The following are previews with betting tips for Round 18 of the 2019/20 NBL season.
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Wednesday, January 29
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Melbourne United v Perth WildcatsMelbourne Arena 7:30pm AEDT |
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Last Round-
For Melbourne, they are facing the seemingly crazy prospect of them missing out on Finals Basketball all together. This comes as they are currently in 5th place with an 11 wins and 12 losses record so far this season. As it stands, they are two wins of the 4th placed Bullets. Their last game was a total disaster as they went down 106-88 to the Kings. United lost or drew every quarter. The scores were 28-25, 20-20, 29-17 and 29-26. This meant that they lost the season series 3-1 to the Kings. Trimble posted 26PTS and both Long and Goulding, 13 each. Of the bench, Kidd had 15PTS and Acuil 11. Melo also had 5REB, 2AST and 1STL, as he hit 7/12 2’s. Long had 6REB and 1STL. Goulding also got 1REB, 1AST and 1STL. The bench stars in Kidd had 7REB, 1AST, 1STL and 1BL, as he hit a pair of 3’s. And the other one in the form of Acuil got 5REB, 1AST, 1STL and 1BL. This wasn’t the type of effort Melbourne needed as they aimed to make up some ground on the quickly running away Bullets.
Perth are currently 2nd as they have a total of 16 wins and 8 defeats so far this campaign. They’re two wins ahead of 3rd and will more then likely finish the season in the top two, barring a dramatic, late collapse from them. Their latest efforts saw them scrape by the Breakers, after New Zealand couldn’t get a shot away on their final possession, 80-79. Perth won q’s 1 & 3, 29-23 and 21-15. But they lost q’s 2 & 4, 22-16 and 19-14. This was one hell of a game! Both Plumlee and Cotton scored 23PTS each. Kay had 20. While both Steindl and Wagstaff had 5PTS each of the pine. Cotton hit a big 4 3’s as he also had 3REB, 4AST and 2STL. He was ably backed up by the former multi-NBA team Plumlee who also had a BIG 17REB, 2AST, 1STL and 2BL next to his name, He shot an impressive 73.3% from the floor. Kay also ended up with 11REB and 3AST, as he made an awesome 8/11 shots.
Key Player-
White. He shot just 1/6 last round vs the Breakers. Which was good for only 16.7%. He also went 0/3 from beyond the arc. However, on the season he is averaging 16.7ppg and 3.7rpg. He’s bound to bounce back in this one, especially in such an important affair. In his last game vs United he bagged 14 points and among other stats, he also dished out 3 dimes. Look for him to make himself known against Melbourne.
Betting tip: Pick Melbourne to win at $2.18 (BetEasy)
Friday, January 31
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New Zealand Breakers v Adelaide 36ersSpark Arena 5:30pm AEDT |
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Last Round-
The Breakers are currently in 6th spot and are desperately fighting for an NBL finals spot. A loss here will make the dream incredibly more difficult then it already is to begin with. They have 11 wins and 13 defeats, as they sit two games back of a finals spot. They blew it on their final possession against Perth as they couldn’t get a shot away in their 80-79 defeat. A loss that could potentially have had all but spelled the end of their season for them. They won q’s 2 & 4, 22-16 and 19-14. However they lost 1 & 3, 29-23 and 21-15. Ashley had a massive 21PTS of the pine. Delany backed him up with 16PTS. Hopson had 13, Weeks 11 and Abercrombie 10. Ashley also had 11REB and 1AST, as he hit 10/15 shots from the floor. Delany had 3REB, 1AST and 1STL. Hopson had 6REB, 5AST and 1STL, as he made a pair of triples. Weeks also had 3REB, 5AST and 2STL. Abercrombie also got 2REB, 1STL and 2BL, as he made 50% of his 2-point attempts.
Adelaide currently sit in 7th on the table as they have the exact same record as the Breakers. Through 24 games they have won 11 and lost 13. Their playoff hopes took a massive hit last round as they suffered a decisive 108-99 loss to the Bullets. The 36ers lost or drew every quarter as the scores ended, 28-27, 25-25, 27-25 and 28-22. Both Randle and Griffin had 21PTS each. Johnson had 16 and Froling 12. Drmic had 11PTS, Dillon 7 and Teys 6. Randle hit eight shots overall, as he also had 2REB, 5AST and 2STL. Griffin got 2/3 3’s converted, as he also had 5REB, 1AST and 1STL. Johnson had a BIG 10REB + 1STL. Froling also had 6REB and 1AST, as he hit 3/4 FT’s. Dillon had 5AST and Teys 2REB among their other stats. This certainly wasn’t the greatest of efforts from the 36ers. And with their finals hopes on the line against New Zealand, whatever went wrong against Brisbane, they’ll have to fix it ASAP!
Key Player-
Loe. The big man against Perth last round, made just 1 of his 4 attempted shots. That was good for a poor 25% from the court. Before that he scored 14, 18, 9 and 24 points. Prime among those performances was when he shot 6/8 against United. Good for a 75% conversion of his shots. Inside the arc against the 36ers he’ll be critical to getting them some ‘grunt’ points. Let’s just hope for his sake and his sides, he can turn it around in this one.
Betting tip: Pick the Breakers to win at $1.52 (SportsBet, BlueBet)
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Cairns Taipans v Illawarra HawksCairns Convention Centre |
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Last Round-
The Taipans currently sit in 3rd as they posses a 14 wins and 10 defeats record through 24 games so far this campaign. They are basically all but assured of a finals spot, so kudos to them for the magical season that they’ve had so far. And many neutral fans will be hoping it can continue long into the playoffs. They’ve been impressive, impressive, impressive this season. That’s for sure. In their latest effort, they just got by the Phoenix, 103-102. Cairns imploded in the 4th q, 30-17. But they had done enough in the previous three to just win, with the scores being, 31-31, 24-20 and 31-21 all in favor of Cairns or draws. Machado posted 24PTS, Newbill 23PTS, Deng 20PTS and Oliver 15PTS. Jawai also posted 11PTS of the bench. Machado shot 57.1% from the floor, as he also had 4REB, 8AST and 1STL. Newbill had 6REB, 7AST and 1STL next to his name. Deng shot 8/14 from the floor, as he also had 2REB, 1AST and 1BL. Oliver also had 9REB, 2AST, 1STL and 1BL. Jawai went 3/3 from the court as he also grabbed 1REB and dished out 1AST.
The Hawks are currently dead-last in 9th spot on the NBL ladder at the moment. Their season has been done and dusted for a while now. They have won a grand-total of five games and lost a MASSIVE 19. This just hasn’t been the season for them. Their sole game last round was a heavy 102-79 loss to rivals Sydney. They lost every single quarter. The scores were 22-16, 24-18, 26-23 and 30-22. Of the starters, Blanchfield had 12PTS, Dech 11 and Naar 9. Of the pine, Hobson had 13PTS and Boone 11. Blanchfield made 4/4 FT’s as he got 4REB and 1AST. Dech had 2REB, 1AST and 1STL next to his name. Hobson shot 50% from the floor en route to 8REB, 6AST and 1STL. Boone went 5/9 as in addition to his points-total, he got, 5REB, 3AST and 1BL. This game vs Carins could prove to be incredibly one-sided if they can’t get the likes of Naar, Coenraad and Glover to step up more for the team (ala their last performances vs SYD).
Key Player-
Newbill. On the season he has averages of 19.7ppg, 3.0rpg and 3.2apg. He’s been one of the core reasons why the Taipans are far exceeding expectations and currently sit in 3rd position on the ladder. His last game he scored 23 points and dished out 7 dimes. Two games before that affair, he scored 15 and gave out 7. Illawarra have weaknesses all over the floor at the moment. Look for him to be good enough and strong enough to exploit those, in what should be an easy Cairns win.
Betting tip: Pick Cairns to win at $1.23 (BetEasy)
Saturday, February 1
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Brisbane Bullets v Melbourne UnitedNissan Arena 5:30pm AEDT |
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Last Round- Brisbane are currently on 4th spot on the ladder. They have 13 victories and 11 defeats through 24 games so far this campaign. They are two wins ahead of a closely chasing pack which contains Melbourne (ooh juicy for this affair), Breakers and the 36ers. They won 2/2 this past round and their latest win was 108-99 against Adelaide. They (Brisbane) won or drew every single quarter. The scores were as follows, 28-27, 25-all, 27-25 and 28-22. Patterson had a HUGEEE 29PTS. He hit 3 3’s as he also got 4REB, 6AST, 2STL and 1BL. Sobey scored 14PTS, as did Hodgson and Singler. Sobey also had 5REB, 6AST and 1STL. Hodgson shot 63.6% from the floor, as he got 12REB and 2AST. Singler also had 4REB and 2AST next to his name on the stats sheet. Cadee scored 11PTS and he had 2REB as well. He converted 3 3’s. Both Magnay and Te Rangi had 9PTS each. Magnay also had 7REB, 1AST and 3BL. Te Rangi’s other stats included pulling in 2 boards.
Brisbane are in 4th spot, Melbourne are in 5th. United are two wins of the Bullets. A win here would do massive things for United’s finals chances. A loss would damage them a hell of a lot more then they would like. It’s not do or die here yet for Melbourne. But it’s pretty damn close! United currently have 11 wins and 12 defeats throughout 23 games played so far this season. Their only game last round was their already touched on 106-88, 18-point loss to the ladder leading Kings. Every single quarter for United was either a draw or a loss. From 1-4 the scores ended as, 28-25, 20-20, 29-17 and 29-26. They allowed Ware, the ex-United superstar PG to light them up for 8 triples. But poor shooting is what really cost Melbourne here. Goulding was 4/13, McCarron 2/5, Trimble 9/19, Ili 0/3, Kidd 6/14 and McDaniel 0/1. McCarron only had five points and Ili zero. They both should have been higher than that. The only way for Melbourne is up. And they’ll sure as hell be hoping that’s the case for them in this game.
Key Player-
Long. He’s got to get inside against Brisbane and do his stuff, it’s as simple as that. Across the league he’s seen as perhaps somewhat of a selfish, individually oriented player. Look for him to change all that this game. Last match against Sydney he only scored 13 points, when he should be getting closer to 20. And he shot just 33.3% from beyond the arc. Before that, his previous games stats were 18 points, 4 boards and a swat among other things. He needs to get into that sort of form to help give United a chance of taking this one out.
Betting tip: Pick Brisbane to win at $1.63 (SportsBet)
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Perth Wildcats v Sydney KingsRAC Arena |
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Last Round-
NO.2 in the NBL @ the Perth Wildcats, most teams would be happy with that. Most teams would be content with that. But even with 16 wins to their name and just 8 losses so far this season, the Wildcats are still constantly striving for greatness. They are just two wins of the 1st placed Kings and they are two wins ahead of the 3rd placed Taipans as well. They only played one game this past round and that was their already talked about escaped-from-the-jaws-of-defeat 80-79 victory over the choking Breakers. Perth won q’s 1 & 3, 29-23 and 21-15. The scores they lost/ the q’s they lost were 2 & 4 and 22-16 and 19-14. In a sense they were lucky to escape with such an important W. Otherwise they’d be only one win ahead of Cairns and in real danger of dropping down to 3rd spot on the ladder. Both Cotton and Plumlee lit up the floor with 23PTS each. Kay was their as well as an amazing 3rd option with 20 big PTS of his own. A down factor from this game was White’s performance, he shot just 16.7% from the field en route to 2PTS. And he was 0/3 from deep. Onwards and upwards to the next one Terrico!
The Kings went 2/2 this past round and in their opening game, they confirmed themselves to be the first contestants of this seasons NBL finals series. This means they’ll be featuring in back to back playoffs, which for the club itself is amazing. Especially when you consider where they were not all that long ago. They’re currently in 1st and have won an awesome 18 games so far this season. And they’ve lost just 7 from 25 games. Fair play! Fair play indeed! They thrashed Melbourne 106-88 in their latest efforts. They won or drew every quarter, 28-25, 20-20, 29-17 and 29-26. Of the starters, Ware had 26PTS against his former side. Tate had 22, Newley 10, Bogut 8 and Cooks 7. Didi had 11, Taylor 8 and young gun Hutchinson shot 2/2 for 5PTS in just over a minute of action on the court. Ware had 8 3’s as he also got 3REB and 6AST. Tate also got 5REB, 2AST, 4STL and 2BL! Didi had 1REB, 1AST and 1STL, as the rising star went a perfect 4/4, 100%, from the floor. If the Kings play the way they played against United against the Wildcats, then they should have no problems taking out the W.
Key Player-
Tate. Cotton, White, Kay and Plumlee are all pretty consistent for the Wildcats. Leave it to Tate to counter that for the ladder leading Kings. His ability from inside and out will be particularly crucial this game. He has season averages of 16.0ppg, 5.6rpg, 2.0apg and 1.2spg. Last time out against Perth, his key stats included two steals and one block. His partner in crime, Ware, has been pretty inconsistent as of late, so it’s tough to say how he’ll perform against Perth. This this leaves Tate as the key guy in this one for the Kings.
Betting tip: Pick the Kings to win at $2.38 (UniBet)
Sunday, February 2
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Illawarra Hawks v New Zealand BreakersWin Entertainment Centre 3pm AEDT |
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Last Round-
24 Games played. 5 Wins. 19 Defeats. It really does paint the picture for what has been a lackluster season from the Hawks. The promise of LaMelo brought so much hope to the poor franchise, but he wasn’t enough, even when not injured as to many bigs and not enough guards didn’t exactly get them of on the right foot to begin with. And while it’s already been analysed, their only game last round was their 23 point, 102-79 loss to Sydney. This was a match in which they lost every single quarter they contested, The scores were 22-16, 24-18, 26-23 and 30-22. Hobson had 13PTS. Blanchfield posted 12PTS. Both Dech and Boone had 11PTS each. Naar had 9PTS and Ogilvy 6PTS. Not a single starter shot 50% from the floor. Blanchfield was 3/10. Coenraad was 1/6. Dech was 4/10. Naar was 4/12. And Ogilvy was 3/8. Blanchfield went 2/6 from 3. Coenraad was 0/2 from deep. Naar went 1/3 from beyond the arc. And Ogilvy missed his only 3-point attempt. Their starters started of and continued to play badly for the majority of the game (shooting-wise), so what the hell were the bench supposed to do when they came on??? Especially against one of the Kings quality. The starters ruined this one for Illawarra. There’s no denying it.
They’re in 6th with the same record as Melbourne and Adelaide. And at the moment, an 11-13 record isn’t looking good enough to make this seasons NBL post-season. They had momentum for a little while earlier on in the season, but it seems to be gone after their NBL playoffs hopes took a massive hit with their heavy 80-79 loss to the 2nd placed Wildcats. They choked it away at the end, there’s simply no other way to say it. They won q’s 2 &4, 22-16 and 19-14. But they lost the other two, 29-23 and 21-15. Ashley had 21PTS. Delany scored 16PTS. Hopson had 13, Weeks 11 and Abercrombie 10. But the absence of guys like Loe is what arguably hurt them the most in that one. He went 1/4. Abercrombie shot 42.9% from the floor. The only other guy to score points of the pine besides Ashley, was Henry with 5. And he shot a terrible 2/8. Other guys need to step up for New Zealand in this one. Otherwise they’ll be sent packing with their tails in-between their legs.
Key Player-
Hopson. He’s the star player for the Breakers. And with both Ball and Brooks injured at the moment, Illawarra don’t really have one. Hopson has season averages of 19.0ppg, 4.3apg, 6.1 and 1.0spg. He’s shooting over 51% from two and over 41% from 3. In a game New Zealand simply must win to keep their taint finals hopes alive, he’s the key to it all for the Breakers. Watch him light up Illawarra in this one.
Betting tip: Pick the Breakers to win at $1.32 (UniBet)
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Adelaide 36ers v S.E. Melbourne PhoenixAdelaide Entertainment Centre |
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Last Round-
Adelaide. They’ve been inconsistent this season that’s for sure. And even though, they still mathematically wise can make the finals, there’s a good chance they wont this season given the quality of the teams ahead of them in the pecking order. Hello to Brisbane, Melbourne and New Zealand. As is stands they’re currently in 7th spot on the ladder with an 11-13 record. Their only last game was the already touched on 108-99 loss to Brisbane. A nine-point defeat that when looked back on at the end of the season, could be seen as one of the game/s that cost Adelaide their chance at making the finals. Every single quarter they either lost or drew. The scores were 28-27, 25-25, 27-25 and 28-22. Randle scored 21PTS as did Griffin. Johnson had 16, Froling 12 and Drmic 11. They were terrible from beyond the arc in this one. Drmic was 1/3, Johnson 1/4, Kyei 0/2, Randle 1/3, Teys 0/2, Froling 1/3, Dillon 0/1 and Mcveigh 0/2. They were shooting blanks (no pun intended). They need to do a hell of a lot better in this one. Cause if there’s at the very least one thing we all know S.E.M is good at, it’s at making it rain from James Harden like territory.
They currently reside in 2nd last and 8th spot, S.E.M won’t be making the finals in their maiden NBL season. Through 24 matches so far they have won only 9 and lost 15. Many thought they could make the top four in their first season, but so far that’s proven to be a bit of a difficult challenge for them. They lost both their games last round, the second and most recent of those was 103-102 to Cairns. A late made Roberson 3 wasn’t enough for them to get the W. 31-31, 24-20 to Cairns, 31-21 to Cairns and 30-17 to S.E.M. were the q by q scores. Creek had a massive 32PTS, Trist 16, Roberson 15, Adnam 14, Magden 11 and Wesley 8. Creek made an incredible 13/16 2’s as he also had 10REB, 3AST and 1STL. Trist had 2REB, as he also shot 7/8 from the floor. Roberson had 5REB, 7AST and 3STL next to his name. Adnam had 6AST and 1STL, as he shot 6/11. And Madgen went 4/7 from the court.
Key Player-
Roberson. This season he’s averaging 20.5ppg while shooting an insane 45.4% from deep for the campaign. He’s made 99 3’s so far this season, the most ever in the 40 minute era. He’s shattering records for a bad team. And last match, Adelaide collectively as a team were shocking from beyond the arc. Roberson will be like a swiss army knife this game being used against the 36ers. If the Phoenix somehow find a way to win this one, then you can sure as hell bet it’s down to the NBL’s better version of James Harden ;).
Betting tip: Pick the Phoenix to win at $1.75 (UniBet)
Best Bet of the Round
Pick Cairns to win at $1.23 (BetEasy) vs Illawarra
Also pick the Breakers to win at $1.32 (UniBet) vs Illawarra