Perth Wildcats (1) vs Wollongong Hawks (2)
Game One: Friday 5 March, Challenge Stadium, 7:00pm
Game Two: Tuesday 9 March, WIN Entertainment Centre, 7:30pm
Game Three (if required): Friday 12 March, Challenge Stadium, 7:00pm
All times local
All games LIVE on Fox Sports – check local listings for times
Perth Starters (projected)
Damian Martin, Kevin Lisch, Stephen Weigh, Shawn Redhage, Luke Schenscher
Bench
Martin Cattalini, Jesse Wagstaff, Drew Williamson, Brad Robbins, Galen Young
Coach
Rob Beveridge, playoff record 2-0, first NBL Grand Final
Wollongong Starters (projected)
Rhys Martin, Mathew Campbell, Glen Saville, Larry Davidson, Cameron Tragardh
Bench
Tim Coenraad, Luke Martin, David Gruber, Tim Behrendorff, Daniel Jackson
Coach
Gordie McLeod, playoff record 13-10, third NBL Grand Final
Final Standings
Wildcats 17-11, 1st (12-2 home, 5-9 road); Hawks 16-12, 2nd (13-1 home, 3-11 road)
Team Stats
Points: Wildcats 86ppg (3rd); Hawks 82ppg (7th)
Points Against: Wildcats 81ppg (2nd); Hawks 81ppg (3rd)
Rebounds: Wildcats 35rpg (3rd); Hawks 35rpg (1st)
Assists: Wildcats 15apg (5th); Hawks 17apg (2nd)
Steals: Wildcats 6spg (2nd); Hawks 5spg (3rd)
Individual Leaders
Points: Redhage (PER) 15.7ppg; Tragardh (WOL) 14.4ppg
Rebounds: Schenscher (PER) 6.7rpg; Davidson (WOL) 6.9rpg
Assists: Martin (PER) 3.1apg; Rhys Martin (WOL) 3.1apg
Regular Season Series
Tied 2-2
Hawks 94 Wildcats 92 @ Wollongong 25/09/09
Wildcats 87 Hawks 80 @ Perth 31/10/09
Hawks 109 Wildcats 84 @ Wollongong 12/12/09
Wildcats 91 Hawks 57 @ Perth 02/01/10
Semi-Final Series
Wildcats: Beat Gold Coast Blaze 2-0
Wildcats 81 Blaze 68 @ Perth
Wildcats 82 Blaze 78 @ Gold Coast
Hawks: Beat Townsville Crocodiles 2-1
Hawks 87 Crocodiles 68 @ Wollongong
Crocodiles 82 Hawks 53 @ Townsville
Hawks 88 Crocodiles 76 @ Wollongong
All-Time Head to Head
Overall: Wildcats 48 wins Hawks 28 wins
In Perth: Wildcats 32 wins Hawks 6 wins
Playoff All-Time Head to Head
Wildcats lead 6-2 (last meeting 2006)
Coaches All-Time Head to Head
Beveridge leads McLeod 4-2
Playoff History
Wildcats: 98 games, 52-46 playoff record, four NBL Championships, eight NBL Grand Finals
Hawks: 48 games, 16-32 playoff record, one NBL Championship, three NBL Grand Finals
Five championships. Eleven Grand Finals. 41 playoff appearances. That’s the combined record of the combatants in this National Basketball League Grand Final series, the Perth Wildcats and the Wollongong Hawks.
Of course, as far as championships and Grand Finals go, the Wildcats have it all over the Hawks, leading those categories four to one and eight to three respectively. But both teams have had great records in reaching the postseason – Perth of course has made the playoffs an almost incomprehensible 25 straight times, and for a small market franchise, the Hawks getting through to the playoffs 16 times in the 31 years of their existence is one heck of a strike rate.
And now both teams will face off in the championship series for the very first time.
Perth got here on the back of a stellar homecourt campaign and a comparatively solid record on the road, and followed up a regular season that saw them crowned Minor Premiers with a 2-0 dismissal of the Gold Coast Blaze in the semi-finals. They did it with defence, they did it with toughness, and they did it in front of the best homecourt environment in the country, and arguably one of the best environments the league has ever seen.
Wollongong is the fairytale, the team no one gave a chance to at the beginning of the 2009/2010 season. They won the preseason tournament in Darwin to raise a few eyebrows, and then jumped out of the blocks quickly; knocking off more fancied teams and establishing homecourt dominance better than any other team in 09/10. They were all but unbeatable in their home gym, losing just once there all season, and managed to survive the loss of superstar playmaker Tywain McKee to defy the critics and finish the regular season in second place.
They got to the Big Dance by dispatching the Townsville Crocodiles in a physical, emotionally charged three game series, and they have an entire community rallying to their cause.
Wildcats’ coach Rob Beveridge is sick of hearing about it, but the fact remains that after all the Wollongong Hawks have been through over the past 12 months, from being all but extinct to now once again representing the state of New South Wales in the national title series, that their story has been far and away the best and most compelling in the league this season, and they are the sentimental favourites to win their second NBL crown.
Not that Perth doesn’t have a heck of a story to tell either. This is arguably the league’s pre-eminent franchise, a powerhouse over more than two decades isolated from the rest of the country by tremendous distance yet year after year producing super-competitive ballclubs – since 1986 this team has failed to reach the .500 mark in the regular season only once. That’s a stunning record in anyone’s language.
And where their fellow four-time titlists, the Adelaide 36ers and Melbourne Tigers, have failed in their attempts to gain that elusive fifth championship, the Wildcats have a golden opportunity to separate themselves from the rest of the pack in 2010 and end any arguments as to their standing in Australian basketball.
Win this one, and there will be no doubt – the Perth Wildcats will become the greatest organisation in National Basketball League history.
But while they are heavily favoured to do so, considering they have homecourt advantage in the series, unmatched depth and a frighteningly effective defensive system, they will find these Wollongong Hawks no pushover.
All season long, the Hawks have thumbed their noses at those who would scoff at their chances, those who looked at a roster filled with a bunch of role players and proclaimed them not good enough, and those who said their record was just a mirage and they’d eventually fall by the wayside.
There’s a feeling in the Gong that this is a team of destiny; that for all that’s happened to the Hawks they deserve to close their magical season with a Grand Final victory that would rank as maybe the greatest sporting moment in the history of the Illawarra region.
Only one problem. There’s a juggernaut called the Perth Wildcats standing in their way.
BACKCOURT
Wildcats
The Wildcats’ emotional leader is point guard Damian Martin (8.1ppg, 3.1apg, 4.7rpg, 1.4spg), who has keyed the Wildcats’ ferocious D all season and is desperate to win his first pro title. Martin’s competitive drive makes him a warrior on the floor – beat him at the defensive end and he’ll take it personally. There was no better defender in the backcourt in 09/10 – heck, there might not have been a better defender in the league, full stop.
Offensively, he’s still not a guy you’d consider a major threat to score, especially from the perimeter – expect the Hawks to use a little of their Corey Williams strategy and back off him a little when he’s beyond the three point line – but he’s had four decent games against Wollongong in the regular season and had an efficient 11 points against the Gold Coast in Game One of the semis, so he is capable of producing some numbers should the situation warrant.
His backcourt mate Kevin Lisch (11.0ppg, 2.6rpg, 2.4apg, 1.1spg) has gone from a guy some Wildcat fans wanted gone midway through the regular season to a player some believe is indispensable to the Perth lineup.
Lisch doesn’t fit the mould of some of the great Wildcat imports of the past – he’s a short, white, undersized two guard – but he’s a terrific scorer, an underrated defender, and like Martin, an outstanding competitor. He was sensational in the Gold Coast series, with 19 points in the opener and 18 in the second game including some monstrous clutch baskets, and if the Hawks don’t contain him he will burn them.
Hawks
It’s incredible how much Rhys Martin (7.1ppg, 3.1apg) has improved this season, especially when the Hawks play at home.
It was never more clearly illustrated than in the Townsville series. In the Hawks’ two wins at the Sandpit, Martin was spectacular, hitting his first three shots and dishing out five assists in the Game One romp, then going seven of eight from the field for a team-high 16 points in the series-clinching victory. On both occasions he looked every bit like a confident and efficient NBL starting point guard.
It’s on the road where he’s been found wanting however – he looked completely out of his depth against the Crocs in Townsville – and if he can’t rise to the occasion in either game at the Jungle, Wollongong will struggle to get into any kind of offensive flow.
Martin’s backcourt partner, Wollongong captain, hero to many and all around good guy Mathew Campbell (11.0ppg, 3.2rpg, 46% 3PT FG) continues to amaze with the incredibly high level he’s played at most of the season.
For the most part the shots weren’t dropping for the Hawk legend in the Townsville series, but no matter. With other guys picking up the offensive slack, ‘Soup’ just did what he does best – flat out shut down folks. He destroyed Peter Crawford in the final game of the semis, frustrating him at every turn, and he will be a huge key in dealing with the very real threat that is Kevin Lisch in this series.
EDGE: Wildcats
FRONTCOURT
Wildcats
He may not have had the stats of years gone by, but for Wildcat captain Shawn Redhage (15.7ppg, 5.5rpg, 82.6% FT) that was more a by-product of the Cats’ terrific depth and share the load offensive philosophy than anything else.
At times, Redhage has acted almost like an overseer in the Perth offence – becoming more of a facilitator than a scorer – but when the time comes and the Wildcats need his offensive production, he becomes a weapon. He can score in a variety of ways and put a ton of heat on the scoreboard, and he’s another one Wollongong must control, especially in Perth. The flipside is that he isn’t a great defender and can be got at, and that’s where the Hawks must be aggressive, try to get him into foul trouble and send him to the bench for extended periods in this series.
Small forward Stephen Weigh (10.8ppg, 3.1rpg, 1.4spg), is one of the new breed of exciting ballplayers in the National Basketball League. He’s athletic, runs the floor like a deer, can score in bunches and hurt you from the perimeter.
He didn’t have a great series against the Gold Coast, but no matter – he can get you 15 in a hurry and if he starts lighting it up at the Jungle that crowd will go nuts and the Wildcats will go to another level in that building.
Luke Schenscher (10.7ppg, 6.7rpg, 1.0bpg, 54.1% FG) was the starting centre for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 2004 when he joined Andrew Gaze as one of only two Australians ever to play in a NCAA D1 national championship game, and now he hopes to join the G.O.A.T. as a winner of an NBL title.
He’s the big dog in the low block in this series and the Cats will look to take advantage of that in the halfcourt set. If he can hit those six foot hooks and short shots in the lane he’ll open things up for Perth’s outside gunners, because the Hawks will need to collapse the interior to limit his effectiveness. He’s also got to control the paint defensively given Wollongong is a great offensive rebounding ballclub.
Hawks
Glen Saville (10.8ppg, 5.6rpg, 2.9apg, 1.4spg, 49% 3PT FG) is a hungry man. This is his fourth appearance in an NBL Grand Final, but he hasn’t tasted victory since the Hawks won their only title in 2001, and he wants another ring after disappointments in 2005 with the Hawks and 2008 with the Sydney Kings.
There’s no question he’ll be in the Hall of Fame once he concludes his brilliant career, and his experience at this time of year will be something Wollongong lean on heavily. He led the league in three-point shooting this season – a remarkable effort considering he’s never been known as a great outside shooter – and he still does everything the Hawks need to be successful. He can score, he rebounds, he passes the ball well and he’s a great defender.
Does Larry Davidson (10.1ppg, 6.9rpg, 2.1apg, 50.3% FG, 49% 3PT FG) play the four or five spot for the Hawks? Is he a combo forward or a forward/centre?
The answer of course is in this team it doesn’t really matter, but his versatility in the Wollongong frontline has been a boon for them all season long, and he’s a standout favourite for the league’s Most Improved Award. In Game One of the Townsville series he produced one of the all-time great playoff stat lines, a 17 point, nine rebound, five assist, seven block, three steal masterpiece that was so good Sportal basketball writer Asa Schuster coined it ‘The Pippen Line’ in homage to former Chicago Bulls great Scottie Pippen. Davidson wasn’t able to duplicate that in the other two games of the series, but no matter – Perth know he’s a guy they cannot sleep on.
Cameron Tragardh (14.4ppg, 5.3rpg, 50.6% FG), was outstanding in the Hawks’ series win against Townsville and given what he produced most of the season he should be in consideration for selection in one of the All NBL teams.
At a shade under 6’10” he’s exceptionally mobile, has great touch around the basket, can put it on the floor with confidence and has improved on the boards. He can give the likes of Schenscher a lot of problems with his quickness in the mid-post and if he has a big series, the Hawks will be tough to beat.
EDGE: Even
BENCH
Both teams have a very similar philosophy when it comes to their rosters – everyone plays a role, right down the line. The result is that both clubs have received excellent production from their reserves, to the point where over the course of the season you would have a good argument that the Wildcats and the Hawks had the best benches in the league.
As far as the Wildcats are concerned, there’s no argument – they have the best bench and the most depth of any team in the competition. Up front, Martin Cattalini plays his 450th NBL game in the series opener and if the rumour is true and the Cat is retiring after this season, Perth will be determined to send him off with a ring. Jesse Wagstaff and Galen Young provide great support to the bigs, while Drew Williamson can fill it up from long distance and Brad Robbins gives Coach Beveridge a nice defensive tag team combo at the point with Damian Martin.
David Gruber’s remarkable Game Three effort against the Crocs when he was perfect from both the field and the foul line and brought some ridiculous energy to the contest underlined just how tough this Wollongong bench has become. Gruber is going to play big minutes in this series as will sharpshooter Tim Coenraad and electrifying point guard Luke Martin, whose experience under fire will be crucial in the killer atmosphere awaiting the Hawks in Perth. Tim Behrendorff can expect to see meaningful time, and even tenth man Daniel Jackson might get some burn
EDGE: Wildcats
COACHES
This is the first NBL Grand Final appearance for Rob Beveridge, but he knows what it takes to win a title having led the Australian Emus to the World Junior Championships gold medal in 2003.
He’s always been known as an outstanding teacher of the game, is held in extremely high regard both here and overseas and has got each and every one of his players to buy into the team concept – check your egos at the door if you want to play for the Wildcats. His defensive philosophy is first rate and it’s obvious the players on that team love playing for him.
After his team lost the third and deciding game of the semi-final series to the Hawks, Townsville coach Trevor Gleeson left no doubt that he believed Hawk mentor Gordie McLeod had done the best coaching job in the league this season – in fact he said it was the best coaching job he’d ever seen at NBL level.
Gleeson is right. Considering what McLeod has done with a group of players that were either considered too old (see Mat Campbell and Glen Saville), not up to it (see Larry Davidson and Rhys Martin) or too inexperienced (see Tim Coenraad), it’s been an amazing effort from Wollongong’s unassuming head coach to get them this far. And it’s even more impressive when you consider he lost his starting point guard Tywain McKee to a season-ending back injury midway through the season and the Hawks hardly missed a beat when most assumed they’d simply collapse.
Just give Gordie Coach of the Year already.
EDGE: Hawks
INTANGIBLES
What a story this has been for the Wollongong Hawks this season.
Rob Beveridge and some aggrieved Perth journos may not concur, but no team has captured the imagination as much as Wollongong this season. They’ve got an entire community behind them and they may feel like this series is destiny for them – as they go from near-extinction to potential nirvana.
They also will come into this thing with very little pressure – there’s an expectation that Perth will prove too strong over the course of this series, and that could work in the Hawks’ favour. If the Wildcats do crack under the pressure in Game One and the Hawks just play with a nothing to lose mentality, we could be heading to a Game Two in the Gong with the Hawks one win away from the ultimate prize.
Perth’s sixth man, the Challenge Stadium crowd, has given them a boost this season like no other fans in the nation, driving them to victory upon victory with their amazing passion, their dedication, and their absolute commitment to the Wildcat cause.
It’s a unique kind of energy generated at the Jungle that both pumps up the home team and intimidates the hell out of opposition teams.
And then there’s Perth’s lack of a title since 2000. When they last reached the Grand Final back in 2003, they got obliterated on their own floor, and that loss left a bad taste in the mouths of many fans. It might be seven years down the track, but getting a chance at redemption for this organisation plus the carrot of five NBL championships – something no team has ever accomplished – shouldn’t be underestimated.
During the regular season, these two clubs met four times, winning two games apiece, with the home team getting the W on every occasion.
EDGE: Hawks
THE SKINNY
There have been two blowouts – one at the Jungle and one at the Sandpit – and the other two were fairly close encounters. Perth were a rimmed out Stephen Weigh three away from pulling out a monumental comeback win against the Hawks in the first round of the regular season at the Gong; Wollongong took the Wildcats to the wire in a tough confrontation in Round Six.
Suffice it to say, these two teams understand each other’s tendencies, their strengths and weaknesses, very well. Really, there are no secrets at this time of the year – it comes down to who executes better and who makes the key adjustments over the course of a three game series.
So let’s take a look at that execution, especially from an offensive standpoint, given we are looking at the two best defensive teams in the league.
Perth are at their best in transition, when the likes of Redhage, Wagstaff, Young and Schenscher crash the defensive glass and look to get that fast break out and humming. They are devastating when they grab that board, swing it quickly to the outlet man and run the lanes hard.
They do sometimes bog down when it gets into a halfcourt grind, but they have a host of quality outside shooters – Lisch most prominently – who can blow apart a game at any time, especially when the frontline is productive and opens things up for their perimeter guys.
Wollongong too, is excellent on the break, but the key to their success is in the halfcourt offence, where their outstanding ball movement causes headaches for enemy teams. They’ve got a great passer at the high post in Davidson, another one on the wing in Saville, and their unselfishness is infectious. This whole team is all about finding the open man, and they do that extremely well.
Defensively, it’s almost a wash. Both teams play lockdown, physical D from baseline to baseline, they’ll both play straight man or zone or junk it up depending on the situation, and they both press up the floor with serious intent. However, I’ve seen one flaw in the Hawks that could be a problem – their propensity at times to leave guys open on the perimeter.
They got away with it in the Townsville series because the Crocs could never consistently knock down their open looks, but if they don’t focus on getting out to the Perth shooters quickly and get a hand in someone’s face in the Grand Final, the Wildcats will make them pay dearly.
So after all that analysis, what does this series come down to?
For me, it’s two things – homecourt advantage and stopping the Hawks’ dribble penetration from their point guards.
Homecourt advantage is naturally going to be a huge factor in this series. These two teams have been nothing short of brilliant in their home gyms and can expect nothing less than maniacal support and sold out crowds at both venues. But you’d give the slight edge to Perth if you were tipping a team to steal a road victory, mainly because the Hawks have been dreadful away from home late in the season and the Wildcats won their semi-final on the road.
Then there are Wollongong’s point guards, the two Martins, and their ability to get into the lane. Watch the Townsville series again – in both games in Wollongong, the Hawk point guards were able to get by the first level of the defence, dribble into the seams and look for pitchouts or their own shot with impunity.
Both guards were incredibly effective in games one and three, but Townsville adjusted in the second game, were disciplined and stayed within their lanes, and rotated quickly when required to cut off drives and force turnovers – the result was a Crocodile blowout win.
Perth has the guards who possess the quickness and strength to restrict the likes of Rhys Martin, and that’s going to put more pressure on a Wollongong team that has had a problem with turnovers in these playoffs. If however the Martin boys have a big series, Wollongong could very well come away with a famous victory.
I think this is going to be a classic series, and I think it’s going the distance. These are the two best teams in the league, and they both deserve to be here.
So who wins? Well, this league has been about homecourt advantage all season, and I don’t see that changing now. Both teams go to another level on their floor, and that will end up proving the difference.
Wollongong will be brave, they’ll give the Wildcats a hell of a scare on their home floor and they’ll win Game Two at the Sandpit, but in the end, this is Perth’s time.
The Wildcats win an historic fifth championship in the final game of this remarkable National Basketball League season in front of the best crowd in the nation.
Matt's Prediction: Wildcats 2-1
