Perth primed for NBL surge

Defending champions Perth are primed to turn up the heat on blue-collar battlers
Wollongong after the Hawks assumed outright leadership of the NBL.
With top spot and early-season bragging rights on the line, Wollongong (6-1) put a
gap between themselves and nearest challengers New Zealand (5-2) with a gritty 73-57
win on the road.
Cairns (4-2) occupy third place after a convincing 87-71 home win over Adelaide, but
Perth (5-3) again look ready to make a run after completing an arduous start to the
season with a 93-84 away win over Melbourne.
Wollongong only led the Breakers on percentage prior to their game last Thursday and
coach Gordie McLeod wasn't getting carried away by the Hawks' lofty position.
"We're obviously very happy with the way we are going, but we could easily have been
3-4," McLeod told AAP.
"We're pleased we are in the position that we are, but we know we have to continue
to get better as a team, because if you don't there will be a change in the ladder
position very quickly."
The Wildcats played six of their first eight games away from home, but now have the
luxury of staying in Perth until Christmas.
They will play home games on four successive Sundays, before a road trip to Sydney
and Gold Coast in the final week of the year.
Perth then start the new year with three home matches meaning, that eight of their
next 11 fixtures are on their own pine.
"We've broken the season down into blocks and we've got this first third of the
season out of the way and we've got four games in a row at home, where we have at
least a week's preparation," Perth coach Rob Beveridge told AAP.
"We are 5-3 and we have got to win six or seven out of the next eight at home,
that's really achievable for us."
Last season's NBL rookie of the year, Jesse Wagstaff is expected to return for Perth
next weekend after missing the Melbourne game with a foot injury.
Guard Kevin Lisch sparked the Wildcats with 20 points against the Tigers, including
four three-pointers.
New Melbourne import Corey Williams played the entire game, just one day after
arriving in Australia.
Williams - last season's NBL MVP - tallied 15 points and 10 assists, but also
committed eight turnovers.
In Auckland, former Breaker Oscar Forman returned to burn his old side, as he paced
the Hawks with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis was philosophical about Forman's performance.
"It's just one of those things. We know that he can put up shots well and we gave
him some looks and he knocked them down," Lemanis told AAP.
While the Breakers restricted high-scoring Wollongong guard Gary Ervin to just 13
points, New Zealand shot just 32 per cent from the field.
The normally reliable trio of CJ Bruton, Kirk Penney and Thomas Abercrombie combined
to hit just six out of 32 field goal attempts.
Guard Ayinde Ubaka scored 21 in the Taipans' victory which ensured they remained the
highest-placed of the three Queensland clubs.
Williams scored 19 as Melbourne (1-6) squandered a 22-point second quarter lead, but
opened their account for the season with an 85-82 away win over Gold Coast (2-4).
Townsville (4-3) eked out a 77-73 home win over Adelaide (2-5).