NBL Round 4

NZ v Townsville

The struggling Crocs look to get back on track after a disastrous week as they travel across the Tasman to play the Breakers.

Good news for the Crocs is new import Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams has been cleared by immigration to play in this match. From all reports the New York point guard only knows one way to play and that’s flat out fast. How quickly he can gel into the mix will be crucial as the team tries to resurrect their season which has seen them lose four in a row. Blown out by 29 by the Bullets on their home court and after leading by double figures against the Slingers in Singapore they capitulated quite badly to lose by 15 points in the end.

The Breakers themselves are trying to get that winning feeling again after two costly losses on their home court. They joined the growing list of surprised teams as they were beaten by the Razorbacks by 8. Big positive out of the match was Kirk Penney.
Penney playing his first game for the Breakers after stints in the NBA and Europe was dazzling behind the arc as he fired in six threes to go with 23 points. Guard Phill Jones scored 19 and import centre Rick Rickert tallied 17 and 9 boards.

The key to this match I think will be which team gets momentum in the first half. Obviously the Crocs are going to run more now with the addition of Williams. The Breakers showed against the Razors their just could not handle their speed.
Williams should find his men plenty of open looks and I am predicting them to score more then their average so far this season which is 88.
Last year the Crocs had a lot of success against the home side winning their season series 3-0 so they come into this game confident of an upset. All of their games averaged out at 222 points.

Ben Pepper against his former team matching up with Rickert down low will be a highlight. Tony Ronaldson seems to be struggling to fit into his new club. Bear will need to contribute more offensively if NZ are to grab the points here.
NZ are breaking down offensively without Henare or a true point guard to guide them. They have the scoring ability but they seem to settle for the jumper too much and rely on Rickert and the inside men to grab them some offensive boards to stay competitive.
They should be able to score against the visitors more frequently though by getting to the rim easier. The two centres nullify each other and without anyone else with significant size to take an advantage it will be a fast paced game.

Selection- Over 200.5 1.90 Centrebet for 2 unit (Centrebet over 200.5 @ 1.9)