Victoria Titans - Round 1

[Warwick <giants@eisa.net.au>]

Taken directly from NBL Today (http://www.nbltoday.waus.net)

Note: All of these will have the match report first and the box score
second. The only noticeable
absence on the box scores are fouls.

Round 1.

Melbourne 99 defeated Victoria 80

By Warren Bond

In its season opening clash against the Melbourne Tigers, the so-called
Dream Team
lived up to its name - thoughts of victory were indeed nothing but a
dream.

While many tipped it would take time for the Victoria Titans to 'gel' as
a team, few
would have predicted the shambles that pitted itself against a
rejuvinated Tiger outfit.

The game opened as a real bunfight, with the refs close to losing
control as both
sides took aggressive defence to new heights. Elbows were flying
everywhere in the
best traditions of John Dorge, with Bradtke giving all who came near him
an absolute
spanking. His twenty rebounds (16 points) for the night set the scene
for a Melbourne
victory with repeated fast breaks and double chances created courtesy of
Bradtke
boards. Victoria's house full of bricks didn't help their cause much
either, with only 4
of 32 outside shots connecting.

Any hopes that the Titans might have had of overcoming the man mountain
were
dashed as The Factor (note: The Factor is Andrew Gaze, Australian
legend) set
out to have a big third quarter, nailing twenty of his eventual 41
points.
The eight point half time lead had suddenly blown out to 25 at the last
break,
and the last quarter was garbage time for both sides.

The Tigers ran out winners 99 to 80.

Both teams have significant room for improvement. While no-one stepped
up for the
Titans all night, the Tigers import duo weren't impressive either,
opting instead to
cruise through the game. Of major disappointment to the Titans must be
the failure of
Ronaldson and Maley to lead their young team by example. The Bear only
started to
make an impact when the game was already lost and Gaze was resting on
the bench
for longer than any period in the last three seasons (Ronaldson had only
nine points
at the last
break, while Maley had only four going into the last quarter).

McDonald tried hard at the beginning of the game, but faded all too
quickly.

Lindsay Gaze must have be thrilled by the defensive effort of Brett
Jefferies on a
number of Titans players including D-Mac, and along with starter Daniel
Egan and
Blair Smith, should expect more minutes as the season progresses.

Expect a vastly different game the next time these two inevitable
finalists meet later
this season.

Box score - none available for this game.