2009 Australian NBL playoff finals

[rikhardur]

AUS - Worthington takes game one on his shoulders



MELBOURNE (NBL) - Since December, when Donta Smith arrived in Australia, he and Mark Worthington have been arguably the best forward combination in the NBL - Oceania's premier competition.



In game one of the NBL Grand Final series, that duo took charge to help the South Dragons secure a 93-81 victory over the reigning champion Melbourne Tigers at Hisense Arena. Scores were tied at 21-21 after one quarter and 45-45 at half time.



With the Dragons trailing 63-60 at three quarter time, captain Worthington stepped up, scoring 12 points in the final term and pulling in a number of key rebounds as South outscored Melbourne 33-18 for the quarter.



The FIBA World Championship and Olympic veteran finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, and received great support from Smith (19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists), whose athleticism allows the Dragons to match the Tigers outstanding frontcourt.



For Melbourne, Canadian national team captain Dave Thomas provided great spark as the Tigers took an 8-point lead early in the second quarter. Thomas would finish with just 7 points, but collected 12 rebounds, including 6 offensive.



He received great support on the boards from Australian internationals Chris Anstey (21 points, 9 rebounds) and Dave Barlow (13 points, 8 rebounds). Barlow, though, shot just 4/15 from the field and was outplayed by his rival and Boomers teammate Worthington.



Nigerian FIBA World Championship star Ebi Ere was dominant defensively with 4 blocked shots, but his 15 points came on just 4/12 shooting, thanks largely to the defensive efforts of young gun Joe Ingles.



Ingles got tongues wagging with his cameo performances at the Beijing Olympics, and after an inconsistent semi final series, produced in grand final game one with 19 points on 6/10 shooting.



Game two is on Friday night at The Cage, Melbourne's intimidating home court, but the Tigers will need to play more adventurous basketball, and score more than 81 points, if they are going to level the best of five series.



Tigers coach Al Westover said: "We just didn't play well enough to win a grand final.



"The whole last quarter wasn't very good. It is hard to win a game when you only shoot 34 percent from the field and hopefully we got the bad one out of our system and can hit back."



Not surprisingly, Dragons and Australian Boomers coach Brian Goorjian was much happier. "It was a great effort over the 48 minutes," he said. "We talked about withstanding their pressure and applying it and I thought we did a great job of hanging in there and taking their best shot."



"As the game went on we got settled into our stuff and in the final quarter we scored 33 points and ran our offence and our system real well. We also got the ball to the people we wanted to and they made plays."

[url="http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/29531/arti.html"]http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/late...29531/arti.html[/url]

[rikhardur]

AUS - Barlow answers back in game two



MELBOURNE (NBL) - After being outplayed by his Australian Boomers teammate Mark Worthington in game one of the NBL Grand Final series, Dave Barlow had a point to prove in game two at the Cage in Melbourne.



And he made his statement in emphatic fashion, scoring 12 of the Melbourne Tigers first 14 points in the final quarter, as the defending champions extended a 65-62 three quarter time lead to what would prove a match winning 79-65 advantage. Barlow's Tigers defeated the South Dragons 88-83 in front of a sell out crowd, to level the series at one game apiece.



Barlow finished with 26 points (4/9 3pfg) and 5 rebounds, scoring from all parts of the floor and showing once again why he has been the starting small forward for Australia at the past two major championships.



But while the FIBA World Championship veteran's outburst was decisive, the Dragons refused to lie down, fighting there way back to within two points with three minutes remaining, thanks to their relentless full court defence and the fearless play of import Tremmell Darden.



Darden failed to register a field goal in game one, but repeatedly attacked the ring and Melbourne's 7'1 centre Chris Anstey in this contest. Darden finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals, and while he received best support from Worthington (13 points, 5 rebounds) and former Atlanta Hawk Donta Smith (18 points, 6 rebounds, 6 turnovers), that duo failed to have the same impact Dragons fans have become accustomed to.



This was largely due to the Tigers team defence, and the excellent efforts of Barlow and Canadian national team captain Dave Thomas (8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals). Nigerian international Ebi Ere was also a great contributor for Melbourne, registering 16 points and 8 rebounds, and making countless effort plays, including an extraordinary open court block on the athletic Smith.



Australian Olympic and FIBA World Championship veteran Anstey also stood tall for the Tigers, recording an impressive 21 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks to take advantage of the Dragons going small for large periods of the game.



While this game was low scoring like game one, it was played at a much faster pace, and with far more aggression at the offensive end. The Tigers will be looking to continue this trend to capitilise on the scoring power of Anstey, Barlow and Ere, who all have the potential to blow a game open in moments.



But the Dragons do not fear this style of game with their athletic lineup, and coach Brian Goorjian was upbeat despite the narrow game two loss. "They went up 16 and we got the ball back with three minutes to go... and could have tied it up."



"We made them play the full 48 minutes and they had to play a lot of their major pieces," Goorjian added. "We didn't make it easy for them, we did a lot of good things, but there are some things we can get better at."



Tigers coach Al Westover was relieved after squaring the series, but also impressed with his team. "We deserved to win tonight. The pressure was on us, but it was all about getting the win," he said. "The last couple of minutes we had good composure, played good defence and we pulled off an important win."



Game three of the best of five series is at Hisense Arena in Melbourne on Sunday night, and this series shows all the signs of emulating last year's classic between the Tigers and the Sydney Kings, and all basketball fans downunder are hoping it does.

[url="http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/29552/arti.html"]http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/late...29552/arti.html[/url]

[rikhardur]

AUS - Goorjian says: Dragons best defensive team ever



MELBOURNE (NBL) - An incredible defensive performance in game 3 has seen the South Dragons move within one win of claiming their first ever NBL Championship, after defeating the Melbourne Tigers 84-67 at Hisense Arena to take a 2-1 lead in the best of five series.



The Tigers must win game four, at their home court - the Cage - to force a game five decider at Hisense, but they may have to do so without captain and star centre Chris Anstey.



Anstey and New Zealand international Mika Vukona were ejected after a physical confrontation that involved all 10 players on the court at the end of the third quarter. Anstey has been cited by the NBL Tribunal for striking Dragons reserve point guard Rhys Carter.



The melee started when Anstey tangled repeatedly with Carter in the open court. After Carter bumped Anstey, the 115kg centre retaliated and floored the 88kg Carter with a shoulder bump.



Immediately following the scuffle, Carter nailed a free throw and a buzzer beating three pointer to give the Dragons a 70-51 three quarter time lead and effectively end the contest.



The real damage had been done much earlier though, as Australian Olympian Joe Ingles (11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), import Tremmell Darden (12 points, 4 rebounds) and centre Matt Burston (9 points, 11 rebounds) dominated in the open court to give the Dragons a 28-16 lead at the first break.



Darden and Ingles in particular provided the 8200 strong Dragons crowd with plenty of highlights and exposed the fatigued transition defence of the Tigers.



Melbourne drew within two early in the second quarter on a Luke Kendall jumpshot in transition, but the Dragons answered immediately behind the play of Vukona and emerging point guard, and former Australian junior representative Adam Gibson, taking a 46-33 half time lead.



The third quarter was all South, and import Donta Smith (18 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists), who had played the role of distributor until that point, put on a show for the fans with his aerial brilliance to ensure there would be no comeback from the Tigers. Olympian Mark Worthington was again rock solid for the Dragons with 10 points and 10 rebounds.



Only Anstey (15 points, 5 rebounds) and Nigerian international Ebi Ere (16 points, 5 turnovers) reached double figures for Melbourne, but both were hounded by the South defence and shot at a poor rate.



The Tigers overall shot at just 33% from the field, 23% from the three point line, and 61% from the foul line. Their 67 points was the second lowest score by any team in an NBL Grand Final.



Game four is on Wednesday night, but of further concern to Melbourne is the treatment required by Anstey to his previously injured knee. His inability to contest shots in the paint opened up the game for the athletic trio of Ingles, Smith and Darden.



Despite the offensive razzle dazzle, Dragons coach Brian Goorjian was most effusive in his praise of the Dragons defensive efforts. "I've been involved in a lot of grand finals and I've never had a team play this level of defence for the extended period that we have.



"They've moved to a level defensively that I haven't got a team to play before," he added. "It's not like you're playing chopped liver, this is the best team in the competition, the defending champion that you're playing."

[url="http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/29563/arti.html"]http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/late...29563/arti.html[/url]

[rikhardur]

Anstey roars for Tigers



Two-time league MVP winner Chris Anstey might still be nursing a sore knee, but he certainly knows how to lift for big games.



The towering centre was at his brilliant best on Wednesday night as the Melbourne Tigers levelled the best-of-five Grand Final series against the South Dragons at two wins apiece.



It wasn't just his 31 points and 14 rebounds that made Anstey the dominant player on the court, with the 34-year-old also coming up with some key stops at the defensive end.



While Anstey has been the best player from both teams so far this Grand Final series - he now has 88 points from the first four matches - he is confident his side can make it back-to-back Championships in Friday night's decider even if he doesn't have a big match.



"Whether it is me, whether it is Ebi (Ere) or whoever, it doesn't matter who steps up," Anstey said after the Tigers' 108-95 victory over the Dragons on Wednesday.



"No-one remembers who had big games when you win a Championship, you just remember who won them."



Anstey said his incident with Dragons guard Rhys Carter in game three of the series on Sunday night had not been playing on his mind leading into the fourth match and that he was merely attempting to recover from the bruising contest.



And although it looks like it will be more physio and ice baths for Anstey heading into Friday's decider, he is confident the Tigers can get the job done.



"It is a one-game series now and if you told us at the start of the season that we had one game to win a Championship you would take it every time," Anstey said.



Winning a Championship away from home is something the Tigers have made a habit of in the past, with all four of their titles being achieved on the road.



They will have to make it a perfect 5-of-5 at Hisense Arena on Friday if they are to continue that trend, but Tigers coach Al Westover knows that it is a more than achievable task.



"We go into the fifth game full of confidence and with our self-belief back," Westover said.



"It doesn't matter if we are playing here or there because we can get it done."



"We have done it in our past. Our first Championship was in Perth where I don't think we had ever won before and they were celebrating before the game and we got it done."



"Then last year nearly everyone wrote us off after game four and then we got it done in Sydney."



"We feel good about ourselves with how we are playing at the moment."

http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=new...y&id=77691



The much awaited final game 5 will be played on the 13th. Now that'll be a grand final <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[rikhardur]

Dragons claim first title



The South Dragons have claimed the 2008/09 NBL Championship, a 102-81 victory over the defending titleholder the Melbourne Tigers at a packed Hisense Arena on Friday night completing their fairytale season.



It was a Tremmell Darden-inspired run during the middle stages of the third term that set-up the victory, with the Dragons extending their 11-point half-time advantage to a match-winning 18 at the final break.



Darden hit 21 of his career-best 31 points during that quarter to help his side take control of the contest and there were no final-term heroics from the Tigers as the Dragons sealed the three-games-to-two result in the best-of-five Grand Final series and became the first team in NBL history to go from wooden-spooner to Championship winner in the space of 12 months.



While Darden was the star of the show in the deciding match of the series, fellow American Donta Smith played just as big a role in the victory.



Smith narrowly missed a triple-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and also became the first import to win the Larry Sengstock Medal since the talented Chris Williams was adjudged the best player of the Grand Final series in 2003.



Dragons skipper Mark Worthington and young swingman Joe Ingles contributed nine points apiece in the victory, while Mika Vukona and Matt Burston shot eight each.



For the Tigers, Ebi Ere (16 points), David Barlow (16) and Chris Anstey (12) battled hard, but the Dragons were hungrier for the victory - they won the rebound count 47-33 - and shot the ball at a magnificent 53 percent shooting clip throughout.



It was a sixth NBL Championship for Dragons coach Brian Goorjian and he said it was the sweetest.



"The older you get you understand how important they are," he said.



"And in this one we picked ourselves up off the canvas after Game Four when everybody thought we were down and out."



"We didn't win a road game all series, but we won the Championship."



Tigers coach Al Westover was bitterly disappointed after the game and said his team wasn't as sharp as they needed to be to win a series decider.



"We didn't get anything going inside with our offence, we had a lot of turnovers in the first half and we got out-rebounded," Westover said.



"They killed us on the break and got to the line twice as often, so pretty much in every area we got beat."



Nathan Crosswell (11 points, four assists) and Ere found their range early on as the Tigers edged out to a seven-point lead midway through the first term, but it didn't take long for the Dragons to come to terms with the zone defence their opponents were playing.



Smith threw down a big dunk on the fast break and then nailed a huge three from the top of the arc right on the quarter-time buzzer as the Dragons ended the stanza with an 18-7 run to take a four-point (28-24) lead into the first break.



Things started to hot up in the second term as Smith scored four consecutive baskets to help give the Dragons a double-digit lead and the Tigers began to struggle from the field.



The Tigers could only manage six field goals in the second term and with the Dragons leading the rebound count 22-17, the home side enjoyed a healthy 11-point (52-41) buffer at the half.



Darden was playing the perfect support role to Smith in the opening half and he provided the Dragons' first five points of the third term as the hosts extended their advantage to 13.



Tommy Greer (six points, four rebounds) connected from beyond the arc and hit a long-two to bring the Tigers back within eight, but Darden nailed back-to-back triples as the Dragons went on a 12-2 run to break out to a 24-point lead.



A triple from Anstey and a Luke Kendall (nine points, three assists) heave from half-court on the three-quarter-time buzzer brought the Tigers back within 18 (82-64) with 12 minutes remaining.



Another three from Kendall helped reduce the Tigers' deficit to 16 early in the final term, but they could get no closer as Smith, Ingles and Worthington stepped up over the final stages to allow the Dragons' celebrations to begin.



South Dragons 102 (Darden 31, Smith 21, Worthington 9)

Melbourne Tigers 81 (Ere 16, Barlow 16, Anstey 12)

@ Hisense Arena, 13/3/09. Crowd: 8922.

http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=new...y&id=77703



Congrats to the Dragons, I guess they managed to fool everyone <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />