The following are previews with betting tips for Round 8 of the 2018/19 NBL season.
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Thursday, December 6
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Sydney Kings v Perth Wildcats7:50pm AEDT |
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Pre-Game Lead-Up: 84-82 was the score-line as the Kings went down in an agonizingly close game against Melbourne. Sydney were victorious in both Q1 and Q4. The score-lines their being 25-24 and 24-17 respectively. The Kings key performer was Jerome Randle who showed out on his way to a massive five three-pointers and 35 points. He also grabbed two rebounds just for good measure. And he wasn’t the only one, among Andrew Bogut’s stats were 11 boards and two swats. Lisch scored 13 and had two steals among his all round good game. That while coming of the bench, Bowen scored 15 along with five rebounds and Adnam had 10 on an impressive 4/6 shooting from the court.
As for Perth they eventually prevailed in a tight affair against NZ, 91-86, to remain still with only one loss next to their name on the season. They lost the first quarter, 24-14. However the fourth quarter was a whole lot different as they balled out coming out on top 32-18 and icing the result. No Cotton, no problem as Kay ably stepped into his shoes to the tune of 22 points, 12 rebounds, five dimes and a steal. White was also strong with 21 points, five boards, five assists and one steal. As well as those two key men, Norton also scored 14, Wagstaff 13 and Steindl 10.
What Should Happen: Perth are bound to lose sometime, why not in this game? The Kings on their day so far this season have proven to be one of the most lethal squads in the entire NBL. With a Big 3 of Randle, Lisch and Bogut equivalent to that of Miami’s former Big 3, there’s no saying what could happen in this game. However with Randle coming of 35 points and the rest of the crew in tow. Plus key bench scorers in the form of Bowen and Kickert, expect the Kings to reign supreme.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to be victorious at $1.78 (BlueBet, Sportsbet, Neds, UniBet)
Friday, December 7
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Cairns Taipans v Illawarra Hawks7:50pm AEDT |
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Pre-Game Lead-Up: Cairns were good, but not good enough as they managed to post 95 points against Adelaide, but still went down by 14! Q1 was the most successful for the Taipans as they won that one 29-23. Melo hit 10 of his huge 20 shots on the way to 23 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal. While DJ Newbill was a bit shaky as he went 0/3 from deep, but he still got 13 points along with three boards, three dimes, two steals and a block. Jawai also posted 10 points for Cairns, that while coming of the pine there were a couple of big performers in the form of Hall who scored 17 and dished out six assists. And also Walker who scored 11 and had three steals.
Alert, alert, alert. The Illawarra Hawks are back in business. They did what they had to do in a strong 120-109 victory over Adelaide absolutely smashing their underdog status of the court. In the second quarter they nailed it on the head as they scored 40 points to the 36ers 21. That played a key part in their W. While in the fourth they scored 35. Blanchfield scored 24, Ogilvy 19, Jett 18, Conklin 15 and White 10. Andersen also put up nine. Ogilvy also had 13 boards, three dimes and a block. Besides him Conklin reached nine rebounds, three assists and a steal. Illawarra are now one win of a Top Four position.
What Should Happen: Illawarra flying of the base-line for a slam-dunk. Scoring a huge 120 points against Adelaide is no easy feat and on the campaign they have four players averaging double-digit points per game in the form of Blanchfield, Conklin, Jett and Ogilvy. Expect a contribution of some kind from every one of these players as the Hawks recklessly chase a W. Coming up against a side where Melo and DJ are their only real consistent offensive threats, they should be able to do just that.
Betting tip: Pick the Hawks to be victorious at $2.25 (BlueBet, Sportsbet, Neds)
Saturday, December 8
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Brisbane Bullets v Melbourne United2:50pm AEDT |
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Pre-Game Lead-Up: Brisbane did it easy in their 19 point win over Illawarra. In Q1 they posted 35 points, Q2 20, Q3 24 and Q4 25. Patterson showed the rest of the NBL why he can be such a force as he led the way with 24 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals. Besides him both Gliddon and Cadee scored 15 points each. That while Bairstow had 10. While of the bench a few players made their presence felt as Holt put up 12 and both Te Rangi and Vukona had 11 each. Cadee hit four three-pointers to go along with his three boards, five dimes and one block. Gliddon also pulled in three rebounds and three boards in addition to his one steal.
As for Melbourne they made it tight, but they got it done beating the resurgent Kings by two in an absolute thriller between two top and classy Basketball sides. Melbourne took the ascendancy into half-time with a four point Q2 victory while in Q3 they turned it on scoring 20 and keeping the Kings to only 14. Ware led the way with 23 points as well as five rebounds, six assists and a steal. Boone also got a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. He also had a steal and a swat each. Besides him Kennedy scored 10 and McCarron 14. Kennedy was impressive as he also pulled in 12 rebounds to go along with two assists and a steal and a block each.
What Should Happen: Lamar Patterson. The former Hawk and CBI MVP has gotten quite used to the NBL already and is coming of a barnstorming performance in which he posted 24 points. He’s also averaging 3.2rpg, 3.6apg and 2.2spg. He’s lighting it up and his marquee player battle vs Casper Ware will truly be one to watch. Expect Patterson to win the fight, but for Melbourne to win the battle.
Betting tip: Pick Melbourne to be victorious at $1.57 (UniBet)
Sunday, December 9
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New Zealand Breakers v Sydney Kings12:20pm AEDT |
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Pre-Game Lead-Up: For NZ they fought and they fought but it just wasn’t quite enough as the Wildcats topped them 91-86. In Q3/Q4 combined the Breakers were outscored by 18 points. And it was the first-half where they did most of their damage as they won by a collective 13 points. Wesley and Moore led the way with 16 points each for the losing side. While Abercrombie had 13 and Webster and Weeks 10 each. Wesley’s other stats included seven boards, three dimes, one steal and one block. And for Moore those numbers were four rebounds and one assist as he hit a scorching 3/4 shots from deep (75%).
While for Sydney in their two point loss to United, they held a one point advantage heading into the second quarter. But they blew it as they would then lose by four and six over the next two periods. An opposition advantage which proved to hard to recover in the final quarter. A few poor shooters potentially hampered the Kings in their pursuit of a victory over last seasons champions as Bogut went 1/4, Wear 0/2 and Kickert 1/6. A combined horrible 2/12 from the three normally reliable players. However on a plus side Randle exploded for a huge 35 points!
What Should Happen: These two teams met very recently and it was the Kings who ran over them with a commanding victory. However NZ are now coming of back-to-back five point losses against Perth. A pretty solid effort overall! If Wesley can lead the way by putting the ball through the hoop (16.3ppg). And they can force Randle to shoot more threes than twos (38.0% from three as opposed to 52.0% from two), then the game could be a lot, lot closer this time round.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to be victorious at $2.05 (Sportsbet, Neds, BlueBet)
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Perth Wildcats v Cairns Taipans3:00pm AEDT |
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Pre-Game Lead-Up: Twice last round Perth played the Breakers and twice they won to maintain their near perfect 10 and one record. In the first game, a five-point victory just like the second one, Perth let it slip in the fourth as they lost 24-14. However in OT they were to clutch for the opposition to handle as they put up 14 points and kept the Breakers to only nine. They had three players score 20+ points in that game. They were Cotton with 24, Norton with 23 and Kay with 20. While White had just under with 16. Cotton also grabbed five boards, dished out two assists and had a steal. While Kay was scorching as he hit 7/10 shots as well as getting five rebounds, five assists and four huge steals!
As for Cairns they are one and eight on the campaign, YIKES! However they left it all out on the court vs the 36ers as they were defeated 109-95. Cairns really let their previous six point advantage slip in the second quarter as they were outscored 31-20. Poor shooting killed of their hopes of a massive upset W as Kenny went 1/5, Loe 2/6 and Young 0/2. Fix that up and the game could’ve gone a whole lot differently for them. Meanwhile Melo and DJ were their usual destructive selves combining for an impressive 36 points.
What Should Happen: This ones quite simple to break down really. Perth are 1st and Cairns are dead last. The Wildcats have been winning games even without the likes of Cotton, Martin, etc. That compared to the Taipans who can’t even win games when Melo, DJ and the crew are on fire. Perth will win, there’s no doubt about that. And it could be a really big score-line as well. In this expect big, big performances from both Kay and White.
Betting tip: Pick Perth to be victorious at $1.26 (BlueBet, Sportsbet)
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Adelaide 36ers v Illawarra Hawks5:20pm AEDT |
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Pre-Game Lead-Up: For Adelaide in their shock eleven point loss to the Hawks, they were extremely disappointing as they gave up 40 points in the second quarter and 35 in the fourth. Conger made his impact felt on his old side as he scored 22 to go along with his six boards and six dimes. In addition to him Sobey was also strong with his all-round impact as he had four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a swat. Moore also scored 15 points. That along with both Johnson and Deng who had 14 each. Both Johnson and Deng hit a smooth two three-pointers each.
For the Hawks, before their amazing win over Adelaide, they suffered an ugly 19 point defeat to the Bullets in the same round. The Hawks won only one quarter in this game. And the absolute low-light of it for them was scoring only 13 in the third period. And that was while Brisbane lit them up for 24. Both Conklin and Ogilvy scored 16 each. While coming of the pine, Coenraad had 13 and Jett 12. Conklin got in 6/9 shots as he also had five boards, two dimes and a steal. Ogilvy’s other stats were six rebounds, one assist and a block.
What Should Happen: A repeat of the last game. Blanchfield scored 24, Ogilvy 19 and Jett 18 as they combined to shoot 21/40. Conger is quite clearly doing damage for the 36ers but the players need to learn how to better adapt to him and play to his strengths. Because unlike the opposition, the Hawks have been together all season and aren’t trying to add or subtract players from the equation. This will work to the Hawks advantage as they seek another victory against Adelaide.
Betting tip: Pick the Hawks to be victorious at $3.10 (Neds)
Monday, December 10
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Melbourne United v Brisbane Bullets7:50pm AEDT |
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Pre-Game Lead-Up: Some Kevin Lisch clutchness late made Melbourne really work for it in their 84-82 victory over Sydney. The third quarter was a critical one for United and also in the outcome of the game as they scored 20. And they also in the process kept the Kings to a lowly 14 points. Despite claiming their ninth win of the season, it was still a poor shooting night from many on the roster. Barlow went 2/6 and Goulding 2/7. That while Ware was 8/19 and Moller 2/5 of the bench. However poor shooting or not against Brisbane as long as some key men can remain consistent, they should be walking out of there with the W.
For the Bullets a 104-85 win against Illawarra was their only game of the round. They started the game of with a bang as they scored 35 points to the Hawks 24. That set them on course for the strong victory. Patterson led the way letting the rest of the NBL know he’s arrived with 24 points while it was awesome shooting all-round from them! Bairstow went 5/10, Cadee 5/11. Gliddon shot 5/7 and Hodgson went 1/2. Patterson was fine with 7/13, Holt 5/8 and Magnay 1/1. Others to shoot well were Te Rangi 5/8 and Vukona 4/6.
What Should Happen: Goulding vs Cadee playing a large part in the game. Both SG’s have been way below their best this season. In the case of Goulding he’s averaging 13.3ppg on 38% shooting. And for Cadee it’s 8.2ppg on 34% shooting. Both players have sometimes been a detriment to their team this season and coming up against each other it’s time for redemption. Melbourne should win, but if Cadee can outplay his counterpart then expect it to be a close one.
Betting tip: Pick Melbourne to be victorious at $1.32 (BlueBet)
Best Bet of the Round
MEL to beat BRI at $1.32 (BlueBet) is my favourite/best bet for the round, their overall attack should be too much for a somewhat fragile Bullets defence to handle!