Rough times for Port Adelaide fans with the Power losing another game by 4 goals, going down to a determined Adelaide Crows outfit on the weekend in Showdown XXXII. But the biggest pain of it all lies with Power forward Jay Schulz, who was poked in the eye, wasn't given a 50m penalty, and was booed from the ground by Crows fans for supposedly faking the injury. Faking? Faking?! This post, while being a good post, isn't for the faint of heart or weak of bowel so if you think you can stomach it, click the above picture for a shot of the post-match eye. He reportedly has a scratched cornea and is hopefully going to avoid stitches. Ouch! Set to miss one game, our thoughts and prayers are with Schulz as he rehabs from the injury that again, we say had Crows fans booing him from the ground for supposedly faking the injury. The all-time tally now? Port Adelaide 17, Adelaide 15.

Wow. Memo to the Thunder players - if you haven't won the Ramset Medal before Monday night, consider it done and dusted. The Thunder took on Seaton at the unearthly time of 10pm and whilst everyone was a tad tired and sleepy, it was the big Sleepy himself who awoke first. The first half saw the Thunder slow out of the blocks but it was Texas on the boards and Texas on the assists as he repeatedly fed fellow big J.Smith to push the Thunder to a 17-6 lead, only to see the margin fall to 18-11 at halftime and 18-15 after penalty points for no scorer. Memo to the Thunder Wags - where were you? Expect consequences for this as you could've cost the oranges a win, merely for the sake of a night at home. Unblvbl. Granted, we weren't at the game either as it was a) too cold and b) too late, but that's not the point (FWIW, we hacked into the CCTV feed instead, watching from the comfort of our own lounge room at the far superior time of 8.30pm - isn't technology wonderful?). Back to the game though and 18-15 had everyone in the 8000-seat stadium - which was pretty much just the Thunder and Seaton players, plus the refs - wondering if the Thunder were in strife. Enter Texas. Bang, bang, bang with three jumpers and the margin jumped out further. Then it was bang, bang, bang from long range with three triples and the margin jumped out even further again. Then it was bang, bang, bang, bang from short range with drives and floaters and the margin settled to a final 22-point gap, Texas with an individual 23 points in the second half alone. The final 52-30 score was a fair indication of the gap, not so much from the rest of the Thunders but from the Lone Star State, who will undoubtedly lead South Australia back to the Inglis Memorial Shield if he can sustain this form. So with just four games remaining to the finals, the Thunder remain undefeated and finally, they shook free of 2-point wins. But can they sustain it? Can Texas sustain it? We put the question to the fans - OK, perhaps just to our bothan spies - and they told us Texas can do better. Mmmmm. Good times, good times.

PS. What's the Ramset Medal? It's the so-called "perfect game" award presented on Orange Jacket night to the first player awarded maximum votes by every player.

PPS. Who's the cheerleader in the picture above? No, we're not sure either but the real question is "Why wasn't she on the scorebench rather than cheering for Texas?" Both unblvbl and uncptbl. Tsk tsk.

NBA playoff update time and with two games - yes, only two games - played in most first round series, the action has been thick and fast. The world's greatest player, Derrick Rose, is out with a torn ACL, whilst the LA Clippers rebounded from a 27-point deficit to defeat Memphis. But the most bizarre stories involve Rondo and the Knicks' power forward. Who? That's Amare (sorry, we couldn't resist that pun). Rondo had a brain fade - see the above video - late in the first game against Atlanta, as he told the umpire exactly what he thought about the US economic climate but alas, he went far too far when he chestbumped the man in grey. See ya later and whammo, have a holiday for the next game. And this is a player who Boston coach Doc Rivers described as the smartest person he's ever coached. And SLAP to every other player in Boston and Orlando over the past ten years or so. Ouch! Onto the Knicks and they lose game two in Miami and admittedly, Amare may have done the right thing. "In case of emergency, break glass" said the glass casing surrounding the fire extinguisher and down 2-0, it probably was emergency time. So he channelled his inner Mike Mitchell and reportedly punched the glass in frustration near the change room after the game. Whammo, he gets a holiday too though it's expected to be a tad longer than Rondo's break from the game. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2012 NBA playoffs! And we haven't included James Harden's vicious headbutt to Ron Ron's elbow immediately prior to the playoffs. Wow, what a year. Our tip, based on what we've seen to date and including all the above action? Miami to win the East, while you can flip a coin between Oklahoma and San Antonio in the West. Back soon with another update.

PS. The Mike Mitchell reference is a cryptic one that won't mean anything to those who didn't follow 1990s NBL, where the Gold Coast Rollers import pushed his hand through a wire-reinforced glass door postgame at the Snakepit and could've died from the injuries. He was ultimately fine but spent a long time away from the game and upon returning, was never the same. It could've been a lot worse though, a lot worse. Clearly Amare didn't follow 1990s NBL either .....

Ready:
“No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” - 2 Timothy 2:4 (NASB)

Set:
Imagine running a race with your jeans hanging low or while wearing bagging sweat pants. You'll either wind up tripping or waddling like a penguin. Regardless, you are sure to lose the race. However, if you are serious about winning, you will do all that you can to keep yourself from tripping or being slowed down. Second Timothy 2:4 says, “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” The Greek word “empleko” refers to a person who is tangled up in his or her garments or caught in some type of vine. This word was used to describe someone who was running and got his clothes entangled in his legs. In battle, soldiers who desire to do their jobs properly must make sure that they don't allow anything to distract them from their duties. A good soldier will not permit him or herself to get tangled up in the affairs of life. In the same way, we as believers in Jesus Christ need to check and see what is tripping us up and keeping us from serving Him. Think about the “things” in your life--your possessions, the material objects you own. Have they become so woven into your life that you cannot live without them? Could you give them up if the Lord asked you to? In my life, I realize that something as simple as watching TV can tangle me up and slow me down when trying to live for Jesus Christ. How many times have we watched athletes get in trouble because alcohol and partying was more important to them than being a good teammate? They chose the things of the world over their commitment to their team, and it caused negative results. If material things in our lives mean so much to us that we can't live without them, we will be tangled up and will never run effectively for our Lord. I encourage you today to examine yourself as you serve the living Christ. Do everything in your power to keep those material things of the world in the right perspective. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the areas you need to untangle and then ask for His help!

Go:
1. What could be causing you to run ineffectively? What is tripping you up?
2. Have you asked the Holy Spirit to help you?

Workout:
Galatians 5
Colossians 3:23
Hebrews 12:1-3

One player misses today's game due to a child's birthday, whilst another player misses today's game due to football? What is this world coming to? Then we hear another player will make his debut in Thunder colours, donning the #14 singlet worn last year by the now-departed Ben Galway. Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you your 2012 Gateway Thunder who today face off against the current four-time A Grade premiers, Prince Alfred Old Collegians.

LAST FIVE GAMES HEAD-TO-HEAD
27/8/2011: Gateway 56 (J.Smith 20, Vucetic 13, Galway 11) d PAOC 39
23/7/2011: PAOC 51 d Gateway 38 (Vucetic 18, Jones 8, Penn 5)
4/6/2011: PAOC 54 d Gateway 50 (Vucetic 13, McKinnon 12, J.Smith 11)
21/5/2011: Gateway 49 (Howie 13, McKinnon 13, J.Smith 13) d PAOC 41
11/9/2010: PAOC 55 d Somerton 37 (Halman 11, J.Smith 11, Sleep 8)

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played 33: Gateway 16, Draw 1, Prince Alfred 16

ALL-TIME GATEWAY SACBA STATS LEADERS (active players in blue)
Games: J.Smith 315, B.Smith 236, Kyriazis 209, Gondolf 197, Brook 115, Collins 80, Rudd 67, Penn 64, Ba.Smith 63, Halman 58
Triples: Gondolf 191, Swanson 120, Kyriazis 86, Penn 85, Hallsworth 76, Galway 65, Halman 58, Wickstein 56, Vucetic 45, McKinnon 31
Free throws: J.Smith 646, B.Smith 224, Swanson 132, Kyriazis 128, Rudd 113, Halman 101, Gondolf 89, Brook 88, Zajer 53, Collins 50
Free throw % (min 10 attempts): Watson 86%, Vucetic 74%, Moresi 73%, Halman 70%, J.Smith 69%, Swanson 69%, Wild 64%, McKinnon 63%, Ba.Smith 63%, Wickstein 59%
Fouls: J.Smith 674, Kyriazis 520, B.Smith 426, Gondolf 219, Brook 209, Halman 126, Ba.Smith 125, Collins 120, Rudd 111, P.Sampson 98
Points: J.Smith 4732, B.Smith 1796, Gondolf 1062, Kyriazis 973, Swanson 712, Hallsworth 645, Brook 600, Rudd 577, Halman 552, Penn 454

MILESTONES
Josh Gondolf is 3 games away from his 200th career game
Cal McKinnon needs 5 points to reach 300 career points
Josip Vucetic needs 5 triples to reach 50 career triples
Josh Gondolf needs 9 triples to reach 200 career triples
Ed Howie needs 10 points to reach 100 career points
Nick Kyriazis needs 14 triples to reach 100 career triples
Kerwin Penn needs 15 triples to reach 100 career triples
Gateway need 16 triples to reach 1000 all-time triples

OUR PREDICTION
The last four years tell an interesting but contrasting story for these two teams who remain the only sides that we know of, to have achieved the elusive fourpeat in SACBA A Grade basketball. From 2008 to 2011 inclusive, Prince Alfred have finished A Grade premiers, A Grade premiers, A Grade premiers and A Grade premiers. Gateway have finished A Grade fifth, B Grade premiers, A Grade third and B Grade premiers. Not quite the same story and this could be telling today. That said, a new face makes his debut for the blue, orange and white today, with Jason Stephenson bringing his sweet-shooting touch to town. How they'll use him will be interesting in itself, with the man they call Stevo best suited to an Andrew Gaze type role that may be nigh on impossible with the Thunder's guard-heavy roster. Our bothan spies tell us guards Josip Vucetic (kids) and Nick Kyriazis (football) will miss the game though they've been wrong before. So what to expect? Prince Alfred are a deep, talented team with solid bigs, smalls and in-betweens - and they are deserving fourpeat premiers. That said, ex-Thunder forward Michael Hill still plays for them and playing against his old side should stir up memories that could see him play well or otherwise - though the Thunder wouldn't want to bait him unnecessarily because that has certainly backfired in previous games between the two. In the end, it'll come back to Prince Alfred's depth at all positions versus the Thunder's new lineup and overall sticktoitiveness. Our tip? Prince Alfred by 8 points.

Wow. In a game of two halves - although it seemed like one went for 30 minutes and the other half went for only 10, such was the contrast in game styles and outcome - the Thunder went down 44-36 to Prince Alfred A to start the season a disappointing 0-2 but at the same time, they went home not unhappy with the outcome. On that note, neither did we as we banked a whole lot of cash after tipping the exact margin, a first for leaguelineup.com. Show me the money! Back to the game though and it's fair to say Gateway started OK, but Prince Alfred were hot with a capital H. For the kids at home, that's aitch, not haitch but we digress. And as Prince Alfred stretched their lead with a bevy of outside jumpers, the score blew out to 23-3, as the Thunder struggled to find a basket from anywhere. The halftime margin of 31-11 was a fair indication of the first half and as the players regrouped for the second half - though we say it was still the first half - you knew something had to give. Either the Thunder would throw in the towel on potentially the entire season, or they'd fight back and with six Jultopians plus new recruit Stephenson, we certainly hoped it was the latter.

Sadly though, the first half continued for another ten minutes and as the second half approached - at least the second half according to us - the Thunder had turned the defensive screws to hold Prince Alfred to a 36-12 margin. Yes, triple their score as Messrs Penn and J.Smith exchanged pleasantries on the bench, wondering where their next score would come from. Now if it was Jultopia, the answer would be McKinnon, J.Smith and Vucetic so why not in the SACBA too? Correct and for the second consecutive week, the Thunder began their comeback albeit a few minutes late once again. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang and with stops at one end and scores at the other, we had a game on our hands. But alas, time ran out on a remarkable final ten minutes with the final 44-36 margin reflective of a highly entertaining yet frustrating game. Our tip for next week's 5.10pm game? The Thunder need to start warming up at 4pm and by tip-off, they should be ready to go. The loss leaves the Thunder 0-2 and with an equal share of last place but on the bright side, this should prove an excellent buildup for the 2012 Jultopia Waverley Falcons Bungunyah Phillip Island Wayne Gardner Memorial Carnival.

Exciting times tonight as Country Mike makes his comeback game for the Thunder after spending six weeks on the sideline with a busted digit. Who's Country Mike? He's Country Mike! And with Reu back on deck with just four games remaining, it's fine tuning time for the out-of-sorts Thunder or should we say, at least out-of-sorts until last week. Last week of course was the scene of Terry Sleep's Ramset Medal performance and if he's anywhere near that this week, the Megaladons don't stand a chance. Sadly for Sleep, two perfect games in a row isn't his middle name - it's Edward for those keeping score at home - so look for him to settle into a new role on the wing shooting jumpshots alongside fellow small J.Smith. Good times, good times. The Megaladons meanwhile remain hot and cold and when hot, are a formidable opponent. That said, the Thunder have their sights firmly set on the finals and we expect they'll fire up for this one with two players on the bench meaning they can turn the players over, keeping everyone fresh. Our tip? After the weekend's perfect result, the pressure is on us to get this one right. Thunder by 26 points.

It's NBA playoff update time with just two months to Jultopia and if you've been asleep lying on the couch with your ankle wrapped in ice, you've missed some spectacular highlights and lowlights from the Knicks, Hawks and Spurs. How is each series travelling?

Bulls v Sixers - the Sixers are arguably the worst shooting team this side of the Saturday Thunder but they're up 3-1 and will be just the 5th #8 seed to knock off the top team. When you lose your MVP guard (Rose) and star centre (Noah), things get tough. Tragedy.

Heat v Knicks - New York won a game, their first playoff win since 1999 but they're just delaying the inevitable. Miami lead 3-1 and everything points to some big Knicks' changes in the off-season. Miami remain favourite to go back to the NBA Finals from the East.

Pacers v Magic - Orlando won a game sans Dwight, giving the Ewing theory more credence even with him on the coaching panel. But they woke up the Pacers, who will push Miami in the semi-finals. Indiana lead 3-1, whilst Dwight is reportedly all-but traded. Tense times ahead.

Hawks v Celtics - Celtics lead 3-1 after being up by 37 points early in the second half in Game Four. Look for Atlanta to blow up their team in the off-season, while the Celts dodge a Bulls bullet in the semis and start licking their lips as the Heat await in the conference Finals.

Spurs v Jazz - Spurs win 4-0 despite the Jazz pushing them in the final games. Put simply, this Spurs team is on a mission and nothing short of a championship will do, with their stars another year older (see picture below) but very much rested. Good times ahead.

Thunder v Mavericks - Thunder win 4-0 as Dirk scratches his head about why Dallas blew up a championship team for a chance to get Deron and Dwight, yet neither will likely go there. At least he'll always have 2011. The Thunder meanwhile are looking very dangerous.

Lakers v Nuggets - Lakers lead 3-1 and remain the team most likely to do something we don't expect, like going all the way to the Finals. The Nuggets meanwhile are the Nuggets - great to watch and glad they got rid of Melo but they need a star to compete with the best teams.

Clippers v Grizzlies - Clips lead 3-1 and will win a series! Their habit of giving the ball to Cal McKinnon, oops Chris Paul, and expecting him to create is annoying but effective. The Griz meanwhile will be the best of the first-round exits which means practically nothing.

So what's next? The Heat look good in the East but they struggle against the Celts, who have them in their sights in what will be a spectacular Eastern Conference Finals. The Spurs and Thunder remain on course for the West Finals but you just never know with Kobe and the Lakers, whilst Chris Paul is doing his thing. Our tip for the big Finals? Heat v Spurs.

"Noooooo," he screamed as he lay on the floor in the keyway early in the second half, as Terry Sleep contemplated playing the 2012 Jultopia Waverley Falcons Bungunyah Phillip Island Wayne Gardner Memorial Carnival without running mate James Smith. More on that story later as the tale of last night's first half was Josh Gondolf, the Thunder guard tickling the nylon for a lazy four triples to give the Thunder an 18-point half-time lead with the team looking good on the night Country Mike returned to town. From where we sat they looked a tad tall and could do with another guard or five, but too much height is a good problem to have as long as you're not playing Cowandilla and fortunately for the blues, they were playing Marion. However, it all went astray when Joakim Noah, oops James Smith, drove through the lane for a goofy left-hand layup and landed on the back of Jultopia veteran Phil Janssen's foot (see the above video for a reinactment that looks strangely nothing like what happened but was the best we could come up with). Smith hobbled to the bench in obvious pain but the show must go on, and Nick Kyriazis assumed coaching duties as the Josh Gondolf Shooting Clinic rolled on. Another trio of triples was accompanied by the Thunder rediscovering their fastbreak game, blowing the margin out to a final 41 points, 64-23, making a mockery of our seemingly outlandish 26-point pregame prediction. But the story of the night was Smith's injury, with teammates saying he'll be out 4 weeks, whilst Smith says he'll play on the weekend. Our tip? Somewhere in between but in the words of Rudy Tomjanovich, never underestimate the heart of a champion or more accurately, never predict what a mindless idiot will do to play seemingly pointless SABASA and SACBA games. As for Jultopia, Smith is expected to make a Lou Ferrigno-like 110% recovery which is good news for Big Tezza and Ed, who can sleep again. Good times, good times.

80,000 Thunder Fans! Another milestone achieved. A long long time ago on 7 February 2005, the leaguelineup.com journey began and here we are, seven years later and still going strong pumping out day after day of rehashed rubbish from other basketball sites or made-up stories almost solely based on inside jokes that will make no sense to anyone else. Good times, good times. For those keeping count, that's 80,000 visitors in 2649 days, averaging 30 visitors per day. So thanks to you for being one of our visitors, keep coming back, and remember to send us any requests or hello messages - either by email or preferrably via the Guestbook at the top of our website.

Meanwhile on the other side of the cyberspace world, the sole Thunder teenager Cal McKinnon celebrated yet another birthday, turning 18 for the umpteenth time at a High School Musical-themed event with his school classmates. Wildcats in the house, get your head in the game. Good times, good times. From everyone at leaguelineup.com and the Thunder, we wish Cal a Happy Birthday and look forward to him finally saying goodbye to Under-18s.

Ready:
“Pray constantly.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Set:
When I was playing professional lacrosse, I was the only Christian on my team (as far as I knew). I was outspoken about my faith during my four years of playing, and I never had another player share with me about their faith in Jesus. I felt God had placed me on the team to be a light. As the token Christian player, my teammates selected me to do the team prayer. Usually, if it was a big game, I would have a player say something like, “Pray a GOOD one Dan. This is a huge game!” The mentality was that a “good” prayer would lead us to victory; a “bad” prayer would lead to defeat. For good luck, some people believe in carrying a good luck charm, like a rabbit's foot. In the same way, some people think of prayer as their rabbit’s foot. Many athletes and coaches believe a quick prayer before a game brings a favorable outcome. But prayer is not a good luck charm. It's so much more than that--it's a battle. In Ephesians 6:18-20, Paul uses the word “prayer” four times after describing the armor of God. Once we have God’s equipment, Paul urges us to pray! Not a short, rabbit’s-foot type of prayer—a “Let’s pray real quick before we compete real long” type of prayer. Instead, Paul challenges us to pray without ceasing. Oswald Chambers says, “Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life.” Constant, ongoing, continual, pervasive prayer is tough work. Prayer is digging below the surface, and allowing God to reveal His character to us. Let me be clear, I believe in prayer before competition. Just make sure your heart is right. Don't just ask God for His hand of blessing, ask God to reveal Himself to you. Pray that you will know Him better after you compete. Pray that He would shine His light through you on the field. Pray that you will feel His pleasure in you as you play. Pray for protection and safety for everyone. Ask God to show you what it means to win His way. Let us pray .....

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have treated prayer like my own rabbit's foot. Please forgive me. I do not want to make You, the God of the Universe, a good luck charm. Teach me how to pray without impure motives. Show me how to pray constantly, not just when my head is bowed. May my prayers be sweet to Your ears. Help me to go deeper, Lord, when I seek Your face in prayer. Hear my prayer, hear my shout. In Jesus’ name I pray now. Amen.”

Go:
1. Is it hard for you to pray before competition? Is it easy? What types of prayer do you pray?
2. Have you ever viewed prayer like a rabbit’s foot? When?
3. How can you develop powerful, intense, purposeful prayer?
4. Should your prayers be focused on victory or on glorifying God? How are they different?
5. Give specific ways you can honor the Lord with pre-game prayer.

Workout:
John 14:13
John 16:26
Ephesians 6:18-20

Will he or won't he? Will Willis Reed play? Whilst today's game is exciting in itself, it's the game within the game that has everyone talking. With the Thunder 0-2 and Crossways 2-0, it's high stakes hoops at the Walford Stadium this afternoon but try as we might, we can't get away from the Willis Reed issue. Our bothan spies tell us it's 50/50 and will be a game-time decision. Our bet? He'll play. He's too dumb not to. Ladies and gentlemen, we bring to you Gateway v Crossways.

LAST FIVE GAMES HEAD-TO-HEAD
These two teams have never played each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played 0: Gateway 0, Crossways 0

ALL-TIME GATEWAY SACBA STATS LEADERS (active players in blue)
Games: J.Smith 316, B.Smith 236, Kyriazis 209, Gondolf 198, Brook 115, Collins 80, Rudd 67, Penn 65, Ba.Smith 63, Halman 58
Triples: Gondolf 191, Swanson 120, Kyriazis 86, Penn 85, Hallsworth 76, Galway 65, Halman 58, Wickstein 56, Vucetic 46, McKinnon 31
Free throws: J.Smith 652, B.Smith 224, Swanson 132, Kyriazis 128, Rudd 113, Halman 101, Gondolf 89, Brook 88, Zajer 53, Collins 50
Free throw % (min 10 attempts): Watson 86%, Vucetic 75%, Moresi 73%, Halman 70%, J.Smith 70%, Swanson 69%, Wild 64%, McKinnon 63%, Ba.Smith 63%, Wickstein 59%
Fouls: J.Smith 676, Kyriazis 520, B.Smith 426, Gondolf 220, Brook 209, Halman 126, Ba.Smith 125, Collins 120, Rudd 111, P.Sampson 98
Points: J.Smith 4742, B.Smith 1796, Gondolf 1062, Kyriazis 973, Swanson 712, Hallsworth 645, Brook 600, Rudd 577, Halman 552, Penn 458

MILESTONES
Josh Gondolf is 2 games away from his 200th career game
Brad Smith needs 4 points to reach 1800 career points
Josip Vucetic needs 4 triples to reach 50 career triples
Josh Gondolf needs 9 triples to reach 200 career triples
Ed Howie needs 10 points to reach 100 career points
Nick Kyriazis needs 14 triples to reach 100 career triples
Kerwin Penn needs 15 triples to reach 100 career triples
Gateway need 15 triples to reach 1000 all-time triples

OUR PREDICTION
Another new player - our bothan spies tell us it's the Chog but we're unconvinced after he signed a long-term contract earlier this year to score netball games for the remainder of his life and we shudder to think what he must've done to deserve that but we digress - and that would suggest Willis Reed won't play. That said though, we've heard other rumours - it's a genuine rumourfest at the minute - that guards Nick Kyriazis, Kerwin Penn and Josip Vucetic could all miss the game for a variety of reasons. So is the Chog looking to play Walt Frazier alongside Willis Reed, and to lead the white, blue and oranges to the win? So many questions, so few answers. Look for forward Jason Stephenson to be more comfortable on the Walford court after registering a donut last week, whilst Josh Gondolf was in scintillating form Monday night with seven triples. As for Crossways, they're 2-0 and the royal blues are long and deep at every position. More importantly for us though, is the question "Where is Crossways?" It's a combination of the old Oaklands and Wesley Uniting at the corner of Diagonal and Oaklands Road. So with that out of the way, who'll win? With word out this week that the Mayans may have been wrong and we could be here for another 7000 years, we're going with straight mathematics. The Thunder have lost their two games by a combined 12 points and need to balance the ledger. So seeing we don't know a whole lot about Crossways, we're going with Chog, Willis Reed and the Thunder by 12 points. And in case you forgot, we got the margin last week. Good times, good times.

Probably best to let the facts do the talking with this one. Gateway rocked up nine-deep, with surprisingly all players on deck including Chog and Willis Reed. That said, Ed Howie wasn't ready to start and Nick Kyriazis, Kerwin Penn and Josip Vucetic really didn't contribute a whole lot - sorry gents, but facts are facts. The Thunder started up with a new-look lineup of Cal McKinnon, Josh Gondolf, Chog, Jason Stephenson and Willis Reed and strike me pink, they clicked like probably no team has ever clicked before. With Willis Reed's appearance inspiring the five-person crowd, the defence was relentless, holding a struggling Crossways team scoreless whilst their own offence was pouring in the points. The score quickly ran out to 20-0 when strangely, the game was called off. We like to call it a mercy killing though some present believed it was more of a psych out. Whatever, the win gets the Thunder on the board and puts their for and against back in the black with a +8 result overall. Disappointingly, the Thunder won't play Crossways in full again this season, with most players absent for Jultopia Saturday when they next meet. Moves are afoot to transfer the game to Waverley but we're not too hopeful. So with a 1-2 record on the season, we move on to next week's game against St Peters. Good times, good times.

PS. With two quick public announcements, we'd like to wish all the Thunder Mums a Happy Mothers' Day. May your Thunder Dads shower you with everything you deserve and then get to bed early because we have a 10pm game tomorrow night. Thanks again, Nick. Our final announcement though is one we should all heed carefully. When playing with glowsticks, never split the tube near your eye. The contents burn exposed skin like ..... well, it's hard for us to explain because of course, we haven't experienced but if we did, we'd say that young children scream and cry incessantly for about ten minutes but fortunately, don't end up like Jay Schulz. Our suggestion? Just don't do it.

PPS. If your kid does explode a glowstick in their eye, pray that their first tooth comes out the following morning. That would serve as a wonderful distraction.

Tough times at the Thunder with yet another player succumbing to injury, this time with an injured calf. We tried to interview the immature bovine but it refused to speak to us, referring all queries to forward Terry Sleep. "Injured calf. Two weeks. See ya after that. Jultopia has to come first," he may or may not have said. The injury leaves the Thunder in an interesting position, with their two former ACH Ziglers now sidelined with lower limb injuries so from where we sit, it's over to the veterans. Gondolf, Kyriazis, Reu, Smith and Smith will get by with a little help from their Howie, but it certainly makes the game that much harder, especially at the unforgiving time of 10pm at the Cal McKinnon Court. We heard they'll be in their white uniforms because of the darkness at that time of night, though they should be accustomed to it after two Nick request games in three weeks. Look for the Thunder to run and run hard - they're younger, more experienced, fresher and older than their opponents - and it should be an entertaining game. With Anderson and Sleep sidelined - and never has Sleep's absence been more appropriate than with yet another 10pm game - we say Thunder by 6 points.

Cutting to the chase, the short version is Gateway 51 d Arndale 38 as they unveiled yet another new recruit, retired Fremantle player Sean McManus. The longer version however, is a tad more complicated and interesting. With a starting five with a minimum 300 SABASA games experience each, this was one for the veterans and the Thunder's newest rookie. The ages of the players - though we've left out names to protect the innocent so they can continue to receive their Age Pension - by position were 46 37 35 36 38 40, an average age of 39 years. Wow. Never has a SABASA team been older or at the same time, more experienced and they burst out of the blocks to an early lead 6-3. But it wasn't until point guard Sean Michael McManus entered the game that things really got moving, as he joined with Nick Kyriazis to give the Thunder the best 1-2 punch we've seen since Butch Hays and Ricky Grace tore the NBL All-Star game apart back in 1991. But we digress and as Kyriazis found his groove alongside a sweet-shooting Gondolf, the Thunder jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead that was just the beginning. The second half saw one-legged James Smith find his own stroke as he joined with Michael Reu for some sweet dishes, their cooking combining with Brad Smith's fastfood diet to leave the fans hungry despite the clock ticking ever closer to midnight. The final score was reflective of a solid Arndale second-half but really, this was McManus' night as he left the Thunder fans wondering what if. So many questions, so few answers. The win leaves the Thunder clear on top spot with Seaton second, Arndale third and Marion Magnetics fourth, followed by Cowandilla and Marion Megaladons. Only two weeks to finals .....

Exciting times at the Cal McKinnon Court as the Adelaide 36ers made their first big splash into this year's free agent pool, signing Gold Coast point guard Jason Cadee to a 2-year contract. Aged 21, Cadee is considered a future Boomer and joins current Boomers' squad members Mitch Creek, Stephen Weigh and Daniel Johnson in Sixers blue. Also signed is Nathan Crosswell, whilst the team remains in earnest pursuit of Jedi Knight Luke Schenscher (pictured above). Plenty of rumours remain about the remaining positions but for now, from where our bothan spies sit, the team looks as follows:

C Schenscher / tba
PF Johnson / tba
SF Weigh / tba
SG Creek / tba
PG Cadee / Crosswell

With two imports yet to come - and if last year's crop of Warren and Simpson were anything to go by, good times are coming - we're looking forward to the 2012/13 NBL season already. If you haven't got tickets yet, drop us a line on our guestbook and we'll arrange a group booking. Good times are coming, good times.

PS. Luke Schenscher was confirmed the following day as having signed, whilst the club farewelled Adam Ballinger shortly after. We wish Adam all the best for the future - he's helped with several kids clinics and has always been an approachable, friendly, genuine guy and our thoughts and prayers remain with him and his family for whatever comes next in his life.

More details shortly but for now, just take note that Saturday's game at 1.50pm is NOT at Walford Stadium but at Cedar College, Northgate. The address is ..... well, the instructions say to enter from Navigator Drive, Northgate at the rear of the college ..... so we'll go with that.

The SACBA program available at our ladders, programs, statistics page (click the button at the top of our website) has been updated, along with the details on the header at the top of our site. When reading this, think of all games being played at Walford unless noted otherwise, which is only four games in the season. Confusing times, confusing times.

Ready:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” - 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV)

Set:
One thing I love about FCA is how it ties our athletic lives into our faith. A lot of similarities can be drawn between Christianity and sports. I own a funeral home, and I therefore attend a lot of funerals. One sermon I’ve heard a few times that I really like is about the dash. The dash that is talked about is the dash put on a headstone between the date of birth and the date of death. The point the pastor makes is that what is important is what is lived out in that dash between your date of birth and your date of death. A few years ago I was driving by a vacant house. Apparently, the occupants had recently moved out. Left on the side of the curb was a cardboard box that contained a couple of trophies. That really struck me. How many times do we shoot to earn trophies or medals and, years later, they end up either somewhere we can’t find them or in the trash. I like to stress at our FCA meetings that it’s all about how you play the game, live out your life or how you live your dash. I don’t disagree with athletics in that someone wins and someone loses. A lot can be learned from both. You are not always going to win in life, so be ready when you don’t. But when you do, enjoy it and take it for what it is. So many professional athletes today always look so angry. You know who I’m talking about: the ones who dunk on someone or put a hit on one someone to knock them out of the game. Why can’t they celebrate the blessings God has given them and help someone up when they are down? They never know when they might be the next one down with someone standing over them. Today, remember: it’s all about the dash. I’ve never heard people at a funeral celebrating about the possessions of the deceased—how many fancy cars and houses they accumulated or how much money they have in the bank. It’s always about their character, how many people they have touched and, usually, how they have committed their life to Christ and lived their dash in a way that brings praise and glory to God. So, now it’s up to you. What are you going to do with your dash?

Go:
1. Does your athletic life and how you play line up with your faith?
2. If your funeral was tomorrow, what would people be talking about?

Workout:
Matthew 6:19-21
Luke 12:33-34
Philippians 4:4-9

Strewth. First the game moves from Walford Stadium to Cedar College and then we hear the really shocking news - the Thunder have five players on the injured list today, meaning there's two new Thunder debutants along the remaining fab four. Kind of turns it into a tipster's nightmare! For the record, the following players are either sick or mortally wounded: Ed Howie, Nick Kyriazis, Kerwin Penn, Brad Smith and Josip Vucetic. But crisis creates opportunity and into the fold steps ice hockey player Brett McKinnon (go on, Google it) and Jamie Wickstein, who history will show as the sixth father-son selection to appear in Thunder colours after having made his debut in Whyalla in 2010. Who are the other five? We'll answer that one later but needless to say, we're excited at the prospect of watching the hockey player and the Ricky Rubio-clone against St Peters. So with no further adieu, we present to you Gateway v St Peters.

LAST FIVE GAMES HEAD-TO-HEAD
20/8/2011: Gateway 40 (Vucetic 18, J.Smith 14, Galway 5) d St Peters 39
9/7/2011: Gateway 41 (Vucetic 14, Gondolf 9, Howie 6) d St Peters 32
28/5/2011: Gateway 65 (J.Smith 28, Vucetic 17, McKinnon 9) d St Peters 32
7/8/2010: St Peters 42 d Somerton 41 (Halman 16, J.Smith 15, Gondolf 6)
24/7/2010: Somerton 44 (Penn 14, J.Smith 14, Halman 10) d St Peters 26

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played 26: Gateway 19, Draw 1, St Peters 6

ALL-TIME GATEWAY SACBA STATS LEADERS (active players in blue)
Games: J.Smith 316, B.Smith 236, Kyriazis 209, Gondolf 198, Brook 115, Collins 80, Rudd 67, Penn 65, Ba.Smith 63, Halman 58
Triples: Gondolf 191, Swanson 120, Kyriazis 86, Penn 85, Hallsworth 76, Galway 65, Halman 58, Wickstein 56, Vucetic 46, McKinnon 31
Free throws: J.Smith 652, B.Smith 224, Swanson 132, Kyriazis 128, Rudd 113, Halman 101, Gondolf 89, Brook 88, Zajer 53, Collins 50
Free throw % (min 10 attempts): Watson 86%, Vucetic 75%, Moresi 73%, Halman 70%, J.Smith 70%, Swanson 69%, Wild 64%, McKinnon 63%, Ba.Smith 63%, Wickstein 59%
Fouls: J.Smith 676, Kyriazis 520, B.Smith 426, Gondolf 220, Brook 209, Halman 126, Ba.Smith 125, Collins 120, Rudd 111, P.Sampson 98
Points: J.Smith 4742, B.Smith 1796, Gondolf 1062, Kyriazis 973, Swanson 712, Hallsworth 645, Brook 600, Rudd 577, Halman 552, Penn 458

MILESTONES
Brett McKinnon makes his SACBA debut
Jamie Wickstein makes his SACBA debut
Josh Gondolf is 2 games away from his 200th career game
Josh Gondolf needs 9 triples to reach 200 career triples
Gateway need 15 triples to reach 1000 all-time triples

OUR PREDICTION
We predict there will be a change of government in Greece in a few weeks' time, and the Greeks will leave the Eurozone, plunging the world's financial markets into one serious dip. If your investments are exposed to fragile markets or anything not blue-chip, might be time to make some changes. Back to today's game and the Gondolf-McKinnon-McKinnon-Wickstein backcourt will be something to behold. We predict they'll be around the mark but the game will be won and lost in the paint, where big men Smith and Stephenson will have to be at their hustling best. Alas, we're not sure if the veterans have got it in them and if that comment motivates them, then good for us. St Peters remain a mystery this year - we haven't seen them play and the Thunder went OK against them when they last met in A Grade in 2010, but that was a different time and this is most certainly a different Thunder team today. Our tip? Rubio will do some special things, new McKinnon will body check someone through a wall, old McKinnon will carry most of the backcourt load, Gondolf will lock himself in an intriguing battle with St Peters' Cain Ness, Stephenson will score heavily, and Smith will complain about his sore ankle yet again. Our tip? It hurts us to say it but ..... St Peters by 12 points.

PS. The first five father-son selections to play for the Thunder? 1) Greg Smith, 2) James Smith, 3) Brad Smith, 4) Joel Horskins, 5) Zac Horskins.

Strewth. We opened yesterday's post with the same word but strewth, no word is more appropriate. Playing against last year's runner-up - and they only surrendered the grand final lead in the final minute - many expected the Thunder would struggle. That many included us and with Ed Howie, Nick Kyriazis, Brad Smith and Josip Vucetic all missing, we felt justified in our prediction. But we were wrong, very wrong. You see, the Thunder found something yesterday and it wasn't just the location of the new Cedar College Stadium. With debutant guards Brett McKinnon and Jamie "Homicide" Wickstein joining forward Jason Stephenson for just his second game, it was an inexperienced but enthusiastic team that burst out of the blocks to a 7-0 lead against a shellshocked St Peters. The margin jumped out to 31-21 at the half with Stephenson nailing a sweet four triples, James Smith a series of three-point plays and Josh Gondolf with two triples of his own. The younger McKinnon - does that mean Brett is in primary school? - was rebounding bigger than his height and Wickstein was hustling all over the court but could they keep it up against what is a talented St Peters team? The second half begins and Stephenson knocks down another triple, and then Smith goes on a mini-tear to add foul trouble to St Peters' woes. The blues though weren't done with yet, and mounted a comeback as fatigue bit the Thunder whites. Stephenson kept the score ticking over to finish with seven triples but with minutes to go and the score tied up, who ya gonna call? Older brother Cal McKinnon, and the Jultopia veteran began picking apart the blue defence play after play, the score even with 40 seconds to go, albeit St Peters with all the momentum.

St Peters drove to the basket, got fouled, and nailed one of two for a 1-point lead with 30 seconds remaining. Enter McKinnon who drove to the basket, was fouled, and nailed the first to tie the game but with shades of Jultopia Gosford, missed the second. Enter Stephenson who grabbed the board to reset the clock at 12 seconds. McKinnon resumes control on the inbounds, drives to the basket and deadset gets his head ripped off and instinctively shoots at the basket. Yes folks, unsportsmanlike foul and three shots. McKinnon sinks two and with five seconds remaining, it's time-out time as they plan the final play. Wickstein takes the ball out of bounds as the players set the picket fence but St Peters pressure the inbound pass well enough to force a five second violation, giving them a sniff as they trailed by just two. Five seconds remaining, Cain Ness drives as Gondolf tries to steal the ball but alas, no call. Ness throws up a driving triple but it clangs off the ring for a Smith rebound and a two-point win. The final details will say Gateway 53 (Stephenson 21, McKinnon 13, J.Smith 12) d St Peters 51 but more importantly, it was the day the Thunder decided to give the 2012 season a crack. What lies ahead? Only time will tell but for yesterday, it was good times, good times. Next week is back at Walford Stadium v Prince Alfred B.

Fascinating contest tonight. Seriously, this could be the most fascinating contest for a long time with the SABASA following the lead of the AFL, with a three-way NAB Cup-style contest between the Thunder, Cowandilla and New Kids on the Block - Backstreet Boys. With NKOTB and BSB joining forces in the off-season, they've become a formidable matchup for all opponents so we put the question to Thunder captain Brad Smith. Who do you think will win? "Tough question, hanging tough question. Two years ago, I would've said the Thunder by a mile, followed by Cowandilla. I doubt I would've acknowledged NKOTBSB. But times have changed and something significant happened to me two years ago. I don't remember exactly what it was but step by step, ever since that day, I've been a huge fan of NKOTBSB. They've got the right stuff. They're larger than life. I think they'll win easily. Let's face it. They're the best. In fact, they're better than the best. Quit playing games with my heart. You tell me who the best is and I say they're better. They're the one. Don't turn out the lights. It's not going too far to say I love NKOTBSB. I hear they might suspend me for this but I don't care. I want it that way. Show me the meaning of being lonely. Everybody, Backstreet's back. Face facts - they rock." At this stage, we walked away from the interview as Brad became a dribbling, drooling mess - but it didn't stop him ranting and raving for at least half an hour about his favourite boy band. Oh, puhlease! Our tip for the three-way? NKOTBSB won't even show - they're horribly outmatched for size - leaving the Thunder whites and Cowandilla greens to battle this one out themselves.

So with the game returning to a two-way contest, our bothan spies tell us the Thunder aren't too happy with their captain's attitude and have suspended him for tonight's game. With Brad Anderson, Terry Sleep and Michael Reu also missing tonight's game, the Thunder have taken a brave step by suspending their captain but on the bright side, it probably ends his chances of winning a third consecutive Orange Jacket and from where we sit, that's justice. The Thunder welcome back last week's debutant Sean Michael McManus, whilst SACBA and Jultopia veteran Kerwin Penn returns to SABASA action, joining regulars Josh Gondolf, Nick Kyriazis, Ed Howie and James Smith. They come up against a rampaging Cowandilla team who remain just outside of the finals with two weeks to go. The Crocadillas have been on fire the past few weeks, running roughshod over the opposition but tonight is a different matter, with the Thunder determined to take it up to the green machine. It's a tough one to tip, with our bothans suggesting 2012 Barry Smith Medal favourite Cal McKinnon also could make a guest appearance on his own court. Our tip? Thunder by 3 points. Get along to this game folks, 'cause it will be a crackerjackmajetski.

Gateway 64 d Cowandilla 29 and as expected, NKOTBSB didn't show up for the SABASA's inaugural three-way game. Disappointing yes but surprising no. In fact, it was just the way we predicted it but it was sad to hear that the Chog changed teams and joined NKOTBSB for the night, reportedly hamming it up with Donnie Wahlberg and Co. We say good for him, enjoy it while it lasts, because everyone knows boy bands get old and girls who liked them 24 years ago couldn't possibly be interested in those same bands now. Seriously, how lame would it be if those teenage crushes continued into full-blown adulthood to the point you'd throw your underwear into the crowd ..... not that Chog knows anything about that.

Back to the remaining game though and the Thunder looked well underhanded as the game began with both Ed Howie and Cal McKinnon AWOL, replaced by the erstwhile Josip Vucetic who suited up despite being in his pyjamas only minutes before. What? You mean Josip dresses like that normally? Yeah, right. The Thunder began small - an interesting observation given the 4-foot-6 Jultopia point guard was on the bench - and yet started strong, centre James Smith having a field day in the paint against a surprising Cowandilla man-to-man defence. With Nick Kyriazis and Kerwin Penn feeding him the ball, Josh Gondolf knocking them down from deep and Michael McManus doing all the hustle work, they bolted out to an early lead that only blew out further once Vucetic joined the contest. As the fouls mounted up, so did the foul shots and particularly so when Vucetic attempted five straight shots courtesy of foul-line violations by the Crocadillas - yes, five straight - giving the Thunder a 32-17 lead at halftime. From there the margin grew further as the greens strangely stayed in their man defence, Smith continuing his testimonial celebratory match as Cowandilla got in serious foul strife, losing one player to injury and another to too many fouls. Then it happened - the play of the game or perhaps the year - as McManus chased a ball fullcourt despite having started at the other end of the court and as he dived out of bounds, threw the ball behind him to a waiting Smith who calmly dunked the air conveyance for what was only just another two points but felt much more like six. As the greens ran out of players, the whites kept up their play with a bevy of last minute jumpers for a final 64-29 scoreline, their biggest ever win over the proud green and whites. The win sees the Thunder wrap up top spot, whilst Cowandilla have probably left their finals run a week late. Meanwhile, the Thunder should welcome back Howie, Reu and B.Smith next week, with Sleep still a week or seven away. Good times, good times.

PS. When we say good times, we're not referring to Sleep's calf injury. Strewth Tezza, there's no need to be so sensitive about things!

We take a quick break from the continuing adventures of Chog and NKOTBSB to check out this ad by Pepsi, as they introduce Uncle Drew to the world. Give up five minutes of your day to watch this because strike us pink Ken, it's funny. We don't want to ruin the surprise but needless to say, it isn't really Uncle Drew but is in fact Cleveland Cavalier and NBA Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving. Funny times, funny times.

Quiz night time folks, and this time it's Gateway's turn to host a quiz night on Saturday 16 June 2012, at the Gateway Baptist Church, Queenstown. All Thunder players, partners and friends with an IQ above 140 are welcome and if anyone knows the whereabouts of Alan Branford or Ivan Reitman, then please pass on that they're welcome too. More details coming soon but for now, mark your calendars and start studying. We'll research our topic of expertise - websites that serve little or no purpose to society - and we'll be in touch for an RSVP sometime soon. Good times, good times.

Ready:
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” - 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV)

Set:
A godly coach is a rare but valued blessing in American sports. Our son’s little league coach is one such blessing. His coaching overflows with life lessons that will bear fruit far beyond the baseball diamond. As I listen to his challenges, I know that I am hearing the wisdom of the Holy Spirit right along with the kids. “There are no spectators here. Everyone has a job.” - Just as each member of a baseball team has a position, each individual has a role to play in life. Our words, our actions and our attitudes all have an impact on the hearts of the people around us. God has given each of us the job of sharing His love with others. There is no time to sit around watching others; our work is ongoing and has eternal consequences. “Back each other up!” - We are all imperfect people. We will all drop a ball or miss an occasional important play, and we desperately need to know that others are in the game with us and are ready to back us up. And just as we need the support of those around us, we need to be alert enough to back up others when they need us. “Talk to your teammates. Tell them your intentions.” - The spectacular crash of two eager outfielders going after the same ball is a perfect example of the “collision” that happens when we misunderstand the needs or intentions of others. As a player, we need to step up to the responsibilities that come our way and call out, “I got it!” As a teammate, we must respect the coach's ability to assign tasks and then listen to the intentions of others. “Practice lazy; play lazy.” - Sharpened skills, perfected timing and a working knowledge of rules are the results of diligent practice. The game, then, showcases the results of that preparation. The details of our days are the practice field for applying God's Word. A life lived moment by moment on the wisdom of God will hold together even in the fiercest battle. It has been a joy to listen to this coach and watch him work with these young men. It has given me a fresh look at the potential beauty of every sport. Today, let's follow our Master Coach's admonitions and do everything for the glory of God.

Go:
1. How good of a teammate are you in this game of life?
2. Are you backing others up or cutting them down? (Ephesians 4:29)
3. Are you sharing in the work of or critiquing other workers? (Matthew 9:37)

Workout:
Matthew 22: 34-40
Colossians 3:23-24

Can they do it? After losing their first two games of the season, it was a case of bad news bears and predictions of despair and wooden spoons. But just two weeks later, the Thunder are back in finals contention after a stunning 20-0 win, followed by a hardfought 53-51 victory. So in the space of just 14 days, we've gone from upsetness to happy days, which leads us to today's question. Can the Thunder win three straight and become proud recipients of the National Magnet School of Excellence Award? Is there a more prestigious award available short of claiming an Orange Jacket? Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you Gateway v Prince Alfred B.

LAST FIVE GAMES HEAD-TO-HEAD
5/5/2012: PAOC 44 d Gateway 36 (McKinnon 11, Vucetic 11, J.Smith 10)
27/8/2011: Gateway 56 (J.Smith 20, Vucetic 13, Galway 11) d PAOC 39
23/7/2011: PAOC 51 d Gateway 38 (Vucetic 18, Jones 8, Penn 5)
4/6/2011: PAOC 54 d Gateway 50 (Vucetic 13, McKinnon 12, J.Smith 11)
21/5/2011: Gateway 49 (Howie 13, McKinnon 13, J.Smith 13) d PAOC 41

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played 34: Gateway 16, Draw 1, Prince Alfred 17

ALL-TIME GATEWAY SACBA STATS LEADERS (active players in blue)
Games: J.Smith 317, B.Smith 236, Kyriazis 209, Gondolf 199, Brook 115, Collins 80, Rudd 67, Penn 65, Ba.Smith 63, Halman 58
Triples: Gondolf 193, Swanson 120, Kyriazis 86, Penn 85, Hallsworth 76, Galway 65, Halman 58, Wickstein 56, Vucetic 46, McKinnon 31
Free throws: J.Smith 656, B.Smith 224, Swanson 132, Kyriazis 128, Rudd 113, Halman 101, Gondolf 89, Brook 88, Zajer 53, Collins 50
Free throw % (min 10 attempts): Watson 86%, Vucetic 75%, Moresi 73%, Halman 70%, J.Smith 69%, Swanson 69%, McKinnon 65%, Wild 64%, Ba.Smith 63%, Wickstein 59%
Fouls: J.Smith 677, Kyriazis 520, B.Smith 426, Gondolf 220, Brook 209, Halman 126, Ba.Smith 125, Collins 120, Rudd 111, P.Sampson 98
Points: J.Smith 4754, B.Smith 1796, Gondolf 1068, Kyriazis 973, Swanson 712, Hallsworth 645, Brook 600, Rudd 577, Halman 552, Penn 458

MILESTONES
Josip Vucetic needs 4 triples to reach 50 career triples
Gateway need 6 triples to reach 1000 all-time triples

OUR PREDICTION
Magnets. It could all come down to magnets. Put one on the ball and hey presto, shoot it anywhere near the ring and it's an instant score. Well, maybe not. More likely it'll stick to the ring and we'll have jumpballs all over the shop. Well, maybe not. More likely it'd be sideballs with the possession arrow flipping the ball to either your team or the other team, who would shoot with the magnet ball and it'd stick to the ring, giving us another jumpball/sideball. Now as much as we don't like this idea and it could quickly get boring, it's all about how you look at it. We can see the exciting side. But putting aside the chances of the referees not noticing a giant magnet stuck to the ball - which admittedly are slim - today's game should be a belter. The storied history between these two clubs stretches back 34 games, with PAC holding the narrowest of leads 17-16. Gateway go into today's game without guard Josh Gondolf and forwards Ed Howie and Brad Smith, but bring enough into the contest to give it a shake. Messrs McKinnon, J.Smith and Stephenson poured in plenty of points last week, whilst Kyriazis, Penn and Vucetic return to action this week and should give the team a much-needed boost. PAC though are big, have a bevy of tough guards, and will come into the game confident they can handle the Gateway blues. Our tip? Walford Stadium will be cold, the rings will be hard, and the game will be a crackerjackmajetski. Thunder by 5 points.

Maybe. Just maybe. Perhaps. They could. We're still not convinced but they've done everything right over the last three weeks. Yes, the Thunder were proud recipients of the National Magnet School of Excellence Award, winning their third straight yesterday. The game began with the Thunder jumping out to a narrow lead courtesy of Kerwin Penn's attacking play and James Smith's solo act in the paint, Prince Alfred struggling to contain the Thunder's aggressive tactics. All-out attack was the name of the game but as Prince Alfred joined the party, the Thunder saw their 31-21 halftime lead narrow by the minute until he arrived. Who? Josip Vucetic, who caught fire early in the second half. Well, not literally - that would be really bad and we'd be visiting him in hospital if that was the case - but he sure got hot, knocking down three second half triples in a purple patch. Well, not literally - that would be really bad on a clear timber court and would cost a lot to clean up - but he sure knocked a few down and as the game approached its conclusion, it was ultimately a Penn jumpshot and a Cal McKinnon left-handed hook that saw the Thunder win 49-43. They're now very much in the finals mix but things get tough next week as they come up against Knightsbridge and if you think Knightsbridge have forgotten what happened when they last met, you're wrong but more on that story later. For now, we're just enjoying the Thunder's 3-2 record and the good times. As for next week, that can wait until next Saturday.

PS. Carn the Power. Two in a row? Good times, good times.

PPS. Yes, we were only one point off the margin. After tipping the exact margin earlier this season, we never cease to surprise ourselves. Tipping gurus and if you aren't taking our lead at LOBOSEF, there's something wrong with ya. Like the Greek economy, we're a surefire bet.

Adidas Undefeated. Known as arguably the greatest athletic shoe ever made, the elusive "Orange Shoes" are almost within reach for the Thunder and should they manage a win tonight against the rampaging Marion Magnetics, they'll get the shoes and for the lucky winner of this year's Orange Jacket, they'll be one step closer to a head-to-toe full orange outfit. Does it get any better than that? After this year's run of injuries, we've given up predicting too much on Mondays and with Messrs Anderson and Sleep still sidelined, the Thunder go into tonight's match underhanded. Howie returns from trying to find Bando when ironically he was actually at the game last week (!), B.Smith returns after falling out with NKOTBSB but more on that story later, and Reu returns from yet another brief liaison with his former love (aka volleyball). They join Gondolf, Kyriazis and J.Smith with the veterans up against a solid Marion outfit who won literally on the buzzer last week. The Magnetics have historically taken it right up to the Thunder and tonight should be no different, though we think the lure of the Orange Shoes will be enough to get the Thunder over the line. Our tip? Thunder by 4 points in an absolute belter of a contest.

PS. What? You don't believe they're called the Adidas Undefeated? Go on, click the picture and follow the link. There, believe us now?!

Solid if not overly spectacular display at the Cal McKinnon Court last night as the Thunder closed out the minor round with a 19-point win over an underhanded Marion Magnetics. With Messrs Anderson and Sleep watching from the stands - or more accurately the scorebench - the Thunder began the game well and looked set for a big win but the Travis Schmidt-less Magnetics mounted a mid-first half comeback, changing the tempo and taking the lead with minutes to go. The Thunder though bounced back with a series of hard-earned baskets to hold a 3-point lead at halftime. Now we've all heard about those legendary half-time speeches on being bigger, faster, older, tougher, slower, younger, quicker, more experienced but yet again, it worked. So was it the halftime speech or perhaps they drank some of Michael's Secret Stuff? Regardless, they burst out of the blocks on a 20-4 run courtesy of Josh Gondolf's bevy of triples, James Smith's bevy of jumpshots and Michael Reu's bevy of offensive boards. In fact, it was a bevyathon as the game broke open to allow Nick Kyriazis and Brad Smith to attack the fastbreak, often started by Ed Howie on the defensive end. As the game drew to a close though and players tired, they held on to a 58-39 win that really doesn't mean much with former league Best & Fairest Schmidt absent, meaning at least 20 points weren't in attendance. What it does mean though is that the Thunder hold on to top spot, Arndale are likely second, with Marion and Seaton third and fourth respectively but we'll confirm that over the coming week. For now, the Thunder players get the orange shoes they were so desperate for but as today's picture shows, it's also time for the Orange Dress. Yes, Orange Jacket time isn't far away and ladies, it's time you stepped up on the Orange Carpet. Good times, good times.

PS. One player anonymously emailed us asking if his wife refused to wear an orange dress, does that mean she isn't worthy of being Best & Fairest? Our response? No, we're not buying into that one. Even we know when it's best to say nothing, Pauline!

Anonymous reader: "Seeing the Prime Minister wore the Orange Jacket again in parliament during Question Time yesterday, does this mean she's our Best & Fairest, the number one Prime Minister and politician in Australia?"

Our response: We are so not going near this one. Contrary to public opinion, we are not a political website and our opinions generally stick to basketball and made-up stories about our players. As such, we say "go Prime Minister Gillard", wear the jacket with pride, you earned it at the last election by garnering the votes of independent MPs Brett McKinnon, Michael McManus and Jamie Wickstein, and it's yours to wear wherever you choose - at least until the next Orange Jacket night. Yes folks, there's our real response. Maybe election night should be renamed Orange Jacket night? Strange though that our answer was a question itself. Good times, good times.

PS. Dear Prime Minister, you are cordially invited to the Gateway Thunder's Orange Jacket night. Details to come shortly but we'd love to see you there.

PPS. Yes, it was a quiet news day today but fortunately, we were saved by an anonymous reader's email. Good times, good times.

As May says goodbye at midnight tonight, we enter June or as we like to call it, the month before the 2012 Jultopia Waverley Falcons Bungunyah Phillip Island Wayne Gardner Memorial Carnival. "Aaaah, Jultopia, ye lay just two score sleeps away," William Shakespeare may or may not have said. Sounds like time for another Jultopia update and our bothan spies have been hard at work trying to dig up dirt on South Australia's quest to regain the Inglis Memorial Shield. The bothans tell us the squad is down to:

Joel Horskins
Ed Howie
Nick Kyriazis
Cal McKinnon
Kerwin Penn
Michael Reu
Terry Sleep
Brad Smith
James Smith
Josip Vucetic

We don't know how accurate this is - heck, it could be just made up as a bit of a stir - but for us, it sounds around the mark. It leaves us wondering what the above photo has to do with it but our bothan spies are like that. They tell us it's related to Jultopia but for the life of us, we can't see how. Intriguing times, intriguing times. 40 days to go.