouls and gets under defenders and things like that. i so I'm hoping that this is going to be on show again this game.
Speaker: Yeah, me too. i mean I mean, are we really so old that there can be old school Talia Tupaya? Yes. And because she's been playing at a professional level since she was, what, 15.
Speaker: Yes. Funny story. She won an award and I think, her second season at the Plains, maybe even her third. And You know, they give you the trophy and they give you the bottle of wine in the bag.
Speaker: So you can actually see what she pulls it out. It's a bottle of Coke because she wasn't old enough to drink.
Speaker: Oh, me. I think that's very cute. Yeah, it's... The matchups at the three and four spot, I think, are going to be the most interesting ones. Talia and Keanu Davis-White against... Well, the starting lineup for CO in the last game was Smith, Aleknovic, Shanahan, Kreis, and Maniok. So...
Speaker: Probably... Well, it'll probably be, you know, a 2v2 battle to Pyre and Davis-White versus maybe Shanahan and Kreis. Mm... you know, who guards who in that situation. Or do you go you go yougo Isabel Smith on heel and Aleknewitz on Tepiah?
Speaker: Put your best defender on the toughest physical matchup. <unk> Yeah. And then, yeah. and might be and That might actually be the best idea.
Speaker: Count on your best defender to be able to, yeah, don't just go straight up maybe a slightly bigger player because no Aleknevich can handle just about anything. yeah Yeah, yeah. She's tough. She's so tough. So, yeah, hopefully that will be the matchup. That'd be fun to watch.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: um And that's going to be at the Bears Lair, Bruins Lair. Am I right? Yes. Yes, it will. Yes. That's the, ah I think that's the that's the six o'clock tip off at the Bruins Lair.
Speaker: They also have a youth league semifinal, but that's at 11am. So. yeah It's a bit of a gap in between. Yeah. But hopefully it means I can go without having to buy a ticket for the NBL 1 game, which I wouldn't, as only I don't think I'd be able to do if I went to Illawarra for Youth League NBL 1 doubleheader because that game's at 4.30. But we move on.
Speaker: I've got so many more Italian men to watch. But still plenty of what to watch across the like across all of the leagues. There is. ah But, yeah, let's move along to the other preliminary final preview between Norse Bears and Manly Warringah Seagulls. Again, the rivalry continues.
Speaker: They recently played each other in the regular season in round 14. Norse winning 77 to 66. a Big free throw difference, I think, in this game.
Speaker: ah Norse having when it loads again. It was 19 of 23 to 9 of 11. Yeah. Massive difference there. Massive difference. are Both great shooting percentages just in terms of opportunity from the line.
Speaker: Jazz Shelley played all 40 minutes. She had 27 points, 9 rebounds, assists, Yeah. two steals two blocks Nine from 19 overall.
Speaker: Talia Brugler having 18, sorry, yeah, 18, 8 and 4. Caitlin Martin with 14 and 3, also playing the full 40. Emma Donnelly just under 17 minutes having 10 and 5. But no Rebecca Donnelly this game. She was a DNP. I can't quite remember why Well, that's a um quite salient point you make, Sweeney, because I believe Rebecca Donnelly might have left the college by now.
Speaker: you might not That's a bummer.
Speaker: Yeah, that's that's a bit of a bummer from the bench for them. Yeah, um because she's been really good off the bench for North all season. And for Manly on this particular game, Jansen had eleven and two Delaney Delaney 12-2. What's Zari's rebound count?
Speaker: i eight twelve but that's sweet and what sorry's rebound count Oh, sorry, 11 and 15. Goodness me. God, I'm 10 short. give em ten short Of your rebound count, sorry, I do apologise. 11-15 for this game for Mowbray. um And Delaney was 12-2.
Speaker: ah yes so Miller not having her best shooting game, unfortunately, just two from 11 from the field. overall from the field for Manly, for um And then yet 25% and 27% Norse and Manly respectively from three-point line. So not, given that that it was pretty high scoring in like two of the four quarters, the last quarter was 17-5 Norse Manly. It wasn't the best shooting day for these teams.
Speaker: It was okay. No, but...
Speaker: I mean, it was elite defences. The thing that sticks out for me is if Norse won that final quarter 17-5, that means Manly were leading with 10 minutes to play.
Speaker: Yeah, right. So,
Speaker: yeah, it's – so, yeah, it's – I think in the fourth quarter – ah Yeah, so Manly were only one from 18 in the fourth quarter from the field.
Speaker: And that was one of three. Yeah, they had one three and two free throws for their five points. um Whereas North, they had three from eight from the three-point line and two from eight from two-point range and seven free throws. So, um yeah, one three in the fourth quarter really hurts.
Speaker: Yeah. What I find... I mean, might get to that in a minute. I mean, I imagine Zoe Miller would have comped the toughest defensive assignment in the backcourt for most of the night. She's going to have Isabel Morgan and Caitlin Martin, one of them on her, for pretty much the entire game. but that's something you've got to battle through.
Speaker: What I find interesting is We've already talked about Manly Warringah. They are going to have a short rotation just because they don't have any players left. They got or eight. Maya Jelena was a DMP, so they ran with seven. They could have Cassidy Thompson's there. They'll have nine, but both players who don't get a lot of minutes. North don't run deep by choice at the moment.
Speaker: o They don't use Dalmada. They don't use Yvette Volk. They don't use Lauren Walker. not very Not very much anyway. And in the even in this last game, Emma Donnelly and Holly Wills only combined for 22 minutes of play and Holly only played six minutes.
Speaker: And I think even if we look back um to their... Might be a bit skewed, their qualifying final game because they were up by so many late on, but...
Speaker: Yeah, even then even in a 40 point game, Dalmeida, Volk and Walker didn't touch the court. so
Speaker: And Rebecca Donnelly only played three minutes. sorry um Interesting to see, you know, a team that has its rotations very cut and dry versus a team that's been forced to shorten its rotations.
Speaker: I think we've been absolutely robbed of a Talia Brugler versus Josie Redan matchup. i think that would have been very fun to watch.
Speaker: ah yeah and they go Dickinson comes into the starting lineup and Lily Fandre's playing you know serviceable bench minutes for them. so um mean we We know how good both of these teams are.
Speaker: I feel this is one where Manly really needed Josie Redan. o Yeah, I think so.
Speaker: And I wouldn't be surprised if this game, look, this game has potential to be really high scoring. It also has potential to be on the lower end like their last game as well. It could go either extreme for me where we're going to see two of the best defensive teams against each other, just limiting each other like it's going to be a soccer match. um or But both teams can just pop off as well from anywhere, especially from the three-point line, despite the best defence in the league. So it could really go either way. i just hope that the officiating and the alert number of fouls called isn't going to have a strong impact on this game.
Speaker: Yeah, these are these are two teams full of players who are used to playing physically. WNBL, high D1 college players. Like you think Talia Brugler played in the same conferences, Izzy Morgan, like played in the A10, really good basketball with really physical players that, you know, they produce professional players.
Speaker: Even like, you know, Peggy Schell hasn't, played in the WNBL, hasn't reached that next level, but you know she she will take her licks and give them out just as well. you know these These players, they're happy to play through physicality. and It's almost like they like it. Yeah, I dare say most of them do.
Speaker: yeah they want They want to win the battle and win the war. um So ah just let the kids play. Just let them play. I want, I don't know, ah you know, I know a lot of the referees, but i don't know them well enough to know their style, but the one referee I want on this game is Michelle Kosia.
Speaker: Why? Does she like playing with physicality just as much? Well, she she has the most playing experience of any of the referees. Like, she was a legit WNBL player. Wasn't she 200-gamer? Oh, no.
Speaker: all I certainly think so. If she wasn't, she'd have to have gone close. Well, I think she... I don't think she... I don't know if she made 200 games. She would have been close, but I think she was made a WNBL life member nonetheless for her other contributions to the game, even though she didn't make 200 games. But she has the lived experience of playing in this style and playing with physicality.
Speaker: She has the... I think the more measured approach to let this game flow and what to call and what not to call. So if I can have any influence on this, it would be that.
Speaker: Yeah. i I'm sure they will pick. Yeah. I mean, we we know they' only you only need 12 refs, so we're going to get good ones.
Speaker: Hopefully the ones we get are suited to the style of games we're going to get. So I feel like when Norse played Bankstown and even when Manly played Bankstown, but particularly when Norse played Bankstown, Caitlin Martin, Izzy Morgan were in foul trouble really early. just that They set the standard for the game, for that game, so early of what they were going to call and they were calling them really quickly and it just was so destabilising. I just don't want that to happen to this game.
Speaker: Squin, referees, man. Oh, gosh. No, I have to go back and do my level zero course again if that's going to happen. ah But, yeah, either way, we're going to be spoilt for choice. i won't be commentating NBL1 North finals because they're in Townsville and they can only send one person, which is, look, I personally don't mind.
Speaker: I've got another huge social ah weekend planned. Plus, now I have time. What's a social weekend? who It's the weekends that you can experience outside of NBL one season. It's ah quite ah quite a treat.
Speaker: But, yeah, now I've got time to watch some of these absolute crackers. So we have good manly Norse and Manly women at five, so ah ah Bankstown COE women at six.
Speaker: Then we've got Illawarra Hawks, Sharksmen, and obviously Norse Bearsmen and cru Central Coast Crusaders at seven, where going to need your dual screens.
Speaker: Definitely will. It'll be one-ease to get around it. Get around it. But, yeah, otherwise this is it until we see which two teams will book their ticket to the finals day on Sunday the 16th of August at GYG Stadium in Terrigal.
Speaker: Burritos for all. Well, let's hope so. look But have you got any final thoughts, feelings, news before we wrap up tonight, Lockie?
Speaker: Final thoughts, feelings, news, news? No, not really. feelings. I'm psyched and thought don't sleep on the east.
