Cairns Marlins v South West Metro Pirates, Fri June 19 @ 8:15pm (Bendigo Bank Basketball Centre)-  The untouchable Marlins are soaring along at 8 and 0 with nobody able to get close to them.  Their commanding lead on the competition has them on-track to host finals but it will most likely come down to their 2 huge games with Rockhampton (Rounds 10 and 15) as the deciding factor.  Vale is the team’s leading scorer and he is currently 5ppg above his career-to-date averages.  The Pirates will start their northern road trip out with bang.  The team has only managed 1 win from their last 5 starts and they fell short of the Capitals last week despite being only 1pt off the mark going into the final period.  Teys has had a slow few weeks and will need to kick back into gear for the Pirates to match the offensive glow the Marlins will put out.

Mackay Meteors v Bundaberg Bulls, Sat June 20 @ 7:00pm (Mackay Basketball Stadium)-  The Meteors are having a big year with the team well up and above their 6 and 12 finish to the 2008 season.  They grabbed a massive win at home last week, taking the Rockets head on and managing to hand them their first loss of the season.  We’ll have to wait until Round 13 for the highly anticipated Kruger v Aucoin rematch.  The Bulls were very much in their Round 8 game all the way to the final minutes.  They closed the gap with the Power down to 2pts but weren’t able to stick their necks in-front.  Expect alot of Coach King’s defence to be centralised on Bulls import Hanson in order to shut down their major offensive threat.  Keirnan bagged 5 of 6 three’s last week so the home team will need to control him down before the long ball momentum continues into this game.

Ipswich Force v Gladstone Power, Sat June 20 @ 7:00pm (Ipswich basketball Stadium)-  Having plenty of time to recover from the Ipswich Show, the Force need to feed from the motivation and optimism shown in their last game (116-98 win over the Mountaineers) in order to stop the travelling Power.  This is the Powers first road trip south that will see them land at Ipswich and hungry to match the 50% from the field effort that saw them collect their 2^nd win in a row last week.  A distinct height advantage for the Power with Kingma in hot form, but it is the damage that Simanic can inflict that should be of major concern for Ipswich.  Iwanicki has also added another set of hands which will have Power arriving as favourites.  Round 7 Player of the Week Jeffries will be out to keep the dream alive.

Caboolture Suns v Gold Coast Goannas, Sat June 20 @ 7:00pm (Caloundra Indoor Stadium)-  The Suns import Milne grabbed his highest score yet last week against the Clippers (30pts @ 77%).  He’s averaging 20ppg, 10rpg and playing an integral part in the teams fight for supremacy in Pool B- they are trading blows with the Capitals and Wizards in the race for what will most probably pan out to be 2 finals positions available.  Under the guidance of Coach Radliffe the Goannas are on a run of 4 losses and will need to bounce back with a win before they spiral out of control.  The team was put in their place by both the Heat and Marlins last week with the only positive to come out of the weekend a solid 2 performances by McGregor.  The Suns better form heading into this game might just be the difference.

Northside Wizards v Maroochydore Clippers, Sat June 20 @ 7:00pm (The Sports Centre)-  The machine Tragardh threw down 70pts @ 85% against the Mountaineers last week to reach another new level.  Suit him up, along with Davis and Gibson and you’d have to say that the Clippers are in for a hiding.  On the other hand, take one or more of them out and the bar will start to even out a little.  The outcome of this game will be dictated by the roster that Coach Haly arrives with.  The travelling Clippers will be looking to get one back on the Wizards, after their Round 2 loss to them (86-121).  Sykes seems to be gathering pace and Tueta will start to gain interest from US Colleges if he continues his current path.  Clippers only technically 2 wins off the pace and with only 8 games to go for them this game is pretty important.

Townsville Heat v South West Metro Pirates, Sat June 20 @ 7:45pm (NPA Stadium)-  The Townsville Heat have picked up their last 2 games on the fly and Coach Rose will be looking to convert this one to a win and put the team on a streak before they head south for their 3-game road trip.  With Croc’s positions still up for grabs each and every player will be turning up the heat and the Pirates should feel the full wrath.  After facing the unbeaten Marlins on Friday night, the Pirates have yet another tough challenge in front of them.  The 2^nd restricted player vacancy for Townsville has now been filled by Michael Cedar and with his career-to-date averages of 20ppg, 6rpg, 4apg the home crowd can be ready for some joy.  The experience of JC will need to shine thru for the Pirates with the team probably having a better shot at a win here than in Cairns. 

Rockhampton Rockets v Bundaberg Bulls, Sun June 21 @ 2:00pm (Hegvold Stadium)-  The Rockets showed that they are human after all last week going down to the Meteors.  It’s been a long time since the Rockets walked away from a game second best – back at the end of May in 2008 to be exact where they lost to the Heat 96-116.  With Golson continuing to do what he does best it won’t be too long before the Rockets get back ontrack.  This game is far from a walk over for them as the Bulls have given many teams a real scare this year with their import Hanson a quality player.  The team will have to give 110% all weekend on the near impossible Mackay/Rocky double if they wish to increase their current 2 and 6 standing.  A Bulls win here would be regarded as an upset. 

Toowoomba Mountaineers v Gladstone Power, Sun June 21 @ 2:00pm (Toowoomba Basketball Stadium)-  The Power will see alot of QLD roads leading into this game given they have driven 5hrs to get to Brisbane and then west to face the Force on Saturday night before heading up the range to Toowoomba.  The Mountaineers have yet to bear fruit in ’09 and were demolished last week at the hands of the Wizards.  With that said if Glover and Tribe can get moving early and put the Power on the back foot then anything could happen.  The Power are a top 6 team this year but they are constantly in the shadows of their well built northern rivals.  A successful weekend could see them jump as high as another 3 places on the ladder. 

Brisbane Capitals v Ipswich Force, Sun June 21 @ 2:00pm (Vince Hickey Basketball Stadium)-  The Capitals have shown quality form in recent weeks which is reflected in their current 4^th position on the ladder.  The team has managed only the 1 loss from their 6 home games this year which see’s the stat’s on their side here.  The Force will have a long tussle at home on Saturday night with the Power in town which gives the Capitals yet another advantage.  Latimer, Beak and Ferguson are getting the job done for Coach Ryan while Castle is really tying the team together well.  51% from the field last week is the standard they need to be every week if they want to be ready for what the post-season may throw at them.