The Wild West play host to the opening game of the 2010 NBL Finals tonight, when the Wollongong Hawks crash the jungle to battle it out with the Perth Wildcats in front of a sold-out and hostile crowd.

The Wildcats advanced to the big dance with a sweep of the Gold Coast Blaze in the semi-finals, behind an outstanding performance from import Kevin Lisch, while the Hawks needed three games to defeat the Townsville Crocodiles and prepare for their third Grand Final appearance this century.

Wollongong have hyped themselves up as a Cinderella story, their bandwagon is overflowing, and the small community believe it’s them against the world.

But even if the Gong had Kal-El in uniform, they require a modern day miracle to steal the 2010 championship from the Wildcats, that not even the Man-of-Steel could deliver.

With Perth owning home-court advantage, hosting game three if required, Wollongong will need to win at least one game on the road, a joyous feeling they are very unaccustomed too this season with just three away victories from 15 games this season. Wollongong coming off a franchise low 53 points in game two, their last away game, against Townsville.

The Hawks have been close to unbeatable at home this season, 15-1, and the Wildcats aren’t that far behind with a 13-2 clip at Challenge Stadium.

Unfortunately, for basketball purists, this series doesn’t come with much fanfare, based on the fact that away from home Wollongong are a shocking excuse for a basketball team. Unless Perth uncharacteristically choke their season away and drop either game one or game three at home, or if Wollongong transform into a Looney Tunes basketball team that features Michael Jordan and somehow upstages the monsters out West, this series is set to be one-sided in favour of the home team throughout.

Before Hawks import Tywain McKee was lost for the season with a back injury, the Hawks paid a visit to the Wildcats and dropped the game by seven points, 80-87, but in the second meeting on Perth’s home soil with McKee out, Wollongong were comprehensively annihilated by 34 points, 57-91, another reason it is so hard to get overly excited about the snowball’s chance in hell of Wollongong sneaking a win away from home this series.

With extensive defensive pressure their trademark, Perth have crucified opponents throughout the season, wearing their opposition down over the course of the game with 94-feet of harassment and built around an offensive structure that feeds the ball into their first and second options, Shaun Redhage and Luke Schenscher, aided by an outside arsenal ready to fire away from deep, led by Lisch and Stephen Weigh.

Wollongong are much more simplistic on the offensive end, ball movement and penetration the key to the Hawks ability to smash teams into oblivion when they are on song, a tune that is only ever played when Wollongong are at home. The Hawks truly are a Jekyll and Hyde team.

The Hawks need big games from Cameron Tragardh and Glen Saville, and even then it might not be enough to cause Wildcats fans to panic.

How on earth Wollongong have found themselves in this position is amazing.

With an inexperienced point guard, Rhys Martin, who was thrown into the deep end after the injury to McKee, and a back-up guard, Luke Martin, who couldn’t find a home in the league when the season kicked-off, how the Hawks two ball-carriers handle the constant pressure from the Wildcats, who get away with murder when they play at home, will determine just how much of a blow-out this clash becomes.

It is very conceivable that every game in this series will be determined by double-digits and that isn’t anything to get excited about.