NBL Round 11

Adelaide v West Sydney

Adelaide will look to stay in touch with the top 8 whilst the Razorbacks will be looking for a little bit of breathing space within the top 8.  Adelaide will have to try put an end to their 2 game losing streak without Captain Brett Maher who is due back next week from injury.

Adelaide went down to the Blaze by 8 points on Wednesday at the Gold Coast.  Import Adam Ballinger carried a back complaint into this game and was not very much of a factor with only 11 points.  Brad Davidson, Darren Ng and Lanard Copeland picked up the slack in his absence with 25, 19 and 12 points respectively.  They will need Ballinger to be healthy as this may be their only real advantage matching up against the Razorbacks.

The Razorbacks put an end to a 3 game losing streak by blowing out the Singapore Slingers at home 126-95 on Wednesday.  They had 6 players score in double figures with imports Darnell Hinson (23) and Troy DeVries (22) leading the way.  Excluding Anthony Petrie (knee soreness) they are at full strength and will look to take advantage of their youth and get Adelaide out of the half court game and make them run.

With question marks surrounding the fitness of Ballinger, I fancy the Razorbacks here.  Both teams played on Wednesday, with Adelaide making the longer trip back home for this game.  Adelaide will be desperate but I think the Razorbacks will have more legs and will outrun them in the end.  I have no opinion on the points total as it looks to be on the mark.

Razorbacks @$2.25 (NSWTAB, Sportingbet ) - 1 unit

Melbourne v Sydney

Second hosts First here as the Tigers look to square up the season series against the Kings after losing to them (and putting an end to their 9 game unbeaten run) back in round 8.  That was the start of Melbourne’s current 3 game losing streak.  They will be looking to initiate a losing streak for the Kings after they could not make it 8 victories in a row and went down to the Perth Wildcats in Sydney on Wednesday.

The Tigers got soundly beaten by the Wildcats out West last Saturday 85-103.  They were far too reliant upon Chris Anstey.  His teammates were content feeding Anstey the ball in the post and simply spotting up and missing three after three as Perth double teamed him.  This is where the absence of import Dave Thomas (who is still out for a few weeks), as well as import Martin Muursepp’s struggle with a bad ankle became very apparent.  When both imports are healthy they would be cutting aggressively into the spaces created by doubling Anstey or encourage the likes of David Barlow (who is also dangerous when he moves off the ball rather than spotting up all the time) to make such cuts.  Not having this off the ball movement makes their offence extremely stagnant and their ball movement almost non-existent for a team that is usually so good at creating space for one another.  Coach Alan Westover has also said that he will start point guard Nathan Croswell and bring Darryl McDonald off the bench.  He hopes that Croswell’s speed at the start of the game may put an end to the flat starts the Tigers have had during this losing streak and that D-Mac will be fresh at the back end of the game to close it out.

The Kings let a 13 point lead early in the 4th quarter slip against the Wildcats (behind Brad Robbins hitting some big shots) to lose by 3 points.  Import Dontaye Draper carried them with 23 points but received minimal support from his teammates.  I would expect Coach Brian Goorjian to get them fired up and ready to go for this game.

Melbourne on their home court are deserving favourites in this game.  I definitely give the Kings a decent chance to wrap up the season series against them.  There is not enough value in the current market for a play on them though.  The points total looks about right to me.