Somebody forgot to tell the Sydney Kings that they are supposed to be the easy beats of the NBL this season as the visitors took care of both FNQ opponents.

I had a slight feeling they were capable of splitting this trip but gave them no chance to sweep. Coach Shane Heal is one of the more feisty basketball competitors this country has ever seen so it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise he coaches the same way.

This leaves the Crocs still winless and the Taipans looking shaky at home. It’s also the first time I can remember that all away teams take the points in a round.

NZ beat also the Tigers in Melbourne and Wollongong were too good for the 36ers in Adelaide. What has happened to home court advantage?
 
The Snakes now sit third bottom on two wins from five starts and coach Fearne won’t be happy with that – especially dropping two winnable games at home.

Also the fact that they led all game and couldn’t close it out (again) may give the coach some sleepless nights. I bet that will be an issue addressed at training this week...

My tips for round 5 – home team first:

NZ vs Sydney (Fri) – Breakers by 12
Townsville vs Cairns (Fri) – Crocs by 7
Sydney vs Adel (Sun) 36ers by 2
Melb vs Townsville (Sun) Crocs by 5
Wollongong vs Perth (Sun) Hawks by 3

Some scenarios

If Cairns beat Townsville the Crocs will play the Tigers on Sunday with both yet to register a win. If Tigers lose that one guard Kevin Braswell could be on a plane home.

On the other side of the coin the Gong vs Perth clash is a battle of the undefeated. Should be a cracker week of hoops!

Get it going Taipans sooner rather than later...