Hoops

36ers@Cairns 24Oct09

Xztatik bow to your superior knowledge, you've seen a lot more of him than I have.
But what I have seen of him, he shakes and bakes a lot before driving and I can see other players standing around waiting to see what is going to develop, and there are no cuts, flashes etc. Becomes 1 on 5.

Saw replay of Melbourne game and I couldn't believe how your guys settled for just getting over half (against trap) and settled for half court setup. Instead of being aggressive and attacking hoop. Happenned once and Ballinger got to line.
Also Ballinger never sees ball, because team mates don't look for him and don't try to get it to him even when he's wide open.
15 to 23 foot jumper is automatic for him, muscling it up inside is not really his go. He gets anxious and rushes a bit when he does get it. Storey will pick him up I guess. That will be interesting.
If Rickert or Oscar mark him he could do some damage from perimeter.

Fantastic athlete Cortez, but like Homicide overdoes the penetration. I do rate his defense though.
I think Abercrombie, Boucher can contain him.

Points in paint will be key. If Cortez and Gilchrist can get there and convert good luck to them.

Hill is just as good and he can pullup and shoot so I think he'll be tougher to match up with.

Our post up game though should get the job done.
One advantage we do have over here is our floor. Its slippery as hell and takes a bit to get used to.
Watched replay of Sixers/Melbourne and note your guys content to just get ball over half and didn't look to make Melbourne pay for trapping. Still you will have gained confidence from Cairns flogging.

Bill- I just saw last night's Cortez Groves spectacular, on our TV news.. oh ..my goodnes..
( a little bit of Gilchrist,some Hill and Ballinger)
You'll be in a little bit of excitement , over there, on Thursday , when you see that.

Fat chance Carmel.
I will be disappointed if Breakers don't win by 15.
Ballinger is a face the basket shooter someone I think we will contain easily.
Groves and Gilchrist will not penetrate against us and unless they can hit consistently from outside it will be lights out.
Holmes is a workhorse count on 10 and 10 every night.
Brad Hill and Ng will contribute but I have to say we have too much firepower.
But then it's sport and who knows!

Holmes does a good job going at the boards.
Burston is better at it.
Ballinger has been good training at centre ,without Burston,but Adam's last few games - no good.
MAYBE - and who can predict, for NZ in NZ will start favorite - a better one from Ballinger = another upset win for us.

Nothing wrong with Holmes and his rebounding

EC - I wasnt jumping on any bandwagon and saying the Sixers are awesome, more I was saying the Taipans were crap Friday night and I couldnt see them improving.

Paul, I agree there has been a lot of teams written off after a couple of bad games but after what I saw Friday night Cairns just arnt up to standard.
Jones is a great 6th man - but when the opposition target him for special defensive attention he struggles
Crosswhite - just isnt good enough to be the #1 big option.
The imports are average at best, yes they will have some good games but more often than not they wont. Dusty just cant get the style of points he normally does with this team around him.

They are a budget team and at the moment look like it. I would love to see them improve and reward their fans who go see them but I cant see it being a happy season in Cairns.

As for the Sixers, good win, you can only beat the opposition taht turns up, but lets not get caried away that they are world beaters. Lets see how 'Pittbull' as X likes to call him does against a decent PG this week.

Come to think of it, Adelaide fans deserve better also. If the 36ers can play as they did last night, then it is criminal to think about how they played the previous 2 games. They need to come out and play every game, not just the ones that they have a point to prove.

Without seeing the game, I can only guess.
I was thinking about Cairns travelling on Sat,but Crocs did that and beat Mel by 35points. So that doesn't necessarily follow.
That we seemed so unlikely to win,sometimes is the reason we win.
Those that don't rate Groves will find it harder to understand, and we don't see the best of Hill at home.
A little bit of Holmes and Gilchrist probably best,last night.

mball, good luck to your team, they deserve better.

Dumbfounded. If anyone can explain that resultt to me it would be most appreciated.

I badly need to see a replay of that game somewhere

Hear Hear Paul, but that is too logical.
Being a fan means being passionate,
having opinions, right and wrong,
analysing, right and wrong,
rubbishing, right and wrong,
and above all else being right, and wrong.
That's what it is to be a fan!!

Paul, you couldn't have hit the nail on the head any more accurately. That's exactly what I am trying to say. People do forget very quickly when the shoe is on the other foot. Well just to remind everyone, I will refer to 4 topic headings in the last week where the opinions were all doom and gloom.

36ers vs Tigers tonight - 57 responses
Scotty is very concerning - 47 responses
Theory 36ers trained too hard after Perth - 50 responses
Gilchrist is a sook - 27 responses

A total of 181 responses yet in the last 14 hours its been all about how bad the Taipans are and how brilliant the 36ers are. Also if anyone remembers only 4 weeks ago, they beat Adelaide. Doesn't necessarily make them good, but what does it make Adelaide?

Let's wait a bit longer please. One good game does not win a championship although the joy of it can and should linger on as long as possible.

Statman, you are probably right.
They seem to have holes all over. Poor defense, no inside offense, poor ball handling, ineffective imports, not a lot happenning for them.
Tough schedule doesn't help but you have to play through that.
Not sure what type of game Melzer is playing. It's almost like a small forward/shooting guard. When did he last post up? Mills is just an enigma!
Dusty,Dusty, Dusty....... what has happenned to your game.
When did Crosswhite last get in to the paint?

If you are a Cairns fan, what effect the schedule on your team?
Caned on road, next night caned at home?
They have to get a ball handler though.

Brilliant Sixers, woeful Cairns.
Hard to know what to make of the game?
Are Cairns THAT bad? Are Sixers THAT good.
What happenned to form? What happenned to home court?
Maybe I'll reserve judgement till after Breakers game.
Enjoy your win though meantime!

thedoctor, I don't know what planet you are from but I have always given the same consideration to all teams with tight travel schedules, especially the 36ers. Don't forget, this is the team I follow. It was great to get a win tonight on the road and I am just as happy about it as anyone who has posted but lets just wait a few more games. I am not knocking a good win but tonight had circumstances that went in their favour. Apart from that, if they are capable of playing the way they did tonight, what happened the last 2 games? Its called inconsistency. Happy for the win? Yes, confident? maybe after a few more games.

Yeah I agree I was shocked to see Copper getting a gig after watching him in the last ABA season - did'nt do mutch there either especially offensively, Garlep looks a mutch better prospect , a better threat on court and has a good shot etc.

Flinders $3.80 ;) Very happy here.

Great win by the boys in a last straw MUST WIN game, but it dosn't end here. A huge effort needed in NZ next to keep it alive!

Sure is an interesting season - for the Crocs lost here by a point, then beat the Tigers in MEL,the very next day - look at our last 3 games...
NBL had us top then bottom now 4th..
And - The Silver Fox makes a debut on Hoops...

KingJames, its your lucky night. I will make a comment. His turnovers tonight was a reflection of the quality of performance the whole team put in. When you have experienced an exhausting game the night before and then travelled nearly 2,000 kilometres to play again the same day, you might understand what it means to lose focus. Its a good thing that you can pinpoint these shortcomings on a night like this because I doubt you can do it any other night.

Just looked at the stats:

When Cooper on: Sixers to Taipans 31:24
When Cooper off: 75:43

Cooper on: lead increased at 0.46 points per minute
Cooper off: lead increased at 1.29 points per minute

Great win, I am more excited than the Silver Fox

Molly on court - Carpe Diem!

Easy twenty four. I understand all the blood in your body has rushed from your head to another part because of this awesome game....but lets not talk crazy.

clear that bench Scotty - thunderbirds are go!

A lead of 39points was our biggest - 'only' 27 now at 3qtr time.

5;38 77:42, Holmes off, Cooper On
5:12 Cooper fouls
2:47 2 pt missed
2:02 Block made
1:41 Turnover
1:38 Foul
1:38 Melzer makes the 2 FT
1:38 Cooper off, AB back on

In those four minutes, we went from 77:42 to 77:52.

AB & Holmes on bench for those four minutes

Cooper on court.

Since he has been on we have gone from 77:42 to 77:50 - co-incidence?

Here we go. the 3rd qtr curse!!
Lead slowly fading =P

Love your work X,

"mastercoach Scott Ninnis" The cream always rises!

Lets Go Sixers!

Wow! brad Hill 7/7 frm the field for 17 points...Gilchrist on fire...can't put a foot wrong tonight so far

72:36 Up WTF??

Hill Billy plays much better away. Some believe it because mummy doesn't tuck him in and he plays ANGRY!!!!

GO YOU HILL BILLY!!! Play like a demon!

Brad Hill haters??? We're right here.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I noticed last season - Brad Hill played so very well in our AWAY games.

WTF

62 point first half?!

On the road?

C'mon Sixers...keep it up.

What offensive problems?

Groves and Gilchrist are stars

Interesting start 31 to 21 at qtr time - sixers up by 10 and nothing from Ballinger.

Looks like Hill was the right choice..Now Cooper in for Holmes, after 5mins.

Starting is - Ballinger Gilchrist Holmes Hill and Groves

Has Adelaide sold a 'home' game?

The NBL website states "The Adelaide 36ers host the Cairns Taipans on Saturday night at the Cairns Convention Centre".

Given the trend of home teams winning I'm treating this as a sign that the Sixers will win tonight. You might be buying the beers Flinders 80.

I want to be positive..

But stagnant offense, baffling zone defenses and some underperformers really just make me hope we at least don't have another 10+ point loss.

If we don't manage to pickup the win, I at least hope there are some positives to take away from it.

Cairns crowd are going to get after Chilchrist.
How he handles it will determine whether you have an outside chance.
Of course your guys still have to take care of business of ressurecting your offensive effectiveness, play the D, rebound etc etc.
One redeeming feature is Cairns aren't good enough to put scoreboard pressure on you as well, so you should be in the game. It'll be in 70's unless someone gets hot.

Ok, have just gone again to the sixers website..was going to double check the start time for NYE game, of course they have nothing updated..the best is that the venuetix link gives an answer.

It seems to me the site is a total waste of time now..the blogs are rarely updated, the info is not new. Whats the point of it?