Eastern Mavericks v Norwood Flames, Friday April 20, 8:15pm at Adelaide Hills

Eastern had two setbacks over the Easter break. A shoulder operation caused Stephen Williams to miss last week's game and further medical advice for Brad Hill raised concerns about his return this season. Eastern was more than competitive against Centrals until the last few minutes. Jye Watson has been scoring consistently as one might expect, but it's Shane Breheny who has been the revelation. Breheny, who scored a grand total of 8 points last season with Sturt, is ranked 5^th in the league in scoring at 19.4 point per game. Norwood, however is undefeated, and showing the benefits of fielding a team that's virtually unchanged from last season. Expect them to win this one comfortably. 

Southern Tigers v West Adelaide Bearcats, Friday April 20, 8:15pm at Morphett Vale

After a good win over Woodville to start the season, Southern has lost its last 4 games, three of which have been at home. The Tigers have great depth at the guard position, with Joel Goodenough, Matt Clarke and Brad Gerlach all in the rotation and Paul Smith and Michael Florence also getting minutes, but have not quite done enough to contain taller teams, despite 19 points and 8 rebounds per game from Daniel Lalic. West has Blake Truslove working his way into form, and would be ecstatic with last week's 30 point output from Anthony Spadavecchia in Brendan Mann's absence. The Bearcats bounced back last week against South after a tough loss to Norwood, and should be too strong for the Tigers.

North Adelaide Rockets v South Adelaide Panthers, Friday, April 20, 8:15pm at Hillcrest

South's season has been affected by an inconsistent lineup. Agel Machar and Steve Pilkington were overseas for the pre-sesaon, Ken Carter joined the team late, and has now left for NSW, Damian Scanlon played his first game last week, as did Shane Ahmatt, though Ahmatt's long term involvement is uncertain, and Lucas Smith is out with a knee injury. North survived last week without Dusty Rychart, Dallas Quigley and Ben Groves, and Sam Whittleston made the most of it with 12 points. No team has been within 20 points of North since its first game with a full group, and this is unlikely to change until its round 9 meeting with Norwood.

Woodville Warriors v Sturt Sabres, Friday April 20, 8:15pm at DH Dome

Woodville were harassed into 27 turnovers last week, the loss of Cam Wilson 2 minutes in a factor. Wilson has been having his most consistent season, and with Gary Birmingham, Woodville have one of the tougher defensive backcourts in the comp. Sturt's winning streak ended at the hands of Forestville, although the Sabres did remarkably well without Darren Ng, Jordan Dodman and Liam Flynn, with Mark Paget, Nathan Vaughan and Andrew Braham making the most of more opportunities. Dodman returns this weekend and could be the difference against the smaller Woodville group.

Central Districts v Woodville Warriors, Saturday April 21, 8:15pm at Starplex

Centrals v Woodville games are always entertaining, and this one should be even more so, given the teams' proximity on the ladder, and the involvement of former Warriors Zane Reeves and Jarrod Graves in Lions uniforms. Centrals has exceeded expectations this season, and Graves has been impressive at both ends. Woodville's season has also been reasonable given it's lack of size, but Cam Wilson needs more help for the Warriors to be finals contenders. Expect a tight game, and the performance of Reeves in his second game since returning from injury could be the difference.

Sturt Sabres v North Adelaide Rockets, Saturday April 21, 8:15pm at Pasadena

Depending on yesterday's results, Sturt may have the opportunity to claim second position from North, in this game of the week. Sturt are without Darren Ng whose 36ers strength and conditioning program will affect his Central ABL availability this season, but even without him and Jordan Dodman last week, the Sabres were more than competitive against Forestville. North also were impressive despite being undermanned last week, with Nick Hambour and Sam Whittleston stepping up in the absence of Dusty Rychart and Dallas Quigley. Dodman's return to do battle with Nick Hambour will be a highlight of this game.

West Adelaide Bearcats v Eastern Mavericks, Saturday April 21, 8:15pm at Pt. Adelaide

After being depleted by pre-season retirements, Eastern has been rocked by the absence of Brad Hill and Stephen Williams. Forward Ben Dearman has made a stellar leap forward in his first ABA season, and guards Daniel Lean and Ty Barton have also skyrocketed into the rotation, but while all are benefiting from their court time, it's difficult to see Eastern withstanding the strength of Blake Truslove, Shane Crothers and Kris Davis. Jye Watson holds the team together in offence, but should receive close attention from in-form Anthony Spadavecchia and Rory Craddock.  

Norwood Flames v Forestville Eagles, Saturday April 21, 8:15pm at Mars

Norwood has been the measuring stick of the competition to date. Todd Matthews is the best point guard in the competition, and an NBL-calibre centre such as David Cooper will always be difficult to counter. Forestville is one of the few teams that has the opportunity to do so via the services of Kane Oakley, whose rebounding and defensive strengths are similar to Cooper's. Coaching decisions involving the matchups of Matt Sutton, Brad Sullivan, Andrew Webber and Todd Matthews will be interesting, but the Flames are in better form than the Eagles at the moment, and would be expected to continue their charge towards a round 9 battle with North.

South Adelaide Panthers v Southern Tigers, Saturday April 21, 8:15pm at Marion

Traditional rivals South and Southern meet for the first time this season, with both teams desperate to improve on a 1 and 4 record. South would be adjusting to the return of Damian Scanlon and the knee injury to Lucas Smith, but with any luck will be playing its third game with an identical lineup. Against a small opponent, South's strength will be the size of Agel Machar and Steve Pilkington, while Southern's will be its fleet of guards including Matt Clarke, Phil Brown, Brad Gerlach and Joel Goodenough. In a pre-season trial between these teams at the same venue, Southern won in a low scoring affair, but South will field a vastly different team from that day, so anything is possible.

Forestville Eagles v Central Districts Lions, Sunday April 22, 2:00pm at Wayville

Forestville would have been ecstatic to defeat an undermanned Sturt last week, and while it is not fielding as strong a team as in previous years, would still be confident of progressing to the finals. Brad Sullivan and Kane Oakley have been the most consistent Eagles, and you would expect the late introduction of Darren Breeding and Scott Arnold to have more of an impact as the season progresses. For the Lions, Jarrod Graves is realising the potential he showed as a junior, and Matt Atkins had made some big plays this season. Forestville's preference to play this game on a Sunday gives both teams the opportunity to do some scouting on Friday night, but how well each team recovers from a game the previous night could be the telling factor.