Eastern Mavericks (3-2, 4th) v North Adelaide Rockets (1-4, 9th)

The Mavericks will be hoping to make it three on the bounce when they host the Rockets on Saturday.

2010-11 NBL Rookie of the Year winner Ben Madgen made his season debut for Eastern last week, scoring 13 points in his team’s come-from-behind 90-88 win over Centrals.

Brad Hill had another exceptional game with 38 points on 16-20 shooting, and is now averaging 28.6 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.2 spg and 1 bpg.

Fellow 36er Aaron Bruce is contributing 20 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 7.2 apg and 1.8 spg.

As a team, the Mavericks are averaging just under 88 ppg.

After opening their account with four straight defeats, North Adelaide produced one of the many shocks of last week’s double-header with an 85-81 road win over Sturt.

The Rockets had five players score in double-figures, Rhys Carter leading the way with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

Ryan Franceschinis has been good in his three games, averaging 12.7 ppg on 54.8 per cent shooting, to go with 7 rpg, however, import Curtis Scipio has not had a big impact thus far.

The North players will have been given a major confidence boost after last Sunday’s victory, while two of Eastern’s three victories have been by just two points.

This promises to be an exciting game. I think the Mavs will get up in a close one.

Norwood Flames (5-0, 1st) v Forestville Eagles (3-2, 3rd)

Prior to the Round 4-5 double-header, Norwood and Forestville were both undefeated.

However, back-to-back losses have put the Eagles two games off the pace, and a road loss to their rivals on Saturday could see them drop out of the top five.

Coming off two straight losses, the last fixture Forestville would have wanted is a match at Mars against 5-0 Norwood, the team who has knocked the Eagles out of the finals in each of the last three seasons.

The Flames have won four of their last five games against Forestville, and are in scorching form right now.

Norwood’s dynamic backcourt duo of Todd Matthews and Andrew Webber will cause plenty of headaches for Forestville’s starting Guards Adam Doyle and Brad Sullivan.

Matthews and Webber are averaging a combined 27.2 ppg, 11.4 rpg and 8.2 apg, compared to Doyle and Sullivan’s 16.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 6.6 apg.

The Flames have a massive front line in 202 cm David Cooper and 200 cm Nick Hambour, so Eagles import Rashad Tucker (19.8 ppg, 14.4 rpg, 3.2 apg) will need to keep out of foul trouble.

Tucker was limited in Forestville’s loss to Sturt due to 3 early fouls, before fouling out in their follow-up loss to the Bearcats.

Expect Forestville to go with a lot of trap and zone, which worked affectively against the bigger West players last week.

Unless the Eagles can knock down some perimeter shots, as they did in the first three quarters on Sunday, it will be a long night for them, as Cooper and Hambour will block and alter plenty of shots from in the paint.

Norwood should win this comfortably and end the night 6-0.

Sturt Sabres (2-3, 6th) v Woodville Warriors (3-2, 5th)

The Woodville Warriors produced two stunning upsets last Saturday and Sunday.

The Sturt Sabres were on the wrong end of a shock of their own.

With much at stake for both sides, Sturt host Woodville at Pasadena this coming Saturday.

After demolishing Forestville in a one-sided affair, the Sabres provided North with their first win of the season, despite the best efforts of Jacob Holmes (26 points, 17 rebounds, 8 assists) and Darren Ng (21 points).

Meanwhile, the Warriors, minus leading scorer Josh Knight, knocked off previously undefeated West 75-70, before beating South at Marion in overtime 102-99.

In their win over the Bearcats, it was Gary Birmingham and Chris Furness who stood up, combining for 29 points on 12-19 shooting.

Against the Panthers, it was Cameron Wilson and Zane Reeves who came up big. Wilson finished with 32 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals, while Zane Reeves had 22 points and 12 boards.

At the start of the season, few if any would have predicted Woodville would sit higher than reigning premiers Sturt after five matches.

The Warriors will take a nothing-to-lose attitude into this match, knowing their opponents will be under immense pressure to perform well and get a win.

The loss to North should act as a wake-up call to the underperforming Sabres, who will likely come out with the intensity and tenacity they showed against Forestville.

If this is the case, then Sturt should have too much firepower and pick up a much-needed victory.

West Adelaide Bearcats (4-1, 2nd) v South Adelaide Panthers (2-3, 7th)

The Bearcats and Panthers will meet on Saturday at Port Adelaide, with both coming off disappointing weekends.

West was lucky to escape with a victory over Forestville, just hours after losing to a Knight-less Woodville.

The Panthers, meanwhile, also lost to the undermanned Warriors, as well as going down to Southern at Morphett Vale.

First-year player David Nurse has been impressive for the Bearcats. Nurse is averaging 17.2 ppg and 5 rpg, including 22 and 7 against Forestville.

36er Jeff Dowdell is averaging 22.7 ppg and 14.3 rpg over his three matches, while Tristan Braithwaite had his best game for his new club with 14 points against the Eagles.

However, West need a lot more out of 204 cm giant Blake Truslove.

For South, 36ers Mitch Creek (21.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.6 bpg) and Daniel Johnson (22ppg, 13.3 rpg, 4.7 bpg) have been getting the job done, but have received very little help in their last three games, which has resulted in three losses.

Unless they get that support in this one, Creek and Johnson will have their hands full dealing with the very potent Bearcats.

This is the Panthers’ toughest match this season, so unless they rediscover their form of their opening two matches, they will be in for a long night.

I am going to tip West to get the victory, but do not be surprised if South find something and pull off an upset.

Central District Lions (0-5, 10th) v Southern Tigers (2-3, 8th)

Who knows what to expect from the Southern Tigers?

In Round 1, they came close to upsetting Forestville, before being embarrassed in front of their home fans against Norwood.

Southern then beat a Woodville side that has been playing well, outplayed the Mavs for three quarters but lost the match, and then knocked off a much more talented Panthers side.

Meanwhile, Centrals led a strong Eastern side by seven at three-quarter time, before being outplayed in the fourth to go down by two, their fifth consecutive loss of the season.

On Saturday, the Lions take on the Tigers at Starplex in search of their first victory.

Centrals have twice led a team at three-quarter time, but let themselves down in the fourth quarter.

The Lions used just a six man rotation against the Mavs.

Matt Atkins suited up for the first time this season, finishing with 14 points, including four treys.

Luke Frost, Daniel Carlin and Josh Kollasch combined for 60 points and 32 rebounds.

Against the Panthers, Southern looked gone at half-time, trailing 38-48.

However, they gave up just 20 points in the second half, while scoring 36 points themselves, en route to a 74-68 victory.

Michael Florance starred in that one with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Codey Ellison also produced a double-double (10 points and 12 rebounds). Marcus Robinson added 14 points, 7 boards and 4 blocks.

Although the Tigers are not a hugely offensive ball-club, they have played some excellent defence for long periods this season, which has either got them the win or kept them close.

If they can reproduce this intensity against Centrals, then I expect them to pick up another victory.

By James Woite