Adelaide 36ers (5-12, 8th) @ Townsville Crocodiles (9-6, 3rd)
Wednesday 25 January - Townsville Entertainment Centre - 7:30 PM
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The Townsville Crocs will put their three-game win streak on the line when they host the Adelaide 36ers at The Swamp on Wednesday in a special Australia Day Eve clash. The Crocs have won four of their last five games, with their only loss being to Perth. By comparison, Adelaide have dropped their last three matches and are just 1-4 over their past five games. They are just a single game ahead of Wollongong in the NBL cellar.
The 36ers and Crocs have played each other 53 times in NBL history and Adelaide lead the all-time series 31-22. They have met in Townsville on 25 occasions, and the Crocs lead there 13-12.
When playing at home, Townsville have beaten Adelaide in their past nine straight meetings. The last time the 36ers managed to return from The Swamp with a win was on 5 December 2003.
This will however be the first time these teams meet this season. In somewhat of a mini-series as a quirk of the NBL schedule, the Crocs and 36ers will play each other three times over the next three rounds. They will also meet in Townsville in Round 18 and in Adelaide in Round 19.
Last season the Crocs won their season series with Adelaide 2-1. The Crocs won once at home and once on the road, while the 36ers sole victory over Townsville was in Adelaide. The Crocs have beaten Adelaide in five of their past six meetings, including their most recent clash on 23 December 2010, 99-97 at Adelaide Arena.
Last week the Crocs set a new unwanted NBL record. In their game against the Wollongong Hawks they became the first team in NBL history ever to fail to shoot even a single free-throw. The previous record was one free-throw attempt, recorded by Devonport against Bankstown on 29 May 1983. For the record, the Crocs also hold the current NBL season high for free throws attempted, with 43 against the Sydney Kings on 14 January.
This match will be the 150th game of Wade Helliwell’s NBL career. The hulking Adelaide centre has amassed 1,337 points and 774 rebounds in that span. He Started his career with the Brisbane Bullets during the 2000/01 season, playing 104 games with Brisbane over four seasons. He then played 28 games for the Melbourne Tigers last season before joining the 36ers prior to the 2011/12 campaign. He made his career debut on 29 October 2000 for the Bullets against the Victoria Giants. He had four points and five rebounds on debut. His career-high of 29 points was scored on 10 December 2002 for Brisbane against Wollongong. He has also previously pulled down a career-high of 16 rebounds (on 3 March 2001 for Brisbane versus Perth).
Townsville are 6-2 at home this season while Adelaide are 3-5 on the road.
Sydney Kings (8-11, 7th) @ New Zealand Breakers (13-5, 1st)
Friday 27 January - Vector Arena - 7:30 PM
TV: Broadcast LIVE on Sky Sport (check local guides)
Live Stats: Click here
Tickets: Click here
The New Zealand Breakers have rebounded from their recent mini-slump with three straight wins and have reclaimed top-spot on the iiNet NBL Championship ladder from Perth. The Kings meanwhile have dropped their last two games straight and slipped to seventh place.
The Breakers have beaten the Kings in their last five straight match-ups, but trail Sydney in the all-time head-to-head record 13-7. The last time Sydney beat New Zealand was on 13 February 2008. In New Zealand, the Breakers have beaten the visiting Kings in their past two straight games but Sydney still hold a 6-3 edge when playing in Auckland.
This will be the second time these sides have played this season. In their opening meeting on 15 October last year, New Zealand romped to a 98-61 victory at The Kingdome. That remains the single largest margin of victory by any team in the NBL so far this season. The Breakers also defeated Sydney 76-59 in Auckland in their second meeting. That 59-point effort by Sydney was the equal third lowest score by any team in the competition in 2011/12.
Sydney’s two lowest scores this season have been against the Breakers. They had 59 points on 28 October and 61 points on 15 October.
The Breakers are on track to set a new club record for attendance at a home game in this match. The club advised early on Tuesday that they had already sold 5,600 tickets for the Kings game and, with the match being played at the larger Vector Arena, could well match the New Zealand basketball attendance record set their earlier in the season of 7,500 when the Kings last visited.
New Zealand’s Cedric Jackson has continued to impress and he still leads the NBL in two major statistical categories. ‘Action’ Jackson is averaging NBL-highs of 6.4 assists and 2.6 steals.
Sydney’s Julian Khazzouh is also currently topping two stats categories. Khazzouh is averaging 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. Khazzouh is also joined by Breakers forward Mika Vukona atop one of the least wanted stats categories. Vukona is averaging an NBL-high 3.7 fouls per game, while Khazzouh is second at 3.6.
Melbourne Tigers (9-11, 6th) @ Wollongong Hawks (4-13, 9th)
Friday 27 January - Wollongong Entertainment Centre - 7:30 PM
TV: Broadcast on ONE from 10:30 PM (check local guides)
Live Stats: Click here
Tickets: Click here
The Melbourne Tigers travel to Wollongong looking to snap their five-game losing streak. A trip to The Sandpit might seem the perfect tonic for a run of losses, given the Hawks have won just four from 17 games this season and sit dead last on the ladder. However Wollongong managed to grab an upset win over Cairns on the road last round and only narrowly lost to Townsville.
This will be the 75th time in NBL history that the Tigers and Hawks have faced each other. Melbourne currently lead Wollongong with 43 wins to 31, including having beaten the Hawks in their past two match-ups. In games played at Wollongong however the margin is closer, with Melbourne leading 19 wins to 18.
The Tigers lead their season series with the Hawks one game to nil. Melbourne scored an 82-74 victory over Wollongong on 30 October behind 20 points from Patty Mills and 14 from Ayinde Ubaka.
Both those players have since left the Tigers line-up of course, with Ubaka controversially cut from the Tigers last week. He will however now line-up for his fourth NBL team, as he has been signed by the Hawks and will face his old team in this game. Ubaka had been averaging 12.0 points, 3.3 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game for the Tigers in 18 appearances.
Gordie McLeod and Trevor Gleeson have gone head-to-head on 18 previous occasions in the NBL, with the honours evenly split thus far. Gleeson has won on nine occasions and McLeod nine.
Cameron Tragardh continues to lead the league in scoring at 18.3 points per game, but the Tigers big man had a season-low 10 points last week against Gold Coast. He failed to score in both opening periods of his two matches in Round 16, and averaged just 2.0 points in the first half of those games. Tragardh averaged 11.0 points for Round 16, as he also only had 12 points against New Zealand. He has averaged 12.0 points over the past three games.
Townsville Crocodiles (9-6, 3rd) @ Perth Wildcats (13-5, 2nd)
Saturday 28 January - Challenge Stadium - 7:00 PM
TV: Broadcast on ONE from 10:30 PM (check local guides)
Live Stats: Click here
Tickets: Click here
It’s two versus three as the Townsville Crocodiles take on the Perth Wildcats at The Jungle on Saturday night. Perth are 6-2 at home this season and have won their past three straight games at The Jungle. Townsville meanwhile are 3-4 on the road in 2011/12.
The Crocs haven’t beaten Perth in Perth since 18 February 2009, with the Wildcats winning their past four straight home games against Townsville. Overall the Wildcats are 41-20 against the Crocs, and 23-7 when hosting Townsville.
Perth last week struggled to get to the line and shot just six free throws for their entire match against Sydney. That was an NBL season-low before the Crocs registered zero free throw attempts to set an NBL all-time record low just a night later.
This will be the third time Perth and Townsville have faced each other this season, with the Wildcats holding a 2-0 edge in the season series and able to wrap up the tiebreaker with a win here.
Perth won 93-85 at The Swamp in Round Three and then scored a second straight win over the Crocs in Townsville in Round 13, 97-76. That 21-point victory on new Year’s Eve was Perth’s second-biggest ever win over the Crocs on the road, behind only a 40-point victory over the then Townsville Suns on 3 June 1994.
The Wildcats are the NBL’s top-scoring team, averaging a league-high 87.7 points per game this season. The Crocs are averaging 83.4 points per outing, which is ranked sixth.
The first time the Crocs and Wildcats squared off was on 28 May 1993. In that clash, Perth scored a 115-103 victory to open their rivalry at the Perth Entertainment Centre. Scott Fisher had 28 points to lead the Wildcats in that debut match-up, while Euro star Rimas Kurtinaitis had 33 points for Townsville.
Cairns Taipans (10-8, 4th) @ Gold Coast Blaze (8-8, 5th)
Sunday 29 January - 6:30 PM - ONE
TV: Broadcast on ONE from 10:30 PM (check local guides)
Radio: NBL Radio from 7:15 PM click here
Live Stats: Click here
Tickets: Click here
The Cairns Taipans will try to win for the fifth time in six games when they visit the Gold Coast Blaze at ‘The Furnace’ on Sunday night. Apart from a narrow home upset at the hands of Wollongong last round, Cairns have been in great form of late and can tighten their grip on a spot in the four with a win here.
The Blaze have won their past two straight games, with a pair of wins over the struggling Melbourne Tigers. Gold Coast are 5-3 when playing at home this season, while the Taipans have the second-best road record in the NBL at 5-5.
This will be the 18th time in NBL history that the Blaze and Taipans have squared off. Thus far the Snakes have had the better of the rivalry, with 10 wins to Cairns’ seven. Gold Coast are however 5-3 against Cairns when playing at home.
The Taipans lead the season series 2-0 after beating the Blaze 91-82 on the Gold Coast in Round Two and then winning 87-78 in Cairns in Round Nine. Whilst Cairns are not normally renowned for their offence, they have recorded their highest score and their equal second-highest score so far this season in those two clashes against the Blaze.
Gold Coast are currently averaging 85.0 points per game (3rd in the NBL), while the Taipans are averaging 73.5 (8th).
Team Season Stats – click here
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Player Milestones Upcoming – click here
