Eastern Mavericks v Sturt Sabres    Sat. March 31, 8:15pm at Adelaide Hills

Brad Hill's return from injury is imminent and for Eastern, it can't happen soon enough. Rocked by the retirements of Ben Trebilcock and Brad Davis and the loss of Ben Madgen and Jacob Holmes, coach Richard Hill has assembled a group of players that will eventually be competitive, but that are yet to show it. Jye Watson is not in 2005 form, but is gradually heading that way, averaging 21.7 points per game, and Phil Modra looks in better shape than ever before. The Sabres won a tough road double against West and Southern last week, and with Jordan Dodman and Marcus Ng demonstrating their NBL potential, Sturt are the favourites in their final game before returning to Pasadena.

Southern Tigers v Central Districts Lions      Sat. March 31, 7:45pm at Morphett Vale

The Tigers four game home run ends in a standalone game against a Lions team that has been more competitive than predicted. Both Southern and Centrals have one win from three games and while the Tigers might be satisfied with their 4 point loss to North, they'd be disappointed with their 16 point loss to Sturt. Ben Hodges is in stellar form, averaging 20 points per game at 66%, and Brad Gerlach is not far behind. Jarrod Graves and Justin Clayton are both averaging over 20 points per game, but Centrals will need to lock down on defence, having managed over 100 points in two of their three games, but are giving up 106 per game.

South Adelaide Panthers v Woodville Warriors Sat. March 31, 8:15pm at Marion

South has had a roller coaster season, typified by last weekend's good win over the 2006 premiers and tough loss against the 2007 favourites. Without Damian Scanlon and Danny Kosmider last weekend, Lucas Smith was a revelation, scoring 29 against Forestville and 18 against Norwood. Woodville has been on the same ride as South, losing to Southern away before comfortably handling Eastern at home. Cameron Wilson has carried the Warriors and his near triple double against the Mavs was the best statistical output of the season. Woodville's athleticism is a feature of its last few campaigns, but the size of Steve Pilkington and Agel Machar may give South a slight edge.

North Adelaide Rockets v Forestville Eagles    Sat. March 31, 8:15pm at Hillcrest

In one of two worthy candidates for game-of-the-round, North enters the game after its first week of training with a full group. Dusty Rychart was more dominant in his second game than his first, but Forestville's Kane Oakley is one of few players in the league with the size to stop him. Brad Sullivan and Matt Sutton are yet to reproduce their shooting form of last year 2006 form, but both play well in big games. This could be an absolute shoot out, with Ryan Kerston, Erik Burdon, Sutton and Sullivan all capable of lighting up from the perimeter.

West Adelaide Bearcats v Norwood Flames Sun. April 1, 7:45pm at Port Adelaide

If you make it to the late game at Port Adelaide, you will get to witness another matchup of two of the league's premier big men in David Cooper and Blake Truslove. Cooper's offense has rarely been required in Norwood's three 20+ point victories, partly due to the strength of front-court teammates Dan Thompson and Keith Krause, but his 10 blocks is already double that of the league's second ranked player in that category. Truslove was held to 17 by Sturt's Jordan Dodman, but his 22 against Centrals at 81% indicates he's fitting in quickly to West's offensive sets. The Brendan Mann-Todd Matthews battle should be great, but expect Norwood to continue its unbeaten run.