Luke Schenscher returned to the starting 5 for the Perth Wildcats last night after starting off the bench earlier in the week against Wollongong. The result was far from encouraging as Luke picked up 1 rebound and 4 points. Maybe there is more to be read in the fact that Jesse Wagstaff, Luke's brief replacement in the starting 5, ended up playing more minutes than Luke. Whilst Wagstaff is visually never going to be as intimidating as a 7 footer the cats seem to gel far better when he is out there.
But just how intimidated are opposition players by the former NBA player. Well based on most performances Schenscher has not hurt opponents enough for them to be worried. Schenscher didn't play a single minute in the fourth quarter, new import Galen Young did and played almost twice as many minutes over the entire game. At one stage, Schenscher had the ball in the low post with New Zealand shooting guard Kirk Penney as his only defender and yet he spent what felt like an eternity looking for a team mate to pass to before attacking the basket.
Benchings are the sort of thing that coaches spruik as a chance to get the hunger back or rebound from adversity but in reality Schenscher has been struggling for some time now. The Wildcats big man stocks of Schenscher, Rogers and Redhage were sold as the key to the side during the pre-season. Redhage's season has been reasonable and it's a nice luxury to not have to rely on him as a go-to but in reality most games have been won due to superior long range firepower from the guards. Schenscher's season so far could be graded as a C at best.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
NBL Betting is Tough
I don't envy the online betting agencies such as Sportsbet and Centrebet when it comes to setting the odds for the NBL this season. Underdogs are coming away with wins, the assumed safe home teams are capitulating at times and we are often seeing quarters where teams struggle to score double figures. Betting on the underdogs seem to be a reasonable bet in most cases and that was my take on New Years Eve.
The Cairns Taipans hosted the Melbourne Tigers and were given underdog status despite having a 8-2 record on their home court which included a 15 point win over Melbourne just a few weeks earlier. Melbourne have Chris Anstey back in their side and managed to pick up an uninspiring win versus a McKee-less Wollongong but to put Melbourne in as the favourites was a massive slap in the face for a Cairns team with a 80% home record. The fact they came away with a 7 point win was no surprise and I think Melbourne still have a lot to do before the sportswriters can talk any further about their finals hopes.
The Townsville Crocodiles hosted the Perth Wildcats with the latter being given odds of $2.95 for a win. I couldn't help but get on this one and at 3 quarter time the cats held an 11 point lead and victory was all but mine. However, the final quarter saw the Crocs run away with it as they outscored the Wildcats 28-8 in the final stanza. The cats have shown they can go missing for a quarter here and there but after convincingly winning the first 3 quarters that's an impossible one to predict.
The final underdog within the group was the New Zealand Breakers as they took on the Gold Coast Blaze. After losing their opening home game, the Blaze have been undefeated at home and extended their record to 9 straight wins at home. An interesting point going in tot he match was that the Breakers had lost their last 3 home games whilst winning their last 3 away matches. Despite the pre-season tag of "Championship favourites" the Breakers continue to disappoint and with the normally reliable Kirk Penney and Rick Rickert combining for 7-27 from the field NZ just didn't have enough.
I'll be honest and admit to putting a multi-bet on all 3 underdogs to win by 2.5 points or more. At one stage, Cairns had won, the Wildcats were up by 11 and the Breakers were only down by 5 and I was in with a reasonable chance despite the 1/36.5 odds. Alas as its been all season, the NBL is pretty hard to tips, hats off to Centrebet for getting 2 out of 3 on New Years Eve.
The Cairns Taipans hosted the Melbourne Tigers and were given underdog status despite having a 8-2 record on their home court which included a 15 point win over Melbourne just a few weeks earlier. Melbourne have Chris Anstey back in their side and managed to pick up an uninspiring win versus a McKee-less Wollongong but to put Melbourne in as the favourites was a massive slap in the face for a Cairns team with a 80% home record. The fact they came away with a 7 point win was no surprise and I think Melbourne still have a lot to do before the sportswriters can talk any further about their finals hopes.
The Townsville Crocodiles hosted the Perth Wildcats with the latter being given odds of $2.95 for a win. I couldn't help but get on this one and at 3 quarter time the cats held an 11 point lead and victory was all but mine. However, the final quarter saw the Crocs run away with it as they outscored the Wildcats 28-8 in the final stanza. The cats have shown they can go missing for a quarter here and there but after convincingly winning the first 3 quarters that's an impossible one to predict.
The final underdog within the group was the New Zealand Breakers as they took on the Gold Coast Blaze. After losing their opening home game, the Blaze have been undefeated at home and extended their record to 9 straight wins at home. An interesting point going in tot he match was that the Breakers had lost their last 3 home games whilst winning their last 3 away matches. Despite the pre-season tag of "Championship favourites" the Breakers continue to disappoint and with the normally reliable Kirk Penney and Rick Rickert combining for 7-27 from the field NZ just didn't have enough.
I'll be honest and admit to putting a multi-bet on all 3 underdogs to win by 2.5 points or more. At one stage, Cairns had won, the Wildcats were up by 11 and the Breakers were only down by 5 and I was in with a reasonable chance despite the 1/36.5 odds. Alas as its been all season, the NBL is pretty hard to tips, hats off to Centrebet for getting 2 out of 3 on New Years Eve.
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