The Wollongong Hawks have forced a deciding game in the NBL Grand Final Series, following a stirring 75-63 triumph over the Perth Wildcats at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Tuesday night.
Wollongong protected its home court in front of a sell-out crowd for the final time this season and the result means the Hawks suffered only one loss in 17 outings at the WIN Entertainment Centre.
The teams will now battle for the championship at Challenge Stadium in Perth on Friday night.
Wollongong ahm Hawks 75 (Tragardh 28, L Martin 11, R Martin 10)
Perth Wildcats 63 (Lisch 11, Weigh 10, Redhage 9)
@ WIN Entertainment Centre, 9/3/2010. Crowd: 5786.
MATCH REPORT
BOXSCORE
Well Done To The Canberra Capitals 09/10 Champions WNBL: GRAND FINAL RESULT CANBERRA TRANSACT CAPITALS 75 (N Hurst 21, L Jackson 18, C Wilson 12) def GLOBAL METALS BULLEEN BOOMERS 70 (J O’Hea 26, E Cambage 16, S Milner 8 ) Sellout At The Cage, Melbourne
The Wollongong Hawks have advanced to the NBL Grand Final Series, following a hard fought 88-76 victory over the Townsville Crocodiles
The Hawks will now face the Perth Wildcats in the best-of-three Finals, with Game One at Challenge Stadium on Friday. The game will be aired live on Foxsports 3 from 10pm EST.
For those with out Foxtel, the games will also be live on internet via FIBA TV
Read more and discuss at the NBL Fourm
The game looked liked a complete turn around of game 1. At the final break, the Wildcats looked out of the game, they could not hit a jumper and all their around the bucket shots just seamed to bounce out. James Harvey was simply on fire for the Gold Coast Blaze and it looked smooth sailing for the Blaze and most probably a blow out. But bit by bit the Wildcats got back in the game in the 4th, Cattalini seamed to get under the Blaze's skin and all of a sudden the Wildcats were getting easy transition baskets, while the Blaze's offensive sets dried up.
With only minutes to go, the game still looked safe for the Blaze, but some big shots from Kevin (DELISH) Lisch put the Wildcats ahead and they never looked back and ended up winning the by 4 points. A great night for Perth Wildcats fans, the exact opposite for Gold Coast Blaze fans. If the Blaze can take something from this season, it is their crowds, they have slowly but surely built up a good supporter base in the Gold Coast this season
The Wildcats have booked them selves a spot in the Grand final and will play the winner of either the Wollongong Hawks or the Townsville Crocs (game 2 is Wednesday night)
BOXSCORE
Discuss at : NBL Semi Final 1 | Perth Wildcats vs Gold Coast Blaze
Just an FYI to all Australian basketball fans that the NBL Finals are being played live on Foxsports and the games are also available live online via FIBA TV for those that don't have foxtel.
Its not everyday that basketball is live and free in Australia so support it to ensure that it stays.
2009/2010 has been a great year for basketball in Australia, Foxtel is showing more NBL games than previous years, many games are available online and the coverage of the NBA has increased due to One HD.
NBL Semi Final 1 | Perth Wildcats vs Gold Coast Blaze
NBL Semi Final 2 | Wollongong Hawks vs Townsville Crocodiles
Well for Aussie basketball fans it is well known that Andrew Bogut has moved to another level in the NBA this season. Tonight was no exception.
Bogut scored 24 points (on 12 of 15 shooting), pulled down 20 boards and blocked 5 shots. For those playing NBA fantasy, that is stat line that will make you happy. For those Aussiebball fans it also makes us happy. Not only did he have a great game, he also did it against David Lee, who was picked ahead of him in the NBA allstar game. Do I sense a bit of pay back fro the Bogey Man?
Next up for the Bucks and Bogut are New Orleans and Indiana, could be some more monster games coming
Discuss at: Australian Players Overseas Forum and NBA Forum
The opening round games of the NBL finals were complete blow outs. The Wildcats beat the Blaze 81-68 and in truth the game was over at half time, mean while the Hawks thumped the Crocs 87-68 in a game that was almost embarrassing to watch as the Crocs could simply not take a trick. I actually started feeling sorry for Townsville in this game, like watching a gazelle being mauled by a tiger
So is it season over for the Townsville Crocs and Gold Coast Blaze?
Townsville Crocs : They head home for game 2 and they are almost a lock on their home court. I honestly feel the Crocs will not allow themselves to get beaten up like they did in game one and I think they have the confidence to turn around a horrible performance. I would not be surprised at all if the Crocs still made it through to a Grand final against the Perth Wildcats
Game 2 – Wednesday 24 February – 7:30PM – Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre
Gold Coast Blaze : With their star player Ayinde Ubaka out for the series the Blaze simply seam out of their depth against the Perth Wildcats, The Blaze will live a die by their 3 point shooting in order to beat the Wildcats and I'm not sure that's the game plan to win a final. I figure its all but over for the Blaze, Perth to get a week off before the grand final.
Game 2 – Tuesday 23 February – 7:30PM – Gold Coast Convention Centre
Both game on Foxsports, ENJOY
Discuss at : NBL Forum
A record crowd of 108,713 turned out Sunday for the NBA All-Star game at Cowboys Stadium, where Dwyane Wade led the Eastern Conference to a 141-139 victory over the West. Dwayne Wade had 28 points and won Most Valuable Player honors, and Dallas Native Chris Bosh made the winning free throws with five seconds to play.
The Western Conference had a chance to win game, but Carmelo Anthony's three-point attempt rimmed out.
Discuss at :
Well these are both names well known in Basketball circles both in Australia and abroad. They have both represented our country with pride and provided us with some great memories in the NBL. Australian basketball in general will surely miss the contribution of both Chris Anstey and Sam Mackinnon. Something tells me we will see them again soon in some capacity.
Some other reflections on their careers some other bloggers and newswires:
http://jronfire.blogspot.com/2010/02/anstey-mackinnon-to-retire.html
http://www.asternwarning.com/20100207536/articles/nbl/chris-anstey-calls-it-a-career.html
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,26690450-23769,00.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/08/2813420.htm
Discuss at : NBL Forum
