NBL Round 16

Melbourne v Gold Coast

The Tigers will be looking to wrap up a season series against an opponent firmly entrenched in the top 8 as they host the Blaze.  The Tigers carry a 2 game winning streak into this game and the Blaze won in their last start in Townsville, defeating the Crocs 87-79 on Monday.

The Tigers overcame an 11 point halftime deficit to pip the Wildcats 107-106, in Perth last Saturday.  Dave Barlow and import Sean Lampley led 8 players in double figures with 19 and 17 points respectively.  Chris Anstey had a quiet game (12 points and 7 rebounds after taking a knock to the jaw.  My mail is that he has not broken it so he will fine to play in this game.  After this game, the Tigers face the Kings in Sydney on Saturday.

In the victory against the Crocs, James Harvey led the way with 21 points and received good support from Pero Cameron and import Jason Crowe (16 points each).  To stay with the Tigers, they will need a big game from Crowe as they don’t have any other big match up advantages with the Tigers across the other positions on the court.  The next game for the Blaze is in 8 days time against the Breakers in New Zealand.

I believe the Tigers will get the points here with out very much difficulty.  The line betting seems to accurately reflect this.  The points total looks spot on to me.  A point scoring matchup that looks like value to me is Crowe v Barlow.  Crowe averages 18 and Barlow 17 points per game on the season.  In round 3 when these 2 teams met each other, Crowe had 20 and Barlow 11.  Barlow will most likely have Harvey or Hawkins guarding him (and he will also have his work cut out for him defensively guarding either of those two which could take away from his offence) whilst Crowe will most likely have Nathan Crosswell or Darryl McDonald.  All of which makes me believe that Crowe is value.

Crowe v Barlow at $1.83 (Sportsbook) - 1 unit

Singapore v Perth

The first game of 2008 in Singapore has the Slingers hosting the Wildcats.  Both teams lost in their last start and will be keen to start 2008 off on the right note.

The Slingers last game was 11 days ago, narrowly going down to the Blaze 86-91 on the Gold Coast (after upsetting the Taipans in Cairns the night before).  Imports Rod Grizzard and Mike Helms led the way with 22 and 19 points respectively.  Both of these guys will need to be on their games against the pesky defence of the Wildcats if they are to be any chance of winning this game.

The Wildcats, after having a solid half time lead, got dethroned on their home court by Melbourne last Saturday, losing 106-107.  Import Shawn Redhage led 5 players in double figures with 29 points.  His matchup with Grizzard will be a good one and who gets the better of it will go a long way towards deciding the outcome of this game.

I believe Perth will get the points here as they make a push for a better position within the top 8.  I think the line is a touch small but will not be taking Perth at the minus as their away record is quite bad at 2 and 6.  The points total looks about right to me.