After several delays, some heavy rescheduling and then some, the 2021 NBL season FINALLY gets underway this Friday night after an off-season that lasted almost an entire calendar year.
The road ahead for all NBL clubs is unknown.
Every NBL club is going top be prepared to spend a fair bit of time on the road, along with smashing out as many games as they can in order to make sure the season goes ahead.
It’s going to be a season like no other, but we’re excited to have the NBL back and pumped for the first Round of the year.
We’ve cast our eye over this weekend’s matches and found some value for the punters in our Round 1 tips and preview.
After a very, very long off-season, the 2021 NBL season finally gets underway as the Adelaide 36ers play host to Melbourne United on Friday night.
Melbourne United go into the 2021 NBL season the hot $3 favourite to take out the competition and will want to use the season opener to make a statement.
The club lost a couple of imports over the off-season but were able to get Australian Boomer Jock Landale and Scotty Hopson from the NZ Breakers to the fold.
Many experts regard United’s starting line-up the best in the League and they’ll no doubt relish the oppurtunity to show it off when the team finally hits the court.
For the Adelaide 36ers, it’s the beginning of a new era with a new coach in Conner Henry along with a slate of new recruits such as College/NBA journeyman Donald Sloan and all-eyes will be on young-gun 18 year old Josh Giddey who should have a big impact.
Expect the season opener to be a beauty, but expect the experience of Melbourne United to get the road win to start their 2021 campaign.
A fascinating clash awaits us this Saturday with the Brisbane Bullets taking on the Hawks.
Aussie basketball pundits aren’t expecting much from the Bullets this season, but the club has had a bit of an overhaul during the never-ending off-season and welcome a bit of NBA experience signing up Vic Law and Orlando Johnson along with Anthony Drmic and Harry Froling joining the club from the Adelaide 36ers.
However, all eyes will be on the team formerly known as Illawarra.
Any references to Wollongong or the region they represent is gone.
They are just known as “The Hawks”
The NBL foundation club has had an eventful off-season, with new ownership.
However, the new ownership and rebranding isn’t the biggest deal for The Hawks, it’s signing up 6-time NBL Champion, 6-time coach of the Year – the one and only icon that is Brian Goorjian after 11 seasons as a coach in China.
What can Goorjian and his slate of new recruits bring to last seasons cellar-dwellers?
It may be a work in progress, but I’m willing to buy into the hype and back Brian’s boys to get the win in their first hit-out.
Last year’s feel-good underdogs the Cairns Taipans takes on the team that’s still filthy about having a championship series cancelled, resulting in the Wildcats winning the title – the Sydney Kings at a makeshift arena that was once a Bunnings Warehouse.
Just who will snag the win?
And will lowest price recruits be just the beginning?
Which team can fashion a DIY win to start their season on the right level?
There’s a lot to be excited about the Cairns Taipans this season and the good news is that most of their 2019-20 roster that took them to the playoffs remains in tact for this season – even with DJ Newbill leaving.
Being based in Cairns, which hasn’t copped the brunt of COVID-restrictions, has also meant the Taipans pre-season training has been relatively smooth, unlike many of the other NBL clubs.
Not only have the Sydney Kings have time to stew over their NBL championship loss, they’ve also lost their coach in Will Weaver and a host of key players such as Andrew Bogut, Jae’Sean Tate and Kevin Lisch have departed.
Casper Ware will have to carry a fair bit of the Kings this season and it’s very much a new look team.
When it comes to this clash, you simply can’t go past the Taipans and their home-court advantage in this one.
After a very long and tough off-season for the South East Melbourne Phoenix, the club has recently relocated to Tassie in order to continue their preparation for the 2021 season and they finally get to hit the court, taking on the Adelaide 36ers – backing it up after Friday night.
Mitch Creek is back on board for the Phoenix this season and the club has signed up a couple of new American imports in Keifer Sykes and Ben Moore, both of whom will also be worth keeping an eye out for in this game.
It’s always hard to back it up for the second game of the weekend, no matter what stage of the season you are at.
For the Adelaide 36ers, it will be another chance for fans to get another glance at Josh Giddey and of course Donald Sloan.
With some fresh legs, expect the Phoenix to open their 2021 campaign with a win on the road in the city of churches.
Despite being last season’s wooden spooners, the team formerly known as the Illawarra Hawks, now just “The Hawks” did actually beat the Cairns Taipans three times.
The Taipans three losses to the team that should never speak of the Illawarra/Wollongong region ever again cost them some home court advantage when making the playoffs.
These sorts of stats will no doubt would be living rent free in the Cairns Taipans heads going into this game.
Can Brian Goorjian’s men back it up with their second match on the road this Monday night?
We’ve got the makings of an absolute beauty on our hands, but it’s best to take the home court advantage to play it safe.
Back the Taipans to SNAG another win at the old Bunnings Warehouse.