AUS - Tame Tigers run out of town

SYDNEY (NBL) - It was a case of the same old problems for the same old Melbourne Tigers during game one of the NBL Grand Final series at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

In last year's decider, the Tigers simply could not function at the offensive down the stretch against the athletic Brisbane Bullets team, eventually going down 3-1 to the Sam Mackinnon inspired Bullets.

This season, in matchups against Brisbane and the league leading Sydney Kings, the Tigers seemed as if they had not found a solution to their woes in the half court or against full court pressure. In their five games against Brisbane and Sydney, the Tigers were outscored 270-238 in second halves.

Yet when Melbourne swept the Bullets in this year's semi-finals, outscoring the reigning champs 115-97 across the second half of both games, it appeared the inclusion of Sean Lampley and the return from injury of Canadian Olympian Dave Thomas was the boost Melbourne needed.

But after racing out to a double digit lead in game one of the grand final, and scoring 43 points in the first 18 minutes, those same old demons came back to haunt the Tigers. A combination of stagnant and poorly chosen offence, and an unwillingness to run the ball and take risks, saw Melbourne score just 31 points in the last 30 minutes of the contest.

The Sydney Kings had no such problems, outscoring the visitors 76-45 after quarter time, led by Australian international Mark Worthington. The 202cm 'Wortho' was incredible, racking up a career high 35 points in 34 minutes, on 6/7 three-point shooting. The versatile forward added 7 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block for good measure.

Sydney were also well served by Olympian Glen Saville, who efficiently put together 11 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks, and hit a number of tough pull-ups to keep Melbourne at arms length.

Melbourne's best was FIBA World Championship forward Dave Barlow, who finished with 14 points, however 11 of those came in the first quarter. League MVP Chris Anstey, who picked up a $60,000 Hummer for his efforts, continued his struggles against the NBL's best teams, scoring just 13 points and committing 6 turnovers. The Tigers will need a boost from him to avoid an embarrassing sweep in the best of five series.

Game two is in Melbourne, and the Tigers will be hoping the referees are less tolerant of Sydney's physical defence. Only 28 fouls were called for the entire game one, despite its physical nature, in a league that averages 47 fouls per game.

Regardless of this, Melbourne needs to take the initiative and attack the Kings strong defence, or they will be simply run out of town.

Paul Kennedy
FIBA Correspondent in Australia