The losers in Friday night’s NBL action will be all but out of the running to make the upcoming finals series and that means two powerhouses out of the New Zealand Breakers, Melbourne United, Sydney Kings and Perth Wildcats will begin planning for 2017-18.
While Melbourne and Perth will still do battle with one another at Hisense Arena on Sunday following the games on Friday, it is the last chance for the Kings and Breakers to try and stay in the hunt for a finals appearance.
With the Adelaide 36ers having long locked away the minor premiership, all the Illawarra Hawks need to do is beat wooden spooners Brisbane at home on Saturday night to ensure they make the finals for a second straight season under coach Rob Beveridge.
The Cairns Taipans took a significant step towards being there too with a home win over Adelaide on Thursday night. That takes the Snakes to second position and they can secure their place with a win in Adelaide on Saturday, but they could still make it even with a loss.
That puts all the attention on to the games on Friday night featuring Perth and New Zealand, who have dominated the NBL winning the last seven championships between them, and Sydney and Melbourne, who have the biggest budgets for their playing rosters this season.
For any of the four teams, missing the finals will be considered a failure. That’s obvious for the Wildcats and Breakers who are so used to recent success and met in last year’s grand final series.
But for the Kings and United, with the big money spent on players this season and with their respective crowds in Australia’s two biggest cities responding in big numbers, ending their season without a playoff appearance will be a failure of significant proportions.
That is why Friday night’s games have so much riding on them as the Breakers firstly host Melbourne at North Shore Events Centre before attention turns to Perth Arena with the Wildcats hosting the Kings.
It has been quite the rollercoaster season for New Zealand with Kevin Dillard now their third import point guard on the back of Ben Woodside and David Stockton.
Paul Carter has also come in to replace Corey Webster and now their big men stocks are dwindling with the departure of Akil Mitchell following his horrific eye injury.
The Breakers have the confidence after dominating Melbourne this time last year but even a win at home on Friday won’t guarantee a playoff appearance and they will still need a lot to go their way.
Melbourne were minor premiers last year before being unceremoniously dumped in the semi-finals by the Breakers. They have again loaded up with star power this season and the arrival of new imports Casper Ware and Josh Boone have proven to reinvigorate them.
The return from injury of David Andersen sees Melbourne now playing strong basketball, but they still need two wins this weekend to avoid going from top spot last season to missing out on the playoffs altogether.
The Kings have spared no expense this season on and off the court to try and become a force in the NBL again. That started with the coaching staff with Andrew Gaze, Lanard Copeland and Dean Vickerman forming the most high-profile coaching trio the NBL has ever seen.
While imports Michael Bryson and Steve Blake have come and gone, a team consisting of Kevin Lisch, Brad Newley, Josh Powell, Aleks Maric, Jason Cadee, Greg Whittington and Tom Garlepp doesn’t come cheap.
Their lack of depth in the guard spots and a genuine point guard to help Lisch and Cadee has hurt them, leaving the Kings with the task of trying to win in Perth for the first time in 13 attempts since returning to the NBL just to be any hope of making the finals.
That leaves the Wildcats and their remarkable playoff streak that goes on the line.
Perth has made the NBL finals an incredible 31 straight seasons winning a league record seven championships.
With that comes some natural pressure to not be part of the team that didn’t make it to the post-season. Owner Jack Bendat and managing director Nick Marvin won’t accept such a result either.
The Wildcats can guarantee their place in a 32nd straight finals series by beating Sydney and Melbourne. One win and they could still make it with all going in their favour. Two losses and it’s over.
Vice-captain Greg Hire faces a nervous wait with a tribunal hearing on Friday morning to decide if he is suspended for the weekend or free to play.
Assuming he gets the all clear to play, Hire is looking forward to the challenge of needing to win both games to secure a finals spot.
“This is a really exciting time not only for us but the league in general. Usually at this point of the season we’ve locked in a spot and might even know who we are playing in the first round,” Hire said.
“Obviously I would have liked to know that again, but we are really in control of where we finish still. If we win two games, we solidify a spot in the playoffs and that’s what you want. You don’t want to only win either on Friday or Sunday and have to hope other teams lose.
“With what we’ve gone through with the adversity and challenges this season, we have a bunch of guys who I will always believe in that in terms of when things get difficult we’ve always stepped up. Adding another story to that will hopefully start this weekend.”
Hire isn’t hiding away from the fact that the pressure with the Wildcats is there to avoid seeing their playoff streak end. But his focus is more on making sure his team is capable of winning another championship rather than sneaking into the finals.
“Hopefully that streak will last forever and there is undeniably that pressure behind it. You don’t want to be that team, but honestly it’s not about thinking about that for us,” Hire said.
“If I was part of a team that made the playoffs for 50 straight years and we never won a championship, my career would never feel fulfilled. For us, it’s about winning championships and getting in the best position to be a chance to do that.
“If we just fell in and were bundled out in the first round, it wouldn’t mean much. We obviously don’t want to end that streak and it’s something that the club and fans should be proud of. There is a lot of pressure but I’m looking to winning these two games and then making noise in the playoffs.”
Taking a dip in the prediction business, I expect the Hawks and Taipans to lock away their spots on Saturday night making Friday’s action all the more important. I can’t see the Breakers getting over Melbourne without Mitchell with the Kings facing an uphill battle in Perth.
I’ll go with the Wildcats and United winning on Friday setting up a clash on Sunday in Melbourne that could very well decide the final playoff spot. What a fitting finish that would be to the NBL’s tightest ever regular season.
ROUND 19 NBL FIXTURES (AEDT)
THURSDAY
Cairns Taipans 89 beat Adelaide 36ers 85 – Cairns Convention Centre
FRIDAY
New Zealand Breakers v Melbourne United – North Shore Events Centre 5.30pm
Perth Wildcats v Sydney Kings – Perth Arena 9.30pm
SATURDAY
Illawarra Hawks v Brisbane Bullets – WIN Entertainment Centre 5.30pm
Adelaide 36ers v Cairns Taipans – Titanium Security Arena 7.30pm
SUNDAY
Melbourne United v Perth Wildcats – Hisense Arena 3pm
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