THE ANZAC Round in the Men's SBL begins with two emerging sides taking it up to the Joondalup Wolves and Willetton Tigers while after that the Kalamunda Eastern Suns have two chances to show just how far they have come.

It's a monster ANZAC Round of the SBL beginning with two games on Friday night featuring the Joondalup Wolves up against the Lakeside Lightning and the Willetton Tigers taking on the Stirling Senators.

It's then a huge night on Saturday with five matches with the Perry Lakes Hawks playing the Geraldton Buccaneers, the South West Slammers facing the Mandurah Magic, the Lakeside Lightning taking on the Cockburn Cougars, the Goldfields Giants battling the Perth Redbacks and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns locking horns with the East Perth Eagles.

There is the one game on Sunday afternoon with the Rockingham Flames hosting the Geraldton Buccaneers before on Monday night the Stirling Senators take on the Perry Lakes Hawks.

There are two matches on ANZAC Day with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns facing the Willetton Tigers and the Cockburn Cougars playing the Rockingham Flames.

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Starting on Friday night, the Wolves are coming off handing the Perth Redbacks their first defeat of the season last Thursday night ahead of hosting the Lightning at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

Even though imports Wade Guerin and Richard Ross are yet to hit their straps, the Wolfpack are still looking good in 2017 with a 4-1 record as they prepare to host the youthful Lightning who have so far won three of their six games this season.

The other Friday night game pits the on-fire Tigers up against the Senators at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

Willetton is unbeaten since Ray Turner came into the line-up and with Jay Bowie, Damien Scott and Kyle Armour all in good form too, it's a big challenge for the Senators.

Stirling comes into the contest at 2-3 and will be hoping import Drew Naymick is cleared to play if they hope to try and curtain the impact inside of Turner.

Then on Saturday night, Bendat Basketball Centre should play host to a tremendous contest with the Hawks hosting the Buccaneers.

Perry Lakes comes into the contest with a 3-2 record but an impressive 20-point win over Lakeside last Thursday with Matthew Adekponya starring. He will now play against his team from last season that he helped to the semi finals for the first time.

Not only that, but Hawks coach Matt Parsons was at the helm of the Cougars last year who eliminated the Buccs in that semi-final contest.

The Buccs are coming off the bye last weekend following a solid home win over Cockburn seven days after losing in Geraldton to the Tigers.

Both Perry Lakes and Geraldton have the ability to be genuine contenders this season and we will learn plenty more about where they currently sit on Saturday night.

The Eaton Recreation Centre also plays host to a Saturday night contest with the Slammers playing the Magic.

South West recorded its first win of the season last Thursday night over Rockingham after an 0-4 start and will look to build that momentum on the back of Brian Voelkel, Tre Nichols, Clive Weeden and Michael Lay.

The Magic, however, remain winless in 2017 after five games but Will McNeill showed encouraging signs last week against Kalamunda and he now has a big job against the Slammers back court of Nichols, Lay and Teny Puot.

A loss for the Slammers will halt their momentum from last week while the Magic won't want to go any longer without that elusive first win under new coach Aaron Trahair.

The other regional fixture on Saturday night takes place at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium with the Giants taking on the Redbacks.

Perth is looking to bounce back from a first loss of 2017 at the hands of the Wolfpack last Thursday night while Goldfields needs to get a second win of the season to avoid slipping too far from being in touch with the top eight teams.

The Lightning and Cougars then lock horns at Lakeside Recreation Centre in a contest between two teams entering the round with 3-3 records. The Lightning will be coming off playing the Wolves on Friday while the Cougars will back up against the Flames on Tuesday.

Saturday night's action then concludes at Ray Owen Sports Centre with the in-form Eastern Suns taking on the dangerous Eagles.

After opening the season with five straight losses, the Suns began to turn things around in the second half of a loss to the Redbacks before going on to beat Mandurah, Goldfields and Stirling in its past three games.

The difference of the Suns with Courtney Belger and Kerrod Horn in the line-up has been stark and there's still Rob Brandenberg to come soon.

While the wins over the Magic, Giants and Senators have been impressive, the Eagles are at a different level.

With Kevin Davis in outstanding form, Mason Bragg showing exciting signs and Drew Williamson, Kevin Anthony and Corey Easley among others in support the Eagles look capable of contending for the title in 2017.

That means that they are a significant test for the Suns who could make a real statement of intent with a strong performance.

There is then just the one game on Sunday afternoon with the Flames hosting the Buccaneers at Mike Barnett Sports Complex. Geraldton will be coming off its game with Perry Lakes on Saturday while Rockingham is making its first appearance of the weekend looking to improve on a 2-3 record.

Then on ANZAC Day eve, the Senators will host the Hawks on Monday night at Warwick Stadium with Stirling coming off its clash with Willetton on Friday while Perry Lakes will have played Geraldton on Saturday night.

There are two big games on ANZAC Day with the Eastern Suns hosting the Tigers at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

It was an embarrassing day in the corresponding fixture in 2016 for the Suns at Willetton Basketball Stadium with Alan Black signing off as coach of the Tigers with an 81-point hammering.

But the Suns will be out to show how far they have improved since then and in particular during their three wins the past two weeks on Tuesday.

Both teams are coming into the round in winning form and will have played once already with the Tigers taking on the Senators on Friday, and the Suns playing the Eagles on Saturday.

The last game of the round then takes place at Wally Hagan Stadium on ANZAC Day with the Cougars hosting the Flames. Cockburn is coming off a game against Lakeside on Saturday night while Rockingham will have played Geraldton on Sunday.

WEEK 6 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Joondalup Wolves v Lakeside Lightning – Joondalup Basketball Stadium 8.30pm
Willetton Tigers v Stirling Senators – Willetton Basketball Stadium 8.30pm

SATURDAY
Perry Lakes Hawks v Geraldton Buccaneers – Bendat Basketball Centre 8pm
South West Slammers v Mandurah Magic – Eaton Recreation Centre 8pm
Lakeside Lightning v Cockburn Cougars – Lakeside Recreation Centre 8pm
Goldfields Giants v Perth Redbacks – Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium 8pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v East Perth Eagles – Ray Owen Sports Centre 8.30pm

SUNDAY
Rockingham Flames v Geraldton Buccaneers – Mike Barnett Sports Complex 12pm

MONDAY
Stirling Senators v Perry Lakes Hawks – Warwick Stadium 8.30pm

TUESDAY
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Willetton Tigers – Ray Owen Sports Centre 3pm
Cockburn Cougars v Rockingham Flames – Wally Hagan Stadium 3pm

Photo by June Halliday