I watched some of this game. Impressive full court press by the Dragons really suffocated the Tigers offense.
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2009 Australia's NBL Finals: Melbourne Tigers vs South Dragons
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I agree.. the Dragons players know the coach's system and they don't usually panic... same thing as the Tigers as well..
The Melbourne Tigers were very impressive when they beat the Breakers in Game 2 in the semis... way behind for three quarters and then slowly taking control of the game...
But I guess, the South Dragons have the edge over their town rivals...
I support the Dragons just because of their coach and they beat my team in the semis...
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AUS - Goorjian says: Dragons best defensive team ever
MELBOURNE (NBL) - An incredible defensive performance in game 3 has seen the South Dragons move within one win of claiming their first ever NBL Championship, after defeating the Melbourne Tigers 84-67 at Hisense Arena to take a 2-1 lead in the best of five series.
The Tigers must win game four, at their home court - the Cage - to force a game five decider at Hisense, but they may have to do so without captain and star centre Chris Anstey.
Anstey and New Zealand international Mika Vukona were ejected after a physical confrontation that involved all 10 players on the court at the end of the third quarter. Anstey has been cited by the NBL Tribunal for striking Dragons reserve point guard Rhys Carter.
The melee started when Anstey tangled repeatedly with Carter in the open court. After Carter bumped Anstey, the 115kg centre retaliated and floored the 88kg Carter with a shoulder bump.
Immediately following the scuffle, Carter nailed a free throw and a buzzer beating three pointer to give the Dragons a 70-51 three quarter time lead and effectively end the contest.
The real damage had been done much earlier though, as Australian Olympian Joe Ingles (11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), import Tremmell Darden (12 points, 4 rebounds) and centre Matt Burston (9 points, 11 rebounds) dominated in the open court to give the Dragons a 28-16 lead at the first break.
Darden and Ingles in particular provided the 8200 strong Dragons crowd with plenty of highlights and exposed the fatigued transition defence of the Tigers.
Melbourne drew within two early in the second quarter on a Luke Kendall jumpshot in transition, but the Dragons answered immediately behind the play of Vukona and emerging point guard, and former Australian junior representative Adam Gibson, taking a 46-33 half time lead.
The third quarter was all South, and import Donta Smith (18 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists), who had played the role of distributor until that point, put on a show for the fans with his aerial brilliance to ensure there would be no comeback from the Tigers. Olympian Mark Worthington was again rock solid for the Dragons with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Only Anstey (15 points, 5 rebounds) and Nigerian international Ebi Ere (16 points, 5 turnovers) reached double figures for Melbourne, but both were hounded by the South defence and shot at a poor rate.
The Tigers overall shot at just 33% from the field, 23% from the three point line, and 61% from the foul line. Their 67 points was the second lowest score by any team in an NBL Grand Final.
Game four is on Wednesday night, but of further concern to Melbourne is the treatment required by Anstey to his previously injured knee. His inability to contest shots in the paint opened up the game for the athletic trio of Ingles, Smith and Darden.
Despite the offensive razzle dazzle, Dragons coach Brian Goorjian was most effusive in his praise of the Dragons defensive efforts. "I've been involved in a lot of grand finals and I've never had a team play this level of defence for the extended period that we have.
"They've moved to a level defensively that I haven't got a team to play before," he added. "It's not like you're playing chopped liver, this is the best team in the competition, the defending champion that you're playing."
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Anstey roars for Tigers
Two-time league MVP winner Chris Anstey might still be nursing a sore knee, but he certainly knows how to lift for big games.
The towering centre was at his brilliant best on Wednesday night as the Melbourne Tigers levelled the best-of-five Grand Final series against the South Dragons at two wins apiece.
It wasn't just his 31 points and 14 rebounds that made Anstey the dominant player on the court, with the 34-year-old also coming up with some key stops at the defensive end.
While Anstey has been the best player from both teams so far this Grand Final series - he now has 88 points from the first four matches - he is confident his side can make it back-to-back Championships in Friday night's decider even if he doesn't have a big match.
"Whether it is me, whether it is Ebi (Ere) or whoever, it doesn't matter who steps up," Anstey said after the Tigers' 108-95 victory over the Dragons on Wednesday.
"No-one remembers who had big games when you win a Championship, you just remember who won them."
Anstey said his incident with Dragons guard Rhys Carter in game three of the series on Sunday night had not been playing on his mind leading into the fourth match and that he was merely attempting to recover from the bruising contest.
And although it looks like it will be more physio and ice baths for Anstey heading into Friday's decider, he is confident the Tigers can get the job done.
"It is a one-game series now and if you told us at the start of the season that we had one game to win a Championship you would take it every time," Anstey said.
Winning a Championship away from home is something the Tigers have made a habit of in the past, with all four of their titles being achieved on the road.
They will have to make it a perfect 5-of-5 at Hisense Arena on Friday if they are to continue that trend, but Tigers coach Al Westover knows that it is a more than achievable task.
"We go into the fifth game full of confidence and with our self-belief back," Westover said.
"It doesn't matter if we are playing here or there because we can get it done."
"We have done it in our past. Our first Championship was in Perth where I don't think we had ever won before and they were celebrating before the game and we got it done."
"Then last year nearly everyone wrote us off after game four and then we got it done in Sydney."
"We feel good about ourselves with how we are playing at the moment."
The much awaited final game 5 will be played on the 13th. Now that'll be a grand final
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South Dragons: 2008/2009 CHAMPIONS of Australia's National Basketball League
NBL.com.au
Dragons claim first title
Fri, 13 Mar 2009 9:13 PM
By Jonathan Healy at Hisense Arena, Sportal
The South Dragons have claimed the 2008/09 NBL Championship, a 102-81 victory over the defending titleholder the Melbourne Tigers at a packed Hisense Arena on Friday night completing their fairytale season.
It was a Tremmell Darden-inspired run during the middle stages of the third term that set-up the victory, with the Dragons extending their 11-point half-time advantage to a match-winning 18 at the final break.
Darden hit 21 of his career-best 31 points during that quarter to help his side take control of the contest and there were no final-term heroics from the Tigers as the Dragons sealed the three-games-to-two result in the best-of-five Grand Final series and became the first team in NBL history to go from wooden-spooner to Championship winner in the space of 12 months.
While Darden was the star of the show in the deciding match of the series, fellow American Donta Smith played just as big a role in the victory.
Smith narrowly missed a triple-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and also became the first import to win the Larry Sengstock Medal since the talented Chris Williams was adjudged the best player of the Grand Final series in 2003.
Dragons skipper Mark Worthington and young swingman Joe Ingles contributed nine points apiece in the victory, while Mika Vukona and Matt Burston shot eight each.
For the Tigers, Ebi Ere (16 points), David Barlow (16) and Chris Anstey (12) battled hard, but the Dragons were hungrier for the victory - they won the rebound count 47-33 - and shot the ball at a magnificent 53 percent shooting clip throughout.
Nathan Crosswell (11 points, four assists) and Ere found their range early on as the Tigers edged out to a seven-point lead midway through the first term, but it didn't take long for the Dragons to come to terms with the zone defence their opponents were playing.
Smith threw down a big dunk on the fast break and then nailed a huge three from the top of the arc right on the quarter-time buzzer as the Dragons ended the stanza with an 18-7 run to take a four-point (28-24) lead into the first break.
Things started to hot up in the second term as Smith scored four consecutive baskets to help give the Dragons a double-digit lead and the Tigers began to struggle from the field.
The Tigers could only manage six field goals in the second term and with the Dragons leading the rebound count 22-17, the home side enjoyed a healthy 11-point (52-41) buffer at the half.
Darden was playing the perfect support role to Smith in the opening half and he provided the Dragons' first five points of the third term as the hosts extended their advantage to 13.
Tommy Greer (six points, four rebounds) connected from beyond the arc and hit a long-two to bring the Tigers back within eight, but Darden nailed back-to-back triples as the Dragons went on a 12-2 run to break out to a 24-point lead.
A triple from Anstey and a Luke Kendall (nine points, three assists) heave from half-court on the three-quarter-time buzzer brought the Tigers back within 18 (82-64) with 12 minutes remaining.
Another three from Kendall helped reduce the Tigers' deficit to 16 early in the final term, but they could get no closer as Smith, Ingles and Worthington stepped up over the final stages to allow the Dragons' celebrations to begin.
South Dragons 102 (Darden 31, Smith 21, Worthington 9)
Melbourne Tigers 81 (Ere 16, Barlow 16, Anstey 12)
@ Hisense Arena, 13/3/09. Crowd: 8922.
CONGRATS BOIZ!!!"No hay poder en el mundo que pueda cambiar el destino"
-El Padrino
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Congrats to the Dragons, I guess they managed to fool everyone
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