Lisch Has Final Word On Outcome & Import Change

Former St Louis Billikens star Kevin Lisch was the hero Friday night at The Swamp in Townsville.

*** Gold Coast Blaze make first import change of the new NBL season. Bye to Michael Joiner, say hello to Erron Maxey.

All week there was a whole lot of huffing and puffing from both the Townsville Crocodiles and Perth Wildcats camp, but it was the silent assassin that had the biggest say in the end.

New combo guard import Kevin Lisch (or "D" to his teammates) silenced some of his critics out west but ultimately silenced Croc Nation with under a second remaining. As time was expiring the ball found its way into Lisch's hands and all he had time to do was catch and fire. A high arching three hit nothing but net as the Perth Wildcats ran out of town having stolen a 91-89 victory.

The Crocs opened up the first twelve minutes (oops sorry ten) like it was a clinic. They scored the first seven points of the game before heading to quarter time up 37-28. The chief destroyers for the Crocs were Michael Cedar and Rolan Roberts, both had nine points.

The Crocs were red hot as they connected on 14/20 shooting from the field.

Although the Crocs went to the main break up 57-52, you could sense that the Crocs were beginning to lose the ascendancy in this one as the Wildcats out scored them 24-20 in the quarter.

Wildcat rookie Jesse Wagstaff chimed in with nine points in the half, while Shawn Redhage was active as ever with eight.

Cedar continued to lead the Crocs with an even dozen.

The Crocs came out after the break and looked determined to close this one out early as they extended their lead back out to eleven half way through the third term.

Very much like the first two quarters though, the Crocs struggled to close out the quarter, allowing the Cats back to within five heading into the final period.

Cedar continued with the hot hand as his 22 points to this point had come on a 5/6 shooting display from down town.

At the start of the fourth you felt it could be anyone's game but I was feeling the Crocs would get home as they had been playing the better basketball for most of the game.

Enter an aggressive Kevin Lisch. (Up to this point it seemed Lisch was playing with one foot already on the plane, 1/7 fgs and 2 turnovers.) He exploded for 13 points in the quarter, including the game winning three.

I'm not sure what happened, but Lisch all of a sudden had this aggressive mindset every time he caught the ball. Whether in the open court or in the half court, he was dangerous.

Although Lisch went into destruction mode, the Crocs went into self destruction mode. 8 turnovers for the quarter was their story.

They managed to keep themselves in the contest by pounding the offensive glass on several occasions during this quarter but I'd have to question when Corey "Homicide" Williams' grabbed an "O" board himself and dribbled out to the three and let it fly. we all know the result of that shot.

It was purely the turnovers in the final period because the Crocs shot a scorching 54% from the floor for the game,. Oh and D-Lisch's final dagger as time expired.

Audio from the press conference can be found here.

Thoughts From The Game

- Paul Rogers injured his left elbow badly. This plus foul trouble to Luke Schenscher helped the Wildcats get back in the game. They had to go with a smaller agile lineup that caused the Crocs all kinds of trouble.

- Shawn Redhage seemed to be forcing the issue a little at times. His 7 turnovers will support me here.

- Fundamentals let the Crocs down in this one. I have already mentioned the turnovers in the fourth quarter, but they shot 8-15 free throws for the game. The attempted zero in the final 10 minutes.

- Wildcat Jesse Wagstaff is a player now. Once again Metro St in Denver has done a great job of developing some of Australia's hoop talent. Mark Worthington and Luke Kendall are just a few of the many that have come out of there, better than when they went in.

- Cam Tovey may win this year's three point percentage. He went 1-1. Look for him to penetrate a lot the rest of the season.

- This is not the first time in recent memory that the Wildcats have stolen one in Townsville. Damien Ryan did a similar thing to a Trevor Gleeson coached team in 2007.

Other News

- A few days ago Adelaide journo Boti Nagy had a little quiz in his column. Boti, I will beg to differ that it was Brad Williamson and not Drew that dropped those threes with Ebi Ere!

- Snakes put bite into fatigued Cats.

- Adam Ballinger tells us he should not of shot it. What the?

- SOS in Adelaide, finally gets it's night.

- NBL considered "Snoozer Of The Week".

- Ever wondered what former Brisbane Bullets and Geelong Supercat import Adrein Branch is doing? Click here to see why an "ACC Legend" is on Gardner-Webb's campus.

- Here is the boxscore from David Barlow's first game in the Spanish ACB league.

- A Joey Wright spray has been given the credit for the Gold Coast Blaze getting over the Wollongong Hawks.

- Perth Wildcats skipper Shawn Redhage feels the new rules will have a "huge impact" on the game.

- Former Boston Celtic and NBA dunk champion Dee Brown is in Australia holding some clinics.