NBL playoff format makes picking a winner tricky

Picking a winner of the national basketball league is still no easy task.

That is something you can often say about sporting competitions early on.

Not so much heading into the final week of the regular season.

That regular season concludes on Saturday next week.

The playoffs start on the following Tuesday and finish with the final on Saturday, August 1.

Everyone makes the playoffs — the one drawback of this competition — meaning winning will come down to who can hit a run of good form at the right time.

At this point that could feasibly be anyone.

The Otago Nuggets remain right in the mix.

The Taranaki Mountainairs lead the competition on seven wins, although they have played an extra game.

The Franklin Bulls, Nuggets and Manawatu Jets are all on six wins, while the Auckland Huskies are on five.

Both the Nelson Giants and Canterbury Rams have just three wins, although both have been hit hard by unavailability.

Player availability during the playoffs could be a huge factor.

If a team was to lose a star during the week, it would not bode well.

The top and bottom teams demonstrate that as well as any.

Taranaki has performed well, but has leant heavily on Derone Raukawa and Marcel Jones.

In contrast, the Rams have battled, having lost Jack Salt and Joe Cook-Green prior to the competition, and being without Toby Gillooly for much of it.

However, having picked up Tall Black Reuben Te Rangi to replace Salt and getting Gillooly back strengthens them significantly for the playoffs.

Likewise, the Nuggets would not want to lose swingman Jordan Ngatai, or big man Jordan Hunt, with their lack of depth on the interior.

Other teams are beginning to gear up for the playoffs too.

Key forward Hyrum Harris is due back for the Jets, while it looks as though Mika Vukona will finally turn out for the Giants.

Both significantly strengthen those teams.

For the Nuggets four games remain — the Bulls, Huskies, Jets and Giants.

Like the other teams, they have shown they can win any or lose any.

It will likely come down to who performs on the day — or in this case, who can string three or four good performances together.