The Northern Territory news Mon 18 Jan 2010
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2010-01-18
This publication contains may contain links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.
English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
application/pdf
Copyright. Made available by the publisher under licence.
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/216786
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/708886
34 Northern Territory News, Monday, January 18, 2010 www.ntnews.com.au P U B : N T N E W S D A T E : 1 8 -J A N -2 0 1 0 P A G E : 3 4 C O L O R : C M Y K Tigers stalk NBL finals KEY MAN: Mark Worthington. Picture: GETTY IMAGES ByADRIANWARREN in Sydney RESURGENT Melbourne could complete a remarkable turnaround and win the NBL if they make the playoffs, Perths ladderleading coach Rob Beveridge says. Perth (14-8) consolidated top spot with an 86-61 home win over Cairns (9-15), who effectively became the first team to drop out of the finals race after also losing 91-77 away to Adelaide (10-13). For the first time in two months, the Tigers have clawed their way off the bottom of the league, courtesy of four straight victories. Melbourne (9-12) have climbed two places to sixth after scraping past New Zealand (9-13) 94-89 in Auckland and 89-87 over Adelaide in Melbourne. The Tigers have won their last four games, equalling the current best victory streak of Perth and second placed Townsville (12-8) who had the bye. Perth and Melbourne clash twice this week, with the Tigers hosting on Wednesday and Perth on Saturday. They (Melbourne) have got so many people in that team that have won championships and when it comes to the crunch they just know how to win, Beveridge said. If they make the playoffs they could go all the way and win the championship, so we know how important it is. They have to win a lot of their games to make it, so we want to try and spoil that for them and keep our run going. Melbourne must keep winning to stay in touch with fourth-placed Wollongong (12-10), which scored a 96-75 home win over Gold Coast (13-9). The Blaze remain in the mix for the top three. Melbourne coach Al Westover ad mitted the Tigers were still not playing at their best despite winning five of their last six matches. Their only previous encounter with Perth this season was back in October. They beat us 93-90 and since then they have added Galen Young and it should be a good mini-series over the next week, Westover said. Melbourne came from 16 down inside the last six minutes to overcome New Zealand and needed a late three-pointer from skipper Mark Worthington to overhaul Adelaide. Both were very tough games, but both were very satisfying wins, Westover said. Beveridge said he hadnt even looked at how many games his team needed to secure a playoff place or top spot. We just say our destiny is in our own hands, Beveridge said. Were still going to have our ups and downs, we dont want to put any pressure on us to win a championship. There are better teams in the competition talent wise. Weve got a bunch of young guys that just play hard, but you cant teach them experience. So when it comes playoff time, how they handle that I dont know. Perth conceded their lowest score of the season against Cairns and Beveridge said his team was putting their emphasis on defence. Centre Luke Schenscher spearheaded a very even Perth scoring effort against the Taipans with 14 points, despite being troubled by a neck problem during the week. He said that guard Brad Robbins would return to the team for the matches against Melbourne after missing the clash with Cairns due to a hip problem.