North Adelaide Rockets (2-4, 8th) v Central District Lions (1-5, 10th)

After a tough start to the season for both sides, the Rockets and Lions meet on Saturday following surprising results in their past two matches.

North began its 2011 campaign with consecutive one point losses, before being easily beaten by West and Norwood.

However, upset victories over the Sabres and Mavs sees the Rockets right back in the finals mix.

The win against Eastern came in spite of the fact 36ers Guard Rhys Carter went scoreless.

Standing up in his place were Josh Bond, who scored a CABL season high 40, and Ryan Franceschinis (26 points and 7 boards).

Five consecutive losses to start 2011 had extended the Lions’ woes to 19 consecutive defeats, before a 24-14 fourth quarter led them to a 77-66 win in Round 6.

In their previous match, they came agonisingly close to breaking their duck, but fell two points short against Eastern.

Centrals’ last road win was Round 4 2010, against North at Hillcrest.

Matt Atkins had a season high 18 points, while Josh Kollasch had 14 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists.

With the evenness of the competition, a win would give the Lions some chance of making a playoff charge. Centrals sit just 2 wins behind fourth-placed Sturt.

However, a loss would see them lose touch with the top five.

I give the Lions a fighting chance, but North has played improved basketball in recent times, and will be desperate to end their home-court hoodoo.

I think the Rockets will take the points.

South Adelaide Panthers (2-4, 7th) v Sturt Sabres (3-3, 4th)

South Adelaide and Sturt will be looking to put their inconsistent starts behind them when they face off at Marion in Round 7.

After opening their account with two victories, the Panthers have dropped four straight games.

Two of those losses, against Southern and Woodville, they would have expected to win.

Despite Daniel Johnson’s tremendous night (31 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks), South went down to West 80-72.

Mitch Creek produced a mixed bag, scoring just 14 points, 6.5 below his average, as well as turning the ball over 8 times. However, he produced 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks.

The Sabres have experienced both highs and lows thus far.

Their last match against the Warriors was one of their highs, bursting out of the blocks with a 26-12 first quarter, en route to a 92-61 victory.

After being on the verge of a triple-double in his previous two matches, Jacob Holmes finally completed the feat with 21 points, 14 boards and 12 assists.

Darren Ng also had 21 points, while Jan Warbout had 17.

However, only two games ago, Sturt dropped a home match against previously winless North.

Before that, they smashed Forestville, so it is hard to know what to expect from the Sabres.

A week is a long time in basketball, but two weeks is an eternity, as Sturt has already proven once this season.

The break may be just what the Panthers needed, so do not be surprised if they rediscover their form of Round 1 and 2.

However, a lot rests on the shoulders of Creek and Johnson, and Sturt not only has the tools to combat the star duo, but has plenty of options at their offensive end.

Ultimately, I think the Sabres will get the victory.

Woodville Warriors (3-3, 6th) v Norwood Flames (5-1, 1st)

Both the Warriors and Flames were brought back down to Earth after an excellent start to the season.

On Saturday, Woodville and Norwood face off at St Clair, with the former hoping to get back into the top five, and the latter looking to cement its spot at the top of the ladder.

After shock victories over West and South, the Warriors were thrashed by the Sabres at Pasadena, where they were never in the game.

Leading scorer Josh Knight, who missed Woodville’s double boilover, returned to the line-up against Sturt, posting a team-high 10 points.

Cameron Wilson and Zane Reeves combined for just 19 points, after the two collectively produced 54 against the Panthers.

The Warriors have added a new import to their side in Colin Matteson, who replaces Joseph Campbell.

Norwood came agonisingly close to continuing its unbeaten run, going down to Forestville 90-89 in Round 6.

After trailing all night up until the final few minutes, the Flames led by four (with possession) with just over a minute remaining, but could not hold on.

Todd Matthews, Andrew Webber and David Cooper combined for 65 points.

Webber has been red hot all season, averaging 26.8 ppg.

Corey Ottey and Nick Hambour completed the starting five, but collectively produced just 8 points.

Expect Norwood’s loss to act as a wake-up call, giving them extra incentive to fire up and get the victory.

On paper, the Flames look too strong, but the Warriors have been able to produce quality basketball against most of the top sides.

I expect Woodville to be more competitive than it was against Sturt, but cannot see them matching the Flames for all four quarters.

Norwood should get up reasonably comfortably.

Forestville Eagles (4-2, 3rd) v Eastern Mavericks (3-3, 5th)

In the Match of the Round on Saturday, Forestville play host to Eastern, with each team hoping to stake their claim as a top five side.

After dropping games against Sturt and West, the Eagles bounced back with a stunning 90-89 road win over league-leaders Norwood.

Brad Sullivan scored a season-high 26 points, including a three-pointer with 4.1 seconds remaining that gave his side the lead for good.

Nic Blair, Brad Haydon, John Wernham and Rashad Tucker all scored in double figures, while Adam Doyle had 9 points and 7 assists.

With Trent Fildes missing, Simons used predominantly a six-man rotation throughout the match, with seventh man Majok Deng seeing just 6.24 of action.

The Eagles will be buoyed by the signings of James Boonstoppel (returning from US College) and Neil Mottram (returning from Sweden).

Both players will add some much needed depth to the side’s slender roster, with Mottram also providing some extra size inside, taking the pressure off of Tucker.

The Mavs, on the other hand, have best typified how the CABL is another basketball league where ‘Amazing Happens’.

In a season where nothing is a given, Eastern are -7 against three of the competition’s top four sides (Norwood, West and Sturt), but are only 4 points better off against the bottom three teams (North, Centrals and Southern).

In their last outing, the Mavs went down 111-96 against North.

The Rockets shot the ball at 53.2 per cent from the field and 50 per cent from beyond the arc.

Ben Madgen scored 21 points, but fellow NBL players Brad Hill (20 points on 4-13 shooting) and Aaron Bruce (9 points on 3-10 shooting) were well down on their season averages.

If Eastern produces this kind of performance against the Eagles, it will be a long night for Hill’s boys.

However, Forestville has a double-dilemma to face.

Assuming Boonstoppel and Mottram are in uniform, neither will have had much time to get to know the offences and defences.

If Coach Andy Simons decides to leave them out of the side or restrict their minutes, there will again be players forced to play big minutes.

The Eagles 10 point three-quarter time lead proved just enough against Norwood, but leading by 7 after the same timeframe against West was not, so this method has had mixed success.

Against the fast-paced Mavs, they could have their hands full.

As mentioned, Eastern has played well against the top sides this season, and after two weeks break, I am inclined to think they will bring their best basketball on Saturday.

This match is really difficult to pick, but my gut feeling is the Mavs will get the W.

Southern Tigers (2-4, 9th) v West Adelaide Bearcats (5-1, 2nd)

The CABL’s two least members of the cat family with black on their uniforms have something in common, in that they have produced a mix of their best and worst basketball across their opening 240 minutes of basketball.

The difference is West has a winning record, and Southern have a losing one.

On Sunday, the Bearcats make the long trip south to tackle the Tigers.

Following their loss to an undermanned Woodville side, West has failed to return to its best form, but still managed to come away with back to back victories.

In their last match against the struggling Panthers, it took a mammoth night from Jeff Dowdell for the Bearcats to claw their way over the line.

Dowdell had 30 points on 14-27 shooting and 14 rebounds.

No other West player scored more than 10 points, combining for just 20-54 shooting (37 per cent).

After their surprise victory over South, Southern became the first side to lose to Centrals for more than a year.

The Tigers went down 77-66, after trailing by just a point at three-quarter time against a side that had struggled down the stretch this season.

Southern shot just 25 per cent in the fourth quarter, while its opponents connected on 56.3 per cent of their attempts.

The Tigers were also outrebounded 45-36.

They will need an improved effort on the boards against a team which has a 269-196 rebounding edge on the season, having lost this statistic just once (against North Adelaide in Round 3). 

Against the Lions, Marcus Robinson was on song with 22 points and 7 boards, while Michael Florance had 15 points and 6 boards.

Interestingly, Southern beat West in the corresponding fixture between the two sides last year.

Surely, though, the Bearcats will not let the same thing happen again.

West are due for a breakout game after three indifferent displays, and against the inconsistent Tigers, this could be the day.

Look for the Bearcats to gain the ascendancy early and run away with an easy victory. 

By James Woite