Hoops

Boys Grand Final Predictions

Ostrich97, I think Sturt are very easy to beat without the help of the refs.

As noted by others, Sturt's competitive advantage is how they pressure the opposing team and force them to make mistakes.

Basketball is a game where you have to prevent your opponent from scoring goals and then make the most of your opportunities. Sturt have a very good defensive structure, but how they do this is using team guarding to force errors by the ball carrier to get turnovers, reaching in to get steals and using the sideline to their advantage. Straight out of the Coaching Manual.

However, reaching in for steals is a high risk defence strategy as 9 times out of 10, an arm foul or blocking foul results.

As a consequence, their fouls are consistent with their aggression at the ball, while some players foul due to skill error.

To control aggressive players, let them reach in for the foul. They only need to get to 3 fouls before they slow down. Any guard should know how to draw a foul.

NBL PRess Release Sydney Kings mentor Brian Goorjian and Wollongong Hawks import Darnell Mee have been announced as the winners of the National Basketball League (NBL) Philips Coach and Player of the Month awards respectively for December. Mee had a standout December for the Hawks, averaging 15.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.8 blocks and 2.1 steals over Wollongongs eight games. Mee took out back-to-back Philips Player of the Week awards in December, winning the honour in both Round 12 and Round 13. The do-it-all American also performed the rare feat of back-to-back triple-doubles during the month. The 198m guards efforts helped the Hawks record a 5-4 overall record for the period. The 33-year-old easily took out the monthly player honours with 60 votes, well clear of Melbourne Tigers veteran Andrew Gaze (19 votes) in second place and Brett Maher of Adelaide in third (18). Goorjian also cruised to victory in the Philips Coach of the Month award. Goorjian received 65 votes to more than double his nearest rival, Adelaide 36ers coach Phil Smyth (32 votes). The Kings went 5-1 between Round 10 and Round 14, including a perfect 4-0 at home. Sydneys only loss was a 102-94 defeat at the hands of the Adelaide 36ers on the road. Sydney did however rack up wins over likely title contenders Wollongong and Brisbane in that period. Under Goorjians guidance the Kings are currently the third-best defensive team in the league, holding sides to just 97 points per game on average. Sydney also lead the league in steals at an average of 10 per game. The Kings currently sit atop the Philips Championship ladder, with a league-best 15-7 record. They are also one of just two teams with a road record of .500 for the 2004/05 season. The NBL's Player and Coach of the Month for December takes into account rounds 10 to 14 inclusive (1 November - 28 November). Full voting results are listed below. The Philips Championship is proudly sponsored by Philips, Nike, Virgin Blue, Holiday Inn, FOX SPORTS, Molten, Coast 2 Coast and Thermoskin. Philips Player of the Month Darnell Mee (Wollongong) 60 Andrew Gaze (Melbourne) 19 Brett Maher (Adelaide) 18 Chris Burgess (Cairns) 10 Brian Wethers (Hunter) 9 Willie Farley (Adelaide) 8 Rob Brown (Townsville) 7 Adam Ballinger (Wollongong) 6 Nick Horvath (West Sydney) 5 Jason Smith (Sydney) 5 Bobby Brannen (Brisbane) 4 Dusty Rychart (Adelaide) 2 Derek Rucker (Brisbane) 2 Ontario Lett (Perth) 2 Pero Cameron (New Zealand) 1 Philips Coach of the Month Brian Goorjian (Sydney) 65 Phil Smyth (Adelaide) 32 Joey Wright (Brisbane) 21 Brendan Joyce (Wollongong) 14 Lindsay Gaze (Melbourne) 10 Adrian Hurley (Hunter) 3 Mark Watkins (West Sydney) 1 Scott Fisher (Perth) 1

Sturt should make a clean sweep of it IMO.

As another poster pointed out earlier this week:

"the Sturt style of play is to intimidate and pressure the opponents in defence to make them crack. Teams without structure and discipline do crack and this is the competitive advantage that Sturt uses."

For those teams to beat Sturt, the game plan should be to give it back to them and serve it with some extra chilli. Sturt do tend to foul heavily and that is their weakness.

"they were probably playing their typical game plan which was to pressure the ball carrier with 2 guards trying to reach in and get the steal (and then the fast break layup) and if the ball carrier was laying up, then foul them on the layup to make them earn the points."

Sturt are not unbeatable, but whether the fouls are called will be the decider.