Scott

There were some signs that the Raiders were starting to rediscover themselves.

Our ball movement was much better (21 assists) and our rebounding was excellent (37-27) BUT that last quarter was a massive freezing exercise.

The fact we hung on to win was outstanding but gee whiz 😮‍💨

Full Time

Spectres 82
Raiders 83

Wow!

That was one hell of a fightback and one hell of a controversial finish. On the Spectres final possession, there absolutely was a foul that should’ve sent them to the line but it wasn’t called; Raiders get the ball off a miss and hang on.

3/4 Time

Spectres 63
Raiders 70

A 23-14 third quarter has given us a 7 point lead going into the last however the feeling here is that the Spectres aren’t out of this game at all.

They have played hard and been great value here today.

The Graveyard is living up to its name

1/2 Time

Spectres 49 (Cranston 10, Mutimer 9)
Raiders 47 (Nunn 13, Leaupepe 8)

There is no doubt that the Spectres are up for this. They’re playing an aggressive brand and have still maintained their excellent shooting percentage here (57% to 52%)

Inside they’re causing the Raiders all problems

1/4 Time

Spectres 24
Raiders 27

A high quality fast opening between these 2 teams as this one has been an end to end shootout.

Both teams are shooting very well here (Spectres 58% to Raiders 56%) with the difference being the Raiders doing their work from the 3pt line and the Spectres inside

Last week the Raiders only had 8 players and played like a very tired looking team however at a cursory glance, it looks like some reinforcements have come back.

With Mt Gambier rapidly closing the gap, a win tonight is vital for the Raiders. I see no reason why we can’t

Tip: Raiders by 18

#Target150 hasn’t finished and now turns to the men’s game.

Spectres come into this sitting 13th (8-9) and need a win to keep their finals hopes alive

Raiders sit top (14-4) but are starting to wobble hard with 3 losses in 5 games including last week’s 31 point roll over against Eltham.

They shot 20% (14/69) from the field
They shot 57% (8/14) from the free throw line
They got out-rebounded 39-51 although in their 39, they had 19 offensive boards
They had 6 assists in the whole game (Knox 19)

It was a dirty game indeed for them while Knox was outstanding.

Full Time

Spectres 40 (Swain 14, Brewster 12)
Raiders 86 (Froling 20, Wallace 14)

Yikes!

Not content with winning the first 3 quarters, the Raiders went and won the 4th to complete a fantastic 46 point win over the Spectres.

There is not much from a Nunawading perspective that was good

3/4 Time

Spectres 26
Raiders 66

Oh dear

This has been brutal as the Raiders put an end to any brief Spectres hopes out scoring them 26-9 and shooting 10/15 from the field.

The Spectres owned the offensive boards that quarter 6-1 but shooting 4/20 from the field is not going to do it.

The Raiders have shot at 45% and are enjoying a 32-19 rebounding advantage. In saying that, the Spectres have had 10 offensive rebounds which is a positive for them but their shooting (17% from the field) has been a horror show for the ages

1/2 Time

Spectres 17 (Brewster 5, Swain 4)
Raiders 40 (Froling 12, Wallace 12)

This has been a brutal and effective Raiders performance. Playing a ferocious up-tempo style, the Raiders have made it impossible for the Spectres to get into any sort of sync.

1/4 Time

Spectres 4
Raiders 21

Get the alarm bells out here because this is threatening to get ugly. The Raiders defence has been suffocating except for the securing of rebounds (Nunawading has 7 offensive boards).

The Spectres however are setting some shooting lows here (2/19 11%)

We are in terrific form right now while Nunawading need a win to stay in touch with the battle for the top 8

It promises to be a fantastic game however I expect Knox to be too strong here

Tip: Knox by 15 points

cont’d

a vital 12 point win over Hobart.

They may lack big names outside of Shanice Swain but what they lack there, they make up for in grit and determination

As for Knox, we sit in 3rd (15-3) after a 44 point win over Eltham last week and we’re currently on an 8 game winning streak

#Target150 is back today at The Graveyard for the #NBL1 double header between the Nunawading Spectres and Knox Raiders.

First the women’s game.

Nunawading comes into this 11th (8-9 record) having split their road-home double last week with the mandatory belting by Geelong (41) followed by…

The start of the year was a slow, horrific car crash as teams struggled for consistency but the Knox Raiders have done the bulk of the heavy lifting.

Add that to a Freo team on a 6 game winning run and a suddenly improving Hellas, I approach the second half of the year in full confidence

A belated #Target150 update (end of June)

Attended (61 games)

Win - 33
Draw - 4
Loss - 18
Neutral - 6

TV (34 games)

Win - 18
Draw - 0
Loss - 13
Neutral - 3

My Teams (86 games)

Win - 51
Draw - 4
Loss - 31
Win % - 59.3%

Right now my W/L is looking elite at the midway point of this year

90 + 2’

GOAL CITY

Fucking morons at Hellas.

You do NOT park the bus like that.

Give them all the space in the world and they hurt us in a scramble where Sewell smashes it into the net

City 3
South 3

86’

GOAL CITY

It’s game on here as City finally put together a fantastic passing move which works its way to Athiu who slots it past Lopez

It’s going to be a long last few minutes here

City 2
South 3

45 + 2’

GOAL HELLAS

Another corner and more trouble for City.

One header was cleared off the line brilliantly and while everyone was distracted, the follow up sees Halfpenny (I thought it was Brennan) put the ball in the back of the net

City 1
South 3

29’

GOAL CITY

So here’s the thing.

You do NOT foul a player 25-30yds out from goal especially when they’ve got a killer foot on them

Cuba took that free and curled it over the top of Javi Lopez into the back of the net

City 1
South 2

27’

GOAL HELLAS

Yeah I did not see that coming.

A corner causes chaos and while the Jankovic header didn’t pose a threat, the Nagamatsu volley hits the back of the net

City 0
Hellas 2

15’

GOAL HELLAS

That was bloody gorgeous.

Elite work and persistence from Nagamatsu who won the ball and got fouled but kept going.

His ball in was elite and the flick in by Mikkola (I think) was superb

City 0
South 1

Last month, South came here and knocked Dandenong City out of the Dockerty Cup on penalties.

City will be after revenge and a push for finals while South will be looking to stay clear of relegation.

With that in mind, I anticipate this being a tight game

Tip: 1-1 draw

They currently sit behind 6th placed Preston by 1 point and will want a win to jump temporarily to 5th spot

South sits 9th after a 2-1 win over Hume City last week and still have the Dockerty Cup on their mind

Depending on results, a loss could see us fall as low as 11th

#Target150 is back for the first match of what hopefully will be a busy July and tonight is at Dandenong City for the #NPLVICM clash between Dandenong City and South Melbourne

City comes into this match sitting 7th after an impressive 2-2 draw with Heidelberg last time out.

Eltham shot 45% (17/38) from the 3pt line to our 22% (7/32)

Eltham had 29 assists to our 16

Eltham had 7 turnovers while we had 18

Eltham had 19 points from our 18 turnovers while we had 2 from their 7

Hadley was outrageous from the 3pt line (7/12) while as a team, we had 7.

Ugly ugly night!

Full Time

Wildcats 103 (Hadley 35, Whelan 15)
Raiders 72 (Blake 17, Leaupepe 16)

We were never really in this one at all and it was actually a very hard watch.

When you’re playing 4 players down, you need absolutely everything to go right and for us, it went wrong from the very start.

1/2 Time

Wildcats 53 (Hadley 19, Whelan 12)
Raiders 35 (Blake 7, Nunn 7)

That was a better second quarter for Knox but right now, this has been brutal.

Eltham shot 10/21 from 3pt line
Knox shot 4/20 from 3pt line

It was much improved and I don’t totally think we’re out of it here.