SOUTH
For the South Conference, I have selected the Unicorns vs Koalas game as the match of the round. Last week the Unicorns won against the Crocs by 8 points and it was Jake Sutherland who was the stand out player for the Unicorns last week, having 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Last week the Koalas showed that they can be competitive with any team in the competition as they took a big scalp knocking off the Knights, who were the only team that was still undefeated. It was once again their first-round pick Jay McMillin doing the heavy lifting and taking the Koalas to their 3rd win of the season, he had 28 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals.
Last time these two teams met was back in round 1 and it was the Unicorns first round pick Lee Belton stealing the show, as he had 31 points 9/16 from deep, 7 rebounds and 5 steals. For the Koalas it was Jay McMillin who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Unicorns walk away after the game with a 15-point victory, but since then we have seen both teams make trades and both teams probably look even better than what they did in round 1.
Players that were missing or weren’t apart of the round 1 victory for the Unicorns were Jake Sutherland and Greg Wise. Jake adds so much speed, defensive pressure and scoring to this team if the Unicorns big 4 get going they will be hard to beat in this game. Greg has probably not had the season he would have liked to have so far; he probably didn’t get the opportunity to do what he likes to do at the Penguins but now he has made the move to the Unicorns I think that he can play his game and hopefully be that Double – Double guy that the league knows that he can be.
Since round 1 the Koalas have brought in Summit Thapa who they received in a trade from the Bloodhounds and since joining the Koalas he has been balling out and just been dropping BOMBS from deep.
I think this time around the game will be a lot closer as both teams have proven at their best, they can match it against the best sides in the competition and if 2 -3 players from either side get cooking, they have proven their sides are very hard to beat.
For this game I am tipping the Unicorns in a close one, they will win this game between 1 – 10 points.
EAST
For the East Confrerence, I have selected the Bulls vs Penguins game as match of the round. Last week the Bulls went up against the new look Bloodhounds but it was still their star point guard doing all the damage for them, Shane Bajgar had 14 points and 8 rebounds. The Bulls were without their star player in Jeff Reid but Linc Scott kept the bulls in the game - he had 14 points and 4 rebounds. The Penguins went up against the Vikings and it was Daniel Whitfield who stole the show - he had 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Penguins brought Daniel Whitfield into the team last week after making a trade for Greg Wise and Lucas Plozza gave us a fair bit of feedback for this trade on the podcast and said that this trade would not work for the Penguins. It is fair to say that Daniel Whitfield proved him wrong after his great game.
The last time these two teams met was back in round 2 and this game did not disappoint, the Penguins got up by 1 point. Jeff Reid was just doing Jeff Reid things but was well maintained by Daniel Eagleton. Jeff Reid probably would have had 40 points in Daniel Eagleton's absence. Tommy Walsh was just being Tommy Walsh and sooking about every call and getting sent off and suspended for a week haha. I am sure this game will not disappoint again and hopefully the Penguins can maintain Jeff Reid again and walk away with another win over the Bulls.
Players that were missing or did not play in round one for the Penguins were Broderick Green, Daniel Whitfield and new player to Super League Tyler Neil. All 3 of these players are vital players for the Penguins and play a big role in their team, so adding these 3 inclusions to this game changes a lot for the Penguins and gives them more pace, points, rebounds and defensive pressure.
The Bulls were missing their point guard in Linc Scott. We all know that Linc plays an important role for this team with basketball IQ, passing, creativity, scoring and defensive pressure. He will play a big part for them in this game against the Penguins and will do everything to try and get the W for his team just like he did last week against the Bloodhounds.
There is rumour that the Bulls will be missing some of their stars for this game, but I don’t know if Kyle Day is just up to his old tricks just like he was in round 2 when he told me that Jeff Reid was out due to Covid. We will have to wait and see who rocks up for the Bulls on game night and if they are at full strength.
I am tipping the Penguins in this one and to win by 11+